February 25, 2008
Greetings from Tyler,
The United States of America has shed nearly fifty
percent of its wealth in just the last four months. The
series of mortgage defaults and bank failures were the
result of attempted social engineering on the part of
bureaucrats supposedly responsible for regulating
financial institutions and insuring their solvency. The
unwise loans the lending institutions were intimidated
into making had the legitimacy of government backing and
were bought and sold as "rock solid" investment vehicles
for savings and retirement plans here in the U.S., and
were also packaged as "derivatives" and traded around
the globe.
The house of cards began to collapse as banks,
brokerages and insurance companies began failing late in
the second term of the Bush administration. President
Bush was intimidated into demanding support for the
first $700 billion "emergency bailout" by his own
Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, who warned that the
entire worldwide financial system would grind to halt if
this mind-numbing sum were not immediately appropriated.
Congress went along after being persuaded that the
financial system would simply cease to function if the
action was not taken.
By all accounts, the bailout failed to achieve the
objective of restoring liquidity to the markets. Some
claim that untold billions are not even accounted for,
and even the experts have no answers. The stock market,
with its inherent fluctuations, continued its dramatic
slide. People who've carefully contributed month in and
month out to investment and retirement funds have lost a
decade or more of their savings, but the government is
not through with us yet.
This week, another massive, unbelievable sum was signed
into law "with not a moment to spare," brimming with
more social and political engineering. To call it
frivolous would be an understatement. Pure unadulterated
corruption with an air of arrogant chutzpah is more like
it. (This is democracy?) The "stimulus plan" carries a
price tag in excess of $800 billion, and for your own
sanity you better hope never to comprehend what has just
transpired. But it's only the first step!
Today, Feb. 25, another $400 some odd billion awaits the
President's signature, crammed full of so-called
"earmarks," reportedly eight thousand of them, to fund
completely unnecessary projects in the districts of
politicians who believe the expenditures will contribute
to their chances for reelection. Is this how we, as a
nation behave in the midst of crisis? Does this news not
betray all the talk of imminent catastrophe? If you're
head over heels in debt, the obvious move is to borrow
every dime you can get your hands on, right? And spend
it on birdbaths, flat screens and jewelry, right?
In essence, that's what the United States has just done.
Our leaders are telling us they must act on an emergency
basis to save America, and seemingly have no shame when
the details are exposed. And the heads of the banks and
brokerages, recipients of "bailout money" are behaving
similarly, squandering untold millions on luxurious
trips and banquets. This kind of behavior on the part of
any individual facing crushing debt and insolvency would
lead directly to skid row. when the national borrowing
and requisitioning of nonexistent trillions reaches its
limit, we will discover the true meaning of the words
"economic meltdown." Until then, this drunken orgy of
spending will apparently continue, because the
politicians "have no choice"!
What we are seeing unfold at lightning speed is an
enactment of nearly all the worst fears expressed by our
founders. It represents an exertion of government
without any semblance of limitation. Americans, with the
exception of maybe thirty percent or so, have no clue
what's happening or why. Nor do they care! A majority is
living for the moment, consumed with short-term wants
and needs.
The so-called "war on terror" has been essentially shut
down. The new female head of Homeland Security has even
refused to use the word "terror" in her congressional
testimony. It seems we mustn't offend the sensibilities
of those who'd behead us all if they could.
At a time when Iran is expected to be able to field
nuclear weapons within a year or less; when known
terrorist factions are establishing outposts to our
south; when Middle Eastern aliens are being apprehended
coming across our southern border and released; America
is turned inward. Politicians are making out like
bandits with the earnings of those yet unborn, and we're
subjected to a self-righteous arrogance formerly found
only in religious settings. Do you begin to get the
sense this is all coming to a head?
It's becoming unavoidably plain, man's government is
simply a recipe for disaster. Our Constitution,
capitalism and democracy sustained us for two hundred
thirty years, but it's all. compromised now, probably
beyond retrieval. we have to look soberly ahead, now as
never before. Neither my Granddad nor my Dad ever
dreamed it would take this long to play out. But here we
are, and we surely must be reaching our limit in terms
of blind, wasteful consumption. America's enemies are
advancing, Israel is in imminent jeopardy and we're
partying like it's 1999.
If you follow the weekly updates, you know that the
Garner Ted Armstrong program continues to produce great
results, particularly with first time responders and the
witness and warning continues to go forth as resources
allow. God help us all in the months and years ahead!
You'll benefit tremendously if you request the GTA CD
we're offering this month, Corrective Spiritual Surgery.
Sincerely