POVERTY IN AMERICA: A SPECIAL REPORT

The Economic Collapse

September 23, 2011

America is getting poorer. 

The U.S. government has just released a bunch of new statistics about poverty in America, and once again this year the news is not good.  According to a special report from the U.S. Census Bureau, 46.2 million Americans are now living in poverty.  The number of those living in poverty in America has grown by 2.6 million in just the last 12 months, and that is the largest increase that we have ever seen since the U.S. government began calculating poverty figures back in 1959. 

Not only that, median household income has also fallen once again.  In case you are keeping track, that makes three years in a row.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in the United States dropped 2.3% in 2010 after accounting for inflation. 

Overall, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% once you account for inflation since December 2007. 

So should we be excited that our incomes are going down and that a record number of Americans slipped into poverty last year? 

Should we be thrilled that the economic pie is shrinking and that our debt levels are exploding? 

All of those that claimed that the U.S. economy was recovering and that everything was going to be just fine have some explaining to do.

Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty. 

Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.  The last time the poverty level was this high was back in 1993.

However, it is important to keep in mind that the government definition of poverty rises based on the rate of inflation.  If inflation was still calculated the way that it was 30 or 40 years ago, the poverty line would be much, much higher and millions more Americans would be considered to be living in poverty.

So why is poverty in America exploding?  Who is getting hurt the most?  How is America being changed by this?  What is the future going to look like if we remain on the current path?

Let's take a closer look at poverty in America....

THE SHRINKING NUMBER OF JOBS

Unemployment is rampant and the number of good jobs continues to shrink.  Once upon a time in America, if you really wanted a job you could go out and get one.  Today, competition for even the lowest paying jobs has become absolutely brutal.  There simply are not enough chairs at the "economic table", and not being able to get a good job is pushing large numbers of Americans into poverty.....

*There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million people to the population since then.

*Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job.  In July, only 81.2 percent of men in that age group had a job.

*If you gathered together all of the unemployed people in the United States, they would constitute the 68th largest country in the world.

*According to John Williams of shadowstats.com, if you factored in all of the short-term discouraged workers, all of the long-term discouraged workers and all of those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment, the real unemployment rate right now would be approximately 23 percent.

*If you have been unemployed for at least one year, there is a 91 percent chance that you will not find a new job within the next month.

THE WORKING POOR

The number of low income jobs is rising while the number of high income jobs is falling.  This has created a situation where the number of "the working poor" in America is absolutely skyrocketing.  Millions of Americans are working as hard as they can and yet they still cannot afford to lead a middle class lifestyle.

*Since the year 2000, we have lost approximately 10% of our middle class jobs.  In the year 2000 there were about 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.

*Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs.  Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

*Between 1969 and 2009, the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 dropped by 27 percent after you account for inflation.

*According to a report released in February from the National Employment Law Project, higher wage industries are accounting for 40 percent of the job losses in America but only 14 percent of the job growth.  Lower wage industries are accounting for just 23 percent of the job losses but 49 percent of the job growth.

*Half of all American workers now earn $505 or less per week.

*Last year, 19.7% of all U.S. working adults had jobs that would not have been enough to push a family of four over the poverty line even if they had worked full-time hours for the entire year.

*The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006.

UNPRECEDENTED DEPENDENCE ON THE GOVERNMENT

Because they cannot get good jobs that will enable them to support themselves and their families, millions of Americans that used to be hard working contributors to society are now dependent on government handouts.  Nearly every single measure of government dependence is at a record high, and there are no signs that things are going to turn around any time soon.

*One out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one government anti-poverty program.

*Nearly 10 million Americans now receive unemployment benefits.  That number is almost four times larger than it was back in 2007.

*More than 45 million Americans are now on food stamps.  The number of Americans on food stamps has increased 74% since 2007.

*Approximately one-third of the entire population of Alabama is now on food stamps.

*More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid.

*Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.  Today, approximately one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.

*In 1980, just 11.7% of all personal income came from government transfer payments.  Today, 18.4% of all personal income comes from government transfer payments.

