The Long Cold Winter

[BAS]

http://rocktrueblood.blogspot.com/2010/ ... oning.html

Watch this 60 Minute piece.

This is what billions of "programs" eventually produces. We are out of money. Period. Its over. The Democrats are going to have to, like everyone else, learn how to live within their means. They have maxed out the credit card. Deficit spending won't work anymore because nobody is going to fund that deficit. Its over. Its done.

Well, actually the Republicans have historically ran up the deficit and the Democrats have paid it off, and taken the blame for running it up in the first place. Regan and George Sr. ran it up, Clinton more or less balanced it, Bush Jr. ran it up, and now Obama doesn't seem to know what to do with it.

It ISN'T the politicians who are ultimately to blame, I suppose, but the American public which want to have their cake and eat it too, and allow the ultra-rich to trick them into giving away more of what remains of their wealth to buy the illusion of prosperity.

[geekster]

"Well, actually the Republicans have historically ran up the deficit and the Democrats have paid it off"

Not really. Well, it might depend on how far back you want to go. There was a time when the Democrats were the "fiscal conservatives" and the Republicans were the "progressives" but I am talking about post WWII history.

And I am also talking state and local governments. Look at how the Democrats absolutely destroyed Detroit. When they got control of that city, it had the highest standard of living of any city in the nation. Today it has the lowest. It also gets billions in federal cash that is promptly flushed down the "program" toilet.

What I am interested in is the education Jerry Brown is going to get. This is going to be fun to watch. He can't tax his way out of this budget mess. Even if he taxes "the rich" at 100%, it still isn't enough. California will soon be in a situation where they are paying more in retirement pensions and benefits than they are paying to people actually working. Many local governments are already there. California pays more for pensions than it pays for the entire UC school system.

Regan and George Sr. ran it up

It took Regan over 2 years just to get his programs in place. If you remember, Tip kept promising he would cut spending tomorrow if they could just increase spending today. Clinton was actually the one that fared best in all of that and you can give credit for that to a Republican Congress. HW Bush had a war to fight (first gulf war). Clinton got the benefit of a HUGE scaling back of the post Cold War military on top of a good economy and having a Republican Congress.

Clinton did things like the 5-year limit on certain welfare benefits and the three-strikes laws that finally began putting repetitive criminals behind bars for long periods of time.

But I an talking about the state and local levels.

Berkeley is losing a company to Missouri:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-2 ... to-kc.html

And you are going to see an increase in business flight from California over the next couple of years. I expect to see, within a year, a wholesale flight of the tech industry from California.

Brown is about to be smacked with one huge economic clue bat.

The federal government isn't going to bail out California ... or Illinois ... or Rhode Island ... or the other dozen or so states where the Democrats written checks that they can no longer cash.

California is going to have to limit its spending to only what it takes in. California can't just print money like the federal government can. If California attempts to raise taxes, they will see revenue decline. The only effective way to increase revenues is to increase the health of the economy and that means lowering taxes (already the highest in the nation) not raising them.

California and many other states are simply going to have to stop spending so damned much money. Brown is going to have to break a lot of promises made to a lot of people. I don't envy his position. But things are going to get pretty bad before they get better and in the meantime, we are going to start to see business and capital flight from the state.

What's he going to do then? Tax the poor?

Game's up. Brown is left holding his own bag. Maybe he will have to eliminate CARB.

DEADPOOL: Who wants to bet on when California defaults on its bonds?

I say it will be 18 months from today. Maybe sooner.

[can't sit still]

Probably, the wrong thread but, Brown says that he wants a budget in place by jan 10. The legislature has a history of gridlock. It's said that Brown wants more tax.
http://sacramento.about.com/b/2010/12/1 ... budget.htm
Pensions are protected by federal law. The Ca. constitution says that education gets first money. Bond s are second in line. What are the chances that Brown will get a budget approved? What are the chances that Reps will give him tax increases? What are the chances that Dems will allow DEEP cuts to education and social programs? What are the chances that the Pols will get serious by Jan 10,,,,,, july 10 ?

