The Leveller: A modern day regulator

Looking through Cassandra's eyes

Only bad news, nothing good. Ever.

If you want good news, watch your nightly news programs or some of the major news outlets, depending on your politics. If Repubs are in office watch fox news. If Dems control office watch most anything else.

If you want the truth. You’re at the right place.

I sense the time is near for the next stage during this phony economic recovery. I find that the financial markets are characteristic to the rising well in 2006.

I’ve already predicted the U.S. will default in the next 12 months or so, give or take 2 months.

Sure, no one person or administration for that matter is unilaterally responsible for the U.S. demise, not even the Bush 8 years. But clearly if you want to screw things up, do what Bush did for 8 years and then follow what Obama is doing.

Seriously, just like the Democrats are guilty of economic ignorance so too are the Republicans and conservative fan base that champion a so called ‘strong’ national defense.

First, let me be clear about so called fiscally conservative hogwash we only hear but never really benefit from in practice. The Republicans really have no deeper understanding of economics than their pernicious counterparts.

They are familiar with some of the language. Words and phrases such as “tax cuts”, “free markets”, “supply”, “demand”, “profit”, and “incentive”. They generally have an inkling about it such as “profit” is a good thing but do not understand how or the dynamics. So they have a weak trust in it all but no foundational underpinning. These are your technocrats and bureaucrats and politicians etc.

The Democrats commit even blunders economically speaking while not even having an earnest attempt at plausible economic language, in general. So in principle, the officials will commit an economic blunder using a recent example: funds are gathered to support or pay for a “jobs” bill. Sounds good right and assume they genuinely mean well. The opportunity cost for funding a jobs bill is a fundamental economic principle not even considered by the politicians even for the sake of argument. To be brief on this point let us say the jobs bill will ultimately be a failure and eventually results in economic loss.

Foreign policy for the Republicans, if we are to continue following the stereotype in that Democrats are economic baffoons and Repubicans are “better” on foreign policy matters.

So we have a foreign policy that began in 2001 that led to the largest costing military excursion in history. We are in year number 9 of this. The first few years many Americans, mostly Republicans and conservatives alike, supported the action in Iraq and Afghanistan reinforced by the notion of being in better Republican hands in terms of foreign policy which continued through the 2004 campaigns leading to an easy re-election.

The foreign policy maneuvers to keep and maintain such support for fielding the grand armies of the U.S. in the middle east have also come at a great opportunity cost that is not even possible to imagine or calculate for that matter.

The general populace has championed their “heroes” for nine years in a far off land immune to the conditions that those soldiers must tolerate. They’ll never really comprehend how “screwed” up just being deployed in the field over long periods of time are to them. The stories they’ll never hear about simply being miserable due to climate alone as well as the conduct among each other. One thing people never realize is how horrible the Army treats their own soldiers. Its a story that is never told because it belies the feelings the populace has for those soldiers and how much they are “allegedly” cared for. The populace doesn’t really want to know and the soldiers relish the “pride” of it all so the situation continues as a silent killer.

Meanwhile, the people supported the bellicose engagements for 9 years now.

Anyway, as Petreaus is recently applauded for his battle field expertise, I see the tide slowly turning. And it is against Petreaus and the soldiers. Conditions

As the conditions deteriorate even further for U.S. soldiers they will at some point betray the emotions that led them to re-enlist and continue to fight with any kind of morale at all. The battle field posture taken by the U.S. will not last in perpetuity. Its unsustainable.

As the enemy forces only get stronger, the U.S. can obviously only get weaker. Agreed? Remember, soldiers previously used the line that we are fighting today so my child doesn’t have to fight there tomorrow. Well, its tomorrow and some of your children are of age to fight.

I fear bin Laden will re-assert himself somewhere at the most ironic time. Patience is something these evil doers practice. And as the U.S. goes officially bankrupt some time in the next year or so

California Pensions Are $500 Billion Short

bin Laden and cohorts will re-emerge when there is little to nothing the U.S. can do about it.

The growing tide of enemy forces will slowly over whelm the U.S. in the battle fields of any village, city, block-house, town-house and out-house. From Karachi to Baghdad the U.S. will continue to suffer losses of greater magnitude.

This is the likely result of ignominious pride suffered over the last 9 years. The pride has more or less waned. More people just don’t care anymore about Iraq or Afghanistan. At some point they will excuse themselves from the situation and take up another cause that is more personal, may be making sure food is on the table and so on.

Its not hateful or negative to speak the truth about current events. That doesn’t make the outcome any different, the outcome described above is simply a logical result. Nothing good was going to come out of the course the U.S. embarked upon 9 years ago. Only needless death, destruction and economic calamity.

The Democrats are no worse on economic policy matters just as the Republicans are no better at foreign policy. It’s only politics which only a fool could believe.