goverment financial collapse

[fiddle-fart]

well here is the first one to go down

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28854529/

any bets on the next one

[coppercoins]

USA?

[Dick]

Not yet, "But it could happen, tomorrow"!
Dick

[fiddle-fart]

well I myself have never understood the idea of "spend our way out of a depression"
If I tried that, It would just push me deeper in debt.
mike

[nightshade]

With the number of small businesses rapidly declining in my area along with a number of large chain stores it is obvious that we are in difficult times and that this is just the beginning. I am currently unemployed and am seeking a job with bleak outlooks due to the fact that all of my experience is in retail sales yet i desire a career in the scientific community. Additionally, certain problems that are due to my personality type prevent me from finishing school in a standard setting. I am not a people person, therefore, I cannot stand sitting in a packed classroom with a group of individuals who ended up getting a 62 and were allowed to continue to the next course without having the basic skill set to continue their education in said next course.

The saying to make money you have to spend money is accurate yet not the best idea in this situation. Individuals should now start saving money in an emergency account that will pay for their current living arrangements for at least 6 months as opposed to the current suggestion of 3 months. Also, we as Americans need to tighten our wallets and get rid of the plastic. Credit companies must also decrease the availability of credit for the specific reason that people think plastic money is their money and that they can spend it now and pay it later. This is never a wise idea. This idea rates along the same lines as the government allowing unemployed individuals to obtain mortgages etc. Additionally Bush assisted us in causing a major problem due to the fact that at the beginning of our war they set up such vast guidelines on deployment, length of stay etc.. This war was not planned properly it should have been a strategic strike which is executed with surgical precision.

The longer our troops remain deployed the worse our economy will get. It takes money and supplies to send troops and it takes money and supplies to support our troops. It is a never ending money pit to stay in a position such as we are currently without trying to decrease our consumption of supplies and resources.

A great analogy is we have taken a castle in a foreign land where we have little to no financial or economic influence. We do not have the ability to gather resources locally and we need support from our homeland. The reason we captured the castle was in order to lay siege to the surrounding country yet in essence we have only trapped ourselves. For while the surrounding indigenous people understand how to get the resources they need we have to rely on shipments that are received from out of country thereby the country we are invading might last out indefinitely resulting in a stalemate.

For those who are loyal to our country and have served, wish they could serve, or plan to serve I do not mean anything negative about who and what we are as a country. I am grateful that you have fought for my freedom and personally wish that I could join you in saying I have served my country yet due to the fact that I am blind in one eye I have no chance of Joining any branch of the military. If I have offended anyone I sincerely apologize for that was not and is not the intent of my post.
Robert

[Dick]

I never believed I could "spend my way out of debt. But it sure will leave you "FLAT BROKE", if you try it! The only way to get out of debt, is not to get into debt, in the first place! If you can't afford to pay casy, it is not that necessary. IOf you want it bad enouugh, save a few pennys every dqay, and then think about how much you really need it. Then set your goal! The only "credit card" I ever owned has always been a "debit card". I don't have much, but EVERYTHING I HAVE IS PAID FOR! And It was paid for in cash! The onlt problem I have is, trying to find a place to put all the stuff!
Dick

[ikandiggit]

I'm in the same mind-set as you, Dick. I was in debt for twenty years, never "owned" anything. It was owned by the bank. I was always playing catch-up with the bills and could never get ahead. Then, I wound up loosing everything in an arson fire and I had no insurance. Had to start at the very bottom. I got rid of all my credit cards and spent years paying them off. Then after that, I only bought what I could save up for. Now, a few years later, I own my stuff outright and only have my rent, utilities and food to pay for. I have savings and if I ever had to liquidate due to job loss or whatever, the cash would be all mine and not a bank's or credit card company's. It was a matter of adjusting my lifestyle for a while and now I have more peace of mind than I ever had previously and I'm living quite comfortably.

[Gabe]

[eagames]

They say unemployment is over 9% in some states.
That number was before most big layoffs started kicking in.
It doesn't include those who used up their unemployment.
It does not include part time workers.
It does not include contract workers.
It does not include millions of undocumented workers.
The real number is higher and growing fast.

Fueling an economy with credit creates bubbles. If 2 coin collectors sell their coins to eachother using IOUs and higher IOUs each day then at some point one of them sells one at real market price then the bubble bursts.

The economy and prices need to drop to the bottom then real prices can become stable. It can take much longer to recover.

[nightshade]

[Dick]

It used to be that one had to have good credit redferences, before they could get a loan. Now that is not the case. Everyone seems to have qwide open cred, (see the number of credit cards, the availability, of them, and the nearly limitless amount they can be used for), and then ask yourself, "how did I get into this huge debt? They stopped asking for references,, and like the Bof A issued credit cards, with a $500 dollar limit to the Un-documentated people! What have they to offer in return? Dumb Gringss, They give us money, and we didn't even ask! There is part of " problem! Sure they found work, some of it was well paid, and they even paid the taxes on the income, but how many has received their paycheck, in cash, and under the table? I know of citizens that do the same thing. How did we manage to get so deep in debt? Easy get a loan, and when you can't pay, go banlrupt, or leave town, and start over somewhere else. Who checks? Especially when there was no record to begin wuith! One must learn to live on what one earns, and learn to set a little bit aside each check. A few dollars at a time, don't hurt foer much time, after one gets used to doing it, and they smile, as they nitice that the "stash that started with a "couple dollaer", has now grown to three figures! And so on. It gets easier as one gets used to it. Those who think they have to have the best, name brand, brand new, etc, will fiond that there are all of the same things available, maybe used a little, but still servicable, useful for working, . Others can be gotten from the second-hand store. A shirt is a shirt, if it covers you when it is cold, or hot, and sunny. Too many pweople nod days forget there has to be a "starting point to wealth"! No one starts at the b ottom, and WORKS their way up, as it used to be. So why not think that way now? We got ourselves into this mess, and unless we re-think about who we elected to lead the country OUT of the sqame mess< we won;t have the mess to worry about. Collateral has to be given when a large losn is granted, and this country has been granted one hell of a lot of loans! When it comes time to collect, something very nasty is going to happen! Suppose the countries who hold us by the scrotum, decide it is time to pay. Money, or collateral. Which language will we learrn, then???
Dick

[Gabe]

[nightshade]

hehe it took me many years and more than a few times to learn that plastic wasnt cash thank god i never had a credit card with more than a 500 dollar limit that will teach you right there once you max it out a few times while working a dead end job and see how long it takes you to pay it back. I used to think well i want this right now so i would get it with the full intention of paying the card off on next payday then with my ADD i would forget it and go and buy something with the cash i had lol another good thing is i know how to talk my credit issuer back down to the 9% fixed rate when i miss payments my credit is probably screwed thanks to my youthful actions. They should require an individual to go through some kind of financial class and pass in order to get credit higher than 500 bucks lol and i dont mean deer either

[fiddle-fart]

we can save all we want, and we can spend all we want, but until the goverment and companies puts some kind of control on thier frivolous spending we all are going to get deeper into debt by faults not by our doing.
when greed supersedes the welfare of the people we suffer
when greed supersedes the health of the people we suffer

Where is the check and balance that is supposed to be there.
where is the balance the budget that have been promised.

In Europe, they are demonstrating against the greed.
Whats happenning here.... Nothing....

Why is that

[eagames]

In Europe/France they are protesting for more government programs, they think the solution is more government.