THE SUFFOCATING COST OF HEALTH CARE

Millions of American families are being financially crippled by health care costs.  The U.S. health care system is deeply, deeply broken and Obamacare is going to make things even worse. 

Health care is one of the top reasons why American families get pushed into poverty.  Most of us are just one major illness or disease from becoming financially wrecked.  Just ask anyone that has gone through it. 

The health insurance companies do not care about you and they will try to wiggle out of their obligations at the time when you need them the most.  If you talk to people that have been through bankruptcy, most of them will tell you that medical bills were at least partially responsible.

*In America today, there are 49.9 million Americans that do not have any health insurance.  One single medical bill could easily wipe out the finances of most of those people.

*Only 56 percent of Americans are currently covered by employer-provided health insurance.

*According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States.  Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.

*According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980.  Today they account for approximately 16.3%.

MORE CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY

The United States has a child poverty rate that is more than twice as high as many European nations.  We like to think that we have "the greatest economy on earth", but the reality is that we have one of the highest child poverty rates and it increased once again last year.

*The poverty rate for children living in the United States increased to 22% in 2010.  That means that tonight more than one out of every five U.S. children is living in poverty.

*The poverty rate for U.S. adults is only 13.7%.

*Households that are led by a single mother have a 31.6% poverty rate.

*Today, one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

*It is being projected that approximately 50 percent of all U.S. children will be on food stamps at some point in their lives before they reach the age of 18.

*There are 314 counties in the United States where at least 30% of the children are facing food insecurity.

*More than 20 million U.S. children rely on school meal programs to keep from going hungry.

*It is estimated that up to half a million children may currently be homeless in the United States.

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THE PLIGHT OF THE ELDERLY

The elderly are also falling into poverty in staggering numbers.  They may not be out protesting in the streets, but that does not mean that they are not deeply, deeply suffering.

*One out of every six elderly Americans now lives below the federal poverty line.

*Between 1991 and 2007 the number of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 that filed for bankruptcy rose by a staggering 178 percent.

*The Baby Boomers have only just begun to retire, and already our social programs for seniors are starting to fall apart.  In 1950, each retiree's Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 U.S. workers.  According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are now only 1.75 full-time private sector workers for each person that is receiving Social Security benefits in the United States.

SQUEEZED BY INFLATION

Rising inflation is squeezing the budgets of average American families like never before.  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke claims that inflation is still low, but either he is delusional or he has not been to a supermarket lately.

Personally, I do a lot of grocery shopping at a number of different stores, and without a doubt prices are absolutely soaring.  Many of the new "sale prices" are exactly what the old "regular prices" were just a few weeks ago.

Some companies have tried to hide these price increases by shrinking package sizes.  But there is no hiding the pain on the old wallet once you fill up your cart with what you need to feed your family.

*Over the past year, the global price of food has risen by 37 percent and this has pushed approximately 44 million more people around the world into poverty.

*U.S. consumers will spend approximately $491 billion on gas this year.  That is going to be a brand new all-time record.

*Right now, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is $3.649.  That is 94 cents higher than 12 months earlier and it is a brand new record for this time of the year.

A SMALLER SHARE OF THE PIE

The size of the "economic pie" in America is shrinking, and the share of the pie for those that are poor is shrinking a lot faster than the share of the pie for those that are wealthy.

*According to the Washington Post, the average yearly income of the bottom 90 percent of all U.S. income earners is now just $31,244.

*When you look at the ratio of employee compensation to GDP, it is now the lowest that is has been in about 50 years.

*At this point, the poorest 50% of all Americans now control just 2.5% of all of the wealth in this country.

*Big corporations are even recognizing the change that is happening to America. Just consider the following example from a recent article in the Huffington Post....

Manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, the household-goods giant responsible for everything from Charmin and Old Spice to Tide, are concentrating their efforts on luxury and bargain items, putting less emphasis on products aimed at the middle class, the Wall Street Journal reports.

CONCLUSION

America is fundamentally changing.  We were a nation that had the largest middle class in the history of the globe, but now we are becoming a nation that is deeply divided between the haves and the have nots.

Perhaps you are still doing fine.  But don't think that economic disaster cannot strike you.  Every single day, thousands more Americans will lose their jobs or will discover a major health problem. 

