This is going to be a critical month for the budget fight. The Republican House wants to make trillions in cuts over the next ten years and the Democratic wants to keep spending money until the 2012 election. They do not want to cut anything that will make a difference. I think at least until the next election the Democrats are going to win these budget battles and I think in the end the establishment Republicans will go with the Democrats to get a budget passed.
The consequences of that in the 2012 elections is hard to say. But by 2013 cuts will be futile anyway because we will be the midst of an inflationary depression. If government is shut down the Tea Party people are the ones that will lose in the opinion polls. The deck is stacked against them. Don’t for a minute think that most Americans will want anything cut that will impact their own bottom line and without doing that major cuts are quite impossible.
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The Middle East and North Africa is a real can of worms. There is nobody on earth who knows how all this will all play out. If we actually had a sane national foreign policy in the Middle East it would be centered around our Israel ally.
The best we can hope from Libya is that it does not become a terrorist state. We traded protecting civilians for talking part in a civil war where both sides hate us. I think that no matter who wins the civil war or even if Libya is divided, it is very likely to result in more safe harbors for terrorists and even state sponsored terrorism.
We know that weapons that can be used against us are now getting in the hands of al Qaeda in Libya. So what do we do about it when we have already ruled out boots on the ground? Of course, don’t believe anything you hear from this administration. We already have covert boots on the ground. Just hope that these people do not end up as hostages because I still see the potential of a Jimmy Carter situation here. Meanwhile, we know that poison nerve and mustard gas shells from Gaddafi weapons depots have been sold to terrorists enemies of Israel.
The Obamaites have told the leader of Yemen to step down. I don’t think that is wise because instead of a friendly state Iran will control that Shiite region.
Probably the most understated story in the Middle East is Bahrain. Saudi Arabia has sent in their military to keep down the majority Shiite uprisings. Saudi Arabia by permission of King Hamad has become a Bahrain protectorate. I hear that there are plans for a Saudi Arabian military base across the sea from Iran. All this really has Iran pissed. A Shiite Sunni war could start over something like this. Iran can’t really back down or they will lose face in the Middle East and the Saudi Arabia Royal family has already determined that their survival is at stake if they allow a hostile Shiite Bahrain majority to radicalize their own Shiite population. So nobody is likely to blink here and the outcome is unpredictable.
If this leads to local military action the Saudis have the forces to handle Iran and if there were a full-scale attack on Saudi Arabia by Iran the United States would not hesitate to neutralize Iran. So perhaps the taming of the Monkey (Ahmadinejad) does not come from Israel after all. A fatal flaw for Iran is that they might be getting themselves over their head before they actually have the power to deal with the Sunni majority and the West. Even so, when a nation expects a supernatural savior to come and save the day for them, why expect rationality?
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Our war against the Taliban and our nation building in Afghanistan is a disaster. The people there have been rioting and killing foreigners for about a week now because a pastor in Florida burned a Koran. General Petraeus says the Koran burning puts the whole war effort in jeopardy. If that is really the case what does that say about a nation that thinks it can build a democracy within a lunatic asylum. Let’s face it, were never going to build democracies in nations controlled by religious cults and warlords.
Next that Florida pastor wants to put Muhammad on trial. That should go over well in the Muslim world, but I guess someone needs to get the truth out. When 1.5 billion people are trapped in a cult and live in denial it’s probably time someone finds the guts to educated them and set them free. I know it’s just easier to put off the confrontation the world is going to have with Islam to the next generation but we seem to put off everything that is painful to the next generations because we do not want to make the necessary choices and sacrifices. The western world now lives in denial and many of these old hippies running the world are just plain cowards. Hitler and Stalin would have had a field day with this generation.
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It looks like at least 25,000 people lost their lives in the Japan earthquake. They have not found that many bodies yet and they never will, because many were swept out to sea. The Japanese has a cultural that keeps good track of people and if all these people are still missing you can be almost certain that they are now dead.
Japan will now create a new Dead Sea or dead zone by pumping millions of gallons of highly radio-active water into the Pacific. It looks like the nuclear plant will take decades to entomb. I suppose before long this news story will go on the back burner in the West. Unless of course the thousands of core rods actually start burning and irradiating the Northern Hemisphere. That is not out of the question because Japan could always have another earthquake that could stop the cooling process. No matter what happens, this is going to have a major impact on the Japanese economy and it will impact the world economy.
