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How The Middle Class, Or The New Rentiers, Is Stuck Between Deflation And Hyperinflation
Rentiers Are Headed for Trouble, but Who Are They?
June 24, 2010
By John R. Taylor, Jr.
Chief Investment Officer, FX Concepts
The world is currently overwhelmed with debt, but underwhelmed with growth. Everyone is trying to
export, but no country has embraced the concept of expanding domestic consumption. Although I
personally like consumption, I am an American and therefore over-borrowed and unable to service the
debt loads of my city, my state, and my country, not to mention my own personal debt load. With the
Americans no longer available as consumer of the last resort, and no one else stepping up, global final
sales will stagnate in the years ahead. As a result, global debt loads will become relatively larger. If the
world economic pie can not grow strongly, thereby lessening the relative size of global debts, the magic
of compound interest will certainly bankrupt many governments and commercial entities. Currently
there is a growing solvency crisis impacting many Eurozone sovereigns and another one that is
occurring within many states and jurisdictions in the United States. It seems quite obvious that many of
these problems will lead to default and the loss of principal on a grand scale. In the next few years, a
greatly increased percentage of all outstanding investment grade global debt will default.
Historically, whenever debt levels have become overwhelming, countries defaulted on their debt, often
by killing the bankers or by changing the terms of the debt. Kings came up with many nefarious
schemes to escape the burden of repaying the debt they owed, but they had an advantage that modern
governments do not have. The people that owned the debt in the old days were identifiable; Karl Marx
referred to them as the rentiers. They were the ones who lived by clipping coupons, doing no work;
they were the leeches that lived off the work of others. The rentiers were not only the ‘sometimes’
enemies of the king and his court, but they also were the ‘constant’ enemy of the working masses and
the middle class. As such they could be singled out by the authorities and persecuted or robbed
without much fear. Some European monarchs like Philip IV defaulted many times, but continued their
aggressive (military) spending policies. Modern democratic governments bound by the rule of law
might find it hard to be so creative, but that is not the biggest restriction indebted governments face.
They can’t identify the bad guys, Keynes’ “functionless investors.” Who are those who benefit from this
passive income, today’s rentiers? They are not the owners of the banks like the ultra-wealthy JP
Morgan or John D. Rockefeller owner of Standard Oil, as people of this type now hold only a tiny
percentage of the outstanding debt. The owners of the debt are us, the vast middle class. We public
and private pensioners and life insurance holders are the ones who are the rentiers. About 30% of US
GDP can be classified as passive. European numbers are similar. And, now that more and more of us
are at retirement age, we are expecting to live on our savings. Our retirement income might look like
an entitlement to some, but to us it is our right. What happens next?
In 2010, the authorities seem to have only two choices: allow defaults, which lead to deflation and
tremendous stress to the political system and public order; or inflate so that debts lose their
significance, which eventually leads to hyper-inflation and tremendous stress to the political system and
public order. Growth is a theoretical way out of this dilemma, but with shrinking populations and
increased regulation, Europe cannot manage this option. The US might, but the way will be difficult.
Cascading defaults will strip away many entitlements upsetting the rentiers and those who had planned
to become rentiers in the future. Countries that choose to allow defaults will see their currencies rally
as there will be a shrinkage of currency outstanding increasing the value of the rest, but collapsing
equity markets will test their resolve at every turn. We rentiers will be lucky if we can enjoy our dotage
h/t Teddy KGB
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that's right. the middle class with a lot of debt will get hurt by deflation.
Gunray: "I want droidekas up here at once!"
Haako: "We will not survive this..."
God that movie sucked.
It seems to be devil if you do and devil if you don't, but if you allow the defaults to happen don't you run the risk of a flight of capital and subsequent currency crisis ?
IMO if the defaults happen then sovereign defaults are close behind, owing to collapsing tax revenues => inability to service sovereign debt. This leads to a currency crisis, so IMO the answer to your question is yes.
Which leads to Mad Max?
Angry Max, at least.
ALL IS WELL!!!
