Posted On: Wednesday - December 18th 2024 8:54PM MST
In Topics: Global Financial Stupidity Economics Liberty/Libertarianism US Feral Government
No.
We're usually too long-winded here, but that was going to be just too short. We could suffice it to say that there WILL be financial doom, coming soon. We hope our Peak Stupidity readers our ready. We'll get into this more later, but let me mention a ZeroHedge article, not really worth reading, Some Honesty About Inflation, that discusses Janet Yellen and inflation of some supposedly scary numbers like 2 1/2 and 3 %.
Actually, numbers like that can compound to a lot of government theft, so, if not scary, they are bad. These numbers are not nearly realistic though. As is mostly the case with ZeroHedge (the article was really by an Epoch Times writer), I go to the comments to make sure someone set the writer straight on things. I was not disappointed.
It's the graph here that got me writing this post, however:
My apologies on behalf of ZeroHedge for the unreadability of the axis values. Their graphs ALWAYS suck, for some reason. Horizontally, this goes from the year '06 to '24, and projected through '25 or so. Vertically, it goes from 0 in increments of $200 Billion.
Never mind the title - it's not the
I'll be the first to point out that cutting bureaucracy saves lots more money than simply the salaries of the bureaucrats in it. President-elect Trump is and has been, I will grant him, well aware of the monetary waste due to over-regulation in this country. (I'd say that regulation by the Feral bureaucracy has been no small factor in the impetus over the last 3 decades to destroy American manufacturing and do it all in China.) So, if DOGE (the advisory-only Department Of Government Efficiency) were to cut, at the extremely high end, half a million dead-weight bureaucrats, after all the screaming and crying is done, that'd be a half trillion bucks, if you include overhead, etc. That'd be great, but would still only be less than 10% of Federal spending.
There's the military. Then, however, there are, in the parlance of Government folks, transfer payments. That means money coming from taxpayers going to other mostly non-government-employed* Americans, with only a relatively small cut taken by the bureaucrats in the middle. Those other 2 curves, the green and the beige, are Social Security and Medicare (and all its variants) respectively. Those curves show $2.4 Trillion in expenditures. If we take the interest payments, which can't be cut except by defaulting, this is 1/2 of all expenditures (using the '22 figure in here. The rest is the military and the "discretionary" expenditures, involving the bureaucrats discussed above.
You cut any of that SS and Medicare, and you cause direct financial pain. You cut any of the rest, and you still cause indirect financial pain. Even though those DOGE let-go employees are no longer impeding the economy and sucking up taxpayer money, and in the long run, it'd be a good thing, it's not 40 years ago, when this should have all been done. There's no where else in the economy for these people to go.
Finally, I'll note, as a Libertarian and Constitutionalist ought to, that neither that green (SS), nor the beige (Medicare, et al) represent Constitutionally allowed expenditure categories. They should be flat-lined, as they indeed still were a century ago. Also, seeing as how no standing army is specified in the Constitution, most of that blue one doesn't represent anything allowed either. Then too, with those being down on the horizontal axis, that red curve would be flat-lined too. We wish!
Sure, we will enjoy seeing DOGE gut the D.I.E. agencies and lots of other Feral Gov't stupidity, if it really happens. However, DOGE will not cure the debt problem. We're in a tight spot, people.
* Whether they are still employed by Government or not, the obligation to them is there.
Comments:
Hail
Friday - December 20th 2024 10:03AM MST
PS
-- Who Radicalized Samantha Rupnow? --
"could I paste this comment of yours (with at least 1 grammar correction I saw) here on this site? I see that you're trying to get into the mind/mentality of this Samantha Rupnow as connected to the various portions of the crazy times she was living in. This reminds me a lot of the Strauss & Howe books - "Generations" and "The Fourth Turning" (there's a 3rd I haven't read) - in which they try to connect things all together with a lot of basis on the (socially varying) times that we all grew up in."
I forgot to respond to this before, but the answer is Yes.
There are a number of places with some grammar problems that I'd amend if given another edit-window, but none are serious enough to derail the main point.
The short version is: this girl Samantha Rupnow looks to have been "radicalized" by those forces in the society we call Wokeness, especially the anti-male component of Wokeness. She may have believed she was especially virtuous because she took anti-male Wokeness principles to their radical conclusion (males should be shot to save the world from evil). This process made worse by the Flu-Virus Panic of the early 2020s, that somehow held us all semi-hostage for a few years and pushed people like this young girl over the edge.
