What we have allowed to happen in our country the past 24 months should make us all ashamed of ourselves.
Because we failed to adequately inform and enlighten ourselves we allowed a huge bailout of Mega Banks, AIG, the insurer, and the mortgage industry. In every case the everyday person on the street, you and me, was given the short straw. Our credit lines have been cut, our homes repossessed, and our ability to borrow money almost eliminated.
How have we become so totally complacent about what happens to us? Credit Reform? How has that helped you and I? Made some predatory lending and credit practices a little more difficult for unscrupulous lenders? Well, perhaps. But what has really been done to control the Big Banks.
You have heard of the Federal Reserve System, but do you know anything about it? Is it a federal government system. NO!! It is a privately chartered bank that is privately owned. Yes, Privately owned! It is the only privately owned bank that is allowed to print money (fiat currency). They print it for the U.S. Govt. NOT at the direction of the U.S. Govt. but when THEY feel it is right and appropriate. OR when the U.S. Govt wants to borrow money and there isn't enough currency available in the world in U.S. dollars, they print some more to cover the newly created debt (created by selling U.S. bonds, denominated in dollars to others, such as U.S. citizens in the form of savings bonds or to other governments).
Until a few years ago the Federal Reserve published a statistic called "M1". M1 was the total of all of the currency that had been printed, minus what had been destroyed by incineration due to being "worn out". It was all of the money the U.S. had; in banks, drawers, in circulation etc. BUT, a few years ago the Federal Reserve decided that "M1" was no longer relevant and stopped publishing it.
Why? I should make you research the answer but I'll go ahead and tell you. Because, if you knew that on a certain day the M1=X and then that the Federal Reserve had printed a Trillion dollars, it would be apparent to you with just simple arithmetic how much the dollar had been De Valued.
The rational for this goes back even further to before President Nixon who took the U.S. off of the Gold Standard. What that means is this: In the beginning each dollar was redeemable in gold or silver as stated on the bill itself. On the bill it said that the bill was redeemable for $1.00 worth of silver and they were called silver certificates. Well, first the federal reserve and the govt. decided that bills would NO LONGER be redeemable certificates. They would all become Federal Reserve Notes backed by the "Full faith and Credit of the United States". So what does that mean? Here's an example: You have a car I want to buy. I don't have any dollars but I take the car and give you a piece of paper, not a loan note or an I.O.U.,just a piece of paper that says that the piece of paper is worth $20,000.00 and is "Legal Tender for all debts, Public and private" and is backed by the "Full faith and credit of Jack Stevenson". Now all you do is give the piece of paper to someone else and take whatever it is you want up to the value of the piece of paper ( $20,000.00). In the early days of our nation, before 1913 under Woodrow Wilson when the federal reserve was established, banks could print their own money. But I digress.
So what we have today is Federal Reserve Notes who's actual intrinsic value is less than the paper and ink it takes to print it.
Does this all really matter, Jack? Well, only if your time horizon is longer than a few months.
Let me try and explain why? Remember, I asked if you what you knew about the Federal Reserve? Well, as I said, it is a privately owned and chartered bank exclusively used by the United States Government.
The Federal Reserve is owned by it's "Member" banks. The member banks are the largest banks in the United States that you can think of and name and some you can't name. And who owns THESE banks? Names like Rockefeller, Mellon, Rothchild, etc.
Now do you feel really good and warm inside when you read that Citi Bank, a bank that WE, the U.S. Taxpayer, bailed out and partially owns has made a huge almost record quarterly profit? Is Citi extending your credit? NO. Are they assisting you in renegotiating your home loan? NO. Are they making it easier for you to buy a car from one of the auto makers we also bailed out? NO. Is the value of their stock share price going up substantially? NO, not over the last one, three or five years.
So how are those executive boys doing? Not too badly, check it out.
I don't know who your inclined to look at as a political candidate, but I'm looking mostly at NON-Career candidates. Independents and tea party seem to be the best bet in that category. But I believe WE should run for public office.
