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Government Shutdown Reveals Nasty Truth About Americans’ Savings

January 31, 2019

government shutdown reveals americans have no savings

Government Shutdown Reveals Nasty Truth About Americans’ Savings

The temporarily-ended government shutdown didn’t have had a large effect on the U.S. economy, but it may have revealed something disturbing about the savings of 80% of Americans.

They aren’t prepared if the economy get worse.

MarketWatch published some recent findings in an op-ed (emphasis ours):

Why do a few weeks without pay turn into a crisis for many families? Simple: Nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That’s a problem when you have little to no savings. In fact, it’s akin to playing financial Russian roulette.

And the problem is terrifyingly pervasive. According to a recent GoBankingRates survey, only 21% of Americans have more than $10,000 in savings, with nearly 60% having less than $1,000 in savings.

The findings come from a recent GoBankingRates survey, which contained the following chart reflecting MarketWatch’s findings:

american savings 2014 - 2018

With interest rates on the rise and the economy at levels of uncertainty not seen since 2008, it’s crucial for Americans to buffer their income with some sort of hedge.

Without reliable “go-to” savings and a plan, there could be tough times ahead if the market continues diving into recession.

But the nasty truth appears to be most Americans don’t have enough savings, if any at all, to get them through the tough times.

Right now, government-reported unemployment is the lowest it’s been since 2000. But as you can see from the chart below, a recession tends to follow the “lowest” unemployment rates:

civilian unemployment rate

It’s not for sure that this is a signal of an imminent recession, but it sure seems like enough circumstantial evidence to consider looking into your savings options. That, and the fact that the shutdown has only been “ended” until February 15. After that, we may see “Part II.”

And the shutdown isn’t only affecting individuals. It even drew the attention of top CEOs.

 …click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Hidden Revelation

January 20, 2019

The Hidden Revelation

The current government shutdown (the longest in history) comes with a hidden revelation: Millions of Americans are financially unprepared for the next economic downturn. Worse, they are highly vulnerable with few protections.

10 years after the financial crisis the economic recovery has left millions behind with little to no savings and the government shutdown serves as a preview for what will happen once unemployment rises.

Within just a few weeks into the government shutdown people are struggling to cope. We hear of stories of people turning to food banks to feed their families during the shutdown. We hear stories of people who are in dire straights because they can’t get loans and of people who can’t pay their mortgages as payments come due. That’s not even a month into the shutdown.

Why do a few weeks of no pay turn into a crisis for many families? Simple: Nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. That’s a problem when you have little to no savings. In fact it’s akin to playing financial Russian roulette.

And the problem is terrifyingly pervasive. According to a recent GoBankingRates surveyonly 21% of Americans have more than $10,000 in savings with nearly 60% having less than $1,000 in savings:

This savings free game of complacency works as long as people have a steady paycheck coming in and as long as rates stay low. But they are not staying low even though the Fed may stay patient again this year as they have proclaimed in recent days.

As a matter of fact the cost of carrying debt, especially the revolving credit card type have exploded higher since the Fed started slowing raising rates. Think I’m exaggerating? How about this: Interest rates on credit cards by commercial banks are now as high as they were in 2000:

 …click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Indiana Grocery Store Can’t Process Food Stamp Payments Due To Govt. Shutdown

January 7, 2019

Indiana Grocery Store Can’t Process Food Stamp Payments Due To Govt. Shutdown

We warned last week what could happen if the government shutdown continues into February…

If people are getting this restless already, what will things look like when tens of millions of Americans are suddenly cut off from their primary source of food money?

Well, as Daisy Luther reports from her Organic Prepper blog, it’s starting…

We weren’t expecting to see a loss of food stamp benefits until the end of January, but a grocery store in Indiana reported they are unable to process EBT payments.

In Clay City, Indiana, the local IGA discovered the problem last week. Initially, they thought it was a technical glitch.

“Our machines weren’t taking any EBT cards and we didn’t really know what was going on. We didn’t know if it was a technical issue. And then we found out it was due to the government shutting down,” Tristen Malone said. (source)

And although it’s for a slightly different reason, The Red Lion store in York County, Pennsylvania has also had issues. New owners recently purchased the grocery store and sent in their application to accept government benefits before the shutdown occurred.

“Right now we’re officially frozen because the government is shut down and we can’t process our application.”

Tom Lohr is the new owner of D & K.

He says they tried to get pre-approved for the license before the sale went through.

“We tried to be proactive and start this in December, late November, early December , set up the new entities with the businesses it just has not worked out.”

