The IRA and 401(k) thing has been kicked around since democrat GW Bush was in office. But with this communist, it could happen in a blink if some major issue occurred. After all, big gubment got big broke, and fast. Gotta get in those really bad folks pockets who actually wanted to retire to a nice area after working their asses off. Shame on those bad people for not giving it all up to the big gubment-loving, parasites.
Scat, I should have been more clear in my post. It does read the wrong way. Anyhow, I've dated all kinds of gals, and completely refuse to date a libtard gal, as all I'd want from her would be her ___, and in my experience, libtard gals are all talk, and not anything behind closed doors. I'll say, she's probably a little more American than even I am, and that's wild. And funny, she emptied her purse on the kitchen table the other night, and a rolled joint fell out. Yep, she smokes the green stuff. I had to laugh! Even tried some with her, on a trip to over to the beach, and was feeling like I was 18 vs 42. I could actually like Colorado. I'd be the one full out liberty-loving, prior Jarhead, guy on the corner with a USMC t-shirt, and the munchies.
The article is full of nonsense, eg the claim that rich people's assets are just sitting there, not doing anything. I guess financing the private sector in the US doesn't count as doing anything. Their idea is to stigmatize private wealth ("unfair," "not doing anything") to make it easier to justify confiscation. This is marxism 101.
Again, I really get fired up when you refuse to go into politics, so you can help save us! Good post! Also, you are a TX guy, working in DC. Hmmm.... If you're a lawmaker, thanks for the help, as God knows, we need it.
You raised some good points. Do you have a reference for bernake having called what they were doing "printing"? The only statement I'm aware of that Bernanke made in this regard, I heard him say it, was when he was asked in a hearing specifically about "printing", and he responded "we're not printing".. I have always assumed that's because he is an economist and he was using the economists' definition of printing, as I described in my previous post. "Printing" to most economists means what Zimbabwe did. Of course there are those who use the term "printing" to mean what the Fed and Treasury working together did. But this is inaccurate. In fact, I would venture a guess that the average person, when they hear the term "printing", thinks that the Treasury just cranks up the mint's presses . This, if it happened, would be much closer to the economists definition of "printing". Some other measures that were taken include rescuing banks via TARP by buying up assets (at a discount) for which at the time no market existed and thus could not be marked to market, the cash for clunkers to help rescue the automobile industry and preserve thousands of Jobs, taking control of General Motors for similar reasons, and government sponsorship of many local and national infrastructure projects. There was a great deal of arm twisting needed to get the stronger surviving financial institutions to buy up the assets of those institutions that would have otherwise gone belly up. Paulson tried to get a deal together at the eleventh hour to rescue Lehman but he got the cold shoulder from Fuld until it was too late. Some of these measures were successful in putting people back to work and some less so. In the end a full on depression was avoided putting even more thousands out of work and on the street. Soros did not like the Fed buying bank assets and said so at the time. He wanted the money to go where the hole was. Presumably the banks then would have been forced to dilute equity by issuing more stock or issue new bonds. I have no idea who had the better plan, but I am a great admirer of Soros. In the end however, Bernanke and the Fed, working together with the Treasury, did a masterful job of preventing total disaster, though the result of the crisis was still quite bad for many. By the way "others" will eventually buy the debt once the Fed begins to shrink the balance sheet and the money supply by selling more bonds then they buy on the secondary market. You'll get your chance! Obviously, when Treasury needs a few trillion and they need it now, QE provides a far less costly way of raising the money then would the usual auction process. The interest earned by the Fed, after expenses, flows back to Treasury greatly reducing the immediate term cost of raising emergency funds.
Money was created of course, and the money supply greatly expanded. But it wasn't created out of thin air or its equivalent known as "printing", it was borrowed since every dollar pumped into the economy by QE is linked to new debt! In an emergency situation the Fed is the buyer of choice for newly issued Treasuries, because having a ready buyer greatly reduces the pressure on interest rates, and the Fed above all else wanted to force rates down and keep them down, particularly rates on the long bond which would affect mortgage rates. So far, they have succeeded magnificently.
Have a laugh while you watch. http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/q7hzaa/the-big-bank-theory The debt wasn't issued for the purposes of QE. It would have been issued regardless, so don't make up silly statements about how every dollar pumped into the economy is linked to new debt. We created dollars to buy the debt which would have been bought by others. The debt has nothing to do with it at all. The QE just simply bought debt. It also bought MBS. That wasn't government issued debt. As for keeping rates down, sure it did a good job of that - and killed savers, forcing everyone to move into higher risk assets (which they will get burned on down the road - tomorrow, or next week or next year). They inflated a housing bubble (again) and this time an all-asset bubble as well. And all for what? So a few people who would have lost their house because they bought too big a house at stupid rates could refinance? You must be joking. Now the Fed is frantic because rates aren't rising despite QE ending, and it's because they've gobbled up the bond market, and there's no liquidity out there! How ironic, thwarted by their own stupid policy.
http://player.theplatform.com/p/gZWlPC/vcps_inline?byGuid=3000324318&size=530_298 Also another good listen, right after today's Fed release.
If the fed did not buy with their created digital dollars... someone else (other than another private central bank) would have had to use money or assets already in circulation. They may have had to borrow the money but that loan would have been paid back. They also would have paid a lot less. When the FED overpays for asses its massively inflationary and massively distorting. Holding down interest rates for years... causes horrible mal investment... and our future and our kids are being screwed right now my the mal investment.