Homestead mailing list

[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> 
> >There was also no money in the bailout coffers a couple months ago.  
> Today, 700 billion and more to come.

That's a good point.  If you have been reading the behind the scenes blather, 
we are facing the dilema that although we are printing treasury instruments 
and offering them for sale, no one is buying them.  We have "printed" into 
existence $700B for the bailout (more like $2T for all the economic mucking 
put to 
gether) and more than $2T for the war expenses.  This in addition to the fact 
that the federal government routinely spends half as much again as it takes 
in just funding SS and other programs (put together, presently more is taken 
in 
in taxes than is disbursed as SS payments).

The thing is, that doesn't mean there are goods and services corresponding 
with that much money.  

In a way SS is like the money for the bailout.  But that's all the more 
alarming for SS.

> 
> >Do some research. Very little tweaking is needed to keep SS solvent  
> indefinitely.

Indeed, do some research and you will find that all the predictions that say 
that SS just needs some minor tweaking are all firmly based on an ever 
icreasing economy, ever increasing GNP, and an ever increasing imigrant 
population.  
All of those factors in in decline now and a lot of pople think they will be 
for twelve to fifteen years.  All the scenarios where SS does not collapse 
are 
based on the rosy view of a forever robust economy.  We don't have that now.


> 
> >  SS going bust would cause a societal meltdown.
> Yes. And that is why it is not going to happen.
> 

Gene, I think it's time to revisit this logic.  The same thing was being said 
in '05 about the housing boom.  It's housing equity that is making money 
available for new cars, vacations, and rampant consumerism and this is making 
tax 
revenues soar.  The saw back then was that although many were predicting a 
housing crash, it wouldn't happen because the economy so depended on it the 
government simply wouldn't allow it.  It happened anyway.  The government was 
powerless (and clueless).

Same thing applies to SS.  If economic realities make SS infeasible, it 
doesn't matter how big a voting block the geezers are, it doesn't make any 
difference what social unrest it causes, it will happen anyway.

One thing that could very well happen is that it becomes the chique thing to 
have a live close to the bone as we have been talking about in other threads. 
 
If people see the peace and contentment in that, there will be little revenue 
to tax and SS will collapse in a matter of months.

James