Posted on 12/02/2012 4:07:37 PM PST by betty boop
Well, that's one way to get the Medicare/Social Security systems back "into balance." The "death panel" to which you refer is the IPRB — the independent payment review board — a collection of some 14 or 15 presidential appointees, who may or may not be doctors or other medical professionals — that is to say, a gang of folks who weren't elected by the people they supposedly serve, who are answerable to nobody but the president.
0bama's chief healthcare theorist — Ezekiel Emmanuel, brother of long-term presidential buddy Rahm Emmanuel, now mayor of Chicago — articulates the "ideological" underpinnings of the "complete lives" theory which will likely drive IPRB decision-making as to what health care expenditures will be allowed, and for whom. It is completely clear from this this article that health care rationing — particularly WRT elderly citizens — is precisely what we're talking about here.
In short, if you're 25 years old, with your "future ahead" of you, you get full-boat coverage. If you're 65 or older — the Medicare cohort — you must realize that you have already lived a substantial portion of your "complete life," and are therefore less worthy of consideration for Medicare reimbursement than a person half your age.
Not for nothing is the IPRB accurately described as a "death panel."
Dear vette6387, you wrote:
If you wanted to devise a system to make bums out of a once productive society, you could not do better than what’s being attempted now. Just hope the nutless House GOP grabs what’s left in their crotches and stands up against this assault on our lives and liberties.I couldn't agree with you more.
Thank you ever so much for writing!
Logic without morals would show that bumping off the baby boomers who are no longer paying taxes will help to balance the budget. I pray the death panels will be staffed with moral people and the economy improves so this grim possibility never happens.
Ten years ago, in addition to our home, we had about 50% of our savings in stocks, 40% in money markets and other bank accounts, and 10% in precious metals. Today we have purchased a small piece of farmland with some of those funds (representing 20% of our savings), we have 10% in stocks (in IRAs), 20% in money market funds, and the remainder (about 50%) in precious metals -- gold, silver and platinum. Years ago, I would have thought that allocation foolish, even radical. I no longer do.
The mere fact that the Dow is at roughly the same level that it was five years ago, before the economic meltdown, and before the amassing of the Obama administration’s trillions in additional debt, the fact that the tax climate for business and manufacturing is more bearish than it has been in decades, and the fact that our energy and natural resource sectors are being handcuffed by regulation, tells me that being in the market at all at this point is very dangerous. The ‘irrational exuberance’ of several years ago was nothing compared to the unrealistic levels of the markets today.
In addition, we are spending some of our savings in order to become more 'independent'. We upgraded our generator system, installed another 1,000 gallon underground propane tank, installed a hand pump on our well, installed a wood-burning stove in the basement, and, this spring, will be installing a geo-thermal heating/cooling system.
In addition to protecting one's life savings, we believe it is also important to become as 'independent' as possible as regards energy and natural resource allocation.
When we sit on our porch and look at our home and land, and consider the forty-plus years we have worked and sacrificed, it angers us more than words can describe to realize that our own government covets all that we have sacrificed to attain, and they not only seek to confiscate much of it, but they also believe they have the moral right to force us to share it with others whom they (not we) deem to be deserving to benefit from the fruits of our lifetime of labor.
Most conservatives feel the same way -- and I am sure there are many others who will be hit much harder than we. The bottom line is that the evil that is represented by this government is unprecedented in the history of our republic. And the fact that that evil is sending good, decent, hard working patriots scrambling in order to be able to hang onto at least a portion of the material results of a lifetime of honest work is despicable beyond description.
Best to you and yours, dear betty. There are troubling times ahead ...
~ joanie
One possible explanation for the Dow to be "at roughly the same level that it was five years ago" is that the Fed has been "juicing" the money supply, via its Quantitative Easing operations (that is, they're just printing money like there's no tomorrow). Arguably this has had the effect of boosting the stock market — to make it look "good" in the run-up to 0bama's reelection.
According to Mike Burnick, an associate of Weiss Research,
During QE I for example, the S&P 500 rose 50.8 percent and the broader CRB Commodity Index soared 27.9 percent on the belief that massive money-printing would inflate new asset price bubbles.With each successive Quantitative Easing, there's been "less bang for the buck" in terms of juicing stock market averages. Now that we have QE III — a/k/a QE Infinity [because this time, there is no end date on it], it appears the Fed is desperate to make things look better than they are — for the stock market, and economic performance generally.
