Tuesday, November 13, 2012

And now, a word from our sponsor.


Over the past week, I've had numerous emails regarding the outcome of the election and things that we might be facing.  Below is a reply that I've sent to one of my readers, expanded a bit from that original response.  

Feel free to pass on this at anytime--the following has nothing to do with Distance or the prior three novels... these are just some of the rambling thoughts of the author. However, I doubt anyone would believe the situation we find ourselves, if it were in a novel. 



From a reader:
I would wonder what your take is on what is happening right now. You have an election that appears rigged, you have 42 + states with petitions to secede at the white house, and of course economic collapse is knocking on the front door.



My reply: 
Needless to say I was disappointed by the election. Not that I'm a huge Romney fan, but I thought that there were enough people out there that were awake and paying attention to flip Obama out of office. You cannot win an election when the debate moderators, the media, most other nations, and the existing administration are against you. Just cannot happen. I was hopeful until 7PM, Pacific Time. After that though, I poured two fingers of Scotch. 

Obviously, there are enough people awake and 'on the dole' to realize that they've got a very good thing going with the current administration remaining in place, and don't see the need or have the desire to change it.  The "47%" that Romney mentioned didn't vote for him; he was exactly right in his comments. There were too many insurmountables for him to beat.  He couldn't even win his own state. 

So, things have tipped over. There is no going back at this point. With the Senate still in D control; the House now willing to capitulate on anything Obama wants, since the R-party is now so obviously out of touch with the electorate that they have to do what Obama wants or they become even more irrelevant than they are now. They are blustering, but they'll cave soon enough.  They weren't just spanked last weak. They were horsewhipped. I don't know what the R party is anymore, let alone who their leader is, what their goals and ideology represent--any of it. 

The R party needs to remake itself to listen to what the voters want, or it will lose the House in 2014, and that is a very real possibility. The R party leadership has disenfranchised so many people that they'll be lucky to exist at all in eight years. (Don't get me started on what they did to R. Paul at the convention).   So what do the voters want? Everything, with no threat of ever paying for it. 

So what does that mean for us?  D-Party, R-Party, same outcome, but one side wears better suits and doesn't put on phony accents when speaking to working people. 

So, among other things that we're facing: 

The Fiscal Cliff: I expect that either they'll kick the can down the road through a continuing resolution or we go off the cliff as the R party still remains out of touch and stands fast for whatever it is they believe in.  The perception is that they are for the preservation of wealth for the wealthy.  The facts be damned: No one cares that the rich people pay far more than their fair share in taxes and millions of others pay nothing or in fact get paid for breathing.  No one who voted for Obama seems to care one iota that FedGov hasn't had an actual budget since GWB's last effort.    Can you go for four years without balancing your checkbook or at least looking at the bank statement? I know that I can't.  Tax the rich 100%, and you still don't get there. Tax them 200% and you still don't get there.  

We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.  There is no way that anyone wants to fix a spending problem. It's far too painful. But it's necessary

Israel/Iran: Either Israel goes it alone or they threaten Iran with both the assassination of their entire leadership tier, or they turn several parts of Iran into a glassy parking lot.  Either way, it won't be long before things Are Decided. Of course, I Could Be Wrong. They are completely capable to do this all on their own and without permission or support from the U.S. As a matter of observation, they're better off not telling anyone anything until they're on their return leg of the mission.  It's not like the U.S. leadership has proven itself competent any any aspect of foreign policy or covert actions for a long time now...

UN Small Arms Treaty: Coming to a nation near you. This could be an exec order, approved by the Senate, crafted and rammed through the same way that Obamacare was. Don't expect a bunch of hearings on it, or expect it to follow legal pathways.  Enforcement: No need to ban the weapons, just tax the crap out of ammunition; pound the manufacturers with all kinds of non-compliable compliance mandates; ban imports and exports of any kind. I visited a Cabelas over the weekend--There wasn't a black gun, magazine or any quality 5.56 left in the store by the end of the day.  AK's were going too, along with 7.62x39. Lots of talk about either capitalizing on the weapons or being ready for seizures, one boat-tail round at a time at high velocity.  It looked a **whole lot** like a Black Friday sale, but with much more determination.  

Economy: Despite the happy-talk, it doesn't matter what Obama does or doesn't do.  Europe's going down hard, and when they go, we go. Might be soon, might be a year...dunno. Read Karl Denninger's site (The Market Ticker) when you can, or daily, including the comments section. These are professional traders, and they see risks and failure where we see nothing. I'm not in that business, so I don't see the danger signs that they do.  I read the site, but seldom post. I treat that site like I do The Drudge Report.  If you want to know the news before the MSM reports on it, you need to be ahead of the MSM. It is not difficult. 

