In the first post of this series we touched upon the growing economic demise of states, and the source of that demise.Later, in the second post of this series, we focused on the looming specter of sovereign failure of states to honor what they promised their citizens long after the citizens relied on, trusted in, then entered into agreements with those state governments.
Now we focus on the solution the united democrat republicans propose as a solution for the states: bankruptcy.
This series has focused on the dangers that MOMCOM's promiscuous war spending is bringing on the many sovereign entities described by the word "united".
The series shows that a more accurate word would be "bound" in place of "united", because even though the charge into invasion, occupation, and endless wars was led by the republican right wing neoCons, the democrats for the most part felt bound to go along, calling the state of affairs "united" nevertheless.
As we will soon see, in terms of economic damage, "The Bound States" is a more accurate description than "The United States", since the "solution" called state bankruptcy, unlike the wars that brought it
on, is not something the lemmings want to jump off the cliff for.The W direction has produced a condition which has turned the "united" world upside down, given new meaning that turns out to be "united we fall".
So the states are fighting to be free of this "united" economic thingy where they are bound to economic desperation caused by a MOMCOM desperate for war, lusting for war, and making a new religion of war.
The neoCons know that the holy warrior is here to stay, so long as the entities that are "united" in the war games (the "states") can survive this MOMCOM state of war.
The states are desperate not to be absorbed into "The United State of War", where there is only one state, not fifty:
No state is known to want to declare bankruptcy, and some question the wisdom of offering them the ability to do so now, given the jitters in the normally staid municipal bond market.(United States of Bankruptcy). Desperate minds of MOMCOM are predictably trying to form a delusional solution:
Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.(ibid, United States of Bankruptcy). The democrat republican st
...
For now, the fear of destabilizing the municipal bond market with the words “state bankruptcy” has proponents in Congress going about their work on tiptoe. No draft bill is in circulation yet, and no member of Congress has come forward as a sponsor, although Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, asked the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, about the possiblity in a hearing this month.
...
Still, discussions about something as far-reaching as bankruptcy could give governors and others more leverage in bargaining with unionized public workers.
“They are readying a massive assault on us,” said Charles M. Loveless, legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We’re taking this very seriously.”
ate of mind wants a way out of the obligations of the sovereign, but not out of the wars that are causing it, so expect an effort to glorify capitulation, calling it "bi-partisan privatization" or deceitful words to that effect.They want states to be able to tell official lies retroactively, to go back on their word, to do a time travel morph into Bernie Madoff.
This "solution" is treating the effect, not treating the cause for the need to go bankrupt in the first place.
Which said cause is the stupid, nation killing, senseless, and now endless holy wars of the Circle W Cowboys, yes, the wars that are bankrupting the entire nation.
Rather than stop the wars, the terminally insane minions of MOMCOM think it will send a positive message (be good for the country) if states can file bankruptcy.
"Screw some more citizens out of their pensions, out of their financial future, yeah that's the ticket".
Like Pogo, the states have met the enemy to which they are bound.
A recent poll suggests Americans want MOMCOM neutered, not the Americans who paid for retirement insurance.
ReplyDeleteGood post today! Really sums up the state of affairs nicely. It's going to be quite interesting to see how we deal with the massive baby boom generation retirement over the next 30-40 years in the face of massive pension defaults. Among the more obvious problems it's going to cause:
ReplyDeleteIt will aggravate unemployment, as poor seniors will be unable to voluntarily leave the work force. Whether or not they'll be able to find work...
Seniors' kids may get out from under the pension obligations tax-wise, but they'll then have to decide what to do personally with mom and dad when they become destitute - take care of them or cut them loose?
Healthcare will likely have to be rationed, as seniors without the means to pay for coverage will require expensive end of life care that no one wants to pay for. How will they be dealt with? I'm thinking assisted suicide (and even the old-fashioned variety too) might start looking like a pretty good option to many.
And of course the politics of all this will be interesting as well. Since the dems and the GOP are essentially one party now, I can see the electorate flip-flopping back and forth between the two for a while until it finally dawns on the masses that they've been had.
Whether or not a viable third or more party can crack the big two remains to be seen (and if they do, offer any real solutions themselves), but I'm not optimistic. There's simply too much money and power already consolidated in the hands of entrenched interests to think that they're going to be unseated without violence. In the end, systemic collapse and total reorganization - with or without bloodshed - is probably the only viable solution.
The alternative is slow, painful retrenchment to something resembling a fractured third-world state, with a ruling elite clustered in a few elite cities/regions and the rest of us left to fend for ourselves in whatever areas they leave for us. Pretty much what we're headed for right now.
Randy,
ReplyDeleteThing is, the polls never make sense. Americans almost always respond that deficit reduction is a serious problem, and that they prefer spending cuts as opposed to tax increases to deal with them. Then one by one, they disapprove of cuts to specific programs when presented the choice, or, in the case of the Pentagon, they'll approve of broad cuts in general, then disapprove of specific cuts when they are aimed at their individual districts. The Pentagon is now so integrally interwoven into the base economy that cuts to defense programs have a negative effect on "normal" people who never even suspected that they were so vitally affected.
In other words, Americans want all the stuff they're getting now (and more!) from the government, they just don't want to pay for any of it. Decades of massive deficit spending and lying pols have convinced them that they don't have to, and by God, they're not ready to start now! Unlimited credit is a powerful drug, and we're the biggest junkies of all time.
disaffected,
ReplyDelete"Good post today! Really sums up the state of affairs nicely."
The "we" in Dredd Blog posts includes you, Randy, Kathy, Anonymous, and the other commenters and lurkers who participate and support our efforts within the realm of THE FREE PRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
We gotcha back America, and we will live and die for you.
MOMCOM performs the exercise of kids playing with dynamite.
ReplyDeleteWhen will the sheepfold turn on their persecutors.
It is not an exact science.
It has caused millions of persecutors to lose their lives earlier than they had anticipated.
In the land of the free and the home of the brave, one has to consider the value of x and y carefully.
Capice?