There is little doubt that the United States economy is edging closer to collapse. The U.S. is facing not just a recession but a depression and almost everyone in the U.S. mainstream press is in denial. The major cable news networks prefer to run story after story on celebrity sex scandals and other perversions than to talk seriously about the tanking U.S. economy. There is literally no good economic news. This past week we’ve seen oil reach a record high of $147 a barrel and we are also starting to see future predictions of $200 and even $300 for a barrel of oil. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the 2nd largest bank failure in U.S. history took place this past week and there are even predictions that 150 banks could fail over the next 12 to 18 months. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were facing collapse last week are now going to be bailed out by the U.S. government at great cost to the American people. Foreign interests continue to buy up what’s left of America as Anheuser Busch just got bought out by a European company. Along with all of this horrible news, the U.S. Dollar continues to lose more and more value as the Federal Reserve crime syndicate refuses to implement policies to defend the validity of the currency. The insanity of this is unparalleled.

There are so many different facets to the unraveling economy that it would literally take days to properly analyze everything that’s happening. What is clear is that all of this is happening by design. The high oil prices have been the result of the Federal Reserve devaluing the U.S. Dollar through their policy decisions. This combined with the continued funding of war in the Middle East are key causes behind the parabolic rise in oil.

Putting oil aside, almost all of the economic problems that we see occurring are the result of currency devaluation. Alan Greenspan’s policies of excessive credit creation fueled a bubble in the NASDAQ stock market during the late 1990s and spawned the housing market bubble that we are dealing with today. This has caused all sorts of problems within the banking system and has lead towards the IndyMAC bank failure and the very real prospects of additional bank failures. In fact, the FDIC has already hired additional staff in anticipation of this. The collapse in the housing market has also been one of the primary causes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teetering towards collapse while a government bailout looms.

Jim Rogers a highly respected financial analyst slammed the government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

``I don't know where these guys get the audacity to take our money, taxpayer money, and buy stock in Fannie Mae,'' Rogers, 65, said in an interview from Singapore. ``So we're going to bail out everybody else in the world. And it ruins the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and it makes the dollar more vulnerable and it increases inflation.''

Rogers has made predictions that the Federal Reserve could fail within the next decade. He has also been critical of the Fed’s policies that have resulted in the continued devaluation of the U.S. Dollar. He is not alone in his sentiments as other economists like Marc Faber also believe that the U.S. central bank and the currency it creates out of thin air could eventually collapse.

Despite massive currency devaluation, record high oil prices, an insane foreign policy, predictions of looming bank failures around the country and this recent debacle with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the pundits on CNBC are still optimistic. On Larry Kudlow’s program, there were people actually suggesting that people should buy financial stocks despite the fact that they continue to lose value. Another words, this is a signal that the establishment is selling the financial stocks and they need suckers that will buy them.

With all of this financial turmoil, gold is rapidly heading towards $1,000 at a time in which precious metals have historically remained flat. This is a clear indication that people are losing more and more confidence in the U.S. Dollar. Gold still remains undervalued relative to oil and seems poised for a massive explosion in the next few months.

There is no doubt that the U.S. Dollar is heading further and further into the toilet. While the European Central Bank raises interest rates, the Federal Reserve continues to maintain interest rates, which means the Euro is going to continue to rise against the U.S. Dollar. Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson and the rest of these criminals in Washington DC, simply do not care about defending the value of the U.S. Dollar. These people are more interested in consolidating power and ensuring that their banker buddies on Wall Street don’t lose their shirts.

With everything that’s going on, the United States could face a scenario similar to what happened to Argentina nearly a decade ago. There is simply no good economic news regardless of how the pundits in the media try to spin it. When the economy crashes the government will not be there to help you because this financial crisis has been created intentionally. When it finally unravels, the American people should demand the heads of the policy makers at the U.S. Treasury and in the Federal Reserve. These people have sold out this country through their criminal economic policies.