Meanwhile, the 10-year U.S. Treasury note dropped 5.3 percent and the dollar slid 6.4 percent.
During QE II, investors witnessed a similar, but more-muted response. Stocks rose 26 percent and commodities rose 26.5 percent while Treasury bonds slipped 3 percent.
But since QE III was announced on September 13, 2012, the results look quite different so far. The S&P 500 Index is DOWN 3.4 percent ... 10-year U.S. Treasury notes are UP 1.5 percent ... And the CRB Commodity Index has slipped 7.3 percent.
Once upon a time, the Fed was created by Congress, by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, in which Congress conceded its Article I, Section 8 obligation to "...coin Money, [and] regulate the Value thereof...." to a wholly unaccountable new public institution.
I wonder: Is it constitutional for Congress to divest itself of a DUTY placed on it by the Constitution itself in the first place? If the Framers had wanted U.S. monetary policy conducted by an institution totally unaccountable to the People, they would have written the Fed into the Constitution. Rather, they left such matters mainly to the People's House, the Congress. ALL revenue bills must arise there in order to be lawful. But every single dollar of revenue has been depreciated each and every year, as if systematically, by the Fed itself.
Consider: a dollar worth 100 cents back in 1913 is worth 2 cents today. What on earth could it possibly be worth, after QE I, II, and III?
Dear Joanie, your precious metals position does look a tad radical. The 50-percent-of-portfolio allocation exceeds the "normal" guideline for long-term investors in more or less "normal" economic conditions: 20 percent (which is about where I am).
On the other hand, these days we are not in "normal" economic conditions at all.
Interestingly, it has been observed that gold always shows up "at the crisis points of history" — times when monetary systems and governments collapse. Historically gold and other precious metals have tended to be excellent stores of real wealth even in times of crisis.
But here's a caveat: Because it was the "wealthy people" who bought gold to "store" their wealth, so to protect themselves during periods of economic crisis, Franklin Roosevelt confiscated all privately-held gold in 1932, by demanding (on pain of criminal prosecution) that all privately-held gold be surrendered to the Treasury at the conversion rate of $32/ounce. Why did he do this? Some observers say: Because he wanted all Americans to "share the pain" of the economic debacle of the 1930s equally; he thought it "undemocratic" that some might escape the pain because they had providentially laid up some solid independent means to get through bad times. [Plus the gold then became the property of the U.S. Treasury.]
If a socialist like Roosevelt could resort to a massive wealth expropriation of the American people such as this, why would we expect a radical Left Progressive like 0bama to pass up on a like opportunity now?
Dear sister in Christ, probably your best assets are your home and the farm land!
But it is my gloomy duty to remind you that ownership in land depends on security of contract. Yet at a time when our ultimate contract — the federal Constitution — is itself being thoroughly trashed, on what can we reliably depend as the basis of contract law? Plus there's also the risk of being expropriated by the IRS or even the local water-and-sewer board if you don't pay your requisite taxes, timely.... Or interventions by the EPA to tell you what you can and can't do with your own private property....
Lots of "moving parts" here!
Sigh, I'll just leave off, for now.
Thank you ever so much, dear sister in Christ for your (as ever) penetrating and gracious essay/post!
May God ever bless you and your dear ones, and hold you safe from harm!
Not to be over-looked is COPPER.. Copper ingots..
When gold, silver and platinum is seized.. copper may still be allowed..
An option that should be understood..
Fascinating. Depressing, but fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing your insights, dearest sister in Christ!
Not if it starts getting used.
Great observation, dear 'pipe! Thanks!
Oh, I so agree dear brother marron!
You wrote:
... to the naked eye, everything looks normal, it just isn’t. People have short memories, and they adjust, and your kids or their kids grow up thinking this is how its always been. Particularly if they are public school educated, they will accept a view of why things are the way they are that is simplistic and wrong, but they won’t care to think past it.0bama is counting on this.
BTW, I'm taking you up on your "advice": "I think its important to have your house paid off. If you are in reach of it, I would consider cashing out a 401k to finish paying it off."
I've been thinking about doing precisely that. But you have persuaded me to actually do it. :^) That, and to pay off all my debts which, fortunately, are not very large.
Thank you for your outstanding analysis, dear brother in Christ!
Not sure where to get them, but the American Open Currency Standard organization has a 1 oz copper round that would fit the bill.
And, btw, they ain’t “seizing” crap.
The folks that are holding it aren’t in any mood to have their preps stolen from them.
Yeah, provided the IPRB doesn't kill us all off first. :^)
(Just kidding.)