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If Obama drops to about 40 percent in the polls I expect Hillary Clinton to enter as a democrat challenger and I think she will defeat Obama if she does enter. She will be very difficult to beat in any presidential election unless some unknown star rises. The Republicans are not going to win with Romney, Palin, Gingrich, Hucklebee or most of the rest. The main difference between Hillary and Obama is that she will have the clout to finish the destruction of America through a slight move toward the center. In reality, if the left center takes over, the democrats we will have the same people who brought the crash of 2008 and they will not have any remedy for the stagflation depression that will be upon them. When the CEO of Wal-Mart says that there are going to be massive price increases by summer people ought to take him seriously.
Great wrap, Don.
The Japan earthquake/tsunami certainly will have a long-term economic impact on Japan and the worldwide economy, but particularly for the United States. Japan holds $1 trillion dollars of our worthless paper. They were in bad economic straights before the earthquake. Now they will be forced to cash in our bonds for cash to rebuild. I can almost hear the rumble of the Fed printing presses cranking up to cover that debt obligation, further depressing the dollar. And, forget any rebound in the new housing market here. Japan will be buying up every lumber producing tree from Maine to the Pacific Northwest. Lumber and building material prices are going to the moon!
Hi Tom,
And don’t forget they will be sucking up much of the concrete in the world to entomb the whole reactor site.
Ditto / second that…
America gets what it deserves and will get what it deserves – tremendous judgment is looming. Spoiled rotten brat cowards, through and through; Yes, Hitler/Stalin would have had a field day. And they think Hillary is an improvement? That’s like comparing weeping with gnashing of teeth.
As for Japan – I don’t see China moving in anytime soon. As Pete Townsend wrote: “Let’s forget you better still”; I think they might want to hold off on rebuilding for a little while.
We will see where things are with this Wisconsin court vote. The DEM offering is abysmal and dreadful – and those are the nice sentiments. I s’pose Wisconsin will do the moral thing (well, relatively speaking).
I just finished reading Revelation 14 (great commentary Don!); Amazing where this is all headed. I am still a tad bit enthralled with the “wine-press wrath” activity (destroy sour fermentation – what an analogy). And the three angels flew and broadcast ahead of time to all. Yes, mankind has zero hope in any counterfeit – only more and pronounced misery.
It is too bad that the mainstream media doesn’t have the gall to tell the people what you said above, Don.
When I hear hints of it, even on Fox news, it is quickly put down as fear mongering by most.
Hyper inflation and the continued devaluation of the US dollar (just print more money) is coming to us at an alarming rate. Most Americans don’t see it and think we are headed out of it, when in reality, the bubble hasn’t burst yet, as you (Don) stated.
I think that Florida Pastor will be muted/censored if deemed necessary by the US government.
If this generation had to face a Nazi Germany situation, the US would surely lose a WW2 situation, IMO. A General George Patton would have been castigated & probably thrown in prison today, not an American patriot as he truly was.
Well, if Hillary were to win and Bill (1st Man) gets his desk back (new location, of course), that should just about do it for this country, I agree.
Don, call me a lunatic, call me a conspiricy theory nut, call me late to dinner, I don’t care what I sound like; I am convinced that The Big O is going to be a one term president, because I am firmly convinced that he has the control of the EU in mind. If this guy ISN’T the Antichrist, the False Prophet, or WHOEVER someone might want to call him, he is at least carrying their water for whoever might be. I am firmly convinced that this “president” is about as insidiously evil as one can get. Got to go now…the doorbell just rang. You never know who or WHAT the ringer could be. Just sayin’.
Michael Angelo,
I for one, do think what you said has some validity.
I have read that some in the Muslim nations in the middle east are begging him to lead them. Strange, they would want a “Christian” (in name only) American.
I don’t know if the latest middle east & Libya involvement changes that or not, but I’m keeping my eye’s peeled too.