Californians voted down the "live within our means" budget offered several years ago by the Govenator. The last thing that Californians want is a hard does of reality.
Munis are collapsing. Sooner or later, the FEDs are going to have to annihilate pension law.
There is already some "case law" that allows re-negotiation. The Feds will have to go a whole lot further.

[can't sit still]

You Brits don't have to worry about being left out of the mountains of bullshit that is flowing freely. "OBR that borrowing will fall by almost 10 billion pounds this year and for tax receipts to increase by more than 7 percent, he said.

The OBR estimates that about 330,000 government jobs will be axed by 2015, though it says the loss will be more than offset by the creation of about 1.5 million private-sector jobs"

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-2 ... imbed.html
That's great news. Tax receipts will go up 7 %. What confuses me is that numerous studies show that every 1 pound increase in tax results in a 3 pound shrinkage in GDP.
So, GDP is going to decrease by several million pounds at the same time that the private sector is going to create 1.5 million new jobs. Right !!!!!,,,,, hand jobs

[geekster]

Ever wonder why there are so many kids these days diagnosed with ADD, etc.?

Here's why ... it's a gold mine:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... ?page=full

More unintended consequences from "programs" and more kids on medications they don't need to be on.

[geekster]

"The Ca. constitution says that education gets first money. Bond s are second in line. What are the chances that Brown will get a budget approved? What are the chances that Reps will give him tax increases? What are the chances that Dems will allow DEEP cuts to education and social programs? What are the chances that the Pols will get serious by Jan 10"

The rules have changed. Brown only needs a simple majority now which means, since the Democrats hold a majority of seats, we have a "rubber stamp" legislature. Brown could get what he wants by January.

He has also eliminated the office of Inspector General which means no more independent auditing of the departments. He can now engage in "Hollywood accounting" to get numbers jiggled to his liking.

If it weren't for so many families having to pay the price for this irresponsibility, this would be almost fun to watch.

Lets all sit back and watch as Brown flushes California right down the shitter.

Jerry Brown is going to be the best thing to happen to the Republican Party since Barack Obama.

[BAS]

Geekster, I'll have to visit your planet some day-- it sounds like a strange variant of this one.

[can't sit still]

Geekster,,, spit it out. "Get what he wants". Do you believe that the Dems will raise taxes? Do you believe that this will work? Do you think that the Dems believe that this will work?
What do you think that he will do with pensions?
Stand up close top the mic.
Keep in mind that there are limitations to creative bookkeeping. The Jarvis foundation and the credit rating agencies are very nosy.
How much do you think that DC will kick in? How long do you think that DC will underwrite unemployment benefits? How long will DC continue to underwrite a portion of the interest on Ca bonds?
Do you think that Brown will try to continue doing revenue-sharing with cities and counties?
I just report. It's safer than predicting.
Let's hear you're predictions for Brown.

[geekster]

Geekster,,, spit it out. "Get what he wants". Do you believe that the Dems will raise taxes?

Of course they will, that is their doctrine.

Do you believe that this will work?

Of course not, it never does. Latest example is Oregon:

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog ... state.html

Do you think that the Dems believe that this will work?

Of course they do, it is their doctrine. They believe they can tax their way to utopia. They believe they can promise whatever they want and make "somebody else" pay for it.

Look, in EVERY society there are fewer "rich" than there are people who are not "rich" so it always pays politically to play on people's resentment of the "rich" because the "rich" never have enough votes to counter those who aren't "rich". Personally, I believe that if you pay no income tax, you should not get the right to vote. If you pay no tax, you have no skin in the game, you have nothing at stake.

What do you think that he will do with pensions?