It's to the degree that fifteen-year-old Samantha Rupnow may NOT have shot those (or any) people without the Wokeness-regime in place, so a hypothetical exact replica of her subject to all the same pressures and family and community and everything but born in 1999 and not 2009 would have NEVER shot anyone. Or possibly without the lockdowns and disruptions of "Covid." Or possibly both are needed in tandem. (That's a theory, or three interrelated theories, i.e., hypotheses that fit the available evidence plausibly but are not "proven.")
-- Who Radicalized Samantha Rupnow? --
"could I paste this comment of yours (with at least 1 grammar correction I saw) here on this site? I see that you're trying to get into the mind/mentality of this Samantha Rupnow as connected to the various portions of the crazy times she was living in. This reminds me a lot of the Strauss & Howe books - "Generations" and "The Fourth Turning" (there's a 3rd I haven't read) - in which they try to connect things all together with a lot of basis on the (socially varying) times that we all grew up in."
I forgot to respond to this before, but the answer is Yes.
There are a number of places with some grammar problems that I'd amend if given another edit-window, but none are serious enough to derail the main point.
The short version is: this girl Samantha Rupnow looks to have been "radicalized" by those forces in the society we call Wokeness, especially the anti-male component of Wokeness. She may have believed she was especially virtuous because she took anti-male Wokeness principles to their radical conclusion (males should be shot to save the world from evil). This process made worse by the Flu-Virus Panic of the early 2020s, that somehow held us all semi-hostage for a few years and pushed people like this young girl over the edge.
It's to the degree that fifteen-year-old Samantha Rupnow may NOT have shot those (or any) people without the Wokeness-regime in place, so a hypothetical exact replica of her subject to all the same pressures and family and community and everything but born in 1999 and not 2009 would have NEVER shot anyone. Or possibly without the lockdowns and disruptions of "Covid." Or possibly both are needed in tandem. (That's a theory, or three interrelated theories, i.e., hypotheses that fit the available evidence plausibly but are not "proven.")
J1234
Friday - December 20th 2024 2:20AM MST
PS-
Hi Adam. Thanks for the great videos.
"At first I thought I had heard of the Ugandan Space program, but apparently I was confusing it with the Zambian Space program."
I don't really think it matters. And just to bring a third African country into the discussion: I'd be willing to donate a multi-trillion dollar note from Zimbabwe to their space program. I think I also have a multi-billion dollar note around here somewhere, and I'll send it too, if I can find it. That should buy a lot of hardware.
I bought both of them them on ebay several years ago. I think I paid around thirty bucks for the multi-trillion dollar bill, but then I saw one selling for under four US dollars, so apparently I was taken to the cleaners.
I wonder when trillions of US dollars will be worth nothing? We'll be well on our way there when the bail-ins you mentioned become routine. (Speaking of euphemisms, I wonder if they chose the term "bail-in" because it kind of sounds like a barn raising or some other vaguely folksy communal thing where everyone pitches in and "helps their neighbors" and "does their part." Maybe not.)
-Jim
Hi Adam. Thanks for the great videos.
"At first I thought I had heard of the Ugandan Space program, but apparently I was confusing it with the Zambian Space program."
I don't really think it matters. And just to bring a third African country into the discussion: I'd be willing to donate a multi-trillion dollar note from Zimbabwe to their space program. I think I also have a multi-billion dollar note around here somewhere, and I'll send it too, if I can find it. That should buy a lot of hardware.
I bought both of them them on ebay several years ago. I think I paid around thirty bucks for the multi-trillion dollar bill, but then I saw one selling for under four US dollars, so apparently I was taken to the cleaners.
I wonder when trillions of US dollars will be worth nothing? We'll be well on our way there when the bail-ins you mentioned become routine. (Speaking of euphemisms, I wonder if they chose the term "bail-in" because it kind of sounds like a barn raising or some other vaguely folksy communal thing where everyone pitches in and "helps their neighbors" and "does their part." Maybe not.)
-Jim
Adam Smith
Friday - December 20th 2024 12:14AM MST
PS: Good evening, ๏ผ๐ ๏ผMr. Hail๏ผ/๐ ๏ผ Corvinus,
(Second assistant to the dog-catcher for the northeastern district of Palookaville, New Jersey.)
Inventor of the Subway, First ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค! Woman to walk on the moon, Theoretical Physicist, Mathematician, and Rocket Surgeon Harriet Tubman calculated the trajectories necessary to get to the moon and back...
https://i.ibb.co/sRBy4kR/Professor-Tubwoman-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Bz2ry7Q/Professor-Tubwoman-2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/xDjmsf9/Professor-Tubwoman-3.jpg
NASA simply couldn't have done it without her.
