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Guest Post: Government Shutdowns, The Debt Ceiling And Gold
Submitted by Pater Tenebrarum via Acting-Man blog,
Political Grandstanding and the Dreaded 'Shutdown'
There have been 18 so-called 'government shutdowns' in the US in the past four decades, including the current one. Some were of very short duration, lasting only a day or two, a few lasted much longer (the record was the 21 day event in 1995). These shutdowns tend to happen regularly when the administration is in cohabitation with a Congressional majority in the hands of the opposition party.
For instance, if the Congressional majority is Republican and the president a Democrat as is the case at the moment, the Republicans will suddenly pretend to rediscover their inner fiscal conservative. Republican administrations backed by a Republican Congress are well known for spending money like drunken sailors, so this is really only pretense. The grandstanding is designed to pull the wool over the public's eyes: see, there are finally a few principled politicians making a stand on reducing the public debt!
That is of course nonsense. What the grandstanding and prancing about before the media is all about is only one thing: the question of how the loot is going to be divided and whose pet projects will get the most funding. It is essentially similar to elections in this regard: part of an auction of stolen goods. No-one wants to actually reduce overall spending or the public debt mountain (there are always a few exceptions to the rule of course, but you can count those on the fingers of one hand).
However, one does learn a few interesting things during these 'shutdowns'. For instance, 'non-essential government employees' are sent on unpaid vacation. This immediately raises a question though: if they are 'non-essential', why do they even exist? Once one is apprised of some of the details, it becomes even more obvious that there is something odd about these 'non-essential' jobs. Why are government employees operating ferries to the statue of liberty or selling tickets to national parks visitors? Even if one erroneously believes that such things as 'public goods' exist (i.e., goods for which there is a demand, but which the market allegedly cannot or will not provide) one should recognize that these things cannot be part of such a category of goods, however broadly it is conceived.
The shutdown is therefore a salutary event, if only because it might get some people to ask questions they haven't pondered before. As Murray Rothbard noted on occasion of the 1990 shutdown:
“In politics fall, not spring, is the silly season. How many times have we seen the farce: the crises deadline in October, the budget “summit” between the Executive and Congress, and the piteous wails of liberals and centrists that those wonderful, hard-working, dedicated “federal workers” may be “furloughed,” which unfortunately does not mean that they are thrown on the beach to find their way in the productive private sector.
The dread furlough means that for a few days or so, the oppressed taxpaying public gets to keep a bit more of its own money, while the federal workers get a rare chance to apply their dedication without mulcting the taxpayers: an opportunity that these bureaucrats invariably seem to pass up.
Has it occurred to many citizens that, for the few blessed days of federal shutdown, the world does not come to an end? That the stars remain in their courses, and everyone goes about their daily life as before?
[...]
The 1990 furlough crisis highlights some suggestive but neglected aspects of common thinking about the budget. In the first place, all parties are talking about “fair sharing of the pain,” of the “necessity to inflict pain,” etc. How come that government, and only government, is regularly associated with a systematic infliction of pain?
In contemplating the activities of Sony or Proctor and Gamble or countless other private firms, do we ask ourselves how much pain they propose to inflict upon us in the coming year? Why is it that government, and only government, is regularly coupled with pain: like ham-and-eggs, or . . . death-and-taxes? Perhaps we should begin to ask ourselves why government and pain are Gemini twins, and whether we really need an institution that consists of a massive engine for the imposition and administration of pain and suffering. Is there no better way to run our affairs?”
Indeed, the world will not end because of such a shutdown – on the contrary, it is a great opportunity to observe how many of the functions government has arrogated to itself are indeed redundant. As an aside, it was widely reported that the Republicans tied the question of whether to pass a budget resolution to the 'defunding' of the Obamacare Act. This is an example of Orwellian language. The alleged 'defunding' would not have 'defunded' a penny; it was merely about a few points of implementation. Specifically this particular point:
“Obama and Democratic congressional leaders demanded that Boehner allow a vote on a straightforward Senate bill to fund the government through Nov. 15. Under pressure from conservatives insisting he draw a hard line, Boehner refused.