That is a *very* interesting question. Now that Brown has fired the Inspector General, we will probably see an attempt at "Hollywood accounting" in order to twist the books to hide losses. Actually, the reciprocal of "Hollywood accounting" which is used to hide gains but can work both ways. But that will fail because the amount of money we are short is simply astronomical and there aren't enough crumbs here and there. What will happen is that Brown will have to find a way to cut the pensions and blame the Republicans for it. Most likely by demanding the federal government bail California out, federal government refuses, so then he can enact pension changes saying he has no choice because the evil Republicans in Congress made him do it.

Keep in mind that there are limitations to creative bookkeeping. The Jarvis foundation and the credit rating agencies are very nosy.

Yup. That will be the first thing tried to get the "low hanging fruit" but it won't be enough. Then he will do the knee-jerk "soak the rich" thing that will result in flight of the "rich" and quite a bit of the tech industry with it. Then he will find himself worse off than before and be forced to get on his knees to Congress who will likely ignore him until he makes some real cuts in state government.

How much do you think that DC will kick in?

Nothing until he makes some real substantial cuts. If he actually makes some deep cuts, I see him getting some help. If he refuses to take responsibility and tries to pass the blame onto someone else, he will get whatever help the administration can give directly from the departments but isn't going to get any help from Congress until he cleans up California's act.

How long do you think that DC will underwrite unemployment benefits?

Another interesting question. The incoming Congress has already said that any spending bill will also have to show constitutional justification. Federal unemployment benefits are probably unconstitutional. But they may continue existing programs for a while but I doubt any individual's benefits will last beyond the current 99 weeks.

How long will DC continue to underwrite a portion of the interest on Ca bonds?

About 2 more years. That is the administration's call, not Congress, unless some investigation reveals some funny business. I fully expect any Republican to be able to beat any Democrat in the next election for President so I am not going to say what might happen, depends on who wins ... Romney or Pence.

Do you think that Brown will try to continue doing revenue-sharing with cities and counties?

There is no such thing as "revenue sharing". What Prop 13 did was make all county and city property tax property of the state. The state then takes a cut, maybe an additional "forced loan" beyond its mandated cut, and then redistributes what remains out to the counties and cities. The result is the poor counties and cities get more than they pay in, the "rich" counties and cities get less and the state gets free money. I expect that to continue.

[geekster]

And then there is this:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8cca20d2-0dd5 ... z18vFcg1GW

There is just too much housing in this country. And with the "boomers" retiring in droves starting in 2011 (babies born in 1946 turn 65 in 2011, so 2011 is the start of the "retirement boom" which means most of the boomers selling their homes over the next 15 years).

Razing houses over 10 years old in foreclosure is the only sane approach, we just have too many houses. The generation leaving single family housing is larger than the generation entering single family housing.

EDITED to change "smaller" to "larger"

[can't sit still]

From Oregon; "Congratulations. Instead of $180 million collected last year from the new tax, the state received $130 million. "
Another state, Illinois, I believe expected to get an additional $ 100 million from a tax-the-rich law. Instead they got a $ 70 million reduction.
There is a consensus that pensions were just too generous. They are protected by federal law. Brown can duck the pension fight by saying his hands are tied. He may be able to throw the whole mess on a bankruptcy judge,,, if he's lucky.
As you say, the deficit is just too big to erase without considerable pain. Wait til they tax agriculture to death. That will be ugly.

[geekster]

"He may be able to throw the whole mess on a bankruptcy judge,,, if he's lucky"

Nope, states can't go "bankrupt" in the conventional sense. You can't put a state in receivership. The state will simply have to default, leave those holding bonds with worthless paper and start over. States have done that in the past (but it has not happened since the late 1800's).

Basically the state's credit rating will get adjusted to a "what, are you nuts?"
rating, nobody will lend it money, everyone holding a state pension will be SOL, and the state will have to start over again and forced to live within only the means it can collect, it won't be able to fund a deficit though borrowing.

California won't be the only one. And as much as people bitch about what Christy is doing in New Jersey, at least he is ahead of the curve and starting to pare back spending *before* the state goes broke.