โฎ๏ธ
(Second assistant to the dog-catcher for the northeastern district of Palookaville, New Jersey.)
Inventor of the Subway, First ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค! Woman to walk on the moon, Theoretical Physicist, Mathematician, and Rocket Surgeon Harriet Tubman calculated the trajectories necessary to get to the moon and back...
https://i.ibb.co/sRBy4kR/Professor-Tubwoman-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/Bz2ry7Q/Professor-Tubwoman-2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/xDjmsf9/Professor-Tubwoman-3.jpg
NASA simply couldn't have done it without her.
โฎ๏ธ
Adam Smith
Thursday - December 19th 2024 11:36PM MST
PS: About the debt ceiling and some other stuff...
When I read about the debt ceiling I often find the phrase ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ in the story. For example...
โข ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐ข๐โ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ . ๐ผ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐ก ๐๐ข๐กโ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ค ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
โข ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ .
โข ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐, ๐๐ข๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐ข๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐.๐. ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ .
โข ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
And I find the use of this phrase ignorant and repulsive in this situation. (Like when I hear someone pronounce the silent T in often.)
If the criminals masquerading as "government" were "paying its bills" they wouldn't need to raise the debt ceiling. These endless debt increases can't go on forever. (I really do think they are purposely enslaving everyone who is unfortunate enough to be a taxpayer with this so called "government" debt scheme. And even those of us who are fortunate enough to not be taxpayers are still being stolen from by their devaluing of our savings.)
While it would probably be better to not default on the debt I really don't think it is possible. (Maybe it is. But it would require drastic spending cuts coupled with some way to raise enormous amounts of revenue*.) There certainly is no political will to even address the issue.
* (Side note.) Jim said...
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ค๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก, ๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ , ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ. ๐๐, ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ก, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐. ๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐๐ "๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐" ๐ค๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ 17๐กโ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
And perhaps the plan is confiscation. Confiscation through taxation? Confiscation through hyperinflation? Or confiscation by other means?
I think the euphemism they might use for this "๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐" idea is "๐๐๐๐ ๐๐", at least in the case of banks closing and FDIC running out of credit to service their deposit insurance schemes. Maybe they will convince half the people that it is our patriotic duty to ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ the government so it can ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ .
-------------
So... What would happen if the feral beast stopped ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ?
According to this article...
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/debt-ceiling-trump-default/story?id=116955286
They say that...
โข Millions of seniors could stop receiving Social Security payments or see delays.
โข The United States' credit worthiness could be downgraded, spiking interest rates**, which would raise mortgage, car and credit card payments
(**Does this mean that interest rates would raise for bank deposits too? Or just for borrowers?)
โข Doubt in the typically reliable U.S. currency could tank the markets, hurting 401(k)s and other investments (The S&P 500 lost 17% in the months surrounding the 2011 debt ceiling standoff.)
โข U.S. military service members could stop receiving paychecks
โข Veterans' benefits could stop or be delayed
โข Postal workers and federal employees could stop receiving paychecks
โข Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for hurricane and wildfire victims could stop
โข Child nutrition programs and other food assistance could stop
While this article...
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-government-shutdown-what-is-debt-ceiling-2024-12-19/
tells me that...
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed without pay and a wide range of services could be disrupted, from financial oversight to trash pickup at national parks. Other workers deemed essential would remain on the job, though they also would not get paid.
While assuring me that...
Services like mail delivery and tax collection would continue.
(I find it amusing that they call tax collection a service.)
Most of the things that they are spending on aren't constitutional, so I have no problem with the "government" no longer funding them. (And if that happens many people will be fucked because they depend on social security, medicare, medicaid, veterans benefits, etc. to survive.)
As Achmed said, we are in a tight spot. It will be interesting to see how much longer they can kick the can down the road. It will be even more interesting to see what happens when they can't.
Interesting times... โฎ๏ธ
When I read about the debt ceiling I often find the phrase ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ in the story. For example...
โข ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐ข๐โ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ . ๐ผ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐โ๐ก ๐๐ข๐กโ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ค ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
โข ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ .
โข ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐, ๐๐ข๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐ข๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐.๐. ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ .
โข ๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
And I find the use of this phrase ignorant and repulsive in this situation. (Like when I hear someone pronounce the silent T in often.)
If the criminals masquerading as "government" were "paying its bills" they wouldn't need to raise the debt ceiling. These endless debt increases can't go on forever. (I really do think they are purposely enslaving everyone who is unfortunate enough to be a taxpayer with this so called "government" debt scheme. And even those of us who are fortunate enough to not be taxpayers are still being stolen from by their devaluing of our savings.)
