White Man Speak with Forked Tongue

Washington DC. Home of Alan Greenspan, the Maestro, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the man who never said clearly what could be conjugated with obfuscation. Enter this great American with the following observation: Dire consequences if we keep building debt. Huh? Wha…? This cannot be. The man who oversaw the largest buildup of debt in the history of the nation with a dearth of concern then is now warning that the continuation of this recklessness with lead to “dire consequences”? Wait a minute folks. This is like:

• Ted Kennedy, God rest his soul, leading a forum on responsible behavior following heavy drinking in an island setting

• Bill Clinton spending a few minutes on the topic of proper behavior and decorum with the families of incoming white house interns

• O J Simpson on the value of maintaining good lines of communication in a loving relationship

• Any Hollywood trollop on hard work as the route to success

• Elliot Spitzer on how to learn new ways to keep excitement in the marital bedroom

• Barney Frank on speaking frankly, openly and honestly about the long term benefits of fiscal responsibility

• Bernie Madoff being named trustee of the Firemen’s Widows and Orphans Fund

• Jenny Sanford discussing post divorce techniques to build the self esteem of the father of your children

• Oh well, you get the idea.

We normally give a source for our references but we have not read the entire article because the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) which printed this Greenspan crap wants us to pay to read it. Think about that. You can pay over and over for this crap. First you pay for the salaries of the bureaucrats when they are supposedly working for you and then, when you are paying for their pensions, you can also pay to read the drivel they write. Ain't America great…for some? And for several obvious reasons we just can’t quite grasp the concept of paying to read the ramblings of an old man whose fingerprints are all over the mess we are in now tell us about the “dire consequences” if we continue to build on top of the mess that occurred on his watch. Here are some facts Alan may have overlooked in his WSJ nonsense:

August 11, 1987 Alan Greenspan becomes Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. Total US debt - $2.3 trillion. On January 31, 2006, Alan Greenspan retires from that position. Total US debt - $8.2 trillion. The difference is $5.9 trillion. The debt more than tripled on Alan’s watch. Here are the objectives of the Federal Reserve System from their own tongue:

“Today, the Federal Reserve’s duties fall into four general areas:

• conducting the nation’s monetary policy by influencing the monetary and credit conditions in the economy in pursuit of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates

• supervising and regulating banking institutions to ensure the safety and soundness of the nation’s banking and financial system and to protect the credit rights of consumers

• maintaining the stability of the financial system and containing systemic risk that may arise in financial markets

• providing financial services to depository institutions, the U.S. government, and foreign official institutions, including playing a major role in operating the nation’s payments system”

Why does TheFundamentals place so much responsibility for the debt mess we are in on bureaucrats like Greenspan and bureaucracies like the Federal Reserve? It is because America’s political leaders are bereft of fiscal responsibility in this era of protected classes and special interest groups. They pander to them. The best we can hope for is term limits on all politicians and strict budgetary control over bureaucrats and bureaucracies and the chairman of the Federal Reserve System should lead the latter cause at all times in order to fulfill his job responsibilities. Greenspan failed miserably at this responsibility and his protégé, Ben Bernanke, has been even worse. The debt is now $13.0 trillion, an increase of $4.8 trillion since Alan retired and Ben took over. Shameful is an inadequate description of their stewardship.

What is their defense? Not my job. Spending (fiscal policy) is the job of congress. Wrong answer. If your job involves the objectives you state above and you can’t do your job with a fiscally promiscuous congress and president it is your job to so state and either stand up for change or quit. The destruction of America by debt is well underway. It is not Islamic terrorism or communism or megalomaniacal dictators that are the principal national security threat to this country of ours. It is our fiscal promiscuity and it is about time that we find a leader or two who will speak the truth about this deadly addiction of ours.

White men seeking fortune and power, while speaking with forked tongues, doomed the Western Hemisphere’s native inhabitants. Five hundred years later, with much focus on the most recent 30 years, their heirs and successors, with similar motivations, continue the same mission.