Before that, the Senate rejected a House amendment delaying the entire healthcare law for a year, Boehner pushed through a second series of amendments to delay only the individual mandate and scrap subsidies in the law for members of Congress, their staff and political appointees.
Led by Reid, the Democratic majority in the upper chamber swatted down each House volley like a tennis player hovering at the net.”
So the major stumbling point that has led to the shutdown was the fact that the Democratic majority refused to give up the special privileges that allow members of Congress - contrary to all other citizens of the US - to 'opt out' from the Obamacare legislation's more onerous provisions. They will be able to save a lot of money that way.
The Debt Ceiling
Since the current shutdown is tied in with the 'debt ceiling' debate, it provides an even wider canvas for deliberations about government finances. We don't necessarily want to discuss the embarrassing inanities uttered by members of the political class in this context, or even those purveyed in the media. Starved for anything interesting to report, they are blowing the event way out of proportion (their pronouncements could hardly sound more apocalyptic if an asteroid were about to hit the earth).
Anyway, the president and his party (who naturally wish to see the debt ceiling increased sans conditions, i.e., they want to be free to continue to spend with both hands) have decided it is time to play the 'default scare card'. We should perhaps point out here that a 'ceiling' that keeps getting raised is not a 'ceiling' at all, so one wonders why it was created in the first place.
On the other hand, because the debt ceiling occasionally provides us with wholesome diversions such as government shutdowns, we must admit it is not an entirely useless piece of legislation. In fact, what we have here is a rara avis that successfully combines entertainment with education. One might call it an infotainment bill.
We are supposed to be in mortal dread over the prospect of a default. To wit, here is a recent press report announcing: “U.S. Treasury warns debt default could plunge America into worst recession since Great Depression.”
What? Not again! Didn't we just emerge from the 'worst recession since the Great Depression'? And yet, here it is again, the Great Depression boogeyman.
“A U.S. government default caused by Congress failing to raise the $16.7 trillion federal debt limit could have catastrophic consequences that might last decades, the Treasury Department said in a report Thursday.
“Not only might the economic consequences of default be profound, those consequences, including high interest rates, reduced investment, higher debt payments, and slow economic growth, could last for more than a generation,” the Treasury said in the report.
“In the event that a debt limit impasse were to lead to a default, it could have a catastrophic effect on not just financial markets but also on job creation, consumer spending and economic growth — with many private-sector analysts believing that it would lead to events of the magnitude of late 2008 or worse, and the result then was a recession more severe than any seen since the Great Depression,” the department said in the report.”
Of course this is complete nonsense as well. While it is true that a default by the US government would have grave repercussions – for instance, it may well end the dollar's dominance as the world's reserve currency, which is an extraordinary privilege enjoyed by the US – a failure to raise the debt ceiling won't lead to a default unless the treasury decides to default voluntarily.
The only thing that needs to be done to avoid a default is to merely stop deficit spending. The US treasury takes in some $2.4 trillion in tax revenue every year. That should give it plenty of scope to both continue pay interest on its existing debt as well as paying the principal on maturing debt (note that it can also issue new debt as long as it repays old debt and thereby remains within the limit imposed by the 'ceiling').
In fact, the only thing that would happen if the ceiling were not raised is that it would finally morph from the joke it currently is into an actual ceiling. Of course this would also imply that there could be no more spending growth and that nearly all discretionary spending would have to be stopped. The government's size would shrink by about a third, to where it was – 10 years or so ago perhaps? However, one thing that the recurring wrangle over raising the phony debt ceiling shows, is that there is absolutely no intention to ever reduce the debt mountain or – gasp! - actually repay the debt or even a portion of it. As Ludwig von Mises wrote about the nature of government debt (in 'Human Action')
“But if the government invests funds unsuccessfully and no surplus results, or if it spends the money for current expenditure, the capital borrowed shrinks or disappear entirely, and no source is opened from which interest and principal could be paid. Then taxing the people is the only method available for complying with the articles of the credit contract. In asking taxes for such payments the government makes the citizens answerable for money squandered in the past. The taxes paid are not compensated by any present service rendered by the government's apparatus. The government pays interest on capital which has been consumed and no longer exists. The treasury is burdened with the unfortunate results of past policies.”