Lohr purchased the business, but doesn’t own the company name, so the license belongs to the original owners.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Save Liberty, Shut Down the Government

May 1, 2017

Save Liberty, Shut Down the Government

Congress ended the week by passing a continuing resolution keeping the government funded for one more week. This stopgap funding bill is designed to give Congress and the White House more time to negotiate a long-term spending bill. Passage of a long-term spending bill has been delayed over objections to Republican efforts to preserve Obamcare’s key features but give states a limited ability to opt out of some Obamacare mandates.

This type of brinkmanship has become standard operating procedure on Capitol Hill. The drama inevitably ends with a spending bill being crafted behind closed doors by small groups of members and staffers and then rushed to the floor and voted on before most members have a chance to read it. These “omnibus” spending bills are a dereliction of one of Congress’s two most important duties — allocating spending. Of course, Congress long ago abandoned another primary duty — preventing presidents from launching military attacks without first obtaining a congressional declaration of war.

The uncomfortable question raised by Congress’s abrogation of these two key functions is whether a republican form of government is compatible with a welfare-warfare state. The answer seems to be “no.”

Congress’s dysfunctional spending process is an inevitable result of the government’s growth. It is simply unrealistic to expect Congress to fund the modern leviathan via a lengthy and open process that allows individual members to have some say in how government spends their constituents’ money. The dysfunctional spending process benefits the many politicians eager to avoid accountability for government spending. The rushed process allows these politicians to say they had to vote for the spending bills. Often, these big spending bills include a promise to cut spending in the future. Like tomorrow, the promised spending cuts are always a day away.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Congress Declares Martial Law as Dollar Rapidly Collapsing: “Living in Last Days of This Republic.”

October 9, 2015

Congress Declares Martial Law as Dollar Rapidly Collapsing: “Living in Last Days of This Republic.”

martial-law-in-effect

The debt ceiling issue is returning to the forefront in American politics, again threatening a government shutdown.

Last time, the shutdown resulting in sequester for many agencies that suspended work for many government employees; a great deal of political theater dominated the news cycle; but ultimately, things returned to a basic normalcy.

This time may be different, as a number of critical factors face Americans in 2015. Last week, Congress passed “procedural martial law” to address stop-gap spending as it faces the debt ceiling crisis again.

Meanwhile, this quietly announced martial law forced a vote on bills the same day, preventing members from even reading the legislation they are voting on, to avert an October 1 government shutdown. The move, which was done just a few weeks prior, shows how desperate things have become. The Hill reported:

For the second time in a month, the House on Tuesday invoked “martial law” to allow more expeditious consideration of a stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

The use of martial law refers to bypassing the typical procedure that requires the House to wait a day after the Rules Committee produces a rule establishing floor debate parameters before voting.

[…]

House GOP leaders invoked martial law earlier this month to fast-track a spending bill. But they ultimately never had to use it after the Senate opted to go first with the spending bill.

Crisis is averted – for now.

But the dollar is now an unwanted export commodity. As the U.S. rattles sabers with Russia in its proxy wars, the basis for American power overseas is rapidly collapsing.

 

 

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Greater Fools and Bigger Liars

September 28, 2015

Greater Fools and Bigger Liars

Societies in decline have no use for visionaries
– Anaïs Nin

The moment we heard that John Boehner would resign, the first thing that came to mind was: the next one will be a Greater Fool and a Bigger Liar. For all of his obvious faultlines, Boehner is human. As was evident for all to see Thursday when the Pope -Boehner’s as Catholic as JFK and Jesus Christ- came to see ‘him’ in ‘his’ Senate. Even smiled reading that the Pope had asked Boehner to pray for him.

But Boehner was really of course just a man who through time increasingly became a kind of barrier between a president and his party on the one hand, and Boehner’s own, increasingly ‘out there’, party on the other. He moved from far right to the right middle just to keep the country going. In essence, that’s little more than his job, but just doing your job can get you some nasty treatment these days in the land of the free.

So now we’ll get a refresher course in government shutdown, though there’s no guarantee that Boehner’s successor will be enough of a greater fool to cut his/her (make that his) new-found career short by actually letting it happen. At least not before December.

The government shutdown is a threat like Janet Yellen’s rate hike, one which always seems to disappear right around the next corner, a process that eats away at credibility much more than participants are willing and/or able to acknowledge. Until it’s too late.

Now that it’s clear they lost on Obamacare, Republicans demand that funding for Planned Parenthood must stop, as the women’s group is accused of ‘improperly selling tissue harvested from aborted fetuses’, something it vehemently denies. And there we’re right back to the shadow boxing multi-millionaire tragic comedy act the US Congress has been for years now.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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