Monday, May 20, 2019

Debt Servitude




Debt Servitude
Junious Ricardo Stanton

“Credit cards are a key element in the banking industry’s profits. At commercial banks, the average interest rate on credit-card plans is 15.1% and the average assessed interest rate is 16.9%, on $1 trillion in outstanding credit balances. This amounts to around $150 billion to $169 billion a year in interest income! These banks rely on consumers to spend money they don’t have.”  The State of American Debt Slaves Q1 2019 Wolf Richter  https://wolfstreet.com/2019/05/08/the-state-of-the-american-debt-slaves-q1-2019/

When the corporate media tells us the economy is booming and unemployment is at record lows, don’t believe the hype, it is disinformation! I certainly am not trying to be a Davy Downer and rain on anyone’s parade but the US economy ain’t all that, as we used to say. The corporate media rarely mentions the fact the US economy is propped up by massive debt: consumer debt, corporate debt, government debts, trade deficits and plain ol’ corruption.
Most of the US gross domestic product is fueled by debt. This means the goods and services produced in the US are driven by debt: loans to the businesses for operations, production, equipment, expansion and maintenance, loans to consumers in the form of car loans, student loans, mortgages, Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC), other purchases and of course government debt.
In the US, human beings are called consumers by the powers that be; probably because we overly consume resources, because our spending consumes us, shrinks our wealth and savings potential and puts us at the mercy of the lenders and economic circumstances like interest rates and availability.
            Consumer debt is what you owe, as opposed to what a business or the government owes. It's also called consumer credit. It can be borrowed from a bank, a credit union, and the federal government. There are two types of consumer debt: credit cards (revolving) and fixed-payment loans (non-revolving). Credit card debt is called revolving because it's meant to be paid off each month. They incur variable interest rates that are pegged to Libor. Non-revolving debt isn't paid off each month.  Instead, these loans are usually held for the life of the underlying asset. Borrowers can choose between loans with either fixed interest rates or variable rates. Most non-revolving debt is auto loans or school loans. Although home mortgages are also an enormous loan, they aren't a type of consumer debt. Instead, they are personal investments in residential real estate… In March 2019 U.S. consumer debt rose 3.1% to $4.052 trillion. That surpassed last month's record of $4.042 trillion. Of this, $2.995 trillion was non-revolving debt, and it rose 5.0%. Most non-revolving debt is education and auto loans. In March 2019, school debt totaled $1.598 trillion and auto loans were $1.161 trillion. Credit card debt totaled $1.057 trillion, decreasing 2.5%. It exceeds the record of $1.02 trillion set in 2008. But credit card debt is only 26% of total debt. It was 38% of total debt in 2008.” https://www.thebalance.com/consumer-debt-statistics-causes-and-impact-3305704
US consumer debt is at crisis levels. “The average U.S. household with credit card debt has an estimated $6,9291 in revolving balances, or balances carried from one month to the next, the analysis found. This pernicious type of debt, which often comes with high interest rates that make it a challenge to pay off, can feel inescapable. About 1 in 11 (9%) Americans who have credit card debt say they don’t think they will ever be completely free of credit card debt, according to a NerdWallet survey conducted by The Harris Poll…In many cases; credit card balances represent only a fraction of a household’s debt. U.S. households with any kind of debt held an average of $135,7683 in outstanding debt, which can include mortgages and both transacting and revolving credit card balances.” 2018 American Household Credit Card Debt Study Claire Tsosie and Erin Issa https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/average-credit-card-debt-household/
Many Americans use their credit cards to maintain their lifestyle going deeper in debt each month; especially since wages in the US, for the most part, have remained stagnant (an issue politicians rarely address)!  As a result many feel they are trapped in an endless cycle of debt and if they fall behind they face imminent financial disaster.  US consumer debt is staggering. https://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-in-debt/
I highly recommend reading Mr. Walt Prescott’s book Debt Management By The Muscle: It’s Not a Novel It’s a Workbook. It’s available through Amazon https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AWalter+H.+Prescott&s=relevancerank&text=Walter+H.+Prescott&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1  Check it out it has great tips to help you get out of debt bondage.