Therefore, if any 'services' are to be rendered by the government once its existing debt burden exceeds a certain threshold, it will have to spend ever more – and this can only be done by either raising taxes, borrowing more funds or by means of monetary inflation. In reality, all three have been and continue to be resorted to by modern-day governments.
We often hear that government debt is required by financial institutions to render the service of 'safe collateral', but this 'safety' is an illusion. As Mises notes on this point (ibid):
“The long-term public and semipublic credit is a foreign and disturbing element in the structure of a market society. Its establishment was a futile attempt to go beyond the limits of human action and to create an orbit of security and eternity removed from the transitoriness and instability of earthly affairs. What an arrogant presumption to borrow and to lend money for ever and ever, to make contracts for eternity, to stipulate for all times to come!
In this respect it mattered little whether the loans were in a formal manner made irredeemable or not; intentionally and practically they were as a rule considered and dealt with as such. In the heyday of liberalism some Western nations really retired parts of their long-term debt by honest reimbursement. But for the most part new debts were only heaped upon old ones. The financial history of the last century shows a steady increase in the amount of public indebtedness.
Nobody believes that the states will eternally drag the burden of these interest payments. It is obvious that sooner or later all these debts will be liquidated in some way or other, but certainly not by payment of interest and principal according to the terms of the contract.”
Indeed, deep down nobody truly believes that these debts will ever be paid – and if they are paid, then likely only with money the purchasing power of which has steeply diminished. Essentially, government debt everywhere is a Ponzi scheme: old creditors are paid off with funds received by new creditors and the scheme continues to expand in size, seemingly inexorably. Here is a chart showing the US Federal debt. Since the year 2000, the US government has issued almost twice as much additional debt as it has issued in its entire history from 1776 to 2000.
US federal debt has nearly tripled since the year 2000
It is no coincidence that the true broad US money supply TMS-2 has risen by nearly 230% over the same time span. Here is a chart showing this monetary aggregate. Note the remarks we have added – if the growth rate in this monetary aggregate should slow down again, the Bernanke echo bubble will crash. The entire so-called 'recovery', such as it is, depends on this money supply inflation continuing at a steep rate:
US money supply TMS-2 since 1988. Since the year 2000, the money supply has increased by nearly 230% - whenever the rate of increase merely slows down, asset markets and the economy tend to crash.
One conclusion from this is that the authorities are now 'boxed in'. They have to continue to spend and inflate, otherwise the liquidation of malinvested capital the Fed has arrested with its money printing exercises will immediately resume. But can such a policy be continued forever and ever without any untoward consequences?
The answer to this question must be a resounding 'no'. Already the US banking system has begun to sharply reduce the issuance of inflationary credit, which is a sign that the economy is structurally so severely damaged that there is literally 'nothing left to lend'. In other words, if the banks were to issue additional credit from thin air – something they could in theory do – they would do so in the knowledge that this credit cannot ever be repaid, as underlying economic activities are no longer able to support the addition of even more debt. In fact, it is to be questioned whether they can support the already existing outstanding debt. Too many credit bubbles have apparently consumed too much real capital. We may already be at the point of no return, where it is simply 'game over'.
And yet, total credit market debt outstanding continues to grow, as the government has stepped in to an extent exceeding any private sector deleveraging that may have occurred. In fact, only part of the private sector is actually reducing its debt load, namely households. Corporations, just like the government, keep going ever deeper into debt (which is putting their record high aggregate cash hoards into perspective. Note that neither the cash held by corporations nor the debt on balance sheets are evenly distributed; the aggregation of such numbers obscures more than it reveals).
Total US credit market debt owed continues to zoom to new record highs after a one year pause following the 2008 crisis.
We strongly suspect that both government debt growth and money supply inflation will continue unabated – any pause will immediately bring about the kind of short term economic pain these policies have explicitly sought to prevent and will therefore be quickly reversed.
It is not unlike the situation the revolutionary assembly of France found itself in in the late 18th century: when it issued new money, industry seemed to revive. As soon as it stopped, industry slumped again. And so it was decided to issue ever more money, until the entire scheme blew up.
There can be little doubt that modern-day governments are on the road to a similar date with destiny – and lately the speed at which they travel toward it has increased markedly.
