Austerity Comes to America
By George W. Mantor
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse it has now become clear what the real endgame is, and it’s really bigger and more sinister than I ever imagined.
Never mind any of that talk about a return to prosperity, welcome to Austerity American style. We’ll get to that “rosy” jobs picture in a moment, and I assure you that it is all spin. In fact, the March report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics simply presents selected facts. And then, the news agencies tell you what to think about it.
The second paragraph of the Bureau’s report sums it all up with the simple truth. “The number of unemployed persons (13.5 million) and the unemployment rate (8.8 percent) changed little in March.”
Yes, that’s the bottom line…little change, less hope.
The fact that we are experiencing record foreclosures and high unemployment while productivity and corporate profitability are producing record setting Wall Street bonuses is a clue. How is it that Wall Street is an Island of prosperity in a sea of poverty?
But, what we are experiencing are only the symptoms of something that would have been unimaginable to me a few years ago. I thought Wall Street could steal more from a prosperous country, but that wasn’t the plan.
America is systematically being driven over a cliff by a world banking elite with a very simple and so far unstoppable agenda, to seize all wealth and power for themselves.
I know, send me the tin foil hats and call me a conspiracy theorist, but I have been to the bottom of the rabbit hole on this four year voyage into the world of corporate banking and, as a reasonable person, I am left with but one conclusion.
There can be no other explanation for where we find ourselves, and we are not alone. Countries all over the world are a year ahead of us and we can learn much by watching what plays out there. This is the $1,000 Trillion Dollar Question coming home to roost.
When you eliminate every other possible explanation, whatever you are left with, no matter how improbable, is the truth.
Stay with me for a second here and ask a question or two from an investigative journalist perspective. You arrive at the scene of the train wreck and you start to ask questions. Everything is cause and effect.
Families who worked hard all of their lives and played by the rules are losing everything. Why?
If the economy is good enough to produce record bonuses for CEOs, why are we talking about cutting programs for the elderly, the unemployed, and our returning veterans?
Why do 83 of America’s most profitable companies pay no taxes and get government subsidies?
Why do we spend tax payer’s money to train foreign workers to take American tax payers’ jobs without putting anything back into the system?
Austerity is the pretext under which our government is about to break its most fundamental compact with its people, and there will be no promise too sacred to break.
We are apparently too ill-informed or too fat to riot in the streets. And, in the last California Primary election, only a third of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot. “I know, but like Dude, everything is going so well.”
While everyone was celebrating the “explosion” of jobs here is what slipped by without comment. It’s all about Austerity.
The State of Michigan, hard hit by manufacturing job losses, is planning to reduce unemployment benefits. That can’t turn out well.
In the meantime, our federal reps, locked in a theatrical Kabuki dance pretending to care about the budget, are talking about withholding a cost of living increase from social security recipients when food and energy prices are rising. One can only wonder about the dark consequences of that.
And, the military wants our returning service people to be responsible for their own health care. Yes, that also includes those wounded in action.
Social Security had been producing a surplus every year, but they just spent that on whatever they wanted.
So, there you have it and no one is safe. The elderly, the unemployed and returning military are the first targets. Who is next?
In the style of Pastor Martin Niemöller:
When they came for the trade unionists, I was glad because those trade unionists put pressure on employers to share the wealth and that robs us of our freedom.
When they came for the unemployed, I thought it was about time that these freeloaders and deadbeats got what is coming to them for ruining America.
When they came for the defaulters, it confirmed my suspicion that many people were buying homes they didn’t deserve.
When they came for the sick and injured, I viewed it as a necessary “thinning of the herd”.
When they came for the elderly, I figured, well, they’d have to come for them eventually anyway.
When they came for the single moms, I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a single mom.
So, when they came for the apathetics, there was no one left to speak for me.
Folks, it’s all gone. And, all of that money that Bernanke is printing and giving to the banks under the bogus title of “quantitative easing” is just being piled on top of the $13.8 trillion of national debt. The interest alone exceeds our entire gross domestic product.
And, that’s the real problem. Financing these unending wars and the interest on the money we borrow to do that is now all that we can afford.
They weren’t satisfied spending all of the money we generously gave them; they spent money we don’t even have.
As for those 216,000 “new jobs” created in March, when you apply that against the current 13.5 million unemployed it would take 15 years. Not mentioned was the fact that every month 130,000 new workers enter the work force. So, the net gain is actually 86,000.