Read this: http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=2753128     That particular post explains the nature of exponential spending and debt accumulation.  You don't know how bad it is until you are nearly out of breathable air.  Scary as Hell when you think about it, especially in light of where we are post-election. 

Money: QE to Infinity will continue--and accelerate the destruction of our money. Europe will go first, meaning there is a flight to the perception of "quality": They will run to the dollar as other currencies die; then the dollar will go too. Things you need will continue to get more expensive--food, fuel, etc., but prices will not climb steadily and the .gov will leverage that as 'recovery'.  Bumpy, unpredictable, and drawn out for far longer than would be reasonable.  When it goes though, it will go very quickly. Think: Hours not days. Silver and gold gyrate a bunch. The old maxim applies: If you don't have it in your hands, you don't have it. 

Obamacare: Gets fully implemented, full-throttle.   Private insurance companies will be driven out of existence.  Health care quality plummets, and prices skyrocket.  The Death Panel won't be needed, because simple delays in getting needed treatment will kill people....just like Great Britain.  If you need a medical procedure done, get it done sooner rather than later. If you have insurance at a reasonable price now, you won't have it in a year--you might have insurance, but you'll be paying for much more of it (assuming your employer pays a portion of it now). ALSO, expect massive terminations of full time employees and hiring of part time employees, none of which will be eligible for employer-sponsored medical insurance.  Expect all kinds of current fringe benefits to be eliminated as a result, causing further downward pressure on the workers. You're going to see a massive reduction in employers, as people figure out that it's just not worth it to work hard to pay the government more taxes and end up with much less at the end of the day. This may be the price of Austerity. I think it's more the cost of bloated government. 

ScandalGate and Fallout:  An ambassador--the second highest envoy a country can have, after the President--is allowed to be killed, when numerous options were available to save him; and after dozens of failures of security were allowed to happen.  Protocol was completely ignored in multiple agencies and at multiple levels, including in the Situation Room where BHO was present and ordered 'Stand Down'.   No one goes to jail or is punished.  

Fast and Furious:  Weapons were supplied by the FedGov to Mexican drug gangs, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands of deaths.  No one goes to jail or is punished. 

CIA Compromised: The head of the CIA is banging his biographer, and isn't smart enough to use widely available, easily accessible and highly secure encryption means to express his need to get some from his mistress.  The mistress is allowed access to all kinds of classified environments and probably information, as that kind of thing happens in the afterglow.  Mistress talks, another woman gets involved, and Petraeus' succeeding General in Afghanistan decides to get involved to the tune of thousands, if not tens of thousands of emails. An investigating FBI agent gets overly involved and tries to start a relationship with one of the women, including communicating topless pictures of himself sent to her. This throws dirt on the CIA, the FBI, probably to a smaller degree State, and by extension, Obama, but he is far above the fray.  Look for Petraeus and his general-buddy to be retired in disgrace, and word to come out that both were leading Bush-men in the big scheme of things.  No one goes to jail or is punished. 

As a result of the shiny entertainment of a married four-star general getting all horizontal with a much younger woman, and the accessory collapse of several other major careers, Benghazi and the weapons smuggling is forgotten; F&F is forgotten, the CIA is reformed with new, Statist-approved leadership, as is the FBI.   No one goes to jail or is punished. 

All this proves is that the most of the upper echelons of leadership in this nation are utterly corrupt. 

Regulations: Expect many more restrictive, private-business-unfriendly regulations to come your way. Expect there to be increasing restrictions on use of any kind of fuel: Wood burning, diesel, gasoline, whatever through a Carbon Tax.  Expect environmental 'Agenda 21' stuff to grow quickly. Expect both parties to be sponsors as a way to seriously increase revenue. 

Courts: We're going to see more radical Supreme Court judges, and a vast increase in radical judges in lower courts. This isn't even on the radar screen right now. Scalia, Ginsburg, Kennedy, two Reagan appointees and a Clinton appointee, will all likely be replaced with three Obama appointees. If this happens, this will be the largest bunch of USSC judges appointed by a single President since Eisenhower. Think about that one for a long time. 

If you've read Asimov, it's time to build your version of the Great Library of Trantor.  If you've read Rand, it's time to re-read Atlas Shrugged and prepare accordingly.  If you haven't read either or can't stand Rand's endless monologues, you still have some time to catch up, but don't waste time. If you're unfamiliar with any of the aforementioned, research the purposes and functions of medieval monasteries. They weren't all about religion and were designed to exist for many lifetimes.  

