Don’t Buy Bad Federal Debt!by
Thomas R. Eddlem
I propose an international "Don’t Buy Bad Federal Debt!" viral e-campaign as a means to ending deficit spending. Here’s why, and how: Congress has proven lately that it knows no limits for its deficit spending, and this year has already turned a record $1.2 trillion deficit projection for fiscal 2009 into what will be rounded up to a $2 trillion deficit (actual probably about $1.8 trillion). That kind of borrowing is sinking our country, and it’s got to stop. Like you, I’ve constantly been beset by the moronic arguments of coffee house pontificators who argue in favor of the deficit "stimulus" bill that "we have to do something." So naturally they argue that the something we must do is pass "stimulus" bills that would accelerate precisely the same easy credit and wild deficit spending policies that created the recession in the first place. They’re digging us deeper and deeper into a hole. Congress will not be responsible. There’s no hope there. The deficit for just this year is now approaching $2 trillion. Spurred on by President Obama, there’s nothing that will stop the Congress from ever-increasing profligacy. …. nothing, except for one thing. We can shut off the debt spigot by cutting up the federal credit card. Federal deficit spending depends not just on the acquiescence of Congress, but it is also entirely dependent upon the acceptance of the debt in the markets by investors in the international market. As we accelerate down the deficit path, eventually the international markets will stop buying our bad debt. And we will be saddled with a crushing debt burden. But if we can force that day of reckoning to occur earlier, the nation will be saddled with less debt on that day of reckoning. And we’ll be on the path to recovery sooner. Now is the best time in history to wage an international and viral e-campaign to strike the federal debt expanders, as the deficit is now sucking more than 10 percent of the value of the whole U.S. economy out of the market. Now – as the Fed is marketing record debt – is the time that the big spenders in Washington are most dependent upon the markets. And they are most vulnerable to this kind of campaign. Financial news from Bloomberg yesterday reported that Treasury securities are already sinking under the floor with the news that the federal government is going to dump another record load of debt on the market over the next few months. The advent of the Internet makes it simple to initiate an international movement virally without the help mainstream media. Creating the kind of international credit panic needed to shut down the federal charge card wouldn’t be difficult. The international market for U.S. government debt is already saturated. The Chinese have already expressed skepticism at buying more federal debt, and the depressed economy means those increasing debt dollars will be chasing fewer domestic market dollars. Once foreign investors hear that American citizens themselves have started a movement to dump federal debt, then they’ll likely follow suit. In the markets, perception sometimes becomes reality. And it’s going to happen eventually anyway. All we need to do is to give them a little push to make it happen earlier. Here’s how:
Yes, official Washington will get pissed off. And when they begin to genuinely fear this movement, they’ll call us unpatriotic. But if you really love this country, you’ll relish such insults from the same people who are spending us into serfdom. Besides, when the "unpatriotic" insults start flying, we’ll know that’s when we really need to press the issue in the markets, since accusations of poor patriotism are poor arguments for sound investments. Yes, I agree that we "have to do something." And that something is to shut the credit card off, just like credit markets do for any American citizen headed toward bankruptcy. Save America! No more bad debt! February 6, 2009 Thomas R. Eddlem [send him mail] has created a Facebook cause called the "Deficit Obliteration Squad" dedicated to ending the deficit cutting up the federal credit card. He is also a freelance writer who contributes to LewRockwell.com, The New American, and AntiWar.com.
Copyright © 2009 LewRockwell.com
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