Congress Is Clueless On The Oil Issue
2008-05-25
www.funnymoneyreport.com
Lee Rogers

The U.S. Congress continues to show an incredible amount of ignorance on the oil issue. This week, the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the high price of oil and called out a group of oil company executives to testify. In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to sue OPEC over the high oil price. All of this grandstanding by our so called elected officials is going to do nothing to resolve the high oil price. This is a case of the U.S. Congress misdirecting the blame of the high oil price on OPEC and the major oil companies when they are really only minor players in this game. Threatening to sue OPEC is an incredibly stupid move because that could very well have the reverse effect and cause OPEC to respond to this threat by reducing the amount of oil they decide to pump. The two major reasons for the high oil price involve the Federal Reserve devaluing the U.S. Dollar through their monetary policies as well as the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. On top of this, it is clear that the Bush administration is looking for any excuse possible to bomb Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has even stated that a naval blockade of Iran is an option that should be put out on the table. With the devaluation of the U.S. Dollar and a potential expansion of war in an area where a tremendous amount of oil is drilled, it is no wonder why the oil price has skyrocketed as high as $135 a barrel. This makes the actions of the U.S. Congress entirely insane and intellectually bankrupt. Expect oil prices in the long term to move much higher.

Since oil is priced in U.S. Dollar denominated terms and the monetary unit of the U.S. Dollar continues to be devalued by the Federal Reserve’s ability to create as many U.S. Dollars as they like, it isn’t a real mystery as to why the oil price is so high. Instead of suing OPEC, the U.S. House of Representatives should be suing the Federal Reserve for fraud. The Coin Act of 1792 states that U.S. Mint employees who are caught debasing the nation’s coinage would be subject to the penalty of death. The Federal Reserve is engaging in the intentional debasement of the nation’s currency which is fundamentally no different and in fact worse than employees of the U.S. Mint debasing the nation’s coinage. Instead of debasing the physical coinage, bankers can simply type digits into a computer to devalue the nation’s currency. Maybe the death penalty should be explored for some of the central bankers that have engaged in these practices.

The U.S. Congress is also helping to contribute to the high oil price with their ridiculous policies. They have funded the illegal and unconstitutional occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003. The U.S. Senate just passed another war funding bill which will give the executive branch another $165 Billion to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. By continuing the military occupation of these countries it makes an attack on Iran all the more likely and contributes to greater uncertainty in the oil producing region.

General David Patreaus the current commander in Iraq is on the path to being confirmed as the new CENTCOM commander which means he will be in charge of all U.S. military operations in the Middle East. Assuming he gets confirmed, the chances of a strike on Iran will be all the more likely. Admiral William Fallon the former CENTCOM commander resigned from the position due to the perception that he was refusing to play ball with the Bush administration’s agenda on Iran.

With or without a military strike on Iran, we will eventually see $200 oil. An invasion of Iran would only speed up the journey towards $200 oil. The reason for this is simply because of the fact that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle refuse to seriously address the issue of war or the issue of the private central bank. They point fingers at OPEC and oil executives when in fact much of the blame rests with their own policies. They let the Federal Reserve operate in secrecy with little to no oversight and they continue to fund the illegal occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. The blame for high oil prices placed on OPEC and oil executives is just a way for the powers that be to misdirect people from the real cause of the high oil prices.

Even though oil is moving higher in the long term, nothing goes up in a straight line. We’ll likely see the oil price move down a bit before moving higher. In addition, $4 for a gallon of gasoline is going to be the norm across the United States very soon. We've now seen predictions on CNBC of eventual $12 to $15 for a gallon of gasoline. If the Federal Reserve is not held accountable and the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, these types of gasoline prices are a definite possibility.

The gold and silver prices are also starting to move higher with the recent explosion in the oil price. The central bankers simply cannot suppress the gold and silver prices forever and market forces have always taken over in the end. Gold will move back towards $1,000 an ounce and silver will move back towards $20 an ounce. My previous article correctly called a recent short term bottom in the price of gold and since $100 oil is here to stay, we will likely see $1,000 for an ounce of gold in the very near future.

The bottom line is that the federal government and the Federal Reserve is to blame for the out of control oil prices. All of the grandstanding and threats against OPEC and oil executives won’t change that fact. They need to go after the Federal Reserve and make a serious move to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Failure to do this will ensure $200 for a barrel of oil, $2,000 for an ounce of gold and $50 for an ounce of silver sometime in the next few years. These are conservative estimates, and it could in fact be much worse than that.