It’s not enough just to get back the 8.36 million jobs that were lost, the US also needs to create about 15 million more jobs over the next 10 years in order to stay even with population growth and return to full employment. That’s about 23 million all together.
It is also important to note what kinds of jobs are being created. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, “In March, employment in the service-providing sector continued to expand, led by a gain of 78,000 in professional and business services. Most of the gain occurred in temporary help services (+29,000) and in professional and technical services (+35,000).”
Unfortunately, the word temporary gives away an important truth. This category always spikes this time of year because it’s tax season. The rest are mostly entry level low wage jobs.
The report made no mention of construction gains where we desperately need jobs. Until we start to build things, our economy cannot improve. If you know another way, please share it.
The report notes that the unemployment rate has fallen to 8.8 percent.
However, when one looks at the bigger picture, it is clear that this number actually represents only part of the true unemployment crisis. Large categories of people aren’t counted in the total because they do not meet the Bureaus definition of “unemployed.”
In the graph below, U6 unemployment includes those marginally attached to the labor force and the “underemployed,” such as those who have accepted part-time jobs when they are really looking for full-time employment.
Also not included are those who have exhausted their benefits and those who did not qualify, such as the self-employed or those who used to have a business, like real estate and mortgage professionals, construction workers, artisans, retail shop keepers, and all the former owners of all the businesses that used to operate out of all of those now vacant storefronts and industrial parks.
When you include everyone who isn’t earning a living and isn’t paying taxes or spending money, the real wasted labor is probably somewhere around 40%.
Those people are already experiencing their own personal version of austerity.
But, at least it’s going in the right direction for those 216,000 families. For them, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
For the rest of us, it’s just a high-speed bullet train bearing down on us.
Maybe I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong. I don’t think I like austerity so maybe if I just crunch the numbers one more time…let’s see, carry the nine, hit the total…aw, geez. My calculator doesn’t have enough zeros to calculate how much money has been looted from us. And all we have to show for it is the Austerity.
George W. Mantor
The Real Estate Professor
Founder, American Foreclosure Resistance Movement
http://www.realtown.com/gwmantor/blog
http://www.gwmantor.hersid.com/
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” — Mahatma Gandhi
~
@Jim Bethea, I guess Bernie Madoff said it best when he said the whole country is one giant PONZI SCHEME. We HOMEOWNERS are like the pawns in this giant game of ELITEIST Monopoly. They lied to us about everything even the land our homes sit on. We thought that UNCLE SAM owned the land that our homes sit on but really the U.N./NEW WORLD ORDER HOLDS ALL LAND IN AMERICA IN FEE SIMPLE BECA– USE OF TREASONISTS INSIDE OF OUR OWN GOVERNMENT WHO ARE REALLY WORKING FOR THE U.N./NEW WORLD ORDER. There are only a few ways the U.S. GOVERNMENT TRUMPS THE FEE SIMPLE DEED and can take the land back from them and one of them is ESCHEAT (IF THE HOMEOWNER WALKS AWAY AND THEREFORE ABANDONS THEIR HOME) and the other is Emminant Domain and there is one more that I cant recall. .We THE HOMEOWNERS must settle for no less than FULL RECISSION OF OUR FRAUDULETLY INDUCED MORTGAGES AND NOTES AND BE PAID FULL RESTITUTION FOR ALL OF THE FRAUD THEY COMMITTED IN OUR NAMES. THEY ARE A DISGRACE.
Our politicians know like in the article that we are either too fat and too lazy and definetly too poor to organize and stand together and protest on the steps of congress and do anything about it. The only reason Bernie Madoff is in prison is because he screwed over the rich and powerful. Being caught up in this legal ponzi schem that our government allowed to happen it make me sick to know I fought for this country and what it has become. Would our fathers and mothers, brothers and sister back in world war 2 fought and died for what this country has become. The weird thing is that those who run our country and companies are the hippies of the 60’s peace love culture. Greed is the worst crime against mankind and it should have a death penalty go with it if you are charged with it. IT has caused people to commit suicide over losing their homes. The government says go to your bank and ask for help, they the bank who don’t own your loan negotiate with a government agency who are the investor that the banks will not tell you (oh now you can look up who owns your loan after my forecloser)they can care less what the Bank tells you what the investor needs to deal with you and then you have greedy lawyers in there robofirms sending out forcloser notices right away because the banks tell you that you have to do into default to get help for your loan (they deny this charge but it is soooo true.) There needs to be a protest organized in every major city where americans can get to show there anger and force the news agency who are owned by the same people who have robbed us of our lifes savings report all of them. The easiest way is to vote out every politican who has served over 1 term. These lifelong politicians are our fault and this is what we got for it. I don’t know if I’m the angriest man in the world but I have to be close.
