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Weekly Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sage Views
By Smokey Briggs
The correct answer to Financial
Meltdown? Use a pitchfork.
Okay guys, today we are going to take a test. Here is the question:
Who is to blame for the so-called financial meltdown?
Supposedly, the major financial institutions of the United Sates are bankrupt, the sky is falling, and our financial ship is sinking, and the American taxpayer is going down with the ship if it sinks.
Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, have demanded Congress give them a $700 billion blank check to “fix” the problem.
It appears to be a foregone conclusion that Congress will cough up the dough, and you, the American Taxpayer, will foot the $700 billion bill.
Last night, Bill O’Reilly asked the question, who is to blame?
He then asked viewers to pick from four answers. Here are the answers Bill supplied:
The Bush Administration
Congress
People who borrowed too much money;
Greedy businesses and banks.
(I am working from memory here, but these are close, if not his exact words).
So, who do we blame?
The president? Congress? Ourselves? Those greedy investment banks and multimillion-dollar-making-golden-parachute CEO’s?
Here is a hint: None of the Above.
The correct answer is not listed.
Yes, all of the parties listed as answers are involved in this mess, but No, none are to blame. Not really.
What all of these parties have done is act like human beings. Each group has acted in ways that seemed to be in their best interest.
That is what we humans do. We do it all day long. I do it. You do it. Our grandmothers did it. It is how human beings act.
This is simply a fact.
The real question O’Reilly ought to be asking is: What allows these human beings to act this way, at the taxpayers’ and nation’s expense?
There is only one answer to this question: The Federal Reserve in cooperation with the United States Treasury. Since Congress chartered the Federal Reserve, you might get half credit for choosing b) Congress.
The root of this entire problem is too much money. Too much money creates inflation. Anytime the supply of paper or electronic money is increased without any real thing backing it up (like gold), inflation is the prime result.
You cannot blame your political leaders for acting like humans and taking advantage of the situation. By borrowing from the Federal Reserve through debt issued by the Treasury, new money is created from thin air – and the politicians get to spend it first – to buy your votes and enrich themselves and their buddies.
Surely no one over the age of six is surprised that they do.
Unfortunately, the cycle does not end there.
Once the elected prostitutes spend that new money, it has to go somewhere, and it goes into your bank accounts.
Everyday, there is more money, but not more stuff to buy, so the price of stuff goes up.
Inflating money creates a merry-go-round of financial euphoria – everyone seems to be doing well. People buy stuff, even though prices are going up, and banks have plenty of money to loan.
But the cycle is like a snake swallowing its tail, and inflation has to take place a little faster each day to keep ahead of the inflating prices it creates.
If there is a minor hiccup, the tail slows down but the head cannot, and the snake chokes on its tail.
That is what is happening today.
Maybe $700 billion of your money will get the snake’s tail in gear for a while.
Even if it does, a little bit of time will not be worth the price. Taxpayers are going to be hit with a double whammy on this one.
First, the Federal Reserve will create $700 billion in new money – so all the dollars you have and all the ones you make from that day on will buy less stuff – pure inflation.
Second, you are going to have the privilege of paying interest on this loan of funny money for the rest of your lives. Taxpayers are going to pay interest and principal to the private bankers of the Federal Reserve for loaning us money that does not exist.
The bankers of the Federal Reserve will make out. The politicians will make out. The greedy corporations with good political connections will be fine. And you will be paying off another loan to keep them happy.
That is one good scam.
But, to top it all off, it will not work. Not for long. This cycle is going to get worse. It has to. It is how inflation works.
We are going to take a hit when this scam finally plays out, and the longer we put it off, the harder the hit.
I say we let the Federal Reserve keeps its fake $700 billion, let Wall Street choke on its poor investments, and get out the pitchforks and torches for the politicians that engineered this mess.
We are going to hurt financially anyway. They ought to get to share the pain.
That is the correct answer, Bill.
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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 432-445-5475, FAX 432-445-4321
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