                                                            -30-




Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Trump's Boneheaded Policies





Trump’s Boneheaded Policies
Junious Ricardo Stanton

“ The Trump administration is practicing gunboat diplomacy, perfectly emulating the philosophy and means of the [defunct] British Empire, against the entire world, even its allies [many of whom are de facto US occupied territories, like Western Europe & the Balkans]. For those upstart enthusiasts who claim NATO is an alliance, and not an occupation, I ask them – how many European troops and European military bases are on United States soil? None. I rest my case.” On The Brink of War Serban V.C. Enache http://hereticus-economicus.info/on-the-brink-of-war/

Donald Trump, contrary to his campaign rhetoric about ending ceaseless wars, regime change foreign policies and wanting a good trade relationship with Russia is doing everything in his power to bully and intimidate the world into acquiescing to the US Empire. Trump is currently engaged in a trade war with China one that fantasizes he is going to win and make America great again.
The problem with Trumps premise is, his trade wars with China, the EU, Mexico and Canada are not going to totally reverse NAFTA, the off shoring of US factories and jobs to developing countries. The financial power brokers and policy makers who deindustrialized the US, shipped US jobs and capital overseas are not going to reverse field and bring factories, jobs or capital back, despite the tax cuts and deregulation that have benefitted the uber rich.
Even if you discount the government’s emergency appropriations due to the floods, fires and draught, Trumps tax cuts have raised the federal deficit even higher than the Congressional Budget Office predicted due to federal spending on “defense” and support for US farmers who have been devastated by Trump’s trade war with China.
Trump’s tax cuts are not paying for themselves in job growth or increased GDP like the Republicans said they would. As I predicted in 2016-17 Trump’s tax cuts have driven the federal deficit higher.
 “In December 2017, as Republicans sped the tax cuts through Congress, the Tax Foundation released a projection that the cuts would add about $450 billion to federal deficits over 10 years, after accounting for the additional economic growth it would spur. The group has since redone the analysis, with what Mr. Pomerleau called improvements to its methodology. It now predicts deficits will increase by $900 billion — double its original forecast.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/business/trump-tax-cuts-revenue.html
The federal deficit is not the subject of this article I point it out merely to show how Trump’s domestic policies are not working as he and his fellow snake oil salesmen said they would. Coupled with his tax cut issues and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, real GDP is actually slowing due to rising costs which is what happens when you stop giving out below zero interests rates then abruptly raise interest rates, the system goes into shock.
Trump’s trade war, his tariffs and renegotiated deals with Mexico and Canada are not going to return the US to industrial prominence and the overall benefits of the renegotiated deals will be modest. “President Trump's update of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would provide a very modest boost to the economy, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) would increase economic growth by 0.35 percent, or $68.2 billion, and create 175,700 jobs, the government agency projected. Wages would rise 0.27 percent, and the largest increases would be in manufacturing and mining, with the average wage climbing 0.43 percent among lower-educated workers. U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico would increase and reduce the trade deficit with Mexico by $1.8 billion under the agreement. Exports to Mexico would get a $14.2 billion boost, compared with $12.4 billion in new imports. The bilateral trade deficit with Canada would stay the same, with $19.1 billion in new exports countering $19.1 billion in imports.”  https://thehill.com/policy/finance/trade/439600-government-report-says-new-nafta-would-have-minimal-impact-on-economy. As usual Trump’s rhetoric far exceeds the reality. The tariffs are negatively impacting US businesses and consumers as the costs get passed on to regular folks.  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/12/goldman-trump-tariff-costs-fall-entirely-on-us-businesses-households.html
            On the international front, Trump is threatening nations with sanctions everywhere you look. https://iapss.org/2015/05/30/economic-sanctions-a-violation-of-human-rights/ Economic sanctions and embargos are war without bombs and missiles. Just like in a physical war the main victims and casualties are innocent civilians. Trump like his predecessors is a war criminal! None of the countries Trump is sanctioning pose a military threat to the US, only Russia and China have a military or armaments capable of challenging the US/NATO axis of insanity.
            In the end Trump’s policies will not have the desired impact. Check out how US farmers are doing, US wages are still stagnant, organized labor is still under attack, watch as consumer prices continue to rise due to Trump’s trade wars and Fed interest rate manipulation; and wait until the people realize they have been hoodwinked and duped by this con man.
                                                            -30-