Every single day, thousands more Americans will lose their homes or will be forced to take a pay cut.

If you still have a warm, comfortable home to sleep in, you should be thankful.  Poverty is a very sneaky enemy and it can strike at any time.  If you are not careful, you might be the next American to end up sleeping in your car or living in a tent city.

It is easy to disregard a couple of statistics, but can you really ignore the vast amount of evidence presented above?

It is undeniable that America is getting poorer.  Poverty is spreading and hopelessness and despair are rising.  There is a reason why the economy is the number one political issue right now.  Millions upon millions of Americans are in deep pain and they want some solutions.

Unfortunately, it appears quite unlikely that either major political party is going to offer any real solutions any time soon.  So things are going to keep getting worse and worse and worse.

Should we just keep doing the same things that we have been doing over and over and over and yet keep expecting different results?

What we are doing right now is not working.  We are in the midst of a long-term economic decline.  Both major political parties have been fundamentally wrong about the economy.  It is time to admit that.

If we continue on this path, poverty in America is going to continue to get a lot worse.  Millions of families will be torn apart and millions of lives will be destroyed.

America please wake up.

Time is running out.

ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, FINANCIAL MANIPULATION AND THE DOLLAR CRISIS

Death of the Euro by Darren Birkin

By Bob Chapman

International Forecaster

September 24, 2011

The question plays out on three fronts. England quietly is immersed in its own financial problems, churning out their version of quantitative easing, as the US FOMC meeting rises in the distance for two days this time.

Will we get the twist?

Of course we will.

If we do not the bottom will fall out.

That will signify the issuance of more funds plus what is needed to purchase some 80% of Treasury securities, or about another $850 billion.

It is no secret that the Fed, Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Swiss national Banks are going to provide dollars to European banks that are the victims of American lenders who have pulled their funds out of Europe for fear of losing their investments. They are phasing out an orderly fashion.

The commitments of these central banks are doing three things putting their citizens at more financial risk;

driving inflation higher;

aiding in the increase in gold prices

and following a path they already know is doomed to failure.

The players did not want a replay of the Lehman Affair of just three years ago, or the ongoing immediate consequences. Everyone wanted to look like they were in motion, that they were doing something about the problem.

The underlying problem is that banks in Europe cannot issue much more debt or they will look like bigger fools than they already are.

Due to the banks’ poor choices in the past, these banks are on the edge of failure and were Greece to default they’d get closer to the edge.

If all insolvent nations were to default these banks would all go under. Thus, we see another bank bailout engineered by the Fed and other central banks.

As this new crisis unfolds the European and world economies are slowing down, which will compound problems.

Under the best of circumstances the European banks and sovereigns will lose half of their investments in Greek bonds and loans. We stated two years ago the 100% default is the only answer for Greece and the other five problem countries. The losses would then be $4 to $6 trillion. Not only are many European banks already insolvent, but also the future portends a bank wipeout.

The banks did everything wrong, expecting as always, a taxpayer bailout. In addition, in this process, these banks assumed leverage of about 30% in an attempt to raise profits.

If these banks do not go under they will be nationalized and again the public will be allowed to assume again the banker’s losses. This crisis already in motion is going to be worse than the one experienced three years ago and it’s mutating into an ongoing crisis, because no one is willing to purge the system.

In the wings we see the ECB, which already has made an illegal foray into the bond market to purchase Italian and Spanish bonds. The big question there is who is going to pay for their purchases?

We will find that out on September 29th when the German Bundestag votes on German participation. If they say “no” the European financial world will go upside down. If they vote “yes” we could see anarchy in Germany.

As we have cited often, European countries are a collection of different tribes that do not like to be forced into anything. At this juncture we are told by our sources that the funding bill will be passed.

If not passed, we could see military action between Greece, Israel and Turkey, as a deliberate diversion to force European countries to fund Greece and other bailouts. When in doubt have another war.

The US Treasury Secretary Mr. Geithner managed to make a fool of himself in Poland, but did find support among other elitists regarding the regulation and full implementation of banking federalization.