Michael,
Okay your all of the things you mentioned plus your also a slave to your doorbell. 😀
Frankly, Obama now looks like a looser and those foreign leaders that were fawning over him are now mocking him. This is not going to be the way it will be with the Antichrist and contrary to the views of some he is not going to be revealed this decade. You have seen nothing yet. Things in the world will get much worse before the end even comes.
There are a lot of evil leaders in the world and some of them are in our churches. I do not think Obama has attained the level of evil leaders that are killing their own people to stay in power. We cannot measure the world by actions of an American leader. People have been naming American leaders as the Antichrist for a century and for Europe it goes all the way back to Nero.
The problem with labeling people the Antichrist is that you always turn out wrong. The Church will not even be here when the Antichrist is revealed. He will not come until He that hinders is taken out of the way.
Keep in mind that this man will be a genuine world hero and conqueror. He will have all the answers for the many world problems. He will make Douglas MacArthur look like an amateur.
Alexander the great, Napoleon and Hitler will look like just 2nd rate historical understudies. He will not be anything like you think, he will deceive the whole world, even the elect if that were possible.
His traits will be so superior to Obama it would be like comparing night and day. This man will be a pure genius and a true phenomenon. He will be adored and have all the wisdom and power of Satan at his disposal. Think of a person with the supernatural powers of Jesus Christ that does his own will on earth rather than God’s will.
Don, I know your reply is aimed at Michael Angelo.
I agree with what you said also. Obama is clearly not the anti-Christ for the reasons you mentioned. I think Michael Angelo was pointing out that he ‘might’ be leading the way for the anti-Christ. Which also is theology that JVI has.
Obama has been talked about as a UN leader, per the Middle East news articles & Ban Ki Moon has said that some listen to Obama over himself. But perhaps your right, maybe they don’t want him now either.
“By 2013…we’ll be in the midst of an inflationary depression”
I thought we were already in an inflationary depression!
Inflation in commodities, depression in housing prices.
So what happens to the price of oil if Iran pulls a first strike against the Saudi’s oil installations and causes significant damage? And sink an oil tanker in the straight while they are at it. I’d bet that’s what Iamadinnerjacket is thinking.
David, Jack Van Impe has been off the mark for as long as I can remember so I would not put a lot of stock in what he has to say. Obama is not even popular in Muslim countries anymore so how is he ever going to get elected to the U.N.? The world does not want a U.S. leader running the UN and that is why we have always had nobody puppets of the world elite running the U.N.
Tim, we already have an inflationary depression but the inflation end is going to get much worse very soon.
What happens to the price of oil if Iran first strikes Saudi oil installations? There will be price controls and rationing. Also, remember that all the strategic petrol reserves in the world are there for just such a scenario. Then after we destroy the military capabilities of Iran the price of oil will go down after the Saudi’s and others get back up to full production unless the whole thing turns into a wider world war. In that case get an electric car or bike.
Thanks David, that was my point…I admittedly wasn’t clear enough when I made it. Don, you are probably right. Even though there still is the Cult of Obama, this guy may just turn out to be an abberation, a fraud, or what have you. I do agree that we, as believers, WON’T know the real A/C, as we WILL be gone by then. Thank God for that.
That the Wisconsin court vote turned out as it did shows that the “silent majority” simply doesn’t care – cowards all of them. Well, they get the misery they deserve. And to think that guy Chuck moved there? My opinion of Wisconsin is pretty much in the gutter – of course, with Illinois, it’s a sliding scale.
All those spoiled brat union folk will be thoroughly unable to cope with the coming judgments, particularly an EMP. There is no self-sufficiency mentality in Madison.
If your talking about Chuck Baldwin he moved to Montana not Wisconsin. There is quite a difference. Wisconsin’s big cities are full of union liberal types.
Sorry… My mistake… Montana (not sure how I got it confused – of course, I live on the east coast)… Then again, my state attempted to pass gay marriage and is now attempting to un-genderize all law language to promote homosexuality.
One thing that irks me is that all public meetings are schedule during weekday core work hours. I have no free time or leave to take off of work to do these sorts of protests. How these unions can have all these brats spend days protesting as opposed to doing real work. If I had all that time, I would get on my knees and ask the Lord how I could be of service; And I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t have me hanging out attempting to sway man-made / satan-made government.
