You know I like Keith Olberman but if he spent just half as much time hammering the National Debt

[Toots]

as he does Brittney America would be better off. I am getting tired of seeing Brittney on almost every single Countdown..When was the last time he mentioned our National Debt and the Interest we have to pay on it? This is an important issue that is in desperate need of attention and I am certain FOX News or CNN will never ever utter a peep about it. During the Clinton Administration the /debt Clock had been turned off and the USA was running a budget surplus. Now the Debt Clock is such a blur it can hardly be read at all. Does anyone care at all?
Go check out the clock
http://www.babylontoday.com/national_debt_clock.htm

[graywarrior]

1. I do.

I don't want to hear about Brittney.

[AndyA]

2. The first 30 minutes of Keith's show is much better than the second 30 minutes.

In fact, very often I switch to something else at the :30 point, unless there's a Special Comment coming up. Some of the things he reports on are interesting, but Brittany spotted not wearing panties again? Lindsey caught drunk in an alley? Bill O'Reilly anything?

Give it up, Keith. You're better at the hard news. Allow more time for interviews and let the others do the entertainment fluff.

[lisa58]

3. I feel the same...

...I will always watch the first half hour - then it depends what else he's going to cover.

There are many issues he can take on and the national debt would be an excellent place to start.

[flordehinojos]

4. isn't lou dobbs taking care of the debt problem ??? i mean, eliminate the illegals and half of the

american tax dollar spending erroneously is gone ... that is, according to dobbs... and so, dobbs' taking care of the debt gives olberman time to britney, britney, britney.

i don't mean to make light of a serious problem -- although it seems i have ... but honestly with the seriousness of so much that is going on, a light moment here or there proves to be a welcome relief.

[hfojvt]

5. There's an old Doonesbury strip

Mark is doing a radio show about the deficit and the debt. He isn't getting any calls and he yells "Come on people, the deficit, the debt! This is important!" and his co-host says "This is boring." Then the phone rings and he says "Aha, we have a caller" and the co-host says "must be your momma".

The voice on the phone says "Mark, what's wrong? Why aren't people calling in?"

Mark says "Mom, goto bed."

Look at DU. My threads about tax policy die lonely deaths. Threads about Britney and Anna Nicole sometimes take the board over.

Concern about the debt is a Republican issue though. Wouldn't we have been better off if Clinton has spent the surplus on social programs before Bush could use it for tax cuts for the rich and a war?

[Toots]

6. Concern about the debt is a Republican issue though.

Plain BS. We see how concerned the Republicans are about the debt. And as to your question would we be better off spending surplus on social issues I feel is just plain retarded. Once the debt is paid we would have all the money which is about 20% of our current spending that we currently pay on interest to spend on social concerns. 20% is more than all social spending combined if you don't count social security which is funded on it's own and doesn't come from the general budget and is also by the way in surplus..Imagine what this country could do with the money that we just throw away at the moment (the interest on our debt) Republican no longer have any issues. They have proved beyond any doubt they are incapable of governing and all their "issues" have proved to be meritless. America gave Republicans a chance to prove themselves and they certainly did that very thing.. Paying down the debt was not ever one of their talking points.

[soothsayer]

7. I find his show unwatchable. I'm surprised it doesn't trigger seizures.

[JohnyCanuck]

8. Ever increasing levels of debt are necessary in a debt based monetary system

in order to stave off economic collapse.

With debt based monetary systems as exists today we need debt to create money to circulate in the economy so we can buy and sell goods and services without forcing the buyers and sellers to resort to bartering which would obviously be very inefficient.

For example, Joe Blow goes to the bank and gets a loan for $12,000 to fix up his basement. The bank basically creates the $12,000 through a book keeping entry and deposits $12,000 of newly created money into Joe's account. Joe takes that money (created through his going into debt) and buys building material and supplies from the hardware store and uses a portion to pay wages to carpenters and plumbers etc.. The recipients of Joe's debt created money in turn circulate this money as they use their wages to buy goods and services of their own. If Joe had not gone into debt, there would be $12,000 less money circulating in the economy, and if there are not enough people going into debt there would not be enough money in circulation for buying and selling to efficiently take place which would cause an economic crash.

The fly in the ointment to this debt based money creation system is, according to monetary reform critics, that the money created through debt can never be enough to pay back the original debt plus the interest incurred on the debt. To get enough money circulating in the economy so that both the original debt and the interest can be paid back requires the money supply be increased. But how do you increase the money supply? Simple, you just encourage more debt - which makes about as much overall sense as a dog chasing his own tail and leads to this:

(If you don't see the graph of the skyrocketing debt, click on the link below.)

BIG PICTURE - $48 TRILLION of DEBT in America, and rising rapidly

the economy is 2-3 times more debt-dependent - -
with $29 Trillion DEBT EXCESS compared to prior debt ratios

Here's one graphic of many shown in the main Total Debt Report, linked below.