While it would probably be better to not default on the debt I really don't think it is possible. (Maybe it is. But it would require drastic spending cuts coupled with some way to raise enormous amounts of revenue*.) There certainly is no political will to even address the issue.
* (Side note.) Jim said...
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ค๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก, ๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ , ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ. ๐๐, ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐กโ๐๐ก, ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐. ๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐๐ "๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐" ๐ค๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ 17๐กโ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
And perhaps the plan is confiscation. Confiscation through taxation? Confiscation through hyperinflation? Or confiscation by other means?
I think the euphemism they might use for this "๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐" idea is "๐๐๐๐ ๐๐", at least in the case of banks closing and FDIC running out of credit to service their deposit insurance schemes. Maybe they will convince half the people that it is our patriotic duty to ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ the government so it can ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ .
-------------
So... What would happen if the feral beast stopped ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ?
According to this article...
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/debt-ceiling-trump-default/story?id=116955286
They say that...
โข Millions of seniors could stop receiving Social Security payments or see delays.
โข The United States' credit worthiness could be downgraded, spiking interest rates**, which would raise mortgage, car and credit card payments
(**Does this mean that interest rates would raise for bank deposits too? Or just for borrowers?)
โข Doubt in the typically reliable U.S. currency could tank the markets, hurting 401(k)s and other investments (The S&P 500 lost 17% in the months surrounding the 2011 debt ceiling standoff.)
โข U.S. military service members could stop receiving paychecks
โข Veterans' benefits could stop or be delayed
โข Postal workers and federal employees could stop receiving paychecks
โข Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for hurricane and wildfire victims could stop
โข Child nutrition programs and other food assistance could stop
While this article...
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-is-government-shutdown-what-is-debt-ceiling-2024-12-19/
tells me that...
Hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be furloughed without pay and a wide range of services could be disrupted, from financial oversight to trash pickup at national parks. Other workers deemed essential would remain on the job, though they also would not get paid.
While assuring me that...
Services like mail delivery and tax collection would continue.
(I find it amusing that they call tax collection a service.)
Most of the things that they are spending on aren't constitutional, so I have no problem with the "government" no longer funding them. (And if that happens many people will be fucked because they depend on social security, medicare, medicaid, veterans benefits, etc. to survive.)
As Achmed said, we are in a tight spot. It will be interesting to see how much longer they can kick the can down the road. It will be even more interesting to see what happens when they can't.
Interesting times... โฎ๏ธ
Hail
Thursday - December 19th 2024 11:19PM MST
PS
(Hi folks. Corvinus here. Your friend, well-wisher, and suggester on how you can improve faulty thinking. Merry X-mas to all and thanks for having me! ----- But I really got's to denounce one of you, namely Mr. Adam Smith, for his refusal to acknowledge the TRUTH about the role of the Black race in space-travel.
Mr. Smith, I, Corvinus, will be glad to send you a copy of the documentary-like movie, Hidden Figures, which PROVES that Black women are the main people responsible for space-travel. "Notice" that, Mr. Smith!
Thanks, everyone. And remember to cast your vote for me, Cornelius X. Corvinus next year in my race for second-assistant dog-catcher for the northeastern district of my hometown, Palookaville. I do appreciate your support. In exchange for your votes, I'll continue to be generous with pointers on how you can CORRECT your faulty thinking. Thanks again! -- Corvinus.)
(Hi folks. Corvinus here. Your friend, well-wisher, and suggester on how you can improve faulty thinking. Merry X-mas to all and thanks for having me! ----- But I really got's to denounce one of you, namely Mr. Adam Smith, for his refusal to acknowledge the TRUTH about the role of the Black race in space-travel.
Mr. Smith, I, Corvinus, will be glad to send you a copy of the documentary-like movie, Hidden Figures, which PROVES that Black women are the main people responsible for space-travel. "Notice" that, Mr. Smith!
Thanks, everyone. And remember to cast your vote for me, Cornelius X. Corvinus next year in my race for second-assistant dog-catcher for the northeastern district of my hometown, Palookaville. I do appreciate your support. In exchange for your votes, I'll continue to be generous with pointers on how you can CORRECT your faulty thinking. Thanks again! -- Corvinus.)
