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The Only Thing That Will Save Us Now Is Fear Itself
American Thinker ^ | 12/15/10 | Herbert E. Meyer

Posted on 12/15/2010 6:32:00 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

...Either everything I've ever learned about math and economics is wrong, or we're on the verge of going down. The only possible way to come through safely -- and even so, the odds are against us -- will be to frighten ourselves so badly that we'll be willing to do things that in normal times we simply could not imagine doing....

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: economy; meyer
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Great commentary. Nevertheless, crash or close, our plane is coming down where we didn't intend to put it down. Drastic measures called for. In every household.
1 posted on 12/15/2010 6:32:05 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

“Herbert E. Meyer served during the Reagan administration as special assistant to the director of central intelligence and vice chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council. He is the author of How to Analyze Information and The Cure for Poverty.”


2 posted on 12/15/2010 6:33:54 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Grammar police off-duty. But I saw what you did.)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
It's obvious to anyone who's looked honestly at the numbers that we're about to go down into a sea of red ink. You don't need a Nobel Prize in economics to understand this.

In the case of Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize may be a detriment to clear thinking.

3 posted on 12/15/2010 6:36:36 AM PST by ClearCase_guy
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

The way that Washington is acting is completely out of control, neglecting the will of the American people en masse.

I think the time has passed for passive resistance now because Washington is not paying attention and is now engaged in actively working against the wishes of the American people.

I think the time is coming and coming very very soon for an armed populace to march on Washington in order to take the country back from the communist dictators now in charge of our government and the US Congress.


4 posted on 12/15/2010 6:38:11 AM PST by Ev Reeman
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
....the Democrats won't be willing to frighten voters...

The Rats game is to frighten people with stories of a bogey man(global warming, sexism, racism..etc) and then tell us that we are hallucinating when we point out that there is a strange man at the door and he is holding a chainsaw.

5 posted on 12/15/2010 6:47:00 AM PST by deadrock (Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Philo)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Great article - good post, thanks. I believe the greatest generation (our parents) would have the foresight and courage to do what needs to be done, but today? Better prepare and grab a parachute - get it on while you still can...


6 posted on 12/15/2010 6:51:26 AM PST by broken_arrow1 (I regret that I have but one life to give for my country - Nathan Hale "Patriot")
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Economic triage: place all government expenditures in one of three categories:

Category 1 — frivolous, obsolete, or illegitimate programs. Examples are the National Endowment for the Arts/Humanities, National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting System, the Dept of Energy, the Dept of Education, etc.. Defund and eliminate.

Category 2 — useful but bloated, inefficient, or corrupt programs. Examples are the Post Office, AMTRACK, the Dept of Agriculture, the Dept of Commerce, the Dept of Health and Human Services, parts of the Depts of Defense and State. Reduce funding by 50 percent over the next 5 years with an eye toward privatizing those that survive and eliminating the rest.

Category 3 — vital services. Examples are our military, our federal Dept of Transportation, our international intelligence communities, our federal judiciary (including the penal system and immigration enforcement). Cut their budgets by 10 percent immediately and base future budgets on performance.

Once all that is done, if there is still a need to raise taxes, put the issue to a referendum with a cap of 10 percent and no “progressive” graduation.

Repeat at the state, county, and municipal levels.


7 posted on 12/15/2010 7:19:09 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

frighten ourselves so badly that we’ll be willing to do things that in normal times we simply could not imagine doing

Or, as somebody else once put it, Never let a good Crisis go to Waste...


8 posted on 12/15/2010 7:22:56 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: IronJack

IronJack, that is so beautifully simple, you just know that they’ll never do it. It’d work. Our stock would rise in a Wall Street millisecond. Good luck finding a legislator who’s radical enough to suggest it.


9 posted on 12/15/2010 7:30:51 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (Grammar police off-duty. But I saw what you did.)
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To: IronJack

I like it.


10 posted on 12/15/2010 7:42:06 AM PST by ClearCase_guy
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
Sorry.

It's already too late.

There's no (peaceful) way back from here.

Throw everything off the plane and it's still going to crash.

When is the only question.

11 posted on 12/15/2010 7:45:26 AM PST by blam
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To: IronJack

I would put Amtrack in category 1 as well.


12 posted on 12/15/2010 8:52:14 AM PST by Professional Engineer (Conservative States of America has a nice ring to it.)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Bump for future reference


13 posted on 12/15/2010 8:52:22 AM PST by BlueMondaySkipper (Involuntarily subsidizing the parasite class since 1981)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Then we need to FIND the legislators that will. No more compromises, no more accommodations, no more painting the burning building. Hard decisions, hard sacrifices, and a nation committed to first rectifying, then learning from, the lessons of the past. If we can save this republic, we must enact laws that forbid the economic redistribution that brought us to this pass. If Wall Street needs “financial reform,” how much more do the profligate, unconscionable prodigals in Congress?!


14 posted on 12/15/2010 8:57:12 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: Ev Reeman

The roots of the Tree of Liberty are very, very dry.


15 posted on 12/15/2010 8:59:54 AM PST by Clint Williams ( America -- a great idea, didn't last: get out while you can.)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Then we need to FIND the legislators that will. No more compromises, no more accommodations, no more painting the burning building. Hard decisions, hard sacrifices, and a nation committed to first rectifying, then learning from, the lessons of the past. If we can save this republic, we must enact laws that forbid the economic redistribution that brought us to this pass. If Wall Street needs “financial reform,” how much more do the profligate, unconscionable prodigals in Congress?!


16 posted on 12/15/2010 9:01:08 AM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: blam
When is the only question.

"Never" is the answer.

17 posted on 12/15/2010 9:01:34 AM PST by Clint Williams ( America -- a great idea, didn't last: get out while you can.)
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To: DEADROCK

“and then tell us that we are hallucinating when we point out that there is a strange man at the door and he is holding a chainsaw.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
That sounds like Marcel himself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOgLc15x9fw


18 posted on 12/15/2010 12:46:32 PM PST by RipSawyer
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

“Either everything I’ve ever learned about math and economics is wrong, or we’re on the verge of going down.”

That’s what keeps going through my head, am I delusional? Or are we about to get creamed?

I think they can only kick the can for about another year.


19 posted on 12/15/2010 2:52:59 PM PST by FastCoyote (I am intolerant of the intolerable.)
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To: 668 - Neighbor of the Beast

Inspiration, desperation.


20 posted on 12/15/2010 2:54:00 PM PST by Gene Eric (Your Hope has been redistributed. Here's your Change.)
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