I think we are in for a very rough time ahead. 

T











8 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your insight on what might be coming down the pike for us. Wish I could disagree with you, but I think you are pretty much spot on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Tom. To the point very clearly. Chilling as a "Deep Winter" of a different sort - hunker down, cover up, and hope to get through the storms!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tom,

    Thanks for your thoughts.. to add to them

    The Fiscal Cliff - A tax increase is coming, but it won't be as large as Obama wants. Instead he will only get a percentage rise in the two top tiers accompanied by some adjustments in deductions. The estate tax and millionaire minimum tax will not get passed.
    Regardless, the new taxes will generate less money (my bet is no more in 30B) and our credit rating will be lowered. Again. In addition, Obama and the D's will continue to push for spending resolutions with 1T in annual deficits.

    Israel/Iran - Gaza is a proxy war between Israel and Iran. This will go hot in the next year and will expand. The US will half-heartedly support Israel, but will not commit planes or troops. Obama will be lambasted for leading from behind again.

    UN Small Arms Treaty - There are over 30 D senators facing reelection in 2014. At least five will be tarred and feathered back home if they vote for any restrictions on firearms and Obama has nothing he can offer them to come on board. It will not pass.

    Economy - This will change the 2014 mid-terms. Unemployment will be double digits again and underemployment will be rampant. The economy is not recovering and November is showing the new normal. Mass layoffs and closings, reduction of hours, emboldened unionization met with termination and shutdowns. 2014 will be Shellac Part II and no demographics will change that.

    Courts - This is the single most important thing to worry about. Before you give up hope, bear in mind that Stevenson and Souter both waited until a D came into office before checking out and Stevenson passed away in 2001. I expect the same from Scalia and Kennedy.

    Finally, forget all this nonsense about demographics. The economy will be so awful, our nation so broke, our debt so high, Sarah Palin could win a Senate seat in California. OK, that won't happen, but O and the D's have nothing tangible to lower unemployment but have set the wheels in motion to increase joblessness.

    My own prediction is Obama will resign from office in late 2015 citing unrelated reasons, but it will be due to the economy and a Nixon-type scandal. That and five bucks will get you a latte at Starbucks. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You might be right about an Obama resignation. The tip-off will be if Biden steps down. Remember Agnew was disposed of prior to Nixon's resignation. This is just a horror show of epic proportions.

      Delete
  4. Soon as the Kenyan packs the USSC with his statist cronies, all bets are off. He will then have free rein to do what he desires, and a USKSC (for kangaroo) to rubber-stamp any edicts or decrees or executive orders he might issue. Truly, as Jarrett said about 4 years ago, he'll be 'ruling' when that happens.

    ALL HAIL THE KENYAN KING! Barack Hussein Obama.... mmm mmm mmm.....

    We're at the point that ol' Wile E. is at when he's off the cliff in midair, but has yet to look down.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Tom, both for the story and for the synopsis on the calamity awaiting this once-great country while it careens down the road of destruction.

    May you and yours prosper while we celebrate the Christmas season...God Bless.

    ReplyDelete
  6. With the recent (and suspiciously convenient) mass-murders in Denver and Connecticut,the gun legislation will gush forth from D.C. along with a river of hatred for the 2nd Amendment. With no less than the queen of anti-gun vitriol at the helm, Diane Feinstein will ensure that ever more onerous legislation will quickly be passed. The "model" state, California is already speaking of extensive taxes and ever tighter controls on ammunition purchases including Internet orders delivered to a state-registered location.YEARLY re-registration of weapons and the owners is to be the crowning jewel of anti-fireams legislation.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tom, this is quite the late response. Things have not quite gone as you expected. but they have as I do.

    I knew Obama would be elected in 2008. I knew he would be re-elected in 2012. What scares me is what I think I know about 2016.

    The rise of the 'mass shooting events' either really or at least as reported may be leading up to some event that will give Obama the reason he needs to stay in power.

    Here in WA state, the republican presidential primary election was too expensive for the state to perform, so we had to go to the caucus method. I thought then that Ron Paul had the best platform, ideas, and plans to get this nation back on track; but he wasn't considered 'electable enough' and even my small local caucus went for Romney.

    People, that is what has gotten us into this mess. Voting for the "most electable". Google the essay, "545 people" and your eyes may be opened. Hopefully in time.

    Because, as you said Tom, we have been in a cold civil war for some time now and the only way we can win it without it going 'hot' is to vote for the man and not the effen party he represents.

    God bless you and help this failing nation.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are welcome!