Monday, May 06, 2019

Much Ado About Nothing, The Mueller Report




Much Ado About Nothing, The Mueller Report
Junious Ricardo Stanton

“Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election Volume I of II pages 1 and 2.

            For over two years the corporate media has been obsessed with the notion the Russian government directly interfered with the 2016 election process ostensibly to ensure Donald Trump was the victor. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and the corporate mind control apparatus made it seem as if the Russians tampered with voting machines, contributed large amounts of money to the Trump campaign, brainwashed gullible and naïve Americans and colluded with the Trump campaign to alter the course of the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. None of this is true.
            Trump’s victory was a surprise and an abomination only to people not in tune with what is going on in this country. To them Trump’s victory was an anomaly rather than a clear indication of the major disconnect between the two political parties and people who were fed up with business as usual who were anxious about their livelihoods, lifestyles and future.
Clinton couldn't accept the fact she lost, and refused to believe white women didn't rally to her side, sweep her to victory and usher in a new era of feminist political power. She couldn't see the nexus connecting the DNC stealing the nomination from Bernie Sanders, the DNC leaks, her past statements and policies returning to bite her, her poorly designed campaign strategies, the significant rise in Obamacare health insurance premiums just before the election to her election loss. So she whined and cried wolf about Russia pilfering the election on behalf of Trump.
Her cries of wolf were picked up and regurgitated endlessly by the corporate media. The Democrats trying to save face demanded an investigation to prove Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election. Never mind the fact the US has a sordid history of routinely interfering with foreign elections, toppling governments (in the case of Syria and Venezuela attempting to), undermining regimes, bribing and assassinating leaders all over the world; or the fact the US political system is fraught with so much corruption that pay to play, influence peddling and bribery are the norm. https://www.opensecrets.org/influence/
            Clinton and the media raised such a ruckus, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as Special Counsel. Robert Mueller is a long time Washington insider who had enough skeletons in his closet to ensure the process would be funky. https://www.globalresearch.ca/former-fbi-director-robert-muellers-history-of-cover-ups/5635272  
Mueller was hailed by the corporate media as the man, the one who would prove Russian collusion or at least shovel enough dirt on Trump to bring him down. After two years of non-stop innuendo, media speculation at a cost of $32-35 million, Mueller has released his report. You can see and read volume one of Mueller’s two reports at https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf.
The thing about this report is, because it is based upon a false premise it obfuscates the truth about 2016 election interference and influence peddling. The Mueller “investigation” overshadowed and ignored several cases of actual interference and influence peddling.  Facebook (which is a surveillance tool anyway) was used by a British company Cambridge Analytica to harvest data from US Facebook users to use to support Donald Trump! Their connection to the Trump campaign goes back to Steve Bannon a right wing power broker who in addition to being a Trump confidant was vice president of the Cambridge Analytica! https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/23/17151916/facebook-cambridge-analytica-trump-diagram
While the nation was fixated on Mueller, unnoticed in plain sight was the powerful influence of the Israeli lobby and Trump’s son-in-law doing the bidding of a foreign government and very little was said or done about it!
Read the redacted Mueller Report but don’t fall for the flim-flam. If there was any real collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, the US NSA (which spies on everyone) would have data to collaborate it!
There are numerous agendas at play here: reviving and escalating the cold war by creating a “credible enemy” (Russia) to justify even more outrageous military spending and waste, the attempt by the Deep State to undermine, box in and control Trump and the side issues of salvaging Clinton’s wounded ego and to seeing just how gullible the American public really is. Don’t go for the okey-doke.

                                                          -30-