here is why the bankers love the spenders.... http://articles.businessinsider.com...431_1_interest-rates-big-banks-member-banks/2 Most Americans today don't understand how any of this works, but many prominent Americans in the past did understand it. For example, Thomas Edison was once quoted in the New York Times as saying the following.... That is to say, under the old way any time we wish to add to the national wealth we are compelled to add to the national debt. Now, that is what Henry Ford wants to prevent. He thinks it is stupid, and so do I, that for the loan of $30,000,000 of their own money the people of the United States should be compelled to pay $66,000,000 â that is what it amounts to, with interest. People who will not turn a shovelful of dirt nor contribute a pound of material will collect more money from the United States than will the people who supply the material and do the work. That is the terrible thing about interest. In all our great bond issues the interest is always greater than the principal. All of the great public works cost more than twice the actual cost, on that account. Under the present system of doing business we simply add 120 to 150 per cent, to the stated cost. But here is the point: If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good. We should have listened to men like Edison and Ford. But we didn't. And so we pay the price. On July 1, 1914 (a few months after the Fed was created) the U.S. national debt was 2.9 billion dollars. Today, it is more than more than 5000 times larger. Yes, the perpetual debt machine is working quite well, and most Americans do not even realize what is happening. Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com...-rates-big-banks-member-banks/2#ixzz2M337O5ep
What centuries are you talking about? Reckless finance has only been in place for about three decades or so.
Stockton is only the beginning. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-04-01/stockton-bankruptcy-decision-only-the-beginning SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) â The people of Stockton will feel financial fallout for years after a federal judge ruled Monday to let the city become the most populous in the nation to enter bankruptcy. But the case is also being watched closely because it could answer the significant question of who gets paid first by financially strapped cities â retirement funds or creditors. "I don't know whether spiked pensions can be reeled back in," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said while making the ruling. "There are very complex and difficult questions of law that I can see out there on the horizon." The potential constitutional question in the Stockton case is whether federal bankruptcy law trumps a California law that says money owed to the state pension fund must be paid. In making his ruling, Klein disagreed with creditors who argued that Stockton failed to pursue all avenues for straightening out its financial affairs. "It's apparent to me the city would not be able to perform its obligations to its citizens on fundamental public safety as well as other basic government services without the ability to have the muscle of the contract-impairing power of federal bankruptcy law," Klein said. A statement released by creditors said the group "respectfully disagrees with the court's ruling." The legal team for those creditors declined to say whether it would ask Klein for permission to appeal his decision â a requirement of bankruptcy code. Stockton has tried to restructure some debt by slashing employment, renegotiating labor contracts, and cutting health benefits for workers. Library and recreation funding have been halved, and the scaled-down Police Department only responds to emergencies in progress. The city crime rate is among the highest in the nation. Since cities can't liquidate assets, those that declare bankruptcy must come up with a plan for creditors to forgive some of the debt. Holders of the biggest portion of Stockton's debt insured $165 million in bonds the city issued in 2007 to keep up with payments to the California Public Employees Retirement System as property taxes plummeted during the recession. Stockton now owes CalPERS about $900 million to cover pension promises, far the city's largest financial obligation. Many struggling cities across California are in the same situation. So far, Stockton has kept up with pension payments while reneging on other debts, maintaining it needs a strong pension plan to retain its pared-down workforce. Attorneys for creditors argued that it was unfair for their clients to accept reduced payments while the pensions negotiated in flush times went untouched. They argued that employees who shared the wealth during good times should bow have to endure some of the pain with cuts to their pensions. Legal observers expect the creditors to aggressively challenge the repayment plan presented by Stockton in the next phase of the process. "That's where it will be precedent-setting," said Karol Denniston, a municipal restructuring expert who monitored the trial. "Does bankruptcy code apply to CalPERS or not? If bankruptcy code trumps state law, then that's huge and it has huge implications in terms of what happens next for other municipalities across California." The state pension plan manages $255 billion in assets but was underfunded by $87 billion in 2011, the last time calculations were made. CalPERS is in the process of setting new rates to close the liability, said spokeswoman Amy Norris. The changes could further strain at least two dozen other financially strapped cities, including San Bernardino, San Jose, Compton, Fairfield, Watsonville, Atwater. "Just about everybody has an unfunded liability," Norris said. Legal observers of the first-ever Chapter 9 bankruptcy case questioning state pension obligations expect an appeal to decide whether the 10th Amendment that gives rights to states is more powerful than federal bankruptcy code Even Judge Klein, who was inclined at first to approve bankruptcy without a trial, said he was going forward with the hearing that ended Monday to create an appellate record. Now the city of nearly 300,000 people begins a months-long process of negotiations over debt repayment. Already Stockton has spent $2 million on mediation and up to $5 million on the eligibility case, said Bob Deis, Stockton's city manager. "There's nothing to celebrate about bankruptcy," he said. "But it is a vindication of what we've been saying for nine months."
Beginning of what? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapte...s_Code#Partial_list_of_municipal_bankruptcies
Of two things, my short-sighted fellow. First, it is the beginning of large municipalities getting permission to shake creditors (and creditors not being able to overturn the ruling), and the beginning of the precedent (which is coming shortly, but will inevitably have to occur) of getting a ruling to allow a city in California to go against CalPERs. You obviously did not read the article before commenting (as usual).
You now have to throw the word "large" in, since Stockton is by no means the first city to declare bankruptcy, but using the word allows you to say it's the "beginning", the beginning of all cities its size and larger. In other words, you're again spinning for the sake of more doom and gloom.
No, dopey. Look at the Bloomberg link in your browser URL. "http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-04-01/stockton-bankruptcy-decision-only-the-beginning" Note the last portion: stockton-bankruptcy-decision-only-the-beginning Bloomberg and I are both speaking to the same thing. We're both quite aware that there have been other filings before. Only you remain clueless as to what is truly being seen as landmark in this case, trying to back peddle away from your stupid wiki post.
Lol, you're first with the insults (and frustration). Every generation since the founding has had grumpy old men (projecting their own mortality issues) proclaiming the "end of America" in one way or another.