We must begin with eliminating the illegal corporation known as the Federal Reserve — a Delaware private corporation — it receives an operational funding of over 9 billion per year — pays no taxes on its profits — as of 2006 had 47 private jets for the execs & owners — has never been audited — the Chairman is appointed by the President but he has to choose from a list of 7 persons that the Fed Res officials provide him to make his choice — created by the Rothschild banking cartel & other puppets doing their bidding from outside of their convert wall of secrecy — The Fed Res prints money [fiat of course] on our country’s printing presses at a cost of $76 per thousand notes — next lends it back to the US Government on interest which is of course tax free for them……
Now this scam has permeated the Treasury Department — Has anyone noticed that the past several Sec of the Treasury have evaded so-called criminal charges prior to being appointed to the Treasury Dept? Paulson was about to have a Summons served upon him on Monday while he was heading up Goldman Sachs on a Monday but retired on Friday only to be appointed by Bush a couple of weeks later!! Next this clown Geithner was experiencing criminal charges from his counter-parts [ the IRS – another DE corporation] then blew off the IRS and was appointed to the Treas??
Next is all of the major corporations that are and have been owned and controlled by the same Illuminati — i.e. Monsanto chemicals – military industrial complex – mostly all of the oil companies – the old Haliburton [Cheney’s group of theives] – the educational systems [to control the dumbing down of our standards of ed] – well by contolling the printing of money / our legislative people [lobbyist gone wild] – the news media [Fed Res owns noticable interest in all of the major 4 networks – give you what they want you to hear & see] — and now with the Partriot I & II it is a criminal offense to make the statements that I have made here or of the thousands that I have made over the past 11 years [ doing anything to denograte the banking & money systems of the US} — I think they have already lost this battle .. hee hee
WELCOME TO THE NEW AMERIKKA – A NEW WORLD ORDER CONTROLLED NATION
Yes this is indeed STRATEGIC, DEVICIVE, PERNICIOUS, NAZI CLASS WARFARE.
THE ELITE hiding behind the scenes of the FINANCIAL HOLOCAUST WANT TO BANKRUPT THE ENTIRE WORLD and create a WORLDWIDE WEIMAR REPUBLIC WITH A ONE WORLD FASCIST IMPERIALIST DICTATOR which is a TYRANNY AND A PLUTOCRACY/OLIGARCHY THAT OPPRESSES ITS PEOPLE.
THEY ALSO WANT A ONE WORLD FIAT CURRENCY DEBT CREATING MACHINE OF PEASANT SLAVERY.. THE NEW WORLD ORDER WANTS NO LESS THAN ALL OF US TO BE SLAVES WORKING ON THEIR NEW WORLD ORDER PLANTATION OF DEBT THAT THEY CREATE TO ENSLAVE MANKIND. THE NEW WORLD ORDER WANTS THE PEOPLE TO OWN NOTHING BUT DEBT AND THE PEOPLE TO OWN NO PROPERTY AND THEY WANT NO SOVERIGN NATIONS.
THEY WANT TO MICROMANAGE, SPY ON US IN OUR OWN HOMES AND BUSINESSES, AND CONTROL EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES.
They are using PERPS such as the BANKSTERS who have been the ROBBER BARONS FOR THE ELITE ALL THROUGH HISTORY.
PLEASE EVERYONE, WATCH THE KEISER REPORT TODAY AT maxkeiser.com. Max and Stacey are spot on as always about the FINANCIAL TERRORISM BLIGHTING THE WORLD. Max has Alex Jones on his show today and Alex has some very interesting and brilliant things to say about how WE THE PEOPLE CAN MAKE THE BANKSTERS AND THEIR MINIONS PAY FOR THEIR CRIMES. ALEX TALKS ABOUT HOW WE CAN TURN THE TABLES ON THEM IF WE UNITE.
WE THE PEOPLE MUST BE INDIVISIBLE,
THEN NATIONAL SOVERIEGNTY UNDER THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS WILL PREVAIL!
THEY HATE THAT!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!!
