by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market
blog
Washington is laying on the malaise pretty thick lately over automatic budget
cuts set to take effect in March, with admonitions and partisan attacks galore.
Of course, those of us who are educated in the finer points of our corrupt
puppet government are well aware that the public debate between Democrats and
Republicans amounts to nothing more than a farcical battle of Rock’Em Sock’Em
Robots with only one set of hands behind the controls. The reality is, their
decisions are scripted, their votes are purchased, and they knew months ago
exactly how America’s fiscal cliff situation would progress. The drama that now
ensues on the hill is meant for OUR benefit and distraction, and no one
else.
The Obama Administration warns that “sequestration” (austerity) will result
in a return to recession for the U.S. News Flash, folks! The country never
left the recession that officially began in 2008. Sorry to burst that inflated
recovery hopium bubble…
Janet Napolitano warns that cuts will result in a greater risk of terrorist
attacks. Apparently, an extra $85 billion per year buys us complete safety from
the Muslim boogeyman, though the DHS has been far more concerned with “homegrown
extremists” (people like me) than Al-Qaeda lately…
The White House and DHS has warned that funding for border control may be
diminished, and the southern border will be left “wide open” to infiltration.
Apparently, the White House is not aware that the southern border is ALREADY
wide open. If they were truly concerned about the porous border, maybe they
would refrain from decisions to release over 10,000 illegal immigrants from
holding before cuts have even been finalized, sending a clear message to Mexico
that there will be no consequences for anyone sneaking into the U.S. without
permission…
The DOD warns that cuts to defense will result in a weakened military posture
for America, and yet, our posture has already been greatly weakened by our
numerous illegal wars in the Middle East (some overt, some covert). I have yet
to see any tangible assessments on how our continued presence in Iraq and
Afghanistan has made our nation safer…
Let’s put all of this into perspective; America’s current annual deficits
have exceeded $1 trillion for the past four years. Our official national debt
has expanded nearly $7 trillion in the span of five years. Through QE3 (QE
infinity), the Federal Reserve is now pumping over $85 billion (that we know
about) per month into our financial system. And in March, the federal
government is being asked to cut $85 billion over a span of six months?
It sure seems like a drop in the bucket compared to the massive expenditures
already taking place. Yet, these moderate cuts are being heralded as a sign of
fiscal apocalypse by the White House and others. Why? Because America has
reached the point at which any disruption in government liquidity will damage
our recovery fantasy, and the establishment is acclimating us to the coming
crisis so that we don’t immediately take up our torches and pitchforks. The lie
is so tenuous, that the fiat must forever flow, or the illusion crumbles. Not
only must spending continue unabated, it must also EXPAND with each passing year
in order to handle the growing liabilities of entitlements and interest payments
on capital already borrowed. Even the smallest of cuts could indeed send our
economy into a tailspin (with a little help from the Federal Reserve and reduced
currency creation), because that’s exactly how desperate our circumstances
are.
Of course, the establishment plans to make matters worse by applying cuts
where they will be most painfully felt by the populace. The fear mongering is
reaching fever pitch with threats of wide open borders, weakened military
superiority, lost government jobs, unemployed teachers, etc. But let’s imagine,
just for one blissful moment, that the government was NOT utterly criminal and
subversive; what kind of cuts would an honest government make right now in order
to counter the dangers of debt disintegration and dollar devaluation?
…I really don’t know because I’ve never lived under an honest government. I
have little personal experience in how one would behave. However, here is what
I would cut from the budget…
Unnecessary Foreign Aid
Will some cuts be made to foreign aid after “sequestration”. Yes. But
nowhere near enough. The U.S. spends around $50 billion a year on foreign aid,
including $3 billion in “direct assistance” to Israel (meaning they get a lot
more money and equipment through indirect means), $2 billion to Iraq, $1.7
billion to Pakistan, $1.4 billion to Egypt, $1.2 billion to Haiti (actually, the
Hatians are the only people on the list so far that actually need the money),
and $1 billion to Kenya (…Kenya?). The list goes on and on. Even Mexico gets
around $400 million a year in foreign aid from the U.S.
The establishment has conditioned the general public to consider any
suggestion of cutting foreign aid to be taboo. Politicians on both sides of the
aisle will wail and scream at the thought of reducing aid to Israel or other
Middle East nations. That said, the bottom line is that we cannot afford it.
You may believe every dollar to these countries results in the thwarting of evil
doers and the filled bellies of orphan children. It doesn’t matter, because we
can’t afford it. You may believe the whole of America’s international
reputation and diplomatic sway hangs in the balance over foreign aid
expenditures, but this is irrelevant, because we can’t afford it.
The most detrimental threats to the U.S. are INTERNAL and financial, not
external, and cutting foreign aid would alleviate those detrimental threats by
about $50 million dollars. I’m a little tired of hearing how America is
supposed to “export democracy” and keep its fingers in the cookie jars of
nations around the world. This is a globalist philosophy that has never borne
fruit and never will. It is time to bring the money back home where it might
actually do some legitimate good.