The middle class is porked: too much income to qualify for any programs, too little income to get ahead of teh curve. Remember that worry about who will replace babyboomers in the American workforce when they retire? Problem solved, reduce overall workforce and force babyboomers to work until they're in their 80s.
Ah, now you can see why no serious effort is being done on illegal immigration. Solution Sue Arizona and the Obama administration is now considering amnesty for the 11million illegal immigrants now(8 Republican Senators have requested info from the WH on this but all is mum). Paco and Jose are going to fund your watered down retirements thats if they stop wiring money out off the country and decide this is the place to be. All the while Americans are looking to escape to Ecuador, Argentina ect. Too funny
I think we could see a different kind of immigration "reform". We share long borders with Mexico and Canada, and both countries have abundant natural resources, low population density, and weak militaries. Mexico has a young demographic that could serve a growing empire well -- as taxpayers and canon fodder. Now these are both sovereign countries, but when push comes to shove these nicities will be overlooked. Both countries will be annexed within a generation as the U.S. Moves to counter the growing influence of China in the Pacific, and the federation of Islamic republics (formerly known as the EU) across the Atlantic.
If I remember correctly Canada about 20 years ago the Canucks were offered statehood by the arrogant pricks in DC. They actual believed the Canadians would fall all over themselves. Canada responded with a NO THANKS.
Anyone who uses the term "Federation of Islamic Republics" to talk about Europe is, in my humble and unbiased opinion, a complete and utter moron.
Just to dispel any doubt: my dear Rogerwilco, you are, without a doubt, a complete and utter moron.
I will not dignify the rest of the drivel you posted on ZH with any further comment. That is all.
And dipshits (my dear Anton) who ignore the time frame in my comment should learn to read. Unless native Europeans suddenly decide to break a 30-year trend and have lots of children, the demographics overwhelmingly point to Muslim-influenced coalition governments, and outright majorities in countries like France.
Yes unfortunately this is all too correct. France is a done deal. Britain is teetering. Germany will end up attempting another "cleansing". Short term anything can happen, but long term the math always wins. Unless the royals put something in the water, the demographics are just too strong.
And I am willing to bet you have never been to any of these countries, now, have you?
You have to physically be in a country to fully understand demographic reports?
Europe will be majority Muslim soon, based on birthrates of Muslim immigrants who are already in European countries. It's not racist, it's just demographics. You can't argue that the facts make you uncomfortable--it's just going to happen. All we can argue about is the timing.
Except, of course, that the vast majority of Muslims, as they assimilate in the general population, see their birth rates fall to the average level of the host country.
Assimilation is the biggest point here. Countries that provide strong separation of Church and State, and have a culture of assimilation - such as France - have already seen this demographic tendency in, at least, part of their muslim population (birth rate going from 5 or 4 kids per household down to 2.X kids per household, with X usually lower than 5).
Again, most people that scream from the rooftops that Europe is going to be a moslem union in a few years (or decade) do not understand even the most basic demographical concepts and are simply looking for an excuse to justify their prejudices.
Yes, I am looking at you, Geoff.
i agree.
tanning of caucasians. welcome to america, as well.
i can tell you almost sure. all 20's & 30's something white hot chicks sure
as hell aren't interested in having babies. they barely want to enter the institution of marriage. the “family” image is breaking down, folks. smart white chicks just don't buy into the mother and birthing, will make you happy bullshit, feed to me.
Utterly moronic. Anyone who studies demographics know that France has one of the best demographics in Europe, along with Ireland, and that moslems are a small minority (6% to 10% according to most estimations) and that the vast majority of them are rather well integrated in French society (according to a recent surveys).
There are many benefits to a society that enforces separation of Chuch & State (or "laicite" as the French call it) and many French moslems realize this. Furthermore, moslems are still a minuscule minority in political parties. While this may, or may not, be a good thing, the moslems that are members of political parties tend to be the best integrated in French society, not crazy fanaticals from Pakistan and elsewhere.