Adam Smith
Thursday - December 19th 2024 10:14PM MST
PS: Good evening, everyone,
And good evening, Jim. Thanks for the links about the Ugandan Space program under post 3147. (I did get them, just a bit late so I'll reply to you here.) I found a few more videos about it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W912PUfiDlU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_alq3fnbrI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stBzxTofBGE
At first I thought I had heard of the Ugandan Space program, but apparently I was confusing it with the Zambian Space program. I actually think some of the footage for the Ugandan program, like the guys rolling down hills in barrels was from the Zambian program. I guess it would be pretty easy to confuse the two stories as much of the story is folklore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIgcm2ygTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TI9ixb-a5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMMyzrtio0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBY-Hb-TDw
Too bad the Africans never made it to space.
I think that would have been hilarious.
Cheers! โฎ๏ธ
And good evening, Jim. Thanks for the links about the Ugandan Space program under post 3147. (I did get them, just a bit late so I'll reply to you here.) I found a few more videos about it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W912PUfiDlU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_alq3fnbrI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stBzxTofBGE
At first I thought I had heard of the Ugandan Space program, but apparently I was confusing it with the Zambian Space program. I actually think some of the footage for the Ugandan program, like the guys rolling down hills in barrels was from the Zambian program. I guess it would be pretty easy to confuse the two stories as much of the story is folklore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIgcm2ygTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TI9ixb-a5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMMyzrtio0E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBY-Hb-TDw
Too bad the Africans never made it to space.
I think that would have been hilarious.
Cheers! โฎ๏ธ
Moderator
Thursday - December 19th 2024 7:32PM MST
PS: "Blumpf calls for "abolishing" the debt ceiling. PS views on this?"
Not much besides "I told you so." (Not you, specifically, Mr. Hail.)
I know he's done plenty of big money deals, but he doesn't seem to get this budgeting and debt thing. I kind of wondered when he thought tariffs would be enough to offset all the income tax. (True 100 years ago, I suppose ... /wistfulness)
BTW Chief Warren of the Masshole Agency agrees. That can't be a good sign. In the headline of an article I just glanced at, Trump thinks a default is not any big thing. Man, Lionel Shriver was not too far off on her timeline in "The Mandibles". OTOH, no way could she have anticipated a Donald Trump, for good or ill.
Not much besides "I told you so." (Not you, specifically, Mr. Hail.)
I know he's done plenty of big money deals, but he doesn't seem to get this budgeting and debt thing. I kind of wondered when he thought tariffs would be enough to offset all the income tax. (True 100 years ago, I suppose ... /wistfulness)
BTW Chief Warren of the Masshole Agency agrees. That can't be a good sign. In the headline of an article I just glanced at, Trump thinks a default is not any big thing. Man, Lionel Shriver was not too far off on her timeline in "The Mandibles". OTOH, no way could she have anticipated a Donald Trump, for good or ill.
Hail
Thursday - December 19th 2024 7:24PM MST
PS
Blumpf calls for "abolishing" the debt ceiling. PS vies on this?
Blumpf calls for "abolishing" the debt ceiling. PS vies on this?
Moderator
Thursday - December 19th 2024 6:49PM MST
PS: No, I don't remember your having written that, J1234, but that's amazing. I would have said as large as the top 3 only, if asked. I don't think this situation will last.
Yes, letting inflation eat away at everyone's savings is the easiest way out for Governments. At first people blame it on those greedy bread-bakers and anyone else who greedily raises prices. They get poorer slowly at first. At this stage, they may still think they are doing alright, as their 401-k's are going up as our their house equities. (Of course, if you have to move and then buy ANOTHER house, oh....)
One form of semi-confiscation is something I remember ZH commenters writing about when I used to be addicted to that site back in '11 or so. They said the Feral Gov't wouldn't EXACTLY take your money - they may just make some "slight" change to the 401-k laws in which such-and-such a percentage of your money must be in Treasury Bonds, or something like that. Prop up the system with the people's money, whether they'd have wanted to or not.
Have a good evening, Mr. 1234!
Yes, letting inflation eat away at everyone's savings is the easiest way out for Governments. At first people blame it on those greedy bread-bakers and anyone else who greedily raises prices. They get poorer slowly at first. At this stage, they may still think they are doing alright, as their 401-k's are going up as our their house equities. (Of course, if you have to move and then buy ANOTHER house, oh....)
One form of semi-confiscation is something I remember ZH commenters writing about when I used to be addicted to that site back in '11 or so. They said the Feral Gov't wouldn't EXACTLY take your money - they may just make some "slight" change to the 401-k laws in which such-and-such a percentage of your money must be in Treasury Bonds, or something like that. Prop up the system with the people's money, whether they'd have wanted to or not.
Have a good evening, Mr. 1234!