If I need or desire something, I will ask Jesus – not the government. Don – appreciate you letting us vent a bit. Thanks for the shoulder.
Don,
Actually I’m more in the deflation camp, back in 2003~07 thought hyperinflation would be the outcome but after the bust in 2008 began reading some other peoples thoughts and have pretty much come 180 degrees around to deflation. Outcomes aren’t fixed in stone and if the dem’s get control of both houses and the presidency in 2012 they could do a wild public works print job in the $10 trillions to try and get people back to work. Barring an outcome like that without the money flowing into rising wages or just sending people money, I don’t see how we get true inflation. Oil and food might continue to rise but without wages rising it just means less spending on other discretionary items. And housing is still declining, if we were entering inflation housing and wages would both be rising. As it is even the $1.5 trillion in deficit spending is just barely growing the economy at 3%. Any significant reduction of deficit spending and this economy would implode into a deflationary spiral imo. The USA already had it’s great inflation in the 1970~2007, debt (or money) increased tremendously along with housing prices and everything else.
If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” Thomas Jefferson
It’s amazing how Jefferson understood that first the banks over inflate the economy by giving everyone a loan for a house, qualified or not, after everyone is fully leveraged up then the deflation comes along and makes them all homeless. We’ve had our inflationary credit bubble and now we are in deflation along with people losing their homes, only it would be much worse if the govt wasn’t running huge deficits trying to keep the economy moving. The Republicans would like to reduce the deficit spending and if they have any success it will be the unemployment line for many. And more homes lost to foreclosure, and fewer tax receipts.
All the commodity prices will crash once China’s real estate malinvestment goes bust. Copper, oil, lumber all of it will lose 70% once China’s property bubble burst. 65 million vacant housing units that cost 22 times what the average person earns. It’s hard to believe that will end well, it should be worse than our housing bust.
If you can overlook the witches costume and dismiss the missed timeline for the deflation this interview provides some very interesting thoughts about the potential for deflation. And housing losing 90% from the top.
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-30-2009-interview-with.html
It could go either way or more likely both will happen. There obviously is inflation in oil and food prices and that is likely to continue inflation for awhile until higher costs and higher interest rates impact the whole world economy and then the next phase of the depression will come with more stimulus actions that will then create hyperinflation.
For a real depression to happen government would have to lose complete control because they really hate deflation. It means debt default and high unemployment. No government can survive it.
What causes hyperinflation is the loss of value of the currency and that is now looking likely. Paper money that is not backed by anything tangible becomes worthless if people lose confidence in it. This is the common occurrence of recent history. Unless you think the dollar will hold its value while helicopter Ben keeps printing more money and dropping it out of helicopters I will bet that the next major blow to our economy will come by a devalue of the dollar aka hyperinflation. Even so, if you than replace this government with a conservative government that will suddenly halt the printing presses a massive depression becomes certain. I think both will happen.
I agree that China will soon be heading into their own depression since they have overbuilt more than just their housing. They have far more production capacity than the world will ever be able to support, and worse for them is that countries will start looking inward for there needs because of all their own unemployment
Hmmm, I wonder if China is remembering their own curse? “May you live in interesting times.”
Abba, please help us to shine for You as things get darker still. May we not become like those who’s “love has grown cold,” rather that we would depend on You to reveal opportunities to love others in Your name, as You have appointed these works to us from before the foundation of the world.
But Lord, not just opportunities, please help us to depend on You for the means too! Even now, help us to take “baby steps” in these two areas – You know how we are as a people: we put “off” unpleasantness until we can’t avoid it any more. Well You know the storm is now on our near horizon, and we need to focus on Your kingdom. Just like what Jesus said: may our “bread” be to do Your will, and may we be content with food and clothes, our needs fulfilled as we gracefully go about the business of Your kingdom. YOU are the “Bread of Life.” YOU are our *extravagant* reward! Please glorify Yourself in us: Father, Jesus and Spirit.
I could agree with both happening, maybe simultaneously inflation in food and energy and deflation in credit or housing. As bad as things are here in the US I can’t imagine living in a nation with no social safety nets.