Finally, while this may not be true for the rest of Europe, I am a lot more worried that moslems will become scapegoats than to see them establish an islamic regime of some sort.
I suggest you go back to talking about something you know about, like, for instance, douchebaggery.
Marc Faber sees us going to war also (to divert from the hyperinflation that's coming)--but my money's on Mexico, versus Canada. Easier to fire up Americans to fight non-English speakers.
If the US every tries to put the debt burden on those illegal immigrants then the government will really need that border fence.....
to keep them from going back to Mexico!
As soon as housing somewhat recovers so I can sell out Im going with them. I know a spot in the Yucatan where you can live with a maid,gardener, mistress and house for about 38 bucks a day. I just have to wait for the drug war thingy to get better or move farther south. Thats the trouble with us ex Navy boys. We seen with our own eyes how the US being the greatest place to be was a farce placed in our young minds starting with your first grade teacher. Expat I am, Iam. Now back to my World Cup.
Unfortunately, housing isn't going to recover for a loooonnnng time.
Assuming that Jose and Paco are good guys here to work and pay taxes, and not looking to kill us, bury us in the back yard, and to illegally occupy our house and turn it into the next outlet for MS-13.
Rome might have been built on the backs of slave labor, but it was cheap imported labor doing the work the good Romans wouldn't do that finally brought it down.
Force? Sink or swim is more a matter of choice.
Given the choice bewtween going to work or facing the Death Panels, more than a few might keep on working til they drop.
In some corporations (e.g. IBM) who had no unions, the old Retirement Plans paid a pension based upon a salary formula. While DIRECT CONTRIBUTIONS were not made, it was understood that one's salary was REDUCED due to participation in the Retirement Plan. The payment of pension is actually DEFERRED COMPENSATION of salary EARNED.
One must understand that there is a DIFFERENCE among various plans.
allow the defaults its the only way to be fair
the savers get rewarded with their currency strengthening the debtors go into default. thats the way the system should work
hyperinflation and EVERYONE gets f*cked
how can the currency strengthen if debtors go into default, global examples prove quite the opposite..only in the long-term...
There is less supply of "money" to go around, the remaining currentsea is hoarded in a self reinforcing deflationary spiral.
... UNLESS they have PMs and/or stable (or, at least more stable) foreign currencies.
There, fixed that for you. You are welcome.
Got Gold?
"hyperinflation and EVERYONE gets f*cked"....well, no, not the politicians. They don't want to be the bad guys bringing deflation.
Count on politicians to cover their own ass every time.
"Certainly," continued Monte Cristo, "I make three assortments in fortune—first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate fortunes. I call those first-rate which are composed of treasures one possesses under one's hand, such as mines, lands, and funded property, in such states as France, Austria, and England, provided these treasures and property form a total of about a hundred millions; I call those second-rate fortunes, that are gained by manufacturing enterprises, joint-stock companies, viceroyalties, and principalities, not drawing more than 1,500,000 francs, the whole forming a capital of about fifty millions; finally, I call those third-rate fortunes, which are composed of a fluctuating capital, dependent upon the will of others, or upon chances which a bankruptcy involves or a false telegram shakes, such as banks, speculations of the day—in fact, all operations under the influence of greater or less mischances, the whole bringing in a real or fictitious capital of about fifteen millions. I think this is about your position, is it not?"
Apropos - +++
Goddamned kulaks. Better that they be deprived of their property post-haste. Can you believe the temerity of the little people?
What's happened here, when a former vice president - and savior of the world - can't even rape a girl without the bitch leaking it to the press? Where's the appreciation?
__
You know, I never feel comfortable on these sort of things. Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of income tax - the only way you can save money nowadays.
___
That's awesome and terrifying...+1000
Median home values on a CPI adjusted basis are at 1987 values right now, and probably have a lot further to run before we hit a true bottom in home value. So far home values are about 72% of the market peak (March 2007). The point being that in addition to the equity value hit, the home value hit has been pretty extraordinary. I know this is already intuitively obvious, but the way they run Case-Schiller and other data sets, it's still spun in such a way as to obfuscate this loss (even with the median home price, it's not adjusted for CPI, you have to do that manually).