WE THE PEOPLE MUST DESTROY THE NEW WORLD ORDER BEAST!! DEATH TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER BEAST!!
you can read about the devastating effect that homelessness has on children at this site:
http://www.familyhomelessness.org/
the kids’ crayon drawings are a heartbreak, along w/ the statistics.
fraudclosure has hurt so many millions of people. for me, the stories about children, the disabled and seniors
are the worst.
some seniors were posting for help on the 60 minutes overtime comment board. it was so very sad.
these banks have to pay FULL RESTITUTION to all of us. they conducted a dangerous ponzi
scheme that brought down the world.
they have the money to pay us all back and more!
I am a “Baby Boomer” who never depended upon any future support/help from our system. I was taught that I could make anything happen on my own by adding value back to our society. It really disturbs me to see how the big bank [too big to fail] and the Wall Street scam artists have deflated most of America’s elderly’s planned future via making rutless/ greed decisions with their 401Ks,, retirement corp funds, the value of our dollar based system and they all go on as if nothing happened?? When I watch the “so-called” Congressional hearings on CSPAN it is like watching a scripted movie to me, in that I know most everything about banking, the fiat money systems & all of the other fraud that is used to promote such scams and schemes of the Illuminati. If Congress does not know or have the kanunas to ask pertinent questions of these banking crooks then they should just cancel them and use the ole addage of “we’re looking into it”………
The mechanics of the banking cartels evolved from a percentage of holdings to a loan base such as in the 1900s of 50% bank holdings against a 100% loan – the other 50% was hypothetical money that was based upon the bank’s credit line and assets. Later the holdings to loan amount was further supported after the Fed Res Act of 1913 whereas the banks gradually were allowed to lower their holdings percentage to “0” — Using the Promissory Notes from each transaction to fund this alleged loans. I am in awe of how little even “closing attorneys” know about money / debt creation? Most closing attorneys will tell you that I am nuts; that they received a cashie’s check from the bank to put in their escrow accounts so as to be able to settle all payments and claims involving this loan. Yes, they did receive a cashier’s check from the bank, however, little beknown to them that the purchaser’s promissory note was sold to fund a “checkbook entry account” [that the borrower never knew exsisted] and then these funds were transferred within the bank to the bank’s general account to pay for the closing of this alleged loan. Does anyone see now that the alleged “borrower” is actually the “lender” now that he/ she funded this transaction. Prior to the alleged borrower signing and giving to the bank their Promissory Note, that there was no money there before?? This gift of the Promissory Note is exactly the same as if the alleged borrower had written the bank a check to fund this transaction. The banks know that once they sell / assign this Promssory Note that it is gone and cannot be reclaimed with evidence of endorsements which would prove that they sold it. So how can they collect / steal from this transaction if the alleged borrower cannot/will not repay this alleged loan? Well they have the “Silver Bullet” which is known as the “Mortgage Note”. When or if the any scheduled payments become in default, then the bank hires a 3rd party [some attorney] to make this fraudulent and illegal claim that the bank owns this property. In a foreclosure hearing you will never ever see the original Promissory Note [only a xerox copy] as supporting evidence. Have you ever wondered why banks don’t have their own team of bank employees to “repossess cars”? By law they know they could be criminally charged because they cannot prove “Lawful Owenershiip” [lawful not presumed legal ownership] so they invest in a 3th party just in case someone attempts to sue them for fraud.
Now don’t go down to your local bank officers/ employees and start calling them criminals and con-artists, because about 100% of them are doing what they are told to do and don’t rock the boat!!! Have anyone ever wondered why when a bank mortgage is paid off in full that the banks will tell you that it will take approximately 30 days to get your original deed of satisfaction from their headquarters? Their attorneys do what is called a lost note [lie to the courts that the deed / promssory note was lost] and the court will rule their claim valid — so they hot foot it over to the Registry of Deeds — get the note — sign as satisfied — and no one knows what fraud even existed!!!