J1234
Thursday - December 19th 2024 4:06PM MST
PS-
"Never mind the title - it's not the Offense - spending I'm writing about here. (Of course, it could, and SHOULD, be cut by 75%.) "
"The USA may be too big to fail in some ways. Maybe the military will still be the biggest in the world for years to come, relying on Chinese-made weaponry and parts, though, as this Empire goes on until it can't."
---
I can't remember if I've mentioned this on PS before. If I have, I apologize for being repetitive.
Several years before WW1, Britain's policy was to have a navy that was bigger than the next two largest navies combined. I was always amazed by that, but according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the US today spends more on its military than the next ten largest militaries combined - Russia, China, India, UK, etc. And one of those ten countries of late is Ukraine, who gets the bulk (if not all) of their military stuff from the US. If you believe what they say on the news, Russia has a bigger nuclear arsenal than the US, but we spend more than they do...a LOT more.
Some folks say the US government will inflate its way out of debt, or at least the current debt crisis, but I personally believe confiscation will be their ultimate strategy. No, they won't call it that, of course. I think "forced loan" was the euphemism of choice back in 17th century England.
"Never mind the title - it's not the Offense - spending I'm writing about here. (Of course, it could, and SHOULD, be cut by 75%.) "
"The USA may be too big to fail in some ways. Maybe the military will still be the biggest in the world for years to come, relying on Chinese-made weaponry and parts, though, as this Empire goes on until it can't."
---
I can't remember if I've mentioned this on PS before. If I have, I apologize for being repetitive.
Several years before WW1, Britain's policy was to have a navy that was bigger than the next two largest navies combined. I was always amazed by that, but according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the US today spends more on its military than the next ten largest militaries combined - Russia, China, India, UK, etc. And one of those ten countries of late is Ukraine, who gets the bulk (if not all) of their military stuff from the US. If you believe what they say on the news, Russia has a bigger nuclear arsenal than the US, but we spend more than they do...a LOT more.
Some folks say the US government will inflate its way out of debt, or at least the current debt crisis, but I personally believe confiscation will be their ultimate strategy. No, they won't call it that, of course. I think "forced loan" was the euphemism of choice back in 17th century England.
Moderator
Thursday - December 19th 2024 7:18AM MST
PS: I read your new comment, Mr. Hail. It may be me and my 100's of tabs, but you all may experience the same thing, in which an UR page with 615 comments (as that "150K Followers" post of iSteve's has) is very hard to load. I think tweets, errr, x's, have everything to do with this. Therefore, I went to the page of YOUR comments to see it more easily.
That annoyance behind me, could I paste this comment of yours (with at least 1 grammar correction I saw) here on this site? I see that you're trying to get into the mind/mentality of this Samantha Rupnow as connected to the various portions of the crazy times she was living in. This reminds me a lot of the Strauss & Howe books - "Generations" and "The Fourth Turning" (there's a 3rd I haven't read) - in which they try to connect things all together with a lot of basis on the (socially varying) times that we all grew up in. They have a whole big matrix and shit ...
That annoyance behind me, could I paste this comment of yours (with at least 1 grammar correction I saw) here on this site? I see that you're trying to get into the mind/mentality of this Samantha Rupnow as connected to the various portions of the crazy times she was living in. This reminds me a lot of the Strauss & Howe books - "Generations" and "The Fourth Turning" (there's a 3rd I haven't read) - in which they try to connect things all together with a lot of basis on the (socially varying) times that we all grew up in. They have a whole big matrix and shit ...
Moderator
Thursday - December 19th 2024 7:12AM MST
PS: About the PRC-China. There are Chinese people spread all around the world at this point, living their lives (most times better than they would have in China) and conducting business. The Chinese are all about business.
I wish them all the luck, along with my looking forward to lots of gloating, as they try to run, control, or at least try to prevent the Black! stupidity, in Africa. I look forward to black people around the world complaining about their Chinese colonizers and the exploitation in the near future.
The Chinese are not so organized and concerned with uplifting the people, justice, the rule of law, and all that as the British were during their empire. I doubt it'd be pleasant to be a subject of the Chinese empire, if it will be considered that, in the future. (They've got plenty of social and economic problems themselves, so it may never come to that.) The main thing is, we keep our economy at least strong enough so that we don't have to be subject to the Chinese cutting down the Olympic Mountain forest to turn it into chopsticks.*
The requires eventually coming back from the demise of the dollar. Keep prepping!
* Yes, that's a lot of chopsticks! I think I back-of-the-envelope calculated this one time.
I wish them all the luck, along with my looking forward to lots of gloating, as they try to run, control, or at least try to prevent the Black! stupidity, in Africa. I look forward to black people around the world complaining about their Chinese colonizers and the exploitation in the near future.