Dear sister in Christ, I imagine if the stock markets sell off big time early next year, sooner or later there will be amazing buying opportunities for well-managed, well-capitalized firms in the business sectors you name, plus basic consumer consumption goods, food processers, pharmaceuticals, etc.
[This statement is premised on the expectation that at some point, America will return to "normality." Yet on reflection, it seems to me that a bit of a "leap of faith" is involved here.]
If one has cash on hand, one could pick up quality companies "for a song."
It is a truism that astute stock investors make money out of down markets as well as up markets....
But I'm retrenching for now, to protect principle in the shorter run.
We do live in interesting times, dearest sister in Christ! It's amazing I'm still in such good spirits!
But I am, all thanks be to God!
Many people see post-crash America as Somalia, but I see it more like Depression-era America unraveling into Mexico or Ecuador. With that as your mental model, you see that people still prosper (because people did prosper in the thirties and still do in the third world) but the forumula is a bit different.
Where rule of law is fuzzy, friendships and relationships become very important. You personal moral code becomes very important. Avoid attracting attention to any wealth you have. Belong to the right party, at least publicly. Do business with people you know and trust. Hope to have an uncle at city hall and another in the army or the police.
You become cynical about the law and the people enforcing it so you ignore it or avoid it where necessary. Getting caught ignoring it doesn’t give you the moral qualms it would have in another era, it just presents a practical problem to deal with. You become cynical about the kind of people who prosper in this system, but you can prosper.
You get used to a certain level of uncertainty and physical danger, but again you counter that with friendships and relationships and religious faith. You develop a certain level of stoicism.
The more you make yourself independent, the less dependent you are on the current exchange rate of your currency versus the rest of the world. You live at a lower level initially but you are less vulnerable. Thats something I noticed in some places, that the people who were considered “poor” actually were quite self-sufficient and immune to economic shocks.
It is a truism that astute stock investors make money out of down markets as well as up markets....
But I am, all thanks be to God!
Psalms 55:22 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
Amen!
May God ever bless you, dearest sister in Christ!
Yes, one can "get through things," no matter what. But what a come-down for the American citizen — to have lost his liberty and his sovereignty, so to be relegated to the status of a "citizen" of an authoritarian third-world society.
Meanwhile, 0bama "...has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance...."
Perhaps we as a people need a really hard fall before we can appreciate the blessings of liberty our constitutional framework — which 0bama holds in contempt — was designed to protect. Maybe the only way we learn is "the hard way."
Anyhoot, living the "new normal" will be interesting....
Thank you, marron, my dear brother in Christ, for your wise, penetrating observations.
Amazing “leftists” can be so confused on what “Rich and Poor” is..
Has nothing at all to do with with what you have or do not have..
Being rich or poor is a matter of who you ARE not what you have..
You cannot remove who someone is by sanction or edict... by law or regulation by bank or theft..
Being human is so much a matter of who you are or are becoming..
The cabal in the White Ghetto is an administration of theft.. grifters..
What they are stealing is not “riches” but fiat money..
RAP artists posturing and performing for bleeding ears and watery eyes..
I remain who I am just the same.. rich beyond my wildest dreams... with few pennies to my name..
Silly leftists.. you cannot steal the truth.. purloin honor.. or pilfer knowledge..
There are things honorable to love, and permissible to hate..
Real riches are contained in truth, honor and knowledge..
Real poverty are contained in lies, dishonor and disinformation..
It is quite easy to tell whom the rich and the poor are..
A brief conversation can highlight “the Truth”..
The poor are stealing the chaff rejecting the germ..
A comedy of errors.. pitiful in its essence.. stealing fiat money..
A “WeekEnd at Bernies” political show thats quite funny if you are Rich enough to appreciate it..
But you must be rich and not poor to enjoy it..
What a glorious essay/post, dear hosepipe! Thank you ever so much for writing, dear brother in Christ!
You're right. We have what people the world over would give anything to have, and our countrymen have tossed it away as a thing of no value.
In the end, though, we hang by a different thread. Whatever we may have to go through as a country, as believers we will not go through it alone. I'm convinced that God is with us. He'll protect us and in return we will have to be the ones who look after the folks close to us.
You know, even poor unworthy Lot, God went in and got him to safe haven. That thought occurred to me the other day. Again and again in the Bible we see where there's a bad moon risin', but God gets his people to safety. So look up, and be prepared to be the person the others coalesce around when it all unravels.
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