You can not increase revenue by increasing taxes (well, you can a little, for a while, but not generally for very long). What we need to do is:

1. Broaden the tax base. There is no reason that 47% of the US population pays zero federal tax. There is no reason that 50% of wage earners pay only 5% of the total federal tax.

2. Simplify the tax structure. Income tax should be about like a 1040-EZ for everyone without a myriad of various loopholes and deductions.

People should pay a lower tax rate on a broader base of their income. Make three tax brackets, get rid of AMT (you don't need AMT if you get rid of all the damned deductions) and have a lower rate. So maybe you have a 5%, a 15%, and a 25% bracket and that's it.

[geekster]

Here is another example to throw onto the pile:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/40791768

"This struggling small city on the outskirts of Mobile was warned for years that if it did nothing, its pension fund would run out of money by 2009. Right on schedule, its fund ran dry."

[can't sit still]

New Jersey found an alternative to declaring bankruptcy;
"New Jersey simply decided not to pay the $3.1 billion that was due its pension plan this year. "
I suppose that default is much simpler than bankruptcy

[FaeTora]

What do you want to bet if its residence just "chose" not to pay their state taxes the government won't be as forgiving.

[can't sit still]

That is another thing that will change radically in the future. People are catching on; surrender and tell the judge that you are penniless. Tell him that you have to pay your debt to society by doing the time. It costs the state $ 45,000 a year to incarcerate. It costs the state $ 860 a week to punish you for not paying them money.
If you fight the case and ask for representation, it costs a bundle for the court and prosecution,,, not very much for your defense though.
Math is a bitch.
http://nicic.gov/features/statestats/?State=CA

[geekster]

That is another thing that will change radically in the future. People are catching on; surrender and tell the judge that you are penniless.

That is called "declaring bankruptcy" and that generally wipes out tax debt anyway.

[geekster]

What do you want to bet if its residence just "chose" not to pay their state taxes the government won't be as forgiving.

A state is not the federal government, it can not just print money.

If New Jersey had to decide between making the pension payment or paying workers salary who are actually working, well, there wasn't much choice as far as I can tell.

New Jersey is worse than broke, they are in the hole the deepest of any state in the union. Anyone holding New Jersey bonds is likely to see them worthless soon. Same with the bonds issues by many other states. It isn't like New Jersey can just borrow the money ... they can't. And the amount it owes is so large that it can't tax its way out, either.

[can't sit still]

This is an excellent vid with Michael Hudson.

He uses the word "neo-feudalism" in a very interesting way.
His premise is that the banks want to cause a depression to lower the cost of labor. He correctly points out that a very large sector of labor is working check to check.
Professor Hudson explains clearly what the bankers believe; If they can just drive labor into the ground, they can make huge profits.
This, of course, is a completely stupid and false attitude. I have no idea why it has persisted for so many years. Driving labor into the ground inevitably reduces purchasing power,,, reduces consumption,,, reduces the economy.
Hudson claims that this practice is what destroyed the industrial economy of England.

Hudson also points out that the QE2 money has left the country to be invested in other countries that actually offer a return on investment. The U.S is so saturated with debt that, there are no returns on investment.
IMO, it is easy to prove that the banks have a flawed M.O. In the Greta Depression I , 9,000 banks went out of business. That doesn't sound like success. Glass-Steagol was passed to protect the banks from their own greed.
When it was gutted, their greed ran away with them.

Hudson says that the parasites will just let the host collapse. Actually, they will devour the host before they move on. The parasites created enormous debt instruments and saddled them onto the producing economy. The parasites then took the proceeds of their illegal and immoral speculation and used them to buy tangible assets in other economies. Argentina served as a good trial-run of their plans and M.O.

It remains to be seen if the parasites will cause so great a damage that they won't be able to retain or enjoy the fruits of their ill-gotten gains. Their investments in BRIC could easily be nationalized. The only thing that would prevent that would be the U.S. military. The U.S. military has 700 bases worldwide to prevent that kind of scenario.

