By Bill Bonner
Swamp Battle
Washington [is] a lot more broken than President Trump thought that it was.
— White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – On Friday, the much-hyped Trump/GOP Obamacare reform sank into the swamp. If anything keeps us from national bankruptcy, it won’t be entitlement reform. Not under Donald J. Trump.
A collection of swamp victims who haven’t paid attention… didn’t they know that Dracula can’t be killed?
Next up, tax reform. Here again, readers are advised not to hold their breath. The same slimy swamp battles – with politicos, insiders, GOP rival factions, and President Trump himself all snapping at each other’s tails – will probably kill any serious reform.
Besides, there’s a deeper problem. Tax “reform” or tax “cuts” are useless unless spending is also cut. Otherwise, they just shift the burden from one taxpayer to another, or from taxpayers to consumers, or from targeted tax victims to the general public.
And trying to cut spending is… well… tough. And if you don’t cut the military or entitlements, what’s left? Not much.
We recall the jubilation in some quarters as the new team sailed up the Potomac and dropped anchor in the Tidal Basin. The parties… the fanfare… the hopes that, finally, the U.S. government might take a new tack.
U.S. GDP was $14 trillion in 2009. Today, it is $18 trillion. That’s a 35% increase, equal to $4 trillion. Meanwhile, the Dow rose 200% – an increase of $14 trillion. Per capita, working stiffs saw barely any increase in the value of their main asset: their time. But day and night, the rich got richer and richer, without breaking a sweat.
The money illusion: Wilshire total market index, total federal debt and GDP, all indexed (1990 = 100). This bizarre outcome is reportedly perfectly normal… nothing a 25 basis point tweak in the federal funds rate can’t fix! – click to enlarge.
For every extra dollar earned by the working class over the past eight years, the financial-asset owners – about 10% of the population – earned three times as much. This skewing of wealth toward the wealthy didn’t “just happen.”
It wasn’t caused by the Chinese or the Mexicans. Or the liberals. Or the conservatives. Instead, it was the product of a credit-money system that is now firmly supported by Republicans and Democrats and the entire Establishment.
It is also the main source of funds for the swamp – and for the Deep State critters who live in it.
The swamp critters are saying hello.
Headed for the Rocks
Mr. Trump promised a change. But already, his administration heads for the rocks. To deliver on his promises – draining the swamp, making America great again, and giving the average working guy a decent break – his band of buccaneers had to move fast and boldly trim the sails.
It had to take on the Deep State – the “shadow government” that really controls the levers of power – and make real cuts in bureaucracy and in …read more
Source:: Acting Man
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