theanonymousamerican.com

Recently we have been bombarded with a new generation of buzzwords surrounding the so-called Economic Crisis. Some of these words and phrases you may have heard include, but are not limited to, economic stimulus, stimulus dollars, stimulus package, stimulus bill, stimulus project and plain ole’ stimulus. When I hear these buzzwords fall out of the mouths of our elected officials then rattle around the well trained media my heart aches. It aches not only because the buzzwords are intentionally designed to mislead people to the belief that the government has more authority over our economy than God, but also because these buzzwords serve to “hide” an underlying truth that is very real, and very sad.

You see, every single dollar is debt, whether it be a piece of paper in your hand or an electronic impulse in a bank’s computer, the dollar is debt. For example, if I give you a dollar for some good or service, that dollar says that somebody owes you something of equal value to the good or service you provided me. Therefore, that dollar bill represents the debt that I owe you for the good or service you provided.

So, if every dollar is debt, and every one of these new buzzwords represents the government spending new dollars, shouldn’t we substitute the word “stimulus” with the word “debt?” This will lead us to the honest meaning of our new favorite buzzwords. For instance, we should say “economic debt” instead of “economic stimulus”, and “debt package” in the place of “stimulus package,” or even “debt bill” as opposed to “stimulus bill.” I know the honest meanings are entertaining, but don’t laugh too hard because we have only covered the very real part, and now we must move on to the very sad part.

When our government wants to spend more money than they are able to take from us they have two options for getting the money. The first method is to create new money and pump it into the economy in the form of credit and therefore “inflate” the supply of money. The new money dilutes the existing money and prices tend to adjust upwards as the market realizes the weakening of the dollar. We all pay the rising prices and that is a hidden tax known as the Inflation Tax.

Unfortunately, the second method the government uses to spend more money than they actually have is even more disturbing; they borrow it. Elected officials on both sides of the isle would have us believe that they borrow the money from China and other trade partners. However, this is a partial truth at best. You see, China sends us goods and we send them dollars. China then chooses, assuming the interest rate is attractive enough, to buy debt securities from the U.S. Treasury with their dollars. These securities pay interest to the purchaser at least every six months and reach maturity anywhere from a few days to thirty years. The money must be paid back in full plus interest, or our trade partners will stop purchasing our debt. So a more honest and complete assessment is that our government is borrowing from the American Future.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in the Fiscal Year 2008, our government collected $2.52Trillion in total tax dollars, and of that number a mere $1.146Trillion was taken from Americans as a tax on personal income. Nevertheless, the government spent $2.98Trillion of which, $412Billion went to make interest only payments on the National Debt. Yes, you read that correctly, $412Billion just covered the interest, and paid down no debt.

In the Fiscal Year 2009 the CBO projects that revenue will fall to $2.357Trillion in total tax revenue. Yet spending will increase to $3.5Trillion not including any future legislation such as a War Supplemental. Congress’s own projection is that they will spend $1.2Trillion more than we have, and that a total of $1.4Trillion will be added to the National Debt. In order to cover this shortfall they will borrow from the American Future.

You know, when I was growing up, and admittedly to this very day, my parents did everything in their power to pave the way for a better life for myself and my sister. They worked tirelessly day and night to provide for our wellbeing and our future. If there was a sacrifice that my parents could make in order to make my life better in anyway, they would instinctually make that sacrifice. The amazing, if not completely intuitive, thing is that it worked. We have not had to work nearly as hard as our folks had to, and we have far less debt. Not only is life better for my sister and I, but we are now in a much better position to help our parents should they need it.

What if another child’s parents behaved in the exact opposite manner? What if these parents refused to make any sacrifices for their children or themselves at all? What if I told you that these parents took out loans against there children’s future efforts and earnings just to make things easier on themselves today? What if these parents made their children work their entire lives to cover interest payments on debt used to “create” a job for the parents? What if these parents wanted more for nothing and took out even more loans collateralized by the toil of there unborn grandchildren? What if, they continued to avoid the painful consequences of their indiscretion, and spent all of their retirement? Now they are one more responsibility of their enslaved children.

Sadly those parents do exist, and we are them. America has presided over all of those terrible things since the Woodrow Wilson Administration. We are stealing generational sovereignty and liberty from Americans who have yet to be born. Have we become so morally bankrupt that we cannot see this? Barak Obama did not invent this game, but his “economic debt package” is escalating it to a whole new level.

This article was published May 13, 2009 in The Von Ormy Star.