It seems like everybody is getting a bailout right now. The government is handing out money it doesn’t have left and right. This is all justified because of coronavirus. Even conservatives who normally oppose government bailouts have jumped on the stimulus train. “This is a crisis!” they cry. The government has to step in. But as Peter Schiff explains in his podcast, the government crippled the economy in the first place. A government crutch isn’t the solution to the problem.
The US government is spending money and running up debt at an unfathomable rate. The US national debt increased by a staggaring $814 billion in just two months. When confronted with this reality, most people just shrug. Policymakers certainly don’t care. They continue to ramp up spending and call for even more. Paul Krugman recently tweeted that we need more government stimulus — ie spending — to stoke tepid demand.
Democrats have never cared about spending and Republicans swear tax cuts will grow the economy and fix the debt problem. But as we’ve reported many times, debt retards economic growth.
Now we have even more evidence that government stimulus doesn’t stimulate. In fact, it has the exact opposite effect, as we can see from Europe’s spending binge.
It’s time for Fun on Friday and I have to be honest — I’m not feeling very fun.
Why?
Because the tax man cometh! And no matter how you slice it, taxation is not a fun subject. It’s no wonder “death” and “taxes” are often mentioned in the same breath.
But April 15 is lurking right around the corner and that means it’s almost tax day.
Several state legislatures are considering bills that would repeal taxes on the sale of gold and silver.
Fundamentally, gold and silver are money. But most governments treat precious metals as a commodity. They don’t accept it as payment. Worse than that, they tax it. Think about the absurdity of this policy.
As we reported last week, China is dumping US debt. China’s holdings of US Treasuries fell for the third consecutive month in August. The Chinese shed another $6 billion in US debt, dropping its total holdings to $1.165 trillion. Over the last year, China’s holdings of Treasury bonds fell by $37 billion year-on-year.
But China has debt problems of its own. Local Chinese governments have reportedly piled up about $5.8 billion in debt. An S&P analyst called Chinese debt “an iceberg with titanic credit risks.”
Peter Schiff recently appeared on RT to talk about the US and Chinese debt.
In fiscal 2018, the national debt expanded by more than $1 trillion. According to data released by the Treasury Department, it was the sixth-largest fiscal-year debt increase in the history of the United States. A combination of increased spending along with shrinking revenues continues to expand the federal deficit and balloon the national debt.
GOP apologists insist the revenue shortfalls caused by tax cuts are temporary and economic growth spurred by tax relief will eventually turn things around. Tax relief is great, but without substantive government relief in the form of spending cuts, the promised economic growth won’t likely materialize.
The federal government isn’t alone drowning in debt. Most US states don’t have enough money to pay their bills either.
That was the conclusion of the Truth in Accounting annual State of the States 2018 report. According to the report, American states have racked up $1.5 trillion dollars in unfunded state debt. Much of the red ink is related to pension plans and retiree benefits
There has been a tremendous amount of debate about building walls to stop illegal immigration. But the IRS is building walls to keep Americans in.
The US government is cracking down on Americans with outstanding tax bills by revoking passports.
Gold and silver are money. But most governments treat precious metals like a commodity. They don’t accept it as payment. Worse than that, they tax it. Think about the absurdity of this policy. You don’t tax money!
Fortunately, we’re beginning to see a shift. Many states are repealing taxes on gold and silver, and treating precious metals more like money. Wyoming is the latest state to reform its laws.
These policies not only ease the burden on investors, it opens the door to use gold and silver in everyday transactions, a foundational step for the people to undermine the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.
Retail sales unexpectedly fell again in February. It was the third straight monthly drop and the first time the US economy has seen three straight months of declining retail sales since 2012.
Sales fell 0.1% in February. Analysts had expected an uptick of 0.3%. According to CNBC, households cut back on purchases of motor vehicles and other big-ticket items, pointing to a slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter.
So, why is this happening? Peter Schiff offered a simple reason in his latest podcast.
Americans are broke.