Also, the U.S. military is the biggest user of oil in the world. Currently, the military uses borrowed money to procure this oil. There is the possibility that a bank-caused collapse could deprive the military of oil. GOV would then have to fall back on weapons of mass destruction to force the world to surrender it's oil. BRIC also has weapons of mass destruction.
I doubt that America will risk Armageddon to enforce financial claims of the parasites.
My crystal ball has gone cloudy. I don't yet see the annihilation of the mega-bankers.

[can't sit still]

It's easy to see that unregulated currency printing is destroying the system. The British passed the mantle of imperialism on to America. America owned the reserve currency. NO problem,,, we made war on credit. The bills are coming due because we are debt saturated. The World bank has a solution; GOLD.
They want all currencies to be referenced to gold. NOT backed by gold but, only referenced.
This is a huge departure from the calls for a one-world currency.
Payment has come due for our various wars. We don't have the money. If our currency were referenced to gold, we would have NO money for war. I see that as an improvement.
Zoellick's ideas may take some time to sink in. If / when the U.S. defaults, the plan may very well be forced on our GOV.
http://www.quote.com/news/story.action?id=XIN356h3428

For the World Bank to propose an alternative to a one-world currency is a huge step back for the globalists. I like it. It may be an admission that the world is just too fractious and TOO competitive for a one-world GOV.
Zoellick also proposed that a basket of principle commodities would be used with the gold. I'll go for anything that keeps the central bankers from screwing all of us.
ANY tangible reference is a huge improvement on the current system

The current situation is so volatile that the foreign currency exchange [FOREX] trades $ 4 trillion every DAY.
The U.S. can't possibly pay it's debts. We better figure out something before the next burn.

[can't sit still]

It looks like Europe will be the first to fall. The yield on Greek bonds is over 12%. Greece needs another bailout to pay for the first bailout.
http://poorrichards-blog.blogspot.com/2 ... e-now.html
The ECB might print-to-pay. Who knows?

We're closing in on the culmination of a credit cycle. The structural defects preclude an exit. Here is a list and explanation of the major defects;
http://www.alternet.org/economy/149104/ ... ytime_soon

Here are some interesting details on how the wealth is transferred.
In 2008, the Royal Bank of Scotland posted a 24 billion pound loss. Their cronies in GOV swooped in and bailed them out. How did RBS go insolvent?
"According to the FSA, RBS’s collapse was solely due to its decision to pay, along with its European partners Fortis and Santander, the astronomic sum of ￡71 billion to buy the Dutch bank, ABN Amro, "
OK, so I give you 71 billion pounds for your soon-to-be-worthless bank. Then, I send that bill to the taxpayers. Voila' ,,, we're both rich.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/dec20 ... -d24.shtml

The reason that there won't be a painless exit from this whole mess is because, it's systemic and too pervasive.
Bankers made NINJA loans knowing that they weren't any good. It would have been tolerable to the system if only a few had been made. The same is true for the rape of the taxpayer,,, the system and the paper currency.

The S&L crisis was such a wonderful opportunity that it was taken "mainline" to get even better results. Just as the bankers ignored the pervasiveness of NINJA loans, they ignored the scope of the collateral damage accretting to the financial system.
They wrote over 1 $ quadrillion in "loan insurance" expecting to be paid off when the loans blew. Their little greed fest has blown the system all to hell.
Hundreds of $ billions in sour loans to Mac n Mae have gone bad and have to be taken back onto their books.

This debt exposure can only be paid off by the producing economy. Banks / GOV are bending over backwards to get the producing economy to start producing profits,,, to be skimmed off. They keep extending credit to pay off earlier loans because the producing economy is unable to pay them off.
They keep printing tons of paper to pay off the banks for loans that can't be paid off by the producing economy. Actually, they push a button,,, create zeros,, and send in those zeros to pay off each other.
The producing economy is very fragile. GOV is going to drop down with a shitload of taxes to hurry up the payoffs to the financial system.