Gold
The gold market has been under pressure ever since it has begun to lose its 'euro crisis premium'. Nowadays nearly all the banks and brokers that turned bullish on gold when it rallied above $1,500 per ounce are fashionably bearish. Of course such analyses cannot help investors at all. Who needs an analyst who is turning bullish at $1,500 or 1,600 or 1,700 and then turns bearish at $1,400 or 1,300? Obviously one cannot make money with such advice.
However, these considerations are only relevant for traders. Longer term investors should not worry too much at what price gold trades from day to day or week to week. They buy gold because they must expect that government debt and monetary inflation will indeed continue on the path they have been on for quite some time now and that the above mentioned 'date with destiny' is very likely unavoidable.
Of course there is always a remote possibility that fiscal discipline and monetary policy rigor will make a comeback, but betting on such an outcome seems foolish. The incentives for politicians and bureaucrats are all firmly skewed in the opposite direction.
The current equanimity of markets and the enormous faith market participants apparently have in central banks and their ability to 'keep things under control' are likely to prove to be ephemeral phenomena. They are based on a comforting fantasy, as most people find other possibilities too ghastly to contemplate. That actually creates an opportunity to buy gold at a discount. On the day when this unbridled faith in central bankers crumbles, one will do well only if one already has one's insurance in hand, preferably safely stored where it is well outside the grasp of the bureaucratic and political classes.
As noted above, there is always an outside chance that this insurance won't be needed. The market economy, in spite of all the obstacles arrayed against it, continues to produce wealth. Not every investment is misguided, even though economic calculation is severely distorted by present-day policies. If the proper framework is put in place, the economy will thrive.
However, the chances that such insurance will indeed be needed seem greater today than ever. It matters little that Europe's crisis no longer dominates the headlines; what one must ask is: has anything changed? Nothing has – the mountain of public debt in Europe continues to grow. Japan is engaged in an extremely dubious monetary and fiscal experiment even while the size of its public debt hastens from record to record. Everybody knows this is unsustainable – the only question is when the day will come when the markets finally throw a fit and the unsustainable nature of this situation becomes glaringly obvious to all. It is unknowable at this time which of the many possibilities will provide the next crisis trigger – but it should be clear that things cannot simply continue along current lines for all eternity.
The choice is to either trust in fallible politicians and bureaucrats or in gold – we certainly know what we prefer.
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Gold, Bitchez....
Damn straight. No debt ceiling on gold.
How many opened this thread only because the title included "and gold"?
I did.
I also decided to comment when I saw the hockey-stick chart (parabolic) on public debt. In this environment, gold will be king.
Elizabeth Warren slams the Republicans over shutdown. Takes no prisoners.
http://www.planbeconomics.com/2013/10/elizabeth-warren-gets-mad-about.ht...She speaks with forked tongue -a native American when it suited her academic ambition, and backing off that when it was revealed as a lie. She is controlled opposition. Her words come too little, too late.
The health system in MA is a mess, a bureaucratic nightmare. Most costly for individuals. She's an educated fool, serving her Party machine. A useful diversion.
Her vigor which I admire is misplaced as she barks up the wrong tree, again. Many may hack at the branches, but few attack the root of the problem, said David Thoreau.
She has enjoyed a gilded life in academia, and intends to continue that way, apparently.
Gold, born in gamma ray bursts, the bane of corrupt bankers.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2013/pr201319.html
I wonder how many times this scenario has played-out in the universe through the eons.
Screwed sentient species in the septillions.
They HATE gold because its the only thing you can bury and hide from them that they cannot steal from you.
Asians have known this forever, and always keep around 5oz of gold in every home that has means, and if&when the shit hits the fan as it usually does, you bail or a new place to eat, shit, and fuck.
The BANKERS HATE gold cuz its like water it bypasses their worthless fucking toilet paper they call 'money'.
So I would agree when RPaul asked Bernanke or whoever "Is gold money?", .... fuck no, money can be stolen from you, but your gold can never be stolen, if properly hidden, like your un-registered GUNS.
I wanna see Hank "Armageddon" Paulson on stage again, quivering voice, trembling hands, etc scare everyone again. Charlie Rose can even invite him on his morning talk show for a detailed description of how the blood will flow unless we loosen up the cash.