To tie this back to the article, home value is the primary source of wealth for the middle class, so that 28% drop affects a much greater proportion of total wealth for the middle class.
I don't see how the US can inflate itself out of anything. It's a reserve currency that floats openly. What does inflate mean? What does devalue mean? I really don't think many people truly understand the dynamics of money in this respect.
In other news, Australian PM Kevin Rudd ousted in coup by Corporate, Financial and Media factions. Main reason sited? Failure to implement a highly unpopoular Carbon Trading (Cap and Trade) Market bill.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jun2010/rudd-j24.shtml
Sometimes I'm ashamed of being an Ozzie.
A salient point, it should really be termed a devaluation of the currency, not an inflation of it.
"Historically, whenever debt levels have become overwhelming, countries defaulted on their debt..."
"...often by killing the bankers..."
"...or by changing the terms of the debt."
Memo to Jamie & Lloyd
I like it. Sounds like a plan. Let's call it TARP II/ Guillotine Edition.
Growth is constrained by increasing real energy costs and has been for ten years. There is no more growth left in the system.
Inflation isn't something that can be pulled out of a hat. If it was, Bernanke would have pulled already. He has certainly tried. Instead, high energy prices are bankrupting commerce from the bottom up. More and more of America is worth less than the cost to make/build. Money is disappearing from circulation - deleveraging is the big word for this. The Fed and other central banks 'print' but with zero effect as the excess funds are swept onto bank balance sheets as excess reserves; into liquidity traps. The lack of investment opportunities leading to diminished credit is self- reinforcing. At the same time, existing debt on balance sheets demands more reserves as a hedge against default.
The banks and finance have already cast their lot with deflation. Otherwise, banks would be reducing reserves, interest rates would be higher (because of demand for credit) and loans would be available. Instead the banks are amplifying the problem; triggering the outcome that they seek to avoid. Maybe the banks know something that John Taylor doesn't.
An increasing percentage of money capital is being allocated away from investment and toward wasteful energy consumption - destruction of resource capital. Our greater business plan of metering or renting waste is not a good plan and needs to be replaced. Otherwise, circumstances will do this revising for us.
Good point but I'll add that due to economic uncertainty, middle class money is being directed into Government bonds and not corporate bonds that may lead to productive investment.
The more debt the government issues, the less money exists for private investment. This has an effect of raising corporate bond yields further liquidating their capital reserves and leading them closer to insolvency.
This is truley waisteful spending by the public but enticed by the credit addicted beurocrats.
duplicate
Once again Steve lays bare the problem I see practically no one discussing. Energy constraints. Apparently the solution we've collectively chosen is to let the situation resolve itself.
$80 is the new $147
Growth is constrained by increasing real energy costs and has been for ten years. There is no more growth left in the system.
Not true.
Eliminate Software Patents, Process Patents, Gut most copyright legislation from the last 30 years and watch the technology sector grow. Cisco, Apple and Microsoft will be much smaller for it, but small business activity will explode. Correspondingly, media conglomerates like Disney and Sony will take a direct hit. Again, media-related economic activity would explode.
Sure, "eliminate" those things. If you take away some else's property rights, who are you going to cry to when they tell you you no longer own your house?
He's right about software patents. Imagine if someone patented the formula to calculate a profit margin, or how to calculate a loan payment? That's essentially what software patents are.
FYI, IBM has (but doesn't enforce) a patent on how to draw horizontal and vertical lines on a graphics terminal (monitor). If they wanted, they could sue virtually every software developer on the face of the planet that programs any modern UI element. What do you think of that?
Seize factories and bank accounts while you're at it.
I mean, all the wealth we need is just sitting there right? If we just pretend not to know its source, we should be able to grab all we want with zero consequences and live like kings.
Global debt is a massive black hole and we are at the event horizon.
The singularity is tiny, but infinite.
There is no escape.