GOV takes in a chunk of money from the people and sends some of it back out to the people. Banks want the payouts to stop so that they can absorb the chunk that formerly went to SS benefits, etc. So far, GOV has been able to borrow and print enough to avoid austerity.
The bankers will demand borrowing FIRST,,, Austerity SECOND,,, and printing THIRD.
Borrowing can be defaulted= no loss.
Austerity= no loss to them
Printing= dilution of their existing dollars.

Borrowing is falling off in a big way. Banks want austerity to kick in. Since they severely miscalculated the enormity of the credit bubble, I believe that they severely overestimated the ability of the producing economy to make good on the debts that it received from the financial sector.
Either the banks will be eventually overwhelmed by their debt OR the banks will print enough "money" to pay off their debts,,, at the same time destroying the dollar.
Maybe a combination of the 2.

[geekster]

117 "green jobs" and $100 million down the shitter:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/arti ... s-shutdown

[can't sit still]

The West wants to work for luxuries and the East is willing to work for survival. There is just no way to even this out in the short run. This is a quote from the Spectrawatt writeup.
""Ninety percent of the solar panels installed in France come from China and our import criteria must be strengthened. We are not here to subsidize the Chinese economy but to create green jobs in France.""

Capital and labor costs in the West are not competitive in the world market. As long as people are going to flock to Wal Mart,,,, they are going to flock to the unemployment office.

[Rabbi Dali Rick]

With their food stamps they buy bread, in Ca they buy Baluga Cavier and roasted macadamia nuts...

go figure...

the rebbi

[geekster]

The local mini-mart and liquor store can't take an EBT card for liquor purchases, but they will point you to their ATM which proudly bears the sign EBT Cards OK!

So you go to the ATM, get cash from your EBT, and buy your beer with the cash, no problem. It is absolutely idiotic.

[can't sit still]

Geekster, did you see The Milagro Beanfield War ? Won Sundance. The guy managed to buy ammo with food stamps. Course, it was just a movie.

[can't sit still]

This writer gives good arguments that the Net will make a reserve currency obsolete;
http://www.runtogold.com/2010/12/regres ... PLnp_rfdxm
Interesting writing.

In this article, The Bell makes the argument that the power elites are losing control. The article is interesting. The comments are more than interesting. On writer, Bill Ross consistently writes stunning comments;

Posted by Bill Ross on 12/23/2010 2:01:37 PM

@Avenist

"The Elite could be afraid of the future, or rather, of future changes."

There is no "could be" about it. Elites are terrified of not being in control. This is the primary real reason for existence of states (keep things static) and law which rather than being framed in terms of "cause no harm" (allows a lot of latitude for freedom which spawns change, in particular: evolution to excellence) is framed in terms of a near infinite set of rules which are arbitrarily interpreted such that no one can obey the law, even if they want to. To hedge their bets they have added "precedent law" to further suppress change. Even that was not sufficient, so, now we have pre-emptive justice where, if state subverted experts deem a crime may happen, well, that is sufficient "just cause" to initiate aggression.

As Einstein opined: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

Or, as Darwin PROVED those who do not adapt to environment are unfit and will not survive in the long term.

Elites seek a static, unchanging state of affairs where they are in control, by definition. But, sh*t happens and, elites have zero clue how to adapt to the changes (many are adaptations to counter elite machinations) hurtling our collective way.

Elite choice is kill a great many people (trick us into war), enough to temporarily halt innovation or, adapt to the fact that, if they want to be at top of the food chain, they are going to have to provide equivalent value in exchange and earn their keep.

Nobody sane begrudges Bill Gates and Microsoft their billions, they have honestly earned it.

Elites need to think in the same terms. If they want to wield power, they must prove themselves fit to wield it, because, in reality, it is the collective power of "we, the people" they wield. Abuse it and, this power will become a weapon against elites and all of their foul works. History is VERY CLEAR on this.