Enough for now………Jimbo
I personally know of 2 men who owned their own businesses and both were hugely successful who committed suicide after the financial collapse happened, One was a home builder who had triplet daughters just starting high school, the other was an owner of a pretty large car dealership. This was the clear result to me of a FROZEN CREDIT MARKET. BUSINESSES OF ANY KIND, SMALL OR LARGE CANNOT RUN WITHOUT CREDIT. My husband and I lost our FAMILY OWNED CAR DEALERSHIP of 25 years because a ton of the car dealers had their credit lines pulled out from under them by the FINANCE COMPANIES after the stock market crashed. We went to the SBA and tried to no avail to get a small business loan, 3 banks told us THEY DO NOT LEND TO CAR GUYS. WHAT A JOKE!!!!! BUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, THE TAX-PAYERS BAILED OUT GM AND CHRYSLER BECA– USE THEY WERE TOO BIG TO FAIL. WE WERE HUNG OUT TO DRY. My sister and my brother in law each had their homes stolen from them one home was stolen by Chase, the other was a townhome that was stolen by Wells Fargo after they all lost their jobs and couldn’t find another paying enough to pay the bills. This is all a disgrace. This was a strategic and well planned PONZI SCHEME, FINANCIAL COLLAPSE, FOLLOWED BY NAZI-STYLE CLASS WARFARE ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, WHILE THE FILTHY RICH GOT RICHER AND STILL ARE, WE THE PEOPLE ALL GOT POORER AND STILL ARE. TIME FOR THE PEOPLE TO THROW THE LYING POLITICIANS OUT ON THEIR HEADS. THEY ARE ALLOWING THE ELITE, NEW WORLD ORDER TO BANKRUPT AMERICA. WE ARE GOING TO BE ALL LIVING IN POVERTY IF THEY HAVE THEIR WAY. THE PEOPLE REALLY NEED TO GET THIS RIGHT AND SOON OR SOON THESE CRIMINAL FINANCIAL TERRORISTS WILL OWN US AND OUR COUNTRY AND THEN WE WILL END UP LIKE THE PEOPLE IN EGYPT AND LYBIA WHO ARE FIGHTING THE TYRANNTS FOR THEIR SOVEREIGNTY. WAKE UP AMERICA!! IT IS TIME FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK FROM THESE TREASONISTS WHO ARE HELPING THE NEW WORLD ORDER DESTROY OUR ECONOMY AND OUR NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND OUR RIGHT TO OWN ANYTHING BUT DEBT. THEY WANT ALLL OF US TO BE SLAVES WORKING ON THEIR NEW WORLD ORDER PLANTATION OF DEBT. THEY WANT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO BE NO MORE THAN A WAR MACHINE THAT MAKES NOTHING BUT WAR. THEY WANT THEIR BANKSTER/WALL STREET PERPS TO CREATE TONS OF WEALTH FOR THE ELITE, THE TOP 2% AND THEY WANT THE PEASANTS, WHO ARE ALL OF US, TO BE SLAVES TO THEM AND THEN DIE IN THE STREETS, HOMELESS, WITH NO HEALTHCARE AND NO PENSIONS. THEY ALSO WANT TOM RFID MICROCHIP ALL OF US SO THEY CAN KEEP TRACK OF EVERY DIME WE MAKE, AND EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. THEY WANT TO MICROMANAGE EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES AND SPY ON EVERYTHING WE DO. SPREAD THE WORD, THIS IS THEIR PLAN AND THIS NO COSPIRACY THEORY.
Sounds pretty much to me that one and one are no longer equaling two.Oh and by the way everytime they say unemployment is going down thats just more hype.The reason it goes down is not because we have more jobs its because more people are losing there unemployment and either going on welfare or living in the streets because there is no more help to be had.Austerity is not a bad thing neither is living within your means.We have become a society of instant gratification and it has lead to our downfall.They only way to change the situation is to tighten our belts and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime,because people at the end of the day when its all said and done thats what will happen.If you think its bad now just wait the fun has yet to begin.
While you may be having a hard time and can’t pay your yearly taxes, you are still paying far more taxes in a year due to buying things like food, clothing, fuel, etc..
The tax on everything from the raw material to each step of it use is taxed before its passed on to the next step.
Our Income Tax is just a drop compared to the taxes we don’t see called hidden taxes.
Waddoya mean “austerity”, the couple in the photo still has a car, even though it appears to be a late ’60’s model.
We need to start creating an online database of TBTF Bank building coordinates for cruise devices.
While the author makes many excellent points, the following statement is incorrect.
“The interest alone exceeds our entire gross domestic product.”
The interest on the national debt in 2010 was $413,954,825,362, or approximately 414 billion. The GDP for 2010 was approximately 14.7 trillion so we see that while ridiculously high, the interest on the national debt does not exceed our GDP.