Spot on! The middle class is the new rentiers, living off the back of the rest of the world.
Disgruntlement toward the system does not come from the system being perceived as immoral but from the system no longer being sustainable.
Middle class people in the Western world will threaten to lose their cherished rentier status. That is why they grow angry. If skinning alive people somewhere on the Earth could maintain their rentier status, well, they will opt for that solution in a blink.
Unfortunately for them, skinning people alive is already a saturated means which allows to build the current rentier middle class.
The middle class is the new rentiers
I'm looking around...
-I see a ruling elite and their ivy league off-spring being hired by their parent's friends.
-I see working families with food insecurity. (look the term up.)
-I see college is no longer the path to class mobility.
-I see Real wages getting crushed.
-I see the top-5% capturing the wealth of the bottom 95%
-I see savers getting penalized for planning ahead.
No middle class though.
The great Roman historian Livy wrote: "These days...we can bear neither our disease nor their remedies" as he deplored the decay of national character during a series of political and economic crises that ended Rome's Golden Age.
Today we face the same dilemma. We have lost our collective will to face defaults of large US corporations. The loss of will stems from two additive forces: an unwillingness to struggle and the realization that US economic dominance is on thin ice and needs to be artificially supported.
Instead of "TBTF", think of it instead as keeping up appearances. We'll be increasingly focused on appearances as US dominance slips. As a society we have also become victims of our own past economic success which lead to a culture of "I want to have it all, now".
Hence the risks of deflation and resulting risks of hyperinflationary policy. Right now those forces are locked in battle. It's my contention that rather than a "tie game", where the forces cancel, we have a Double Whammy Economy where real assets deflate along with incomes and retirement assets as the cost of living increases pushed by excess liquidity which inflates anything backed by paper. So rather than a tipping point where wither deflation or inflation wins out, I'm looking for both forces to draw and quarter the economy through competing forces.
+1. Gonna get slammed from both ends.
When looking at the roman history, you find many contemporary explanations for the decading empire.
Two categories of them:
-loss of blood. Genetical degeneration.
-Cultural decadence. People were no longer brought up as their foreparents were.
With the current situation, you also have a similar pattern of explanation, racial and cultural.
Yet the Roman Empire was built on several Ponzi schemes. One being that at the start, Roman legionaires were rewarded with a piece of land at the end of the service. This Ponzi scheme required a land expansion of course. Land had to be added so the legionaires could get their reward.
Still the wars were not always synonym to land grabbing. There were wars to protect assets, to maintain Empire integrity etc...
An article on this site wrote about one attempt by a Roman to maintain the Ponzi scheme.
The situation evolved through the land conquests. But one day or another, as the Empire was no longer able to inject new land, legionaires no longer enlisted for gaining a piece of land but soldiered to protect others' assets.
An arsenal of means was introduced to cope with the situation like rewarding only the exceptional legionaires (merit)
But in the end, more and more, people who had something to gain personally by joining the legions were foreigners as by joining the legions they were able to gain roman citizenship and therefore access to roman citizen rights.
So no collective will. It is not a matter of collective will. Some of the Ponzi the US is built on are working less efficiently. Therefore people are less inclined to participate.
I would just add that political/military aspirants such as Julius Caesar amassed great debts as they rose their way up the ladder, to pay soldiers, gain influence, etc. They had to cover these debts by going abroad with their soldiers to plunder the surrounding regions. Talk about a ponzi scheme.
Tell me about it. Glad we live in a civilized society today where no country needs to do that anymore.
Yep. It is called biflation and it is coming to a theater near you.
And that is a succinct paragraph of the conundrum facing Obama and Congress. People who are not so different from Bernie Madoff have been running the U.S. Treasury. Regardless of the option that is chosen, we will be forced to recognize that the "wealth" to which many have become accustomed was only a mirage.
+1
@Cavier Emptor
Thanks for the quote from Livy. Very illuminating.