Another interesting comment;
"Ray Kurzweil (Click to View Link; has estimated that the amount of technological change of the 20th century will be duplicated in the first 15 years of this century. That change would be repeated in the following 7-8 years, again in 3-4 years, and so on, until the rate of change is so fast there is no meaningful way to predict (plan for) the future.

If and when this happens, governments will become superfluous and Elites will disappear by definition. Technology is the great equalizer, whether it is the stone ax, Gutenberg press, cannon, Colt 45, or Internet."

http://www.thedailybell.com/1624/The-Ch ... ssion.html
Great stuff !!!

[Sail Man]

Ever wonder why there are so many kids these days diagnosed with ADD, etc.?

Here's why ... it's a gold mine:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... ?page=full

More unintended consequences from "programs" and more kids on medications they don't need to be on.

Geekster, that is stunning! The actions of our gov't are getting worse and worse every day. This to me is criminal if not highly, highly unethical.

I have always been rather anit-govt but I have to credit CSS in this thread for opening my eyes further a little over a year ago causing me to delve more and more into the doings of our govt and what I am learning is troubling me more and more. I have always been a survivalist, but I have really been ramping it up in the last year.

Hyperinflation.
Increased threats of nuclear and/or conventional war.
The Patriot Act.
Our increasingly porous southern border.
Socialism.
Islam.
Northcom and PD 51

The list goes on. And I continue to prep, and learn as much as I can.

[can't sit still]

Sailman, I'm a member of Life Extension Foundation. Their director continually expresses astonishment at some of the decisions from the FDA. He just can't understand.
If you look at all the products approved by the FDA.
If you look at all the products and treatments NOT approved by the FDA,,, you eventually come to the conclusion that they are trying to introduce THEIR version of Darwinian pressures.
Look at the profit made on aspartame. It's not that huge. Aspartame is a deadly neurotoxin. When heated to 180 deg. , it converts to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is used for embalming because it kills everything. Rumsfeld shoved through aspartame after the FDA had turned it down for 16 years.

Some of the bad drugs given to the people can easily be explained by BIG PHARMA's desire to keep people sick and paying. But, not all of it.
Japan doesn't allow food additives,, The U.S. does. The U.S. is working hard to outlaw vitamins with CODEX. Japan has a big imbalance in their population mix. Too many old people.
The U.S. spends about the same amount on defense as it does on SS. From the corporate viewpoint, this is money wasted on non producers.
Gerontology is making huge advances. Just a simple nutrient like Resveratrol changes the gene expression on about 5600 genes and causes a 40% increases in lifespan with no lifestyle changes. For the corporatocracy, this spells disaster. The dawning realization that cancer is just an infection also a disaster.

Look at China; "In the 2002 census, nearly 70% of the population was over 65. "
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education ... ntry=china
The U.S. appears to be hard at work killing off the old folk to avoid a Chinese and Japanese demographic crash. The coming crash of the pension funds will advance things nicely.
If one wants to consider GOV actions as "Darwinian pressures", then there is another class of pressure. It does appear that we will go into a much deeper crash. Those who think and prepare and take charge of their own destiny will fare better than those who wait to be taken care of. [Radical self-reliance]
The corporatocracy does not approve of those who vote their sustenance rather than working for it. They will receive the short, dirty end of the stick.
What fate can be expected for a population that pays no attention to their own survival?

[geekster]

[quote]Oliver Twist did not choose his fate. California, New York and Illinois – three states whose conditions are especially parlous – did. And in November, each of these deep-blue states elected Democratic governors beholden to public employee unions.

San Francisco is spending $400 million a year on public employees’ pensions, up from $175 million in 2005. In November, San Franciscans voted on Proposition B, which would have required city employees to contribute up to 10 percent of their salaries to their pension plans, and to pay half the health-care premiums of their dependents. Michael Moritz, a venture capitalist, says: “A typical San Francisco resident with one dependent pays $953 a month for health care, while the typical city employee pays less than $10.â€