The Chinese are not so organized and concerned with uplifting the people, justice, the rule of law, and all that as the British were during their empire. I doubt it'd be pleasant to be a subject of the Chinese empire, if it will be considered that, in the future. (They've got plenty of social and economic problems themselves, so it may never come to that.) The main thing is, we keep our economy at least strong enough so that we don't have to be subject to the Chinese cutting down the Olympic Mountain forest to turn it into chopsticks.*
The requires eventually coming back from the demise of the dollar. Keep prepping!
* Yes, that's a lot of chopsticks! I think I back-of-the-envelope calculated this one time.
Moderator
Thursday - December 19th 2024 7:04AM MST
PS: The USA may be too big to fail in some ways. Maybe the military will still be the biggest in the world for years to come, relying on Chinese-made weaponry and parts, though, as this Empire goes on until it can't. I think our exorbitant privilege has been lost - a half century of reckless budgeting and 3 1/2 decades of burning our goodwill in the world (by the NeoCons) after the fall of Euro Communism did that.
I don't see how it can go on even as this martial empire with the original people as "eat ze bugs", 15-minute-city, rentier class slaves, though, because the US Dollar simply cannot go on as the Reserve Currency. Sure, I get the "cleanest dirty shirt" bit. Who else has a solid monetary system anymore? I don't know, but perhaps foreign currencies will continue to go off reliance on the dollar and get pegged to commodities, or, who knows, gold? I was going to bring up Bitcoin and the like, but the CBDCs are what is likely the goal for the Globalists that are trying to arrange our future. We need to prevent that.
I hope the land and the people stay more than nominally American, Mr. Hail. That would require the border control and deportation business to be serious and also long-lasting. We could survive a Great Depression 2.0, but who cares, if we are not even the same nation anymore?
I agree with your last sentence completely.
I don't see how it can go on even as this martial empire with the original people as "eat ze bugs", 15-minute-city, rentier class slaves, though, because the US Dollar simply cannot go on as the Reserve Currency. Sure, I get the "cleanest dirty shirt" bit. Who else has a solid monetary system anymore? I don't know, but perhaps foreign currencies will continue to go off reliance on the dollar and get pegged to commodities, or, who knows, gold? I was going to bring up Bitcoin and the like, but the CBDCs are what is likely the goal for the Globalists that are trying to arrange our future. We need to prevent that.
I hope the land and the people stay more than nominally American, Mr. Hail. That would require the border control and deportation business to be serious and also long-lasting. We could survive a Great Depression 2.0, but who cares, if we are not even the same nation anymore?
I agree with your last sentence completely.
Moderator
Thursday - December 19th 2024 6:55AM MST
PS: Regarding the ZH graphs, most of the time they are of stocks and other financial indices, and I really wouldn't care to read them anyway due to the large BS factor that is involved in the financial prediction business. By that I don't mean what we're discussing here, the big picture, but what this shape of the curve means for the BLAH BLAH sector, cause last time you saw a "head and shoulders" or a "death cross", this certain thing happened, and so on. I got into this in a post in Summer of '18:
""Technical" Trading - The stupid you'll always have with you."
http://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=702
Oh, yeah, I see I dissed the ZH graphs there too.
Got off track there ... Yeah, I should just do the graphs myself, but there's so much on-line that I often come up with what I need. Still, what's wrong with Tyler Durden. He needs to visit another 12-step program meeting for graphiphobics (you gotta see the movie... no, really you don't.)
I'll get to the serious stuff, as in your 2nd comment, in a minute.
""Technical" Trading - The stupid you'll always have with you."
http://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=702
Oh, yeah, I see I dissed the ZH graphs there too.
Got off track there ... Yeah, I should just do the graphs myself, but there's so much on-line that I often come up with what I need. Still, what's wrong with Tyler Durden. He needs to visit another 12-step program meeting for graphiphobics (you gotta see the movie... no, really you don't.)
I'll get to the serious stuff, as in your 2nd comment, in a minute.
Hail
Thursday - December 19th 2024 4:38AM MST
PS
More on the Wisconsin school shooter (though I have a typo in the first line: she turned age 11 in November 2020; she was age 10 when the Panic swept the field in spring 2020):
https://www.unz.com/isteve/150k/#comment-6909223
More on the Wisconsin school shooter (though I have a typo in the first line: she turned age 11 in November 2020; she was age 10 when the Panic swept the field in spring 2020):
https://www.unz.com/isteve/150k/#comment-6909223
Hail
Thursday - December 19th 2024 4:33AM MST
PS
"We're in a tight spot"
If the USA were any other country, it'd be bad indeed. But a lot of people have long said the USA is too big to fail, for geopolitical and "geoeconomic" reasons both.
