Judy, The national debt is for real and not a fantasy, my friend. The symptom of this problem is the Great Recession of 2008. As everyone knows, the recession was due to the banks' use of mortgage derivatives. Why did the banks use them? Because the economy was slowing down from the construction of homes to the sales of homes. It was the banks' idea to make money from mortgages with bad or no collateral. When the initial mortgage could not be paid, the derivatives from that mortgage fell as well. Thus, the government was asked to save the big banks that started it in the first place. As such, the national debt increased further which the politicians don't know how to pay off.
This is how the national debt has become a political problem. Since nobody is taking the initiative from the Capitol, the Federal Reserve Board is attempting to solve the problem with its Quantitative Easing Policy which lowered the lending rate to almost zero for about 8 years now. The Fed's intent was and is to stimulate growth in the economy. But the down side is that the cost of housing has risen tremendously nationwide, especially here in SFCA. I am sure the Fed managers know this is happening. But are continuing the QE policy to stimulate economic growth. But for how long? If they raise the rate, they risk of having the recession again. or the rise of inflation. So, you see these are the consequences of an unusually high national debt which is like a monkey on every American's backs. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : John, you've been beguiled and seduced and misled by those seeking to gain political advantage from criticizing the national debt. That's what I meant when I said it was a *political* problem, not an economic problem. The US isn't going to go bankrupt any more than it's going to annex other countries. These are just fairy tales. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Judy, The national debt is very much a problem for the USA and the world. Twelve years ago, the Auditor General of the General Accounting Office gave Congress an advisory relating to the need to reduce the debt when it was about 13 trillion dollars. Congress has not done anything up to this day when it is now about 20 trillion dollars. The politicians are driving this country literally on fumes. The effects of this deficit can be seen worldwide--from the great recession of 2008 to the rise of terrorism and ISIS. Why terrorism? Because the people are mainly living in poverty and a third world economy. People in the third world cannot compete economically with the advanced nations in productivity and living conditions. Thus, the people are suffering in poverty, and turn to Islam for relief. But Islam is not prepared to make such an economic repair. Thus, they turn to violence and rejection of the western economic systems which contributed to the cycle of poverty that its people are experiencing. So, you see the US and Europe are experiencing the karma of its economic policies in the form of terrorism and radical Islam. It is obvious that the politicians in the US and Europe do not understand this connection. So, they react to radical Islam with an equal amount of violence to eliminate the problems. But IMO, the problems will not go away. The suffering will only increase until the correct solution is found. In the meantime, the USA has found itself as the most dominant country militarily and economically in the world.. That's why, for better or worse, the USA will eventually be involved to repair the economic disparities with its partner countries. If not, other nations will go bankrupt just like Greece, Venezuela, and soon Italy, Portugal and other countries with weak economies. If the USA becomes bankrupt, there will be a worldwide economic depression. Do any of the politicians know what they're doing to lead the country? ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : Annexing other countries ain't gonna happen, John. Out of the question. And you really need to lose your obsession with the national debt. It isn't a problem; it isn't like individual debt on a credit card. You know how people who don't know anything about astrology often focus on newspaper sun-sign columns as if they were important? That's because everybody knows their birthday, and it's dead easy to see which sun sign one is. But sun signs aren't really significant in one's horoscope, since 12 percent of the entire population of the world has the same sun sign. Similarly, it seems to me, people who don't know much about economics focus on the national debt and the daily ups and downs of the Dow Jones. It's the same principle: It's dead easy to check the Dow Jones in the newspaper and to look up what the national debt is. But neither is very important. The national debt, if anything, is a political problem, not an economic problem, but that's because, again, of general ignorance of economics. And nothing you say below about ISIS and jihadists challenges what I said about Trump "leading the US against radical Islam." It's pretty much a non sequitur. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : Judy, The current chain of events in the world is too complicated for anyone to understand. However, if ISIS succeeds to make a "hit" on the US home turf, you will see a radical turnaround in the country's viewpoint. I would suspect the "drums of war" to beat against ISIS and jihadists around the world. Hello, Do you remember the 911 attack? Given the current national debt, the US is more prone to annexing other countries who want to join the American union of states. On the other hand, there are many countries in the world, including those in Europe, which would like to join the Union in order to stay competitive and viable in the global market, given the apparent weakness of European Union. Also, historically, this is how the US has grown by acquiring territories by appropriating and purchasing lands from other countries, such as the Louisiana Purchase from France, the Mexican-American War, and the Alaska Land Purchase from Russia. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : Oh, please, John. Trump isn't going to "lead the US against radical Islam." He doesn't have the *smarts* to carry out such a task. The situation in the Middle East is far, *far* too complicated for him to have any idea how to deal with it. And the idea of the US "annexing other countries" is simply ludicrous. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <jr_esq@...> wrote : MD, If we're not careful, Americans could make Trump the most powerful man in the world, after he leads the US against radical Islam. We already know that Trump has the Pitta body constitution and personality to carry out such a task. The USA could end up annexing other countries as part of Union and become the World Government the individual man may or may not want. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <mdixon.6569@...> wrote : I kind of think we're already in a world war. Civilization vs Radical Islam From: "jr_esq@... [FairfieldLife]" <FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com> To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:17 PM Subject: [FairfieldLife] Should The USA Declare War Against ISIS and Jihadists in the World? If Trump is elected president, he will push Congress for such a declaration. But are Americans and the world ready for another world war? Kudlow on Trump’s two homers: Pence and a promise for a declaration of war https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kudlow-trump-two-homers-pence-122513750.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kudlow-trump-two-homers-pence-122513750.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma Kudlow on Trump’s two homers: Pence and a promi... https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kudlow-trump-two-homers-pence-122513750.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma Donald Trump hit two home runs this week, says Larry Kudlow. View on www.yahoo.com https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/kudlow-trump-two-homers-pence-122513750.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma Preview by Yahoo