GM about to go belly up and take the dollar with it!

Wolfy:

Unfortunately that is a foregone conclusion.

Just wait until all the Boomers are retired, begin getting bypass operations for a lifetime of bad eating habits and smoking habits, then start lining up at the pharmacy for those magic blue pills.

Why the h*** do you think I'm putting so much effort into my hobby farm? I need a self-sufficient fallback option.

 

Robert:

I believe Japan has a debt of approximately 150% of GDP. At that level, they either have to fire up the printing presses - creating horrible hyperinflation - or start cutting benefits. That only delays the inevitable.

My folks are old enough to remember the Great Depression, they were children then. One thing about the Great Depression that folks apparently forget is that during that period, the dollar *gained* in value as it was still backed by gold.

The only way we can have this hocus-pocus Accounting of double-entry bookkeeping is to have a monetary system that is - essentially - worthless.

We have to hope and indeed pray the economy never collapses. If it does, it's the end of everything. The money is just paper now.

 

geez don't get me going on that one! Sometimes when I sit back and try and get the overall picture the Oklahoma City bombings starts to loom up in my mind and I ask myself is that the logical outcome of the peoples anger against the gov. I know that these were just the ants in the colony but anger got vented. I know it was for the US gov's action at Waco but if enough get burnt these sorts of incidents will only multiply. I do know there are a lot of people here in Canada that are almost that mad.

 

Yes, I am aware that this money is "spent." It would have to be repaid as part of the rest of the massive overhaul of government. They should not be needing $3 Trillion dollars annually to function. The government should be able to function on a tiny fraction of this money. Once the budget is stripped of all uneccesary spending, the funds would come from there. The next step would be to eliminate the natinoal debt, and then finally, the elimination of all taxes beyond that which would be an absolute necessity to allow the overhauled government to function.

 

Frank:

Oops calm down son, didn't mean to fire you up like that. H*** sometimes I get so riled it's a miracle I don't conk of a massive aneurysm.

Just the fact the Auditor General Of Canada is denied access to all those Crown Corporations should send up the red flags. Much like if how you or I were to initiate an ATIA request to find out where that money really is - if it even exists at all - they'd refuse it but the RCMP's CSIS would still open a file on you.

You know, you're suddenly a "troublemaker," far more dangerous than a f****** terrorist group operating as a tax-exempt charity in Canada.

There is indeed a great deal of anger in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, especially Alberta (Remember Trudeau and his "energy policy?") and B.C. I guess as long as the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal benefit, that's all that's important to Mr. Shipping Tycoon Martin.

Yet I'm under the impression that us Canadians are basically a bunch of nice civil folks who won't rise up in arms no matter what Paul Martin does to us.

We couldn't rise up in arms anyway thanks to Gun Control.

 

Wolfy:

You also have to understand that there exists a giant creaking lumbering machine known as the "Public Service sector" or the "Civil Servant sector." There is indeed an army of drones in Public Service, with enviable benefits and very strong worker rights.

These folks would no sooner legislate themselves out of a job than try to perform a do-it-yourself circumcision with a dull rusty pocketknife. If anything, they will dream up even more elaborate and hidden pork projects.

I think we have to accept that we have created a monster no longer under our control, and the entire situation has turned into a s*** sandwich.

I firmly believe a handful of us Realists understand this, but the vast majority have been indoctrinated with the concept of Getting Something For Nothing. Now you know why I have a "hobby farm" that is capable of being self sufficient.

Jay

 

It's easy for any non-government person to study these numbers and many Universities have. And all those who have studied the numbers -- and are not funded by those who have an agenda -- have said the same thing. SS needs some minor tweaking and it will be fine. I understand one proposal is that for the cap to be modified. The current cap is around $90,000 and the rate on that first 90K is 12.x% (12.8 I think) The talk is to make the rate OVER 90K 2 or 3%. This will probably solve the problem.

But this would constitute a "raising of taxes", something that Bush has said he absolutely will not do. What Bush has suggested is a change in the way the cost of living adjustments are calculated. This would constitute a cut in benefits.

There are only two ways to fix SS. Decrease the benefits or increase the tax. Suggesting that there is another way is simply foolishness.

 

I remember Trudeau's one finger slaute to the people of BC and can only say that I was glad that this province took his kid while he was still well enought to think about it.

 

Mark:

It all depends on whether you want to examine the studentized data or the non-studentized data. Indeed, a lot of the data sets are contradictory so it's hard to reach any valid conclusion.

I'm hopeful it's not doom-n-gloom, but I also don't buy the "minor tweaking" viewpoint either.

The following is a good reprint from the San Francisco Federal Reserve:

http://www.frbsf.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/wkl...99/el99-20.html

http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economic.../el2003-27.html

The following is the Citizens Against Government Waste, good links for searching.

http://www.cagw.org

http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagena...lease_02272004b

Jay

 

Frank:

Yeah, last time I checked his kid was still at the bottom of the lake. I don't think Trudeau shed too many tears though, confirmed Communists aren't supposed to have feelings.

Jay