It's a privileged favorable position ("exorbitant privilege," as a French government minister called it a half century ago, the phrase sticking in economist-lexicon) which has endured for decades; and which, in principle, can endure for decades to come. Until it "don't endure no more," of course.
The biggest advantage the USA has in propping up its position is that the rivals are so unappealing. PRC-China as taking the USA's place as global "power-stabilizer"? Really? Who would want that?
At the least, these things buy the USA time, perhaps something like decades' worth of time. The other problem in the meantime, offsetting the "exorbitant privilege" to some uncertain degree, is the corrosive effects of Wokeness. The bad days of the early 2020s (Corona-Panic, lockdowns, etc., and anti-White race-panic) may not be a one-time one-off blot, but something more normalized, unless Third Worldization is radically reversed.
"We're in a tight spot"
If the USA were any other country, it'd be bad indeed. But a lot of people have long said the USA is too big to fail, for geopolitical and "geoeconomic" reasons both.
It's a privileged favorable position ("exorbitant privilege," as a French government minister called it a half century ago, the phrase sticking in economist-lexicon) which has endured for decades; and which, in principle, can endure for decades to come. Until it "don't endure no more," of course.
The biggest advantage the USA has in propping up its position is that the rivals are so unappealing. PRC-China as taking the USA's place as global "power-stabilizer"? Really? Who would want that?
At the least, these things buy the USA time, perhaps something like decades' worth of time. The other problem in the meantime, offsetting the "exorbitant privilege" to some uncertain degree, is the corrosive effects of Wokeness. The bad days of the early 2020s (Corona-Panic, lockdowns, etc., and anti-White race-panic) may not be a one-time one-off blot, but something more normalized, unless Third Worldization is radically reversed.
Hail
Thursday - December 19th 2024 4:17AM MST
PS
That graph is too hard to read and confusing to be very useful. Who is in charge of their graph-making department?
Dispatch a team of Peak Stupidity agents to ask a few questions and make a few friendly suggestions, because it'd be such a shame, don't you know, if a crowd of people angry about the poor-quality graphs got so riled up as to storm their headquarters and all.
That graph is too hard to read and confusing to be very useful. Who is in charge of their graph-making department?
Dispatch a team of Peak Stupidity agents to ask a few questions and make a few friendly suggestions, because it'd be such a shame, don't you know, if a crowd of people angry about the poor-quality graphs got so riled up as to storm their headquarters and all.
I have some of those Zimbabwe Dollars from ebay too. (I'm down to my last $150 Billion.) They make nice novelty gifts. The real (non-counterfeit) Zimbabwe Dollars have held their value pretty well, not as a currency, but as a collectible. After they became "collectible" some clever Chinamen starting counterfeiting them, especially the larger denominations.
Some of these notes come with certificates of authenticity, but how does one verify a COA from some random currency dealer on the internet? If I knew for sure that the 100 Trillion Dollar note I was buying wasn't a cheap Chinese knockoff I might consider buying one. (Apparently the $100 Trillion note can be had for about $100 usd. maybe?)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256008301856
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256008305441
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254994248629
https://www.ebay.com/itm/282473426613
https://www.ebay.com/itm/305985581670
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIzmxRpkO0A
https://i.ibb.co/1bKcYkY/Pay-Your-Fair-Share.jpg
When it comes to pro-taxation propaganda terminology I think ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐ might be the most successful euphemism ever. Maybe it's because the "government" school starts implanting that phrase into kids heads early on. Kinda like ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ก even though ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ is regulated occupation for hire while traveling in an automobile is a common right we all have that has nothing to do with driving or motor vehicles...
https://codes.findlaw.com/us/title-18-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/18-usc-sect-31/
(6) ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ฃ๐โ๐๐๐๐.--๐โ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ฃ๐โ๐๐๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐โ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ โ๐๐โ๐ค๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
(10) ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ .--๐โ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ โ๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ก๐, ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ , ๐๐ ๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก.
But that is a different story for a different time, except to say that they are really good at scamming most of the people most of the time. (For the rest of us they have the stick and the cage.)
https://i.ibb.co/sVLWrcr/Stay-Home-Stay-Safe.jpg
So yeah, maybe when the bills come due and they can no longer kick the can down the road the TV will be saying things like "๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ก๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐" or some other such nonsense. Anyway...
Happy weekend! โฎ๏ธ