Ever heard of a pyramid scheme? A pyramid scheme is an illegal scam in which large numbers of people at the bottom of the pyramid pay money to benefit a few people at the top. Pyramid schemes are unsustainable long-term business models that ultimately fail and collapse — leaving the participants with empty pockets.Ever heard of the National Debt Clock? In 1989 businessman Seymour Durst began the clock to highlight the government’s ever growing debt, which at the time was a little more than $2.7 trillion. The clock, located in New York’s Times Square, had enough digits to display debt up to $10 trillion. But unfortunately, to the chagrin of many Americans, the debt clock reached that magic threshold and ran out of digits a few days ago. The organization responsible for the clock’s maintenance has said that a new clock, with the ability to monitor debt up to a quadrillion dollars — an unfathomable amount — will be in place by 2009.Ever heard of David Walker? Walker is the former Comptroller General of the United States and head of the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). In March of 2008 Walker resigned as the nation’s chief auditor to head the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Walker estimates that by the end of the year, the nation’s real long-term debt will surpass $56 trillion ($40 trillion more than the figure displayed on the debt clock). That’s almost $200,000 per person living in the United States or $480,000 per household! To put that in perspective, the median household income in 2006 was a little more than $48,000. According to Walker our nation is suffering “from a fiscal cancer… it is growing within us. And if we do not treat it, it could have catastrophic consequences for our country.” The fiscal cancer that Walker describes includes the nation’s public debt, unfinanced and growing retirement and entitlement benefits (Social Security, Medicare, Medicad), and unfunded spending increases, tax cuts, wars and financial bailouts. Ever heard of the word bamboozled? Bamboozle means to deceive or get the better of someone through trickery or flattery. The American people have been bamboozled by the two major political parties. They have instituted, oversee and operate a giant, global pyramid scheme that has left the people “at the bottom” holding the bag. They continue to hide and distract us from the truth. Former US Commerce Secretary Peter G. Peterson said it best, “We’ve reached the make or break point in American history. These problems have reached tidal proportions and festered for more than two decades due to political irresponsibility. Now is the time to put politics aside and put the country first and begin to solve these problems with courage and clarity. This is the moment in our history when we do what is necessary to remain a first class country.”American’s have become slaves to their government’s excesses. The two-party system is broken. Our founding principles remain sound, clear and worth fighting for; but our belief has become clouded by political pimps. They have made us fat, lazy and dependent on their political promises just so we will continue to elect them to power. It is time for the American people to demand real leadership and honest solutions.
Think our financial system is a pyramid scheme? E-mail Andrew at [email protected].