Occupation Wars
The Neo-Cons played the American people like a banjo for nearly a decade
claiming first that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary in
order to defuse Al Qaeda influence. Then, when we realized that the resource
rich fields of the Middle East were the true target, rather than the
“terrorists”, they changed their tune and claimed that now it would be
“irresponsible” to leave the region, regardless of the fallacy of the mission,
because if we did innocent people would be left to chaos and ruin.
Ultimately, the Neo-Cons never cared about the innocent citizens of Iraq or
Afghanistan, they only cared about manipulating the American public into
acquiescing to continued occupation, and that is exactly what they did. Today,
the Obama Administration carries on exactly where the Neo-Cons left off, using
the same propaganda and the same lies with a new face and a new
presentation.
Original cost estimates of the two invasions were around $100 billion for a
two year involvement, and the American people were assured that this was all
that was needed. Today, over a decade later, the costs have escalated to at
least $4 trillion (Obama's claim of a $1 trillion price tag is an outright
fabrication), and still have not abated. If the government truly wanted to save
massive amounts of capital and shield the populace from debilitating service and
entitlement cuts, they would bring the troops home; ALL OF THEM, and stop
flushing money down the toilet in the Middle East.
Instigations Of Foreign Insurgencies
Why is the Obama Administration continually pouring money into the coffers of
Middle Eastern insurgencies led by Al Qaeda operatives that supposedly hate the
U.S.? They did it in Egypt, they did it in Libya, and now they are doing it in
Syria. Is Obama an idiot, or, is there a greater purpose at work? Is the goal
to deliberately destabilize the region, or are they doing it out of blind hubris
and stupidity? In either case, all the money being showered on these civil wars
is a wretched waste, and should be stopped.
TSA Thugs
The Transportation Security Administration is the most hated institution in
America. It is reviled across the country and its dubious purpose is questioned
by almost everyone. Americans, no matter how uneducated and oblivious, still do
not like being molested by blue gloved bureaucratic freaks with preexisting
criminal records. We do not like having our small children molested by them
either. We do not like being irradiated so that our naked pictures can be
stored in a central database. We do not like thugs, brown shirts or blue
shirts, ordering us around and looking down their noses at us. Frankly,
Americans have a history of shooting those kinds of people…
DHS head Janet Napolitano has already released warnings ahead of budget cut
decisions stating that the TSA may be on the chopping block, and that this would
put American travelers “at risk”. I highly doubt that this is the plan,
though…
The TSA is not meant to protect the citizenry in any way. It is a
conditioning machine for the masses, and nothing more. It is designed to
inhibit our natural rebellion against personal search and seizure tactics, and
make us apathetic to deeper intrusions into our privacy. That is all. I find
it highly unlikely that the establishment would dismantle such a useful tool of
oppression. But, if Napolitano is sincere, then I say go for it Janey, do your
worst! Abolish the whole damned agency, because if you don’t, eventually, we’ll
do it for you.
The Criminal ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms has a long history of questionable
and often illegal activities, usually ending with the murder of civilians with
dissenting views. However, the latest snafu involves a much larger conspiracy,
culminating in the agency being caught red handed feeding American weapons to
violent Mexican drug cartels in an effort to stigmatize gun ownership in the
U.S. and to wrongly attribute deaths in the border region to American gun
dealers. This debacle is known as “Fast and Furious”.
Eric Holder, Attorney General of the U.S. and a staunch proponent of the ATF,
has defended the Fast and Furious agenda to the point of contempt of Congress.
Holder is a gun control advocate and key player in the current attacks on the
2nd Amendment, despite his habit of protecting agencies that feed weapons to
psychopathic drug lords.
Any agency with this much schizophrenic disregard for the rights and safety
of Americans should be wiped from the ass-end of history. It also has an annual
budget of $1.2 billion, which could be spent in far better places, to be
sure.
Big Brother DHS
What exactly does the Department of Homeland Security do that the FBI and the
CIA did not already do before its inception? The great lie spread in the wake
of 9/11 was that various alphabet agencies were not “in communication” with each
other, and that intelligence gathered was not “reaching the right people”. Of
course, Bush had received several warnings pre-9/11 of impending attacks, and
the FBI and CIA on more than one occasion had the opportunity to apprehend Osama
Bin Laden, but were thwarted by the Administration itself, sending a clear
message that the government catches “terrorists” only when it WANTS to catch a
terrorist.
The DHS was established as a means to centralize information sharing, but it
has become much more. It now encompasses and directs much of the internal law
enforcement outfits of the U.S. through so-called fusion centers, and even plays
a growing role in external matters. Much of the analytical paperwork coming out
of the agency, though, does not deal with foreign enemies like Al Qaeda.
