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The United States Only Has $54 Billion Of Cash Left In The Bank

Um, John, we’re about to go broke. What say we call off the circus act and finally do something about it?
Image: AP Photo/Harry Hamburg
Maybe this news will wake up those irresponsible idiots in Washington.The United States only has $54 billion of cash left in the bank.
That’s down from $100+ billion only eight days ago.
In the middle of last week came the shocking news that Apple, Inc., had more cash than the United States. Now, Apple has a lot more cash than the United States.
By early next week, if Congress can’t get its act together, the United States will have less cash than Google. Then Salesforce.com. Then, eventually, Pets.com.
Maybe, instead of preening in front of TV cameras, Congress folks should just hit the streets of Washington with hats in hand this weekend. If all 535 members spend all weekend out on the Mall, we might scrape together enough cash to last a few more hours. And these efforts will certainly Read more…
A visualization of the US Debt
Stimulus law will cost $43 billion more than estimated

The Congressional Budget Office said in a new report that President Obama’s economic stimulus law will raise the federal deficit $830 billion over ten years, $43 billion more than the initially estimated cost of $787 billion.
During the law’s consideration in Congress, the Joint Committee on Taxation made the initial estimate.
CBO estimated the law lowered the unemployment rate by between .6 and 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011 and increased the number of people employed by between 1.2 million and 3.3 million during that same period.
Obama and congressional Democrats enacted the law, arguing it would provide a quick jolt to the economy. Republicans opposed the law, saying it would increase deficits and wasn’t designed to work quickly.
CBO estimated the government spending in the law had a major impact on the economy, increasing the Gross National Product by as much as 4.6 percent in the second quarter of 2010.
However, the unemployment rate has continued to remain high since 2009, hurting Obama politically.
CBO based its estimate on macroeconomic modelling, saying the jobs “created or saved” reports by recipients of stimulus dollars could not provide a full picture of the economic impact.
CBO: Deficit on the rise
The federal government’s deficit continues to grow, according to the latest numbers from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The government is expected to run a deficit of $830 billion in the first six months of fiscal 2011, a $113 billion increase from the same period last year, the CBO reported Thursday.
The latest numbers could serve as fresh ammunition for Congressional Republicans caught in a fight over government spending with their Democratic counterparts. Lawmakers are currently haggling over both a short-term spending package to avert a government shutdown and a longer-term budget proposal for fiscal 2012. And indications the deficit is still on the rise could bolster arguments to make major spending cuts.
The CBO reported that both government spending and revenue collection were up in 2011 when compared to 2010, by 11 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
In March alone, the federal deficit stood at $189 billion, which is $124 billion more than the same month last year.
The organization’s data shows government spending rising in nearly every major category. Spending on defense, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid were up in preliminary fiscal 2011 numbers when compared to 2010, as CBO estimated government outlays were up $179 billion in the first six months of fiscal 2011. Spending dropped 22 percent on unemployment benefits over that same period.
Government revenues were also slightly up over that time frame, growing 6.9 percent or $66 billion. However, receipts in March were down about $3 billion when compared to March 2010, driven by declines in individual income as well as payroll, estate and gift taxes.
The CBO noted that vital information about the government’s fiscal picture will be coming in the next several weeks, as individual income tax returns are filed for 2010 and estimated payments of income taxes will be made by corporations and individuals for the first quarter of 2011.
Japan catastrophe could make U.S. debt costlier
The U.S. Treasury market could feel financial aftershocks from Japan’s tragic U.S. Treasury. Offloading some of the Asian giant’s $1 trillion of foreign reserves could raise cash to help rebuild after Friday’s disaster. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is due to end its Treasury bond-buying program in June. If Japan, the second-biggest foreign holder, starts selling that’s another support gone — with the potential to make borrowing more expensive for the U.S. government.
It’s too early to estimate the cost the Japanese government and private sectors will have to shoulder for reconstruction efforts. But bond investors can’t any longer take for granted that Japan will leave its ample reserves intact as it has, broadly speaking, for the past several years. For the government, cashing in could be more palatable than yet more borrowing. Japan’s debt already amounted to more than 200 percent of Read more…
58% Favor Government Shutdown Until Spending Cuts Are Agreed Upon
As Republicans and Democrats in Congress haggle over the budget, most voters would rather have a partial shutdown of the federal government than keep its spending at current levels.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 33% of Likely U.S. Voters would rather have Congress avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at the same levels as last year. Fifty-eight percent (58%) says it’s better to have a partial shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The partisan differences are striking. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats prefer avoiding a shutdown by going with current spending levels. But 80% of Republicans — and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party — think a shutdown is a better option until Read more…
IMF Calls for Dollar Alternative
The IMF is trying to move the world away from the U.S. dollar and towards a global currency once again. In a new report entitled “Enhancing International Monetary Stability—A Role for the SDR“, the IMF details the “problems” with having the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency of the globe and the IMF discusses the potential for a larger role for SDRs (Special Drawing Rights). But the IMF certainly does not view SDRs as the “final solution” to global currency problems. Rather, the IMF considers SDRs to be a transitional phase between what we have now and a new world currency. In this newly published report, the IMF makes this point very clearly: “In the even longer run, if there were political willingness to do so, these securities could constitute an embryo of global currency.” Yes, you read that correctly. The SDR is supposed to be “an embryo” from which a global currency will one day develop. So what about the U.S. dollar and other national currencies? Well, they would just end up fading away.
CNN clearly understands what the IMF is trying to accomplish with this new report. The following is how CNN’s recent story about the new IMF report begins….
“The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.”
That is exactly what the IMF intends to do.
They intend to have SDRs replace the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency.
So exactly what are SDRs?
Well, “SDR” is short for Special Drawing Rights. It is a synthetic currency unit that is made up of Read more…
Economist: United States Worse Off than Greece
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff is an economics professor at Boston University. He says the Treasury and the government are fudging the national debt numbers. Kotlikoff says the United States is bankrupt and we don’t even know it.
During his SOTU address, Obama called for a freeze on discretionary spending. He called for a five-year freeze on non-mandatory domestic spending, a proposal he estimated would save $400 billion over the next decade.
He said entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will need to be reformed without mentioning specifics. In other words, the government is thinking about cutting these programs to the bone. Boomers will be eating dog food after their pensions are stolen and the entitlement Ponzi scheme breaks down. Read more…
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