Greek drama at its finest!
That was classic. Complete vapor-lock. Dodging taxes on $200 million in profits from Goldman Sachs.
"a remote possibility that fiscal discipline and monetary policy rigor will make a comeback"
ROTFLOL .. i laughed so hard at that one I thought the big one was coming on.
Warren's formal written claim of Native American status as a pre-tenure academic is despicable, and betrays both a lack of confidence in her abilities, whatever they may be, and a facile willingness to lie and cheat.
That said, she at least seems to hack at the branches now and then with her sturdy, European American hatchet.
ive made comment many times on how elizabeth warren is at best controlled opposition.
she loves to dish up soundbites that sound nice like some kind of accountability maybe be coming sometime but they are essentially that, soundbites.
like when obama dishes up his class warfare rhetoric, some folks need to pay their fair share, dodd frank regulate those wall st banks rhetoric.
its all lip service.
LOL @ CuriousPasserby.
Guilty sir.
I did too. Most of that other stuff goes right over my head. Gold I kinda, sorta understand.
I'm personally sick of this bullshit.
Bail ins, pseudo shutdowns, morally bankrupt politicians, bankers gone wild, and a circus side show for media. I could go on, but I'm preaching to the choir.
To me, the biggest one finger salute I can give is converting coupons into tangible assets while people still accept them.
Gold and silver. It's like they have always been money, and will be again.
Gold is good, but I'm partial to PLATINUM. More scarce, more useful. And more resistant to 'FDR' stunts.
Pt is awesome, but probably won't see gains like Au in a SHTF scenario, because it is not as easily recognized as Au. Pt, as a white metal, could be confused with Ag, Pd or molybdenum (Mo), any of which are considerably less valuable. When a foolproof fieldtest for Pt is developed then we'll bank with Pt.
That test would be called x-ray diffraction, and most pawn shops have a XRF gun which can easily distinguish any precious metal out there to within 1% accuracy.
Platinum is expensive because of it's scarcity and its industrial use. If someone comes up with a new way to removed nasties from vehicle exhaust without using Pt and palladium, the value will drop.
then it's a no-go. We need to barter silver on sight in back alleys. We won't all be carrying the x-ray gun.
And you're missing something else entirely: if people are too poor for vehicles they have no need for removing pollution from the exhaust.
How's that? Government can make ownership illegal for your food, land, any property of any sort, even your vehicle OR your route of transportation.
the trick is to leave. NOW.
For the average middle class individual, what would be a fair amount of Ounces of Gold to hold as an insurance to the madness we see in fiat today?
No one ever talks about this, maybe middle america is afraid to even start a stack as it's just out of reach.
The madness hasn't happened yet. The Fed's printing has been offsetting deflation due to the debt implosion that started in 2008 so it hasn't caused run away inflation. Another reason NOT to buy gold is because you think it should go up in this heavily manipulated, regulated, and somehow tepid environment.
The reason TO BUY GOLD is that there is nothing the Fed or Santa Clause would be able to in the face of the next downturn. There is so much debt in the western world, it's no coincidence that when you see the headlines BANKRUPT (Lehman), or DEFAULT (Europe, U.S. Debt Ceiling) people panic. There is 15 times more debt than money. If that debt collides with that money the money will be worth at least 15 times less, if anything. It's simple really. Historically gold wins in the situations we're in.
To answer your question most people say 10 to 30 percent or whatever your comfortable keeping secure. It costs $1200 to produce an ounce so you're not paying to much of a premium. You should buy it online from some reputable place. You can sell it at any reputable coin shops if you don't want it anymore.
"If that debt collides with that money the money will be worth at least 15 times less, if anything"
It seems to me just the opposite would be the case - if there isn't enough money in existence to pay off all the debt, wouldn't cash be more valuable (relatively speaking)?
Maybe. Has that ever happened?
I'm talking about the kind of pressure the dollar is under. It's not from Bernanke printing 85 billion a month. It's from the trust and mutual recognition that the dollar has value being destroyed by a major pillar in the financial world going bankrupt or defaulting.
Think of it as savings. The question is not how many ounces to accumulate then forget about, but how many ounces PER month/year/etc can you afford to stash away and not touch for years if need be.