Rather, the agency is almost obsessively focused on “domestic threats”, like
returning war veterans, Constitutionalists, gun rights champions, Ron Paul
supporters, and Liberty Movement activists.
In the end, the DHS is intended to combat a specific opponent, and that
opponent is obviously the American people.
The DHS is set to absorb $2.6 billion in cuts if sequestration goes though,
causing the organization to spew dire prophecies of doom. Yet, the DHS is
projected to have a $9 billion surplus by the end of 2013, and apparently has
enough funding to place orders for over 2 billion rounds of combat ammunition
(not for training purposes, sorry disinfo-agents). I say cut the head off the
beast. Remove DHS, save American liberties, and spend those billions
elsewhere.
Gitmo-Style Black Sites
I find it highly distasteful and disturbing that the U.S. government is
operating black sites like GITMO where they can torture and murder in obscurity,
rather than having to answer to the public, all while instituting these
activities in our name. The common argument is that these prisons are necessary
to isolate the most volatile of villains, and obtain vital data in the war on
terror. Well, despite what you may have seen in the movie ‘Zero Dark Thirty’,
torture rarely if ever produces reliable and concurrent intel that can be acted
upon to prevent any impending attack, or apprehend any enemy agent. And, after
what we saw at Abu Ghraib, the government has proven itself absolutely
untrustworthy to handle incarcerated prisoners in any capacity, let alone in
places where independent oversight does not exist.
Didn’t Obama make a campaign promise in 2008 to shut down GITMO, by the way?
Why not do it now, save the country some cash, and end a disgusting and immoral
practice that demeans the whole of our society?
Domestic Drone Programs
Why does the federal government need 30,000 drones in the skies over the
heads of American citizens? Why is this being pursued? If the government seeks
to make war on the American people, then by all means, admit that this is the
goal and at least we will know the rationalization for spreading a spider’s web
of remote controlled technotronic death from sea to shining sea. This is the
only POSSIBLE purpose that such a fleet of drones could serve. If this is not
the reason for the escalation of drone activity, then there is no logical
reason, and they should be perfectly willing to end these programs, saving the
U.S. millions if not billions of dollars.
Corporate Welfare
Long before the banker bailouts and the "too big to fails", government has
been pouring free money into the coffers of international corporations that were
already claiming billions in capital. This welfare has reached epic levels;
around $93 billion by some estimates. Why? Maybe because the establishment
knew years ago that these companies were headed for debt implosion. Or, maybe
because D.C. is a revolving door and corporate vampires like to spend time in
the public sector bleeding taxpayers dry. I don't know. What I do know is that
whatever purpose corporate welfare was supposed to serve, it failed. We are in
the midst of the most extensive economic crisis of all time, and many of the
companies that received welfare for the past couple decades are debt addled
failures that provide little in job creation. It's time to cut our losses...
The Obama Family’s Extravagant Vacations
All this panicked discussion on budget cuts, yet, no one seems to be talking
about reducing the most frivolous of expenditures. The Obama family’s four
trips to Hawaii alone have cost Americans tax payers at least $20 million (this
is a very conservative estimate)! Why is the nation pounding its collective
head against the wall over extreme national debt obligations while this joker
and his overprivileged family are spending a thousand times more on each of
their vacations than any other citizen?
Hey Obama, try a trip to Florida, you money swilling bastard! Maybe you
could squeeze it in for under a million? Take a swim in the Everglades perhaps,
the water is fine…
One Day Soon, Everything Will Be Cut…
If Americans are frightened of a small budget cut of $85 billion, imagine
what they’ll do when they realize this is just the beginning of the avalanche.
It will not be long before our foreign creditors turn away from the Dollar and
begin using alternative currencies like the IMF’s SDR basket. At that point,
the purchasing power of the Greenback will be severely suffocated, and the
numerous social services the public enjoys today will be buried as well.
Some people might question why I did not include any entitlement programs or
social support in my list of needed budget cuts. I would only point out that
such programs are not long for this world anyway, and though most of them
shouldn't exist in the first place, the expenditures listed above are even more
peripheral. The feds will keep welfare going for as long as possible, in order
to subdue public response and soften collective rage, but there will come a time
when the food stamps, medicare, disability payments, and other subsidies will
suddenly stop. EU members like Spain are a perfect example, stealing over 90%
of social security funds in order to maintain a façade of solvency, while others
are raiding retirement funds and employee pensions, all because austerity
measures are exhausting entitlement pools. This is where the U.S. is headed,
and it cannot be avoided. Not through fiat printing, or any other nonsensical
strategy.
My goal was to merely point out that there are plenty of irrelevant federal
appendages out there that could be amputated, but probably won’t be, while other
more useful programs will come under fire. In the end, the budget cuts are not
about saving money; they are about social maneuvering and political gain. They
will be used as an excuse for everything, and will produce nothing favorable,
not because cuts are not needed, but because the people in charge of them are
not trustworthy.
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