CNN to Broadcast I.O.U.S.A. | Obama Foresees Trillion-Dollar
Deficits |
A Bipartisan Plea for Fiscal Responsibility | The Government We
Deserve

CNN to Broadcast I.O.U.S.A.

The public has spoken, and we’ve listened. In response to demand
for information about our country’s financial challenges, CNN/U.S.
will air the broadcast premiere of the acclaimed documentary
I.O.U.S.A. on on Saturday, January 10 at 2:00 p.m. EST and on
Sunday, January 11 at 3:00 p.m. EST. Accompanying the documentary
will be an unscripted panel discussion with policy leaders about
various economic solutions currently under consideration.

This exclusive televised event will air only on CNN, and will be
hosted by Ali Velshi and Christine Romans, co-anchors of CNN’s
Your $$$$$, the network’s weekend business roundtable program.
Throughout I.O.U.S.A.’s broadcast premiere, Velshi and Romans will
engage a distinguished group of panelists, including Pete
Peterson, Chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former
U.S. Commerce Secretary; Dave Walker, President and CEO of the
Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former U.S. Comptroller General;
Alice Rivlin, noted economist and former Director of the Office of
Management and Budget; and Bill Bradley, a Managing Director of
Allen & Company and former U.S. Senator and Democratic
presidential candidate, in discussions about issues raised in the
film and their ties to current economic events.

Learn more about the film at www.IOUSAtheMovie.com. And be sure to
spread the word about the U.S. broadcast premiere!

Obama Foresees Trillion-Dollar Deficits

CNNMoney.com reported on Tuesday that when President-elect Barack
Obama takes office on January 20, he’ll inherit an economy deeper
in debt than ever.

Obama commented on the unprecedented deficit, saying, “At the
current course and speed, a trillion-dollar deficit will be here
before we even start the next budget.” In reference to his planned
economic recovery plan with an $800 billion price tag, Obama
added, “And potentially we’ve got trillion-dollar deficits for
years to come, even with the economic recovery that we are working
on at this point.”

Even with Obama’s promised budget reform, our economy will still
remain in the red — at least for the next few years. However,
incurring a trillion-dollar deficit in the short-term in order to
stimulate the economy is, according to organizations like the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, essential in order to
prevent “a deep and prolonged recession.”

Dave Walker, president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson
Foundation, was also asked to comment on the deficit and Obama’s
proposed stimulus. A “timely, targeted and temporary” stimulus is,
according to Dave, the best way to shore up the economy while our
deficit continues to deepen.

To read the original article, visit CNNMoney.com.

A Bipartisan Plea for Fiscal Responsibility

On Monday, January 5, the two most prominent members of the Senate
Budget Committee – Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sen. Judd Gregg
(R-NH) spoke out about the need for fiscal responsibility,
especially in the face of our current economic crisis.

In an impassioned editorial for the Washington Post, Conrad and
Gregg called for Democrats and Republicans to unite in support for
an economic recovery package, even with the short-term addition it
will make to our larger deficit. The senators also called for a
“bipartisan fiscal task force” to help create concrete solutions
for America’s long-term fiscal woes.

To read the full text of the editorial, visit the Washington
Post.

The Government We Deserve by Gene Steuerle

“Investment” and Obama’s First Budget

President-elect Obama’s chief in-house economic advisor Larry
Summers suggests in a recent Washington Post piece that the new
Administration will put a lot of effort into addressing long-term
growth challenges, not just short-term policies that generate
consumer spending. How? Through “investments.” To make sure we get
the point, Summers uses that word or some variation 12 times.

But the first Obama budget will not be oriented toward investment.
Just as with recent administrations, the words will stress
“investment” but the numbers will emphasize “consumption” – not
only in the short-term but, more dangerously, in the long-term. In
fairness, this is the budget the new administration inherits. They
gain control of the wheel of a battleship sailing full-steam ahead
toward the icebergs. But by using terms like “down payment” to
describe new proposals, Summers hints that no major course
correction will be sought.

