1) Lie: The Founding Fathers left us the legacy of the national debt.
The truth: This is so stupid it defies the basic principle of lying, that the lie should have a shred of credibility. The article even contradicts itself just nine paragraphs later by admitting the US was debt free in 1834-1835.
The statement is flat out, false. Interestingly, the time period coincides precisely with the years following President Jackson's withdrawal of funds from the Second Bank of the United States in 1933.
"By the early 1830s, President Jackson had come to thoroughly dislike the Second Bank of the United States because of its fraud and corruption.
This Democratic cartoon from 1833 showed Jackson destroying the bank, to the approval of the Uncle Sam like figure to the right, and annoyance of the bank's President, shown as the Devil himself. Jackson then had an investigation done on the Bank which he said established "beyond question that this great and powerful institution had been actively engaged in attempting to influence the elections of the public officers by means of its money." Jackson worked to rescind the bank's federal charter. In Jackson's veto message (written by George Bancroft), the bank needed to be abolished because:
* It concentrated the nation's financial strength in a single institution.
* It exposed the government to control by foreign interests.
* It served mainly to make the rich richer.
* It exercised too much control over members of Congress.
* It favored northeastern states over southern and western states.
In September 1833, Secretary of the Treasury Roger B. Taney transferred the government's Pennsylvania deposits in the Second Bank of the United States to the Bank of Girard in Philadelphia. The Second Bank of the United States was left with little money and, in 1836, its charter expired and it turned into an ordinary bank in Philadelphia. Five years later, the former Second Bank of the United States went bankrupt."
2) Lie: The debt has been growing ever since the Revolutionary War.
The truth: Whatever legacy of debt we suffer today stems from debt incurred after 1835, so it cannot be blamed on the Founders.
This misrepresentation omits the obvious fact that the national debt cannot even be read on a graph that starts earlier than 1940, it was so small (blue line, graph on left). The Federal Debt was less than $2,000 per person until 1970, (blue line, graph on right) when it started growing out of control.
The debt started growing too fast 40 years ago and started becoming a problem 20 years ago.
3) Lie: The mountain of debt easily could become the next full-fledged economic crisis without firm action from Washington, economists of all stripes warn.
The truth: It will not become the "next crisis"; it already IS THE CRISIS. This is an attempt to divert attention from the resolution of the crisis, a resolution that is taking place NOW, to sometime in the future, so that the resolution taking place now will not be interrupted and the results will stand in the future as a fait accompli (feat accomplished).
We need to interrupt this process, AUDIT the FED, investigate fraud in: all the major banks, stock exchanges, the SEC, the CFTC, and investigate conflicts of interest between the financial industry and: the US Treasury Department, US Congress, and the US Executive Branch of Government.
4) Lie: WE need to demonstrate a strong commitment to "fiscal sustainability" in the longer term, otherwise higher taxes, or reduced federal benefits and services - or a combination of both - will be inevitable.
The truth: This is an attempt to convince people to volunteer for a lower standard of living by making it appear as if there is no alternative. The fact is, there was a will to save the banks, so the banks were saved. If there is a will to save the public, the public can be saved too.
The US is in dire need of radical and fundamental reform of the financial industry and the monetary system.
5) Lie: The debt is complicating efforts by President Barack Obama and Congress to cope with the financial crisis and recession, crowding out all other spending.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
