“Plummeting tax revenue is the surest proof that there is no recovery.”
I want you to know that I’m doing my part. Changed my withholdings to M-4 last week and increased my pre-tax dollars for my medical slush fund and my 401K at work.
I’ve stopped all discretionery spending in my household budget so I’m paying in less sales tax to my state government and I’m watching my gasoline use like a hawk for the same reason. I’ve started making my own wine to avoid alcohol taxes, too. Wisconsin doesn’t tax food...YET!
I’ll bare-bones it for a while. It’s not much, but it’s another few hundred a month that’s not going into the hands of Government.
However...will this make any bit of difference, or am I just fooling myself?
What’s the tipping point for when it all collapses, and how else can I speed that along? ;)
Your not the only one, so maybe it will make a difference. I am an independent oilfield contractor, and I have taken on only enough work to keep me busy, with no employees,to lighten the April 15 burden. I just don’t want to give them any more than I just have to.
I commend what you are doing. I don’t buy much either, except for “stock-up” items and books.
If we had a concerted, national effort, the revenuers would definitely feel the pinch. What would they do? Probably just print some more money.
Remember that inflation (printing money outside of what is needed) is actually a hidden tax, because it takes from you the purchasing power of the money you have and are earning.
So, when push comes to shove, they’ll take more of you money by printing more. We haven’t seen any real inflation yet, compared to all the money that has been printed over the past couple of years. That is because the velocity of money (how often money exchanges owners) is still very low and because app. 2/3 of the stimulus money (remember what an emergency/crisis it was supposed to save us from?) still has not been spent. It will be spent this year to help Dems out in the midterm campaigns.
When that money hits the streets and the velocity picks up, inflation will hit very hard not too long after that.
The Currency/Financial Armageddon can’t be avoided at this point. There is simply too much debt and continued spending and taxing and unemployment for it ever to just go away. And it’s going to be global. China is little more than an Enron at this point, smoke and mirrors. No one is going to bail the world out. All we can hope is that every nation slows down, licks their wounds, sorts through their destitution in order to rebuild prosperity, hope that it is real prosperity, and to do so without resulting to war, which is the ultimate economic/financial reset button world leaders and banksters love to use.
So, I advise everyone to stock up on the essentials now and, in addition to that, stock up on items you can use to barter with.
Keep up the good work, everyone of us should be doing everything legal that we can to help starve the beast.
Diana - at least when it all goes to hell we’ll be already partially trained for living on little. If there IS any recovery, it occured to me that it’s because people have tightend their belts enough to start making an impact on paying down consumer debt.