Glenn has been saying:
- The country’s financial path is unsustainable.
- Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best.
Six-Month Price Moves
Glenn showed the price moves over the last six months of several commodities. These are listed immediately below. He also mentioned that one trade organization is projecting that orange juice will become a luxury item in the future.
- Cotton + 125%
- Sugar + 82.6%
- Corn + 59%
- Coffee + 41.4%
- Rice + 40.5%
- Oats + 36.6%
- Copper + 36.1%
- Lumber + 33.8%
- Oil + 25.1%
In addition, the value of the dollar has dropped by six percent over those same six months.
With respect to our national debt, we are now the number one buyer of our own debt.
The President’s 2012 Budget
The President released his budget for the year 2012. The entire amount is $3.73 trillion. This is larger than the entire gross domestic product of France plus Italy plus Ireland. It is the biggest one-year debt increase in the history of mankind.
Interactive Tool for Debt Reduction
Glenn discussed future measures needed to really reduce the deficit. The largest contributors to the problem are social security, Medicare and Medicaid. If changes are not made to these three programs, you cannot get there from here. Glenn demonstrated a tool provided by the New York Times that allows a person to interactively select programs and see the impact of that program’s reduction on the overall size of the budget. That Internet tool is located here:
Glenn provided a humorous, over-the-top discussion of the budget; it’s impact and what it would take to make a substantial changes to the debt and deficit.
State Actions
He then went on to note that the state of Illinois is not selling their bonds any longer. They are waiting for a sovereign fund to enter the market before making an offer. Also, they are discussing changes to their government worker’s pensions as a way to get a handle of their $15 billion deficit. In another state, Wisconsin, cutbacks are also being made and the students are protesting, just like in the Middle East.
Glenn presented a quote from the Revolutionary Communist Party site that claims that revolution is possible in this country but that it requires work for preparation.
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