From tonight's Richard Russell:
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I had a full day yesterday which allowed me to do a lot of thinking. There's a good deal of arguing, anger, and agonizing going on in the US today, and I've wondered why. One major reason for anger is discussed below by a man who I consider to be a great patriot and a man who has the courage to speak the truth. Let me start with excerpts from the latest speech by Texas Congressman Ron Paul. It was a long speech, and I have cut it down by probably 60%, but below are the guts of Ron Paul's speech. Love that man --
"I have been involved in politics for over 30 years and have never seen the
American people so angry. It's not unusual to sense a modest amount of outrage,
but it seems the anger today is unusually intense and quite possibly worse than
ever. It's not easily explained, but I have some thoughts on this matter.
Generally, anger and frustration among people are related to economic
conditions; bread and butter issues. Yet today, according to government
statistics, things are going well. We have low unemployment, low inflation, more
homeowners than ever before, and abundant leisure with abundant luxuries. Even
the poor have cell phones, televisions, and computers. Public school is free,
and anyone can get free medical care at any emergency room in the country.
Almost all taxes are paid by the top 50% of income earners. The lower 50% pay
essentially no income taxes, yet general dissatisfaction and anger are
commonplace. The old slogan "It's the economy, stupid," just doesn't seem to
explain things
"The anger over the Iraq war is multifaceted. Some are angry believing they were
lied to in order to gain their support at the beginning. Others are angry that
the forty billion dollars we spend every year on intelligence gathering failed
to provide good information. Proponents of the war too often are unable to
admit the truth. They become frustrated with the progress of the war and then
turn on those wanting to change course, angrily denouncing them as unpatriotic
and un-American.
"Those accused are quick to respond to the insulting charges made by those who
want to fight on forever without regard to casualties. Proponents of the war do
not hesitate to challenge the manhood of war critics, accusing them of wanting
to cut and run. Some war supporters ducked military service themselves while
others fought and died, only adding to the anger of those who have seen battle
up close and now question our campaign in Iraq.
"When people see a $600 million embassy being built in Baghdad, while funding for
services here in the United States is hard to obtain, they become angry. They
can't understand why the money is being spent, especially when they are told by
our government that we have no intention of remaining permanently in Iraq.
"The bickering and anger will not subside soon, since victory in Iraq is not on
the horizon and a change in policy is not likely either.
"The neoconservative instigators of the war are angry at everyone: at the people
who want to get out of Iraq; and especially at those prosecuting the war for not
bombing more aggressively, sending in more troops, and expanding the war into
Iran.
"As our country becomes poorer due to the cost of the war, anger surely will
escalate. Much of it will be justified.
"The 18,500 wounded, made us more free? What in the world does Iraq have to do
with protecting our civil liberties here at home? What national security threat
prompted America's first pre-emptive war? How does our unilateral enforcement
of UN resolutions enhance our freedoms?
"These questions aren't permitted. They are not politically correct. I agree
that the truth hurts, and these questions are terribly hurtful to the families
that have suffered so much. What a horrible thought it would be to find out the
cause for which we fight is not quite so noble."
Russell again -- Ron Paul believes the root of today's anger is the clash of opinions about the war in Iraq. But there is another possibility that has stirred up anger among the great mass of Americans. The following is from a June 20 bulletin from Bloomberg:
"American wage gains are evaporating as inflation accelerates, helping explain why confidence in the economy isn't soaring along with job growth. Weekly wages adjusted for inflation fell 0.7% last month and are down 0.2% over the past year, according to a report last week by the labor department. Pay has been flat or declined in more than half of the 65 months since January 2001."
The fact is that the top 10% of workers have done OK over the last 5 years. But the bottom 90% of workers have not done well, and have not kept up with inflation. This, I believe, is part of the "anger" that Ron Paul is talking about.
In the meantime, although the Fed will never mention it, the purchasing power of the dollar continues to deteriorate. The saving, the insurance policies, the annuities that people bought ten or even five years ago are being whittled away by systematic loss of purchasing power. Hey, I'm mad as hell about the $10,000 life insurance policy I bought in 1945. At the time I bought it, I thought that insurance policy was a big deal. Now it's chump change. Thank you, Federal Reserve and your fiat "money," for destroying my savings. |