#1 1 ounce for each year of retirement now, hopefully 4 per at some future date.
#2 you can't survive in America. It's like planning for how to hunker down as a German citizen during the rise of the Nazis. Insane. LEAVE. RUN. NOW.
Good article.
There is now a bill in Congress to give back-pay to all those non-essential personnel who are furloughed. Great, so they get extra paid vacation, and the taxpayer gets no services in return. There seems to be no risk at all in working for the federal government largesse.
Or until the bottom drops out, I imagine in the dystopian world to come there wont be much need for paper pushers
Government workers have been looting taxpayers for years. And they KNOW they've been looting us. Even the most hyperactive self-justification cannot convince them that taxpayers have been treated fairly. If they ever lose their jobs and most of their pensions en masse I will celebrate.
I have buddy's retired from service that pull more than $10k/month and have been doing so since they were 35+ years old, not only that but they get into any place for free, and have COMEX priv all over the world that gets them cheap booze, pussy, and cigs, ... and you name it.
The Annuity value of most of their packages would be $20Million USD+, so you know how hard it is for an average rich guy these days to win like that, ... but just an average guy if he put in his 17+ years in the forces can retire at 36 and be set for life.
[ Consider the average ameriKKKan has saving's of less than $10k, and then you can see why the New Gold Collared in AmeriKKKa or the KILLERS. ]
COPS & MIL, and FBI, ... and JUDGES get their own GOLD health care for life, they don't give a fuck about OBAMA-CARE it doesn't apply to them.
The so called "GOD DAMN SHUTDOWN" specially exempts these GOLDEN-BOYS,... 100% US Congress say's so,... why? Cuz the US Congress knows is that these killers are the only thing keep the politican's off the gallows.
What I'm saying is there is NO way in fucking hell the MIL is going to rock the boat, ... the MIL & COPS are like "KEEP PRINTING the MONEY", and if the US public oppose "WE WILL KILL THEM".
Long Gold and Silver.
Shiney!
I for one want to witness the catastrophic consequences. I've purchased some popcorn beforehand. Let the games begin.
Gold, the fed can't print it. Gotta wonder why countries want their gold back from the fed. Are they realizing the US has already defaulted?
When the Fed is buying up treasuries because not enough people are buying the debt it should raise a huge red flag.
or a black one with a skull and cross-bones.
Glistening, shiny, droplets of gold. Ocurring naturally in mother earth...meanwhile, Ben prints more fake stuff at light speed and can be found disguising itself as rolls of Charmin.
Then there's this:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/18/us-eurozone-panama-germany-idU...
Fair weather friends are no friend at all. All we have is what we can touch and feel. Gold, silver, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are our defense against all aggressors.
The rest of the world like the USA when it suited them, and will flee quickly when it suits them to join the death embrace of the international financiers based in Britain and Europe. Good. Let them live the consequences of their choices.
End all foreign aid, and wars abroad. Start with no more money to Israel and NATO.
But keep (paying for) the UN, NAFTA, CAFTO, and FeFiFoFafta, correct?
"While it is true that a default by the US government would have grave repercussions – for instance, it may well end the dollar's dominance as the world's reserve currency"
I'd say that's very grave. If the dollar was no longer the world's reserve currency, the Bernanke could not print fore eva.
Let it burn.
There, problem solved.
Jim Grant says that the dollar's reserver status puts the US at a disadvantage because it means we will never be fiscally responsible.
b s
Grant is paraphrasing Triffin.
The word GOLD will always catch a zh readers attention. Tomorrow the NEW $100 FRN will come out and the SHEEP will still think that it is real money over GOLD. PRETTY SAD........
Excellent 66 page book on the mechanics and politics behind the multiple decisions to print moar money during the French Revolution: http://mises.org/books/inflationinfrance.pdf
The "actors" say and do the same things you see today. Frightening.
Well, the Redshield bankers have been there before.
We have not. Their journals have more pertinent info than we do. And clearly they're good at avoiding 'blowback'. So far.
All this chatter about "If they default...." Look at the purchasing power of a $ over the past 20 or 30 years and tell me we have not had an ongoing stealth default taking place....it has been with us for a long time.