Someone used the term coffin corner the other day. It is when subsonic aircraft at a particular altitude need to increase speed in order to maintain lift, but can't because if the air wing speed reaches the speed of sound, it creates a vacuum in which the aircraft can't fly. So, you can't speed up and you can't slow down unless you get to a lower altitude, but if you descend, you speed up. Hence, coffin corner. It feels like we are reaching that point.
I like a cross-control stall as a better metaphor. That is when you are on descent, and your airspeed over your trailing wing dips to stall speed, but you have full opposite lock on your rudder.
The plane will just tip over and crash.
This crisis is manufactured. The rentiers are obvious. They are the fractional reserve banks and massive leverage users aka private equity firms. You need to delever, prevent leverage abuse and focus on real domestic wealth production.
We can end this crisis by following two courses of action. An incomplete outline below
1. Credit system reform (replace private/Fed money with public/Treasury money):
a. Require 100% reserve banking (a la Kotlikoff and Friedman)
b. End Fed right to print money,
c. As you raise reserve requirements issue zero interest US Treasury notes
d. Buying back debt eliminating US Treasury Bonds and Consumer debt.
e. Pursue debt forgiveness for consumer debt and prudence rewards for those not in debt
f. Let the Fed run the payments system and perform daily audits of 100% reserves
g. Regulate total system credit below Minsky's ponzi units level
h. Re institute national usury laws with max interest rates.
g. Keen's limits on mortgage underwriting and 25 year equity.
2. Trade/tax reform (there are 20 million jobs in Asia for Americans)
a. End the income tax (don't tax producers)
b. Fund government from import taxes and excise fees
c. Balance budget or finance with zero interest US Treasury notes--limit total government spending to less than 15% of GDP
So in other words, the crisis will continue.
+10
You forgot, "end corporate taxes". Because if you don't do that, it's passed on to the employees (wage reductions) and/or consumers (rising prices).
We can't identify the rentiers? Really? The very same monoethnic fingerprints are all over this financial catastrophe same as all the previous ones. Usury has been a family profession for centuries, and it's led to all kinds of exoduses and interethnic strife.
Prechter argues that deflation is inevitable, that the destruction of credit overwhelms Fed printing (far more credit in system than cash), and that borrowers refuse to borrow at any price.
Could someone with intelligence and a gift for concise argument that an idiot (me) can understand please refute the argument?
Seems central to how one positions for the crisis.
Prechter would be right about deflation but he is missing the fact that the Fed is not restrained in any way. It's money creation is only limited by how many digits computers can process. Lets say the Fed wanted to produce 1 *10^15 dollars who would stop them? Now this money must be spent to be inflationary. Well there is no audit or real oversight of the Fed so they can at will enter any and all markets as a buyer. Indeed I have joked that I wish to be Fed Chairman so I can hold a trillion dollar civilization wrecking party in Vegas. If Zimbabwe Ben wished to purchase all the oil on the market, and then burn it he could. If he wished to drive up wheat prices and let them rot in warehouses he could.
The Fed can print in practice infinite dollars. The Fed can enter any market as a buyer and bit up prices as they wish. Inflation can be driven by the Fed should it so choose. There is no oversight, and they do not answer to the public in a meaningful way.
Granted it's a fine line between buying these to prevent the natural deflation which should occur, and causing a panic that will result in a currency crisis. However as the system as built cannot survive a bout of deflation I have no doubts that the Fed will step on the gas should they need to. Ultimately the play is the same however. In deflation the system breaks, and the precious fixed income investments will be defaulted on. In currency collapse the fixed income payments will be rendered worthless.
There will be deflation, but not measured in dollar terms.
Good points. Essentially that's what's holding up the housing market, the Fed's ability to intervene directly, or almost directly: FHA, Fanny/Freddie are perfect examples since they are now more than 90% of the mortgage market, whereas before, they were less than 30%. Fanny and Freddie, like the Fed, are "private institutions", which are back stopped 100% by the Fed, err.. I mean Treasury.