This supposedly is needed to mitigate the crisis and prevent future confusion, when in fact it is a move to remove the sovereignty of member states.

The Fed, that endless source of swaps, money and credit, would supply recapitalization. Trillions of dollars can easily be conjured up for just about anything and especially to further a European Federal Reserve.

The upshot of this move would be to give the ECB or another authority the ability to create money and credit at will, which is totally opposed by the Germans. In total they do not want anyone telling them what to do especially after the mess in part created by the ECB.

This is a war the internationalists cannot win, but they will try anyway.

These attempts at centralization and federalization are not what the Germans want. They want something similar to the Bundesbank and they want direct control via representation.

What has transpired is another bailout for Europe via the Fed, BoJ, BoE and the SNB. That certainly spells much more inflation as a consequence of this policy, which is something Germany is dead set against. 
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The newest swap facility is for 45 days, so that the ECB would convince US and other money market funds and other large investors to repurchase the banks’, notes and bills of EU banks and government, of course with the aid and pressure of the Fed and the US Treasury.

There were strong reasons for American lenders to pull out of euro zone short-term paper markets. It is called risk-reward.

Higher yields are desperately needed by money managers, but not at the risk of losing capital. Just look at the correction in the US commercial paper market, nine-weeks of rising yields and plunging participation.

In fact, such policies are really a QE 3 in motion although concentrated on Europe. The absence of such backdoor financing had to make players realize that funds were needed quickly, because without them there would have been another European banking crisis that would have spread into the UK and US markets.

The European economies are slowing down and in the absence of such a move the downside would have accelerated into a large recession or depression. The only way the Fed can operate such a swap would be with freshly minted money, because if they buy dollars in the Forex market they would drive the dollar higher and the euro lower and they do not want that to happen.

The Fed is well aware that some European banks and sovereigns are insolvent, as is the US system and by using such policies they keep the whole structure functioning and buying valuable time.

Default is on the way and all the players know that. They want to be sure it is an orderly default.

The same is true of currencies. They want a big meeting where all currencies are revalued and devalued simultaneously and where multilateral defaults go smoothly.

From a liquidity viewpoint European banks have bought 45 days to November 5th. We do not think that is enough time and that the swaps, QE 3, will be extended through the end of the year.

While this goes on the twist will take place in the US that is holding short-term rates static and deliberately lowering long-term rates by manipulating the markets.

We are afraid that will cause upward pressure on short-term rates. The resultant lower rates are to encourage economic activity, investment, and revival in the real estate market. 

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On the short end it is not going to happen. Rates will rise and bank leverage will be neutralized. All those months of riskless profits will end at least temporarily. Lower mortgage rates are fine, but suppressing long-term yields is a mistake.

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These moves are inflationary and we now see that an official CPI of plus 3.8%. Real inflation is 11.4%. They are the highest in two years and we predicted more than a year ago real inflation will match that of three years ago of 14%.

We find it astounding that people are dumb enough to buy a 10-year note yielding 1.83% in an 11.4% inflationary environment and deliberately lose 9.4%. In 10-years almost all your purchasing power is gone. It is a small wonder that people are resorting to gold and silver coins, bullion and shares.

The bond market continues to reach ridiculous levels as the twist gets underway. During that process the dollar has rallied and the US 10-year note has begun trading at 1.83% yield. It is obvious that the Fed wants the 10 somewhere near 1%. That would put the 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 3% and perhaps lower. This move should boost official inflation from 3.8% to 5.5%, along with other factors to 5.5%. Unofficially that would put real inflation at 14%.

The higher bond levels have the Chinese all excited and they want to liquidate US Treasuries, but not dollars.

That presents quite a problem for the Fed because worse yet they want to use those dollars to gobble up American assets, and securities. This demand has come at a most unfortunate juncture.

There is definitely fear among bankers and central bankers who have no choice but to throw monetary caution to the wind. Leading the pack believe it or not is the Swiss National Bank, that great recent devaluer of currency.

Have they ever opened a can of worms?