This is A SCARY CHART - showing trends of total debt in America (the red line, reaching $48 trillion in 2006 vs. growth of the economy as measured by national income (blue line). (adjusted for inflation). That debt increased $3.9 Trillion (9%) in the past year.

Which line goes up faster, the red debt line or the blue net national income line? Answer: the debt line.

And, that debt line is going up faster and faster than national income! Right?

(maybe, like this chart, your own personal or business debt is also going up faster than your own income - - possible?)

As mentioned, debt is here defined as all U.S. debt (sum debt of federal and state & local governments, international, and private debt, incl. households, business and financial sector debts, and federal debt to trust funds).

This chart shows, for the period 1957 to mid 1970s, total debt (red line on chart) was increasing close to the growth rate of national income (blue line on chart), despite war debt for WW II, Korea and Vietnam.

But, in the last several decades total debt has zoomed up, up and away - - growing much faster than national income. It has now reached $48.4 Trillion ($37.7 trillion private household/business/financial sector debt PLUS $10.7 trillion federal, state and local government debt).

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/nat-debt/debt-nat.htm

The whole process of money creation through debt and the problems implicit in using this method of generating money is very clearly and simply laid out in the video documentary Money As Debt.

Here is what Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of US Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, had to say about the documentary:

"I have worked for a long time looking into monetary reform and after 10 years, finally someone has produced a DVD entitled "Money as Debt". It is a fabulous fun yet powerful introduction to the issue of monetary reform. It's the best over view I have seen so far; the best by far. ESSENTIAL! Everyone should watch it!

The topic of DebtMoney is THE issue of our times. It forms the basis to every nation's areas of core material and spiritual concerns such as economic development, employment and environmental sustainability.

If only government officials, civil society organizations, environmental groups, unions and well meaning international development strategists trying to eradicate poverty really understood this topic... the world would be a much better place.

Only 47 minutes long, this DVD is ideal for public education in schools, colleges and universities, as well as individual or family viewing, with lots of juicy re-useable quotes from prominent bankers, economists and presidents."

I can't link to it directly, but to see the Elizabeth Kucinich quote and other reviews go to http://www.moneyasdebt.net and click on the link for "Reviews."


Here is a quote from the documentary's Canadian producer, Paul Grignon:

"Money created as interest-bearing bank credit is a magic trick, a fraud - now 3 centuries old; one that very few people have seen through despite, or rather because of, its utter simplicity.

It is my intention to make this mysterious debt-money system comprehensible to everyone. It is also my intention to foster sufficient understanding of the problems with this money system that citizens will be motivated to join the monetary reform movement and/or create local alternatives to the global monetary system - a system in which most of the productive people of the world are collectively chained to an ever-increasing and perpetually unpayable debt.

This is a system designed for elite control of the people by those who have given themselves the privilege of creating money. It is also, I believe, a system that is designed for catastrophe. As the movie explains, there can be no sustainable civilization without a sustainable money system." (My emphasis /JC.)

http://paulgrignon.netfirms.com/MoneyasDebt/ProducersComments.html

The 47 minute long video can be purchased from the web site at www.moneyasdebt.net and it is also available for viewing for free on google video if you have a high speed connection. Just go to http://video.google.com and type in the string "Money as Debt" in the search bar at the top of the page.

Here are a few quotes from bankers, eocnomists and politicians on debt created money featured in the documentary:

"Each and every time a bank makes a loan (or purchases securities), new bank credit is created — new deposits — brand new money."

Graham F. Towers, Director, Bank of Canada

"The process by which banks create money is so simple the mind is repelled."

John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist

"I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that banks can and do create money ...And they who control
the credit of the nation direct the policy of Governments and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people"

Reginald McKenna, past Chairman of the Board, Midlands Bank of England

“Thus, our national circulating medium is now at the mercy of loan transactions of banks, which lend, not money, but promises to supply money they do not possess.”

Irving Fisher, economist and author

"If all the bank loans were paid, no one could have a bank deposit, and there would not be a dollar of coin or currency in circulation. This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash, or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless situation is almost incredible -- but there it is."

Robert Hemphill. Credit Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

“One thing to realize about our fractional reserve banking system is that, like a child’s game of musical chairs, as long as the music is playing, there are no losers.”

Andrew Gause, Monetary Historian
(And for the music to keep playing, debt has to keep increasing /JC.)

The inability of the Colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the PRIME reason for the revolutionary war."

Benjamin Franklin

The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. The privilege of creating and issuing money is not only the supreme prerogative of government, but it is the government’s greatest creative opportunity.”

Abraham Lincoln, assassinated president of the United States

More quotes at:
http://paulgrignon.netfirms.com/MoneyasDebt/references.htm

[JohnyCanuck]

9. kick n/t