Quick Wednesday Update..........
Sorry things have been a bit sparse here. Been really busy with a number of things and friends the last few days.
Here's a few things to keep you busy -
Joe Huffman has a great quote and illustration of what the Federal Budget looks like in terms that most normal folks can appreciate. Quote of the day—Milton Friedman.
I feel pretty good that I've been using the same type of argument with folks lately and winging numbers out of my ass while doing it. And DAMN if I haven't been pretty damn close, too!
Probably not a good thing that YerUnk is, once again, correct. I can be an insufferable bastard w/o MORE conformation that I'm pretty much always right.
But, as we say around here, economically? "Boned is Boned" and we damn sure are.
Once again, via Monty, DOOM! It's what's for Dinner Breakfast!
"Let's just slap the bad news down on the table like a dead carp: mandatory federal spending now outstrips federal revenues.
The key word is here is "mandatory". The nation finds itself in the position of being legally obligated to spend more money than it takes in as revenue.
This means that every single dime we spend on anything else -- roads, national parks, even parts of the national defense apparatus -- have to be paid out of borrowed money, or cut back entirely. Put differently: even if all these "discretionary" programs were free, we'd still have a deficit. As Jeffrey Anderson points out in the linked article, this state of affairs came about nearly 50 years before many in the government thought it would."
Remember, we ran a $226 BILLION Budget Deficit in February of this year alone.
"Total expenditures for January to February amounted to P226.5 billion or 12.3 percent higher compared with last year’s P201.7 billion, Teves said."
Don't forget, February is the shortest month of the year, too.
Also, don't believe that there's no inflation going on - Wholesale prices spike on steep rise in food, oil
"Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Harsh winter freezes in Florida, Texas and other southern states sent fresh vegetable prices soaring, representing 70 percent of the increase. Tomatoes, green peppers and lettuce all more than doubled in price."
Conveniently, The Government doesn't factor in Food or Energy costs into their reports of inflation. Notice that most media outlets don't mention that when you hear the numbers on inflation. That's a feature not a bug to keep your ass dumb and happy.
So I'm gonna say it again, plant a garden, berries and some fruit trees.
Learn to save, can, store & preserve what you get.
Stock up on basic food staples and supplies.
You'll get a much better return on an investment of this type than anything the stock market is gonna get ya.
Food and basic staples are REAL assets and aren't affected by fluctuations in the currency once they're in your pantry either.
Precious metals? Brass and copper jacketed lead if you can't afford Silver or Gold.
Shit, you should already have ammo and a means to dispense it anyway. If not? Get with the program.
Feel free to ask questions if ya need to.
Think about an alternate heat source for your home. The woodstove I put in here would be enough to keep this place livable by it'self if that's all we had. Total cost, stove, pipe and installation was about $1200 bucks. I've already saved more than half of that over last years utility bills this Winter. Yes. I spent $600 on a chainsaw too.
OK. That means in 3 years, at Last Years energy prices, it's all paid for. Who thinks that utility costs aren't going up?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Just something to think about. I put off getting a stove for a long time. Don't make that mistake if you can help it. Hell, get some form of backup heat anyway.
Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Night-
Ya may think about Alternative Energy/Income sources too.
