A Fatality Of War: The U.S. Economy

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

A Fatality Of War: The U.S. Economy
posted with permission from: http://sane-ramblings.blogspot.com

People are worried about the economy. But the government is creating the illusion the economy is becoming much stronger, despite it being drained by the staggering costs of its war machine and the millions of people unemployed or underemployed, along with its mountain of home foreclosures.

War is now one of America's biggest businesses. If ever you doubt that consider its endlessly growing budget which now officially exceeds $700 billion and collectively employs millions of people as contractors or sub contractors in nearly every U.S. Congressional District.

The fighting will eventually end in Iraq and Afghanistan and in other undeclared wars in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. But unless the U.S. is driven out as it was in Vietnam, it will retain a huge military presence, as it does in Japan and Germany (65 years since World War ll ended) and Korea (57 years since the Korean War ended) and nearly every where else in the world. But that will change when the U.S. goes broke, something it is well on its way to doing.

If you think it won't go broke, that it can't happen here, and if it did, it can't happen now, and if it did, it can't happen to me, think again. The U.S. is so deeply in debt, that if interest rates spike just a few percent, to traditional interest rate levels, the government would be overwhelmed by it. And as history tells us, traditional interest rates will return.

Your voice is important and we need to hear it. Whether you post on blogs, write letters to newspaper editors or become a political activist, please take action. It is your financial future and that of America at stake.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. K&R

[ladjf]

2. There is no logical reason for the U.S. to have soldiers in Iraq

and Afghanistan. Why are they there? I don't even hear the "cooked up" reasons anymore. It has just become a habit for the U.S. to bankrupt itself while serving no constructive purpose.

1 in 6 Americans are living in poverty. America needs to take better care of itself.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

3. Well, it does provide cover for massive military spending. nt

[w8liftinglady]

4. and the unmentioned fact-150-250,000 private contractors are also there

http://www.americancontractorsiniraq.org/

[rgbecker]

5. Take a look at this chart and see what has become of America.

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_chart_30.html

And Gates' "cuts" will not show up as a drop on a chart like this. Its just a drop in the bucket.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

6. Thanks for that link!

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/defense_chart_30.html

and the interest chart is very important, too:

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/downchart_gs.php?year=1995_2015&view=1&expand=30&units=b&fy=fy11&chart=90-total&bar=1&stack=1&size=m&title=&state=US&color=c&local=s