The Financial Game Goes On

WIFLI  October 13 – 19 2013

Kurt Nimmo nicely summarizes October’s first 16 days in American politics with this title, “Yawn. Government Non-shutdown Ends.” An examination of the government’s own figures shows that only 17 % of the government actually did shut down.

Which 17%? The 17 that caused Americans to lose access to services despite the fact that the government itself would lose revenue doing so. “Tasked with selecting which functions of government should be shut down, the Obama administration created a firestorm of negative publicity this week when it ordered rangers to barricade otherwise fully accessible public areas in Washington, including war memorials. An angry Park Service ranger indicated to Washington Times columnist Wesley Pruden that there is a political motive behind the closure of the open-air memorials. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can,” he said. “It’s disgusting.”” http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/disgusting-ranger-reveals-shutdown-orders/

As you may recall the government shutdown occurred because America had reached its debt limit and could no longer fund its liabilities without raising the debt ceiling. You would think under the circumstances that expeditious movement and rapid resolution would be the order of the day. Not so.

According to Standard & Poor’s the US government opted instead to rack up a $24 billion price tag for its 16 days of political jousting. “The financial services company said the shutdown, which ended with a deal late Wednesday night after 16 days, took $24 billion out of the U.S. economy, and reduced projected fourth-quarter GDP growth from 3 percent to 2.4 percent.” http://swampland.time.com/2013/10/17/heres-what-the-government-shutdown-cost-the-economy/

The spiteful action of closing the National Parks cost the government $76 million in daily revenue and about $3.1 billion in lost government services.

Feeling sick yet?

Unsurprisingly Obamacare was at the heart of the logjam. This is because Obamacare is an economic time bomb about to explode on the American middle class. It is so costly that much of the disastrous rollout of healthcare.gov was due in large part to the government not wanting people to see the likely costs they would incur before signing up.

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Simon Black ~ As Syria Distracts, Here’s What Else Is Happening While No One Is Looking…

SovereignMan  August 29 2013

Ben Bernanke

Rome, Italy ~ As everyone is now completely distracted with the looming prospect of yet another illegal war to be waged by the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, let’s look at a few other things going on while no one is looking.

Gun control

Today, the Obama administration announced fresh measures to restrict the availability of firearms in the Land of the Free.

This time around, they want to ban the re-importation of firearms that have been exported from the US to allied nations. They also want to raise the bar on federal background checks.

But rather than go through Congress, the Obama administration is simply going to create a new ‘rule’.

‘Rules’ are a type of regulation created directly by agencies within the Executive Branch. They’re not laws, but they carry the same weight and effect as laws, complete with criminal and civil penalties.

Oftentimes, hundreds of new rules are proposed every single day in the Land of the Free. It’s the easiest way for the President to circumvent the Constitution and simply decree whatever he wants.

Debt ceiling

The US government is once again danger close to defaulting.

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