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• Don’t call or write your Senator or representative
• Don’t sign any petitions online
• Don’t join a consumer advocacy organization

Our government is not one for the people anymore, and we must oppose the bailing out of failing, irresponsible, fraudulent corporations.

Reasons to vote against the bailout

1. The corporate officers who made the decision to pursue short term profits at the cost of later bankruptcy often received tens of millions of dollars in bonuses and dismissed adequate warnings from advisers about the future consequences of their decisions.
2. Bailing these companies out is a reward for behaving dishonestly, unethically, and fraudulently.
3. If running a company into the ground is rewarded with free money, then this puts sound-minded companies in a position of competitive disadvantage.
4. This would create new rules of business: If you are a small company, you must follow sound-minded practices to thrive; if you are a very large company, destroy your company and it will be rebuilt at the cost of American taxpayers.
5. Bailouts are requiring the Fed to create an extraordinary amount of new money which throws fuel on the fire of the already double digit inflation. Runaway inflation steals wealth from citizens to give it to the banking system and the government.

How do I vote against the bailouts?

Because our system of local government has been replaced by central federal government, there is no longer any official way to make any sort of vote actually count on most matters.

What you do have is your money. Every single day in which you leave any money in American banks and American securities brokerages, you are supporting the system that is looting you and your family. Every day in which you wake up and make no changes is another self destructive vote in support of our failing banking and economic system.

Transfer your cash to foreign bank accounts

The only reason any American person would not make use of foreign bank accounts is because they think they may be less secure. As we enter into the final quarter of 2008, this is no longer a legitimate reasoning. Every fact available to us today tells us that the US banking system is currently among the most unsafe places to hold cash and other assets in the entire world of developed countries.

Foreign banks have internet banking, Visa/MasterCard debit cards, wire transfers, check writing privileges, and just about every other convenience you have become accustomed to. You won’t be able to go into a branch, but virtually all transactions will be able to be completed using the telephone and internet.

Liquidate most U.S. securities holdings

While there may be some tremendous opportunities in the U.S. securities markets during this turmoil, modern portfolio theory would suggest you only apportion a small slice of your investable assets into such speculative and risky positions.

Stay away from U.S. securities in general. Owning shares of any mutual fund, index fund or major corporation that sells a product or service to U.S. consumers or businesses will probably be a losing bet for many years to come.

Your vote will be heard

Every dollar you deposit into a U.S. bank is lent out many times to somebody else. Often times that borrower then deposits the money into another U.S. bank, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of debt.

There is an abundance of U.S. dollars in our economy right now… the problem is that most of them are borrowed instead of earned. Consumers and businesses (including banks and brokerages themselves) have had tons of money in their hands, but most have never come up with a way to earn the income to pay back the principal and interest. It’s a recipe to losing all equity in property.

It’s time to restore this country to enable the American dream. The American dream involves property ownership. American businesses and consumers own almost no property in today’s debt-focused economy. Every piece of real property, personal property, and intellectual property is leveraged to the hilt with debt. Taking on debt is something you do when you expect a rise in income, but American consumers and businesses have begun to treat loan proceeds as if they are income… and that can only lead to bankruptcy.

If you don’t VOTE NO TO BAILOUTS now, the elements of honesty and trust will forever be breached within our financial system.

The consequence of no action

Our financial system will be increasingly unpredictable. In this type of environment it will be difficult to place your wealth in a way where it will securely grow. You may make an investment in something that will be severely affected by some sort of intervention by the government or private central bank.

Taxes & inflation will rise dramatically. No action will mean that as time goes by, you will get to keep less and less of every dollar due to rising taxes. To make matters worse, every dollar will buy less and less because of the increasing money supply to feed government spending and corporate bailouts.

The fruits of action

Voting no to bailouts by moving your money to more sound financial systems of other countries will force the U.S. government and banking system to rebuild itself in a way conducive to personal freedom, personal property ownership, and personal sovereignty. The government will have to spend within its means, and this rebuilding can be our opportunity to restore the power of local governments and strictly limit the power of the federal government.

This will create an environment in which fraud will be punished, good businesspeople will thrive, and every American citizen will have laid out before them a simple, attainable path to personal freedom, sovereignty, and wealth.