We wonder whether the Japanese will get the go ahead from the Fed, as a reward for supplying dollars to Europe, to further devalue its yen? We will just have to wait and see. Will 45 days be enough for Europe? Of course not, and neither will 90 days suffice.

The slide of the European banking system won’t happen overnight. It will still take a year or two.

The elitists will do everything possible to extend the process.

You also have to take note regarding how fast the swap line was set up. Intervention is the name of the game, and everyone in the UK, US and Europe are in on it. All the professionals have to know this is not going to work, but no one is saying anything.

A conspiracy of silence. No one wants to say it but fascist Keynesianism is a failure. This is the foundation for future economic life for the New World Order and it is falling apart at the seams.

You might say it is the end product of centuries of fraud, deceit and the looting of each successive civilization.

The personification of what has been and is the evil within society.

The monstrosity the Illuminists have created is in the process of collapsing and rightly so.

Irrespective of how dollars are created they still make up about 60% of world Forex reserves and oil producers are forced to accept the dollar for oil in exchange for protection from the US and Britain. The dollars only challenge in a sea of fiat currencies is gold, which we believe has become again the world’s only real currency.

What we see in Europe reminds us that the euro is a failed experiment. Trillions more dollars have been and will be created to keep the current system functioning and each time more dollars are created it strengthens the case for gold.

Under current circumstances the dollar is not going to crash, although it will eventually. It still is the only viable paper world reserve currency, even though foreign central bank holdings have fallen from 72% to 60% in recent years. The closest competitor, the euro, can’t come close to challenging the dollar, only gold can.

In Europe September 29th is a big day.

On that day the Bundestag will decide whether to approve another Greek bailout. Our sources say they will approve it, although anything could happen. If this crisis passes over the next three months there will be a rush to pass legislation to allow the ECB to issue bonds. Once accomplished that would give the ECB the money and credit creating powers of the Fed and that would allow the ECB to stretch the problem out over a number of years.

These moves might solve the current liquidity crisis, but they won’t solve the solvency crisis. It is difficult to tell how long this sort of bailout will go on and how difficult the problems will be.

One thing is for sure inflation will rage and many nations will not want to subsidize others indefinitely. This will be especially true in smaller nations.

The goal by the ruling EU in Brussels will be to totally control the entire 27 nations involved. Can this be accomplished? We do not know, but we do know it will be very difficult to accomplish.

While Mrs. Merkel, German Chancellor, sees nothing suggesting a recession in Germany, the government is maneuvering behind the backs of its citizens to give unlimited power to the EFSF, the European Financial Stability Facility, which is not a legitimate entity, to support the hopelessly bankrupt euro system at the expense of German taxpayers and the common good.

This facility will strip Germany and all other participants of their sovereignty in its process of handling one facet of euro zone finance. The $500 billion in Swaps and the eventual bond issuance will guarantee much higher inflation.

Europe’s present problems are going to make the 2008 Lehman episode look like a walk in the park. The pooling of the debt burden and a further easing of monetary policy threatens to weaken the institutional framework of the EU.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who resides in the back pocket of the bankers has proposed a doubling of funds to be made available to the bankrupt sovereigns of just over $1 trillion. On September 29th the banker’s idea is to have the Bundestag the EFSF carte blanche to carry out measures to save the euro, the insolvent countries and banks.

If that were passed, all control passes to the EFSF and the ECB.

We believe that most Germans and selective others

are finally realizing that Brussels is the enemy.

The passage of legislation by Germany, which in part has already been passed by the Bundesrat (Senate) would leave Germany with no more say on the use or increase in funding just to save the euro, Greece and the other five countries, which is an impossible task at a cost of $4 to $6 trillion.

What the Bundestag does on 9/29/11 will dictate the future of Germany as an industrial and social nation far into the futures.

Will it be enslavement to the EFSF or freedom to run its own affairs?

This amounts to a coup d'état.

Coming on the heels of abject failure to solve the economic problems of the insolvent six countries.

What is happening in Europe, and particularly in Germany, is beyond belief ~ a plan to prop up the hopelessly bankrupt financial states through deregulation of the financial sector.

If legislation allows all this to happen you could have revolution in Germany and other countries.

It is a frightful situation.