Trapped inside the debt-backed central banker box, you all know that entitlements and pension funds are already wounded and are about to get taken out back behind the woodshed soon. The only alternative inside this particular scheme is to run the area 52- reverse engineered fusion-powered printing press to "bail out Main Street" at the expense of a hyperinflationary moon shot. Outcome will ultimately be the same though.
Either way, the day of the pension is dead. Just another step in de-evolution of our society and another shift of burden by the central bankers onto the masses. Just a cycle in history. Rinse and repeat.
"which lead to ......... and tremendous stress to the political system and public order"
Historically when faced with this situation the solution is the consiously begin the upheval on the theory that you can better control the outcome and the consequences. We are in a very dangerous place right now. A large regional war makes sense for a lot of very nefarious reasons.
A large "regional" war, really? Tsk, tsk, tsk, Paul, such a lack of ambition.
Think big, Paul, think big!! Global Thermonuclear War or bust!
That EURO buying support has returned ...
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-1
I think we must have reached the end of the blame-game road if we're now attempting to blame the middle class for this tragi-comedy.
Paper, metal, whatever, it's only money and none of it matters, but the score still matters. The score leads to the winnings, which are resources, of course. There are limited resources, right?
Well, give me resourceful human beings and I will own your resources.
Plant the seeds of fear and doubt in my resourceful human beings and you will own me.
You seriously believe there is more than one choice that any of the politicos will take? It has been inflation from day one.
Slightly off topic, but, on the scapegoat, divide and conquer, red herring topic, how much do any of you know about the Tea Party? I know a person, from whom I get emails, who belongs to the Tea Party. Somehow I expected to get emails concerning limited government, fiscal conservatism, messages of a Libertarian tone. I do get some of that, but most of the content is a bit unsettling, sort of like the "Jewish Problem" in reverse. It's very anti Democrat, anti Muslim, anti Palestinian, pro Israeli and anti illegal aliens (Mexicans). It is inflammatory in its nature. Is this typical? Has the Tea Party adopted these issues as the means of focusing minds, eyes and anger away from the financial issues?
The Tea Party has been hijacked by:
a) Xenophobes and right wing extremist nuts ("shoot thems mesicans crossing the border" and "revoke the 14th... brown baby's not allowed")
b) "Birthers" who feel they need to emphasize 'Hussein' is Obama's middle name every time they speak or yell ("Barack Hussein Obama !!!"), as if it makes him a Muslum terrorist (silly scare tactic)
c) Neo-con TV/Radio/Rag mags (reminding everyone that the "con" in neo-con stands for "conservative", not "con artist")
d) Career politicians (Palin) with books to sell
As you self-identify as trailer trash, I view your entire post with skepticism, and perhaps I should just leave it at that. Add to that the fact that your post is entirely off-topic, and it is safe to speculate that you are not quite what you claim to be. I am extremely active in the movement at the state level. I get and see none of what you described. I do see, though, a lot of people trying desperately to discredit us by saying exactly the things you are saying. This is being done to try to stem our incredibly rapid growth, which continues apace. The lies are being spread to make people leery of joining us. Divide and conquer is the playbook of the left-right system, not the Tea Party (at least not mine).
For anyone who is truly interested, attend one of your local group's meetings or public functions and decide for yourselves based on what you see. There IS a determined effort to corral us back into the failed two-party paradigm, after which the standard methodology will be applied: embrace, extend, and extinguish. This effort is well-funded and organized. Beck is the public speaker of this effort. I don't trust Beck at all, not at all.
My particular group endorses no candidates or even parties. We emphasize a return to Constitutional government, fiscal restraint, etc. Are people angry? You bet. Are we scapegoating? Never, except for our own complicity in allowing the system to get this far out of whack.
You posted this exact same comment--verbatim--in another thread. (That'd be post #432211.)
TROLL.
SWRichmond, Thank you for your response. My question was prompted because, in a visit to town yesterday, I saw a a sign on the highway for the Tea Party and I was interested in attending a meeting, but had been put off by the emails which I had received. I agree with you in that the only way to find out would be to visit the local group.