When is the political class in Washington going to become cognizant that our country is bankrupt? None of our dear leaders are telling the truth about America’s fiscal situation. They have been operating with a bunker mentality that clearly indicates their detachment from the people they represent.
Former federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments on “Meet the Press” recently were a good example of Washington’s bunker mentality.
He was asked about the possibility of America defaulting on its debt and responded: “The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.” Alan Greenspan, the man who brought us the real estate bubble by printing too much money and keeping interest rates too low for too long, wants to try to tell us that we can’t default. What Alan needs to understand is that default can also come in the form of the destruction of our currency. Thanks to the federal reserve, that day is rapidly approaching. Greenspan’s predecessor Ben Bernanke has created the largest monetary expansion in the history of the world. During the financial panic of 2008, the federal reserve printed up trillions of dollars and distributed them to foreign central banks and Wall Street firms.
Many of those banks still hold these dollars in their reserves; there will be massive price inflation. The political theater that arose from the phony budget discussion, a discussion that did not include military spending or entitlements, was just merely another symptom of Washington’s bunker mentality.
Liberals and conservatives both like big government; liberals like big government domestically, and conservatives like big government overseas.
As long as we think we can have a massive military empire overseas and have a massive welfare state at home, our economic situation will remain unchanged. The chickens have come home to roost; we can no longer print and borrow our way past this problem.
The deficit spending that has gone on for decades has finally caught up to us. Our political class is not leaving the bunker any time soon. And for now, Americans don’t want to leave the bunker either.
America is in store for a reality check, and it will most likely come in.