The best point is how the Republicans also spent like drunken sailors. The Republicans also folded on previous budget crises. There is no cutting in a 'clean' CR or even in a Non-Obamacare CR (except for Obamacare). The issue is not the debt limit and not spending cuts. It is all about Obamacare. If there is any negotiation it will mean Obamacare will pass and as h e author points out, the trade will be pork barrel projects and campaign contributions for the Republican leaders.
Great articles today on THE HILL, and CAPITOL PRESS, both non political leaning REAL-POLITIK rags, and both say ..
THE SHUTDOWN HAS MADE OBAMA-CARE stronger.
Look at it this way, the rePUGpican's who are owned by BIG-INSURANCE wrote the obama-care, and then by 'triangulation' they got the LEFT to embrace it as 'liberal' program, and then TPTB triangulated the 'tea-party' to be the opposition, which made the LEFT want it even more.
Obama and McCain are laughing all the way to the bank.
There has been no fucking difference between rePUGlicans & DEMocrats since the 1920's.
Let us pause and remember the ineffable Calvin Coolidge.....
The SHUTDOWN was supposed to KILL the US government worker, ...
But instead its a 'shutdown' in name only as last week 100% of congress voted 407 to zero, "To exempt Federal Employees from the shutdown",...
The TEA PARTY idiots still think there is a 'shutdown' the DEM idiots still think there is a shutdown,
They let the budget pop, and nullify the debt, and renig on SS, and Medicare, ... anybody that doesn't see how this dog&pony is being played in an idiot.
ZH of course plays the idiots right along, ... all the OP's here are the same bullshit, ... talking about the SHUTDOWN as if it were 'real'.
Nothing is real in todays ameriKKKa, ... nothing except government sanctioned murder.
Anybody care to comment? On this assertion that 'obamacare' is going to enrich Wall St, and Fuck Main St.??
****
Wall Street traders seek jackpot with ObamaCare bets
10/8/13 06:00
For investors, the basic calculus is this: The more people who enroll in the new insurance exchanges, the better it is for the hospitals, medical companies and insurers who will gain new customers. [WATCH VIDEO]
“It’s going to have a big impact on insurance companies. It’s going to have a big impact on hospitals. It’s going to have a big impact on providers down the line,” said Tom Scully, a former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, who is a general partner at investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.
Hell yes it will enrich them or the gov. You've got allegedly 20-50 million relatively healthy people that forgo any insurance because they don't need or use it. You manage to force them to either join and pay insurers (straight profit for 20-40 years for a non smoking healthy youngster) or you "fine" them which goes straight to the government coffers.
There are 2 purposes for the "affordable care act", they are mutually reciprocal. One purpose, held to by one set of dog excrement eaters, is to subsidize the unsustainable level of care demanded by the aging population who's aggregate lifestyle of the last few decades have left them skewed heavily toward expensively unhealthy. The other purpose is from the Cloward-Piven followers who rightly expect that it will be one of the final nails in the American economic coffin that allows the creation of their techno-authoritarian paradise.
Both purposes are anathema to anyone who loves freedom, individuality, and economic independance.
This quote says it all:
Gu Liangmin, head of copper at Minmetals.McEwen Mining & TNR Gold: Las Bambas Copper Bidding From China Heats Up
The quote above can be the one of the year and you can spot the trend now. It is getting more interesting by the day: Mining.com reports that now third Chinese company has entered the bidding "Art of War" for "Glencore Xstrata's (LON:GLEN) much-coveted Las Bambas copper mine."
http://sufiy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mcewen-mining-tnr-gold-las-bambas.html#
Oh, I'm bored of gold now: So close, yet so far away. And plastics is so 1960s. I just can't wait to get in on that Twatter IPO! Yeah!
long unobtainium futures!
And here is who is buying Gold this time:
Central banks to add $15B in gold this year
As we have discussed before: we will see very soon who is selling and who is buying Gold this time. We have very important trend change in the Gold market: after years of Selling Gold Central Bankers all over the world are Buying Gold now.http://sufiy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/central-banks-to-add-15b-in-gold-this.html#
Physical buying is as anti establishment as you can get.
Punk Economics.