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I’m about as sick of hearing about the fiscal cliff as you are – I promise I am.
I’ve had to cover this debacle from start to finish. And in spite of the fact that Congress “averted” the fiscal cliff at the 13th hour, my opinion of what it means for Americans has not changed one iota since this whole business began in August of 2011.
That’s when the Budget Control Act of 2011 passed, and set us on a course for this so-called cliff.
Lawmakers reached this agreement as part of their negotiations to raise the debt ceiling by up to another $2.5 trillion (subject to Congressional approval.)
Sorry to rehash all of this old news, but it’s helpful to put things in perspective.
In short, my opinion hasn’t changed because there was never ANY danger of Congress or the President actually making anything but small dents and dings in what is now over $16 trillion in debt – with well over $100 trillion in future unfunded liabilities.
This whole cliff nonsense should be called the “monetary molehill.”
That’s because even in President Obama’s most Spartan of plans, and under the best of circumstances, he would only raise an additional $800 billion in revenue over a period of 10 years!
To put that further into perspective, remember that the federal government alone spends about $1 trillion more than it takes in ever year. That’s $10 trillion over the next decade.
Even assuming the Treasury’s super-low borrowing rates of today, that means that 10 years from now, the interest alone on this new debt will be $200 billion a year.
So Obama’s plan won’t even cover the interest on this debt. Feel free to laugh loudly right about now. When faced with this level of absurdity, it’s the only rational human response.
Obama’s “grand plan” to raise taxes on the nation’s top earners amounts to bugs on the windshield of this out of control Federal budget.
The problem is, this country faces a very real fiscal cliff – that will wipe out many millions of Americans who aren’t prepared for it.
The massive amounts of debt we’re in is going to destroy the standard of living we enjoy. And it’s not something that will happen all in one day, as Congress and the President might have you believe. We’re sliding over the cliff every day. It’s not an avalanche – it’s a glacier.
And we can’t stop it. Congress and the President clearly have no interest in stopping it.
But here’s what it will do: every year the real wages of Americans will fall. Every year, the hard-earned dollars that retirees saved will lose value. Every year, your dollar will buy less goods and services.
If this scenario sounds outlandish, then you haven’t been paying attention – because it’s been happening for most of the last 40+ years.
Outside of making more money from your job, the best way to protect yourself is to own real assets that can’t be easily taken by the government, nor inflated away by their central bank.
If you agree with what I’m saying, then I hope you own gold or silver and have ownership stakes in the companies that mine and produce the commodities that the world will need regardless of how many cliffs this country goes over.