Wake Up America!

Several decades ago, a man's word was his bond. Once a man said he would do something, he did it.  Million-dollar deals were done on the basis of a handshake.  And you could count on it.

If someone said, "The check is in the mail," it was actually in the mail. And when a couple promised before God, friends, and family, "Until death do us part…" it truly meant "until death do us part."

Words and promises meant something back then. And you were taught at an early age how important it was to be a man of your word.  There was a social stigma to going back on your word… to not meeting a deadline… to not sticking to a commitment.

But then, maybe four decades ago… the philosophy shifted.

We started giving people a pass if they came close to their promise.  "I’ll deliver it on Friday was taken to mean Friday or Saturday were okay. 

Society gave everyone an "out." You could make a promise but be excused from your commitment so long as you gave it your best shot.

A man's word was no longer his bond. It was his best quote. And as long as he came close to fulfilling it, it wasn't a problem. Society said, "We really didn't expect you to deliver it by Tuesday. But as long as you get it to us by the weekend, there's no problem."

Divorce? "Until death do us part" became “until I realize I would be happier without you.”  This idea was even promoted by Dear Abby, the advice columnist. 

Then, maybe 20 years ago or so, society eliminated all obligations… as long as we heard what we wanted to hear. It didn't matter if we knew the person was lying to our face.

"I did not have sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinski."

"No, I have never knowingly taken steroids."

"The United States is committed to a strong dollar policy."

We knew we were being lied to, but it didn't matter. It didn't really affect any of us anyway. So what was the harm?

Now we've shifted to the final stage. Let's call it the "realization" philosophy…

In this stage, everyone knows the promises made are baloney. Everyone knows they're being lied to. Everyone knows they're standing on the edge of the abyss. And everyone knows there will be serious consequences. But… nobody knows yet what they're supposed to do.

Look across the Atlantic and see the Greek citizens protesting. They were promised retirement at the age of 50 with a full pension paying 100% of their salary.

The realization is… that isn't going to happen.

Look at the Italian farmer who worked his land for decades and was promised top dollar for the crops he produced. That's not going to happen either.

Look at the firefighters in Vacaville, California. The city and the state are virtually bankrupt. So any promises made for pensions, medical care, and housing supplements are all but null and void.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is the state of our nation. Promises made will not be kept. They can’t be.  There's no money to pay for them all.

How many other things most people didn't think would ever happen in America have happened recently? What about the collapse of our investment banks, the bankruptcy of General Motors, the liquidation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the failure of AIG, hundreds of banks being seized, millions of homes in foreclosure, or real unemployment rates close to 20%? We could go on…

Wake up America!  It not only can happen to us, it is going to!  We’ve been lied to and promises are not going to be kept.

The question is, what are we going to do about it?

The Next Great Theft

Taxation is a form of legalized theft.  After all, the government is taking from the rich and then redistributing that money to the poor.

Today, over 45% of American households receive some form of direct government payments.  And nearly 50% pay no federal taxes whatsoever.  This is a record number of people who neither paid federal income taxes in 2010 nor were claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

What it comes down to is a small number of Americans that are paying for the well-being of a majority. While half of the population may pay something in taxes, only the top 10% – people earning more than $113,000 – pay a substantive amount. These few citizens pay 70% of all the income taxes collected.

President Obama can talk all he wants about the rich needing to pay more, but the truth is they can’t afford to pay much more because they are already paying too much.  The people receiving the benefits are the ones that have to start giving something up, and yet no one wants to give up their piece of the pie.

I guarantee when spending cuts begin to occur and it affects your lifestyle, then you will complain about the cuts in that area.  And I could easily be talking about social security.

So the government must come up with a new way to steal your money if they can’t tax you directly.  This is what they are doing.

The Federal Reserve has made it nearly impossible to live off your savings. Thanks to the Fed's manipulation of interest rates, anyone who chooses to simply save money is going to lose a lot of value.

The latest inflation numbers show wholesale inflation having risen 6.8% over last year.  Savings accounts are paying less than 1%. So if you had $1 million in the bank, you lost roughly $50,000 in value last year. You'll go broke fast if you can't earn at least as much as inflation on your savings.

This forces the CD purchaser to take additional chances with their savings in order to earn enough to offset the impact of higher inflation and higher taxes.  Most investors can’t manage risk well enough to want to take chances with their money.

So the government will continue to steal $50,000 a year from a $1,000,000 account.  You won’t notice it, because the $1,000,000 will remain the same.  It’s just that the $1,000,000 will not buy as much as it used to.  And that is how the government steals your money.

By increasing inflation, they can take money from the savers and continue to give it to the non-savers – the spenders.

Yes, we have a government that rewards financial irresponsibility and punishes financial responsibility.

And it looks like it is only going to get worse.  The government, of course, controls this by manipulating the inflation statistics.  They’re trying to convince you there is no inflation, but you know there is.

Inflation is called “the hidden tax.”  As opposed to a direct tax.  And they implement this every time they need more money and don’t feel they can raise taxes enough directly.  And taxing only the wealthy will not come remotely close to being enough – regardless of the amount they increase it.

They’ve been doing it for a while now, but I predict it is fixing to get worse.  If they don’t dramatically reduce the budget, they will have no choice.  Watch for it.