Continuing on a similar theme as my recent post “If Our Politicians Won’t Do It, We The People Will Have To Do I For Them” let me share with you the mind bending results of 2010 as seen through the eyes of The Economic Collapse blog. Read the list of 20 economic records set in 2010 and let your mind try to absorb the reality of this incredible year. There is also a mind-blowing chart on our national debt that unfortunately wouldn’t fit on my page Then I’ll share some news that may have slipped through the cracks while everyone’s attention was focused on the Tucson shooting. This bit of potentially devastating news did not escape Bruce McQuain at Questions and Observations. I’ll follow-up with some comments of my own.
From The Economic Collapse
The following are 20 new economic records that were set during 2010….
#1 An all-time record of 2.87 million U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in 2010.
#2 The number of homes that were actually repossessed reached the 1 million mark for the first time ever during 2010.
#3 The price of gold moved above $1400 an ounce for the first time ever during 2010.
#4 According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, approximately 1.53 million consumer bankruptcy petitions were filed in 2010, which was up 9 percent from 1.41 million in 2009. This was the highest number of personal bankruptcies we have seen since the U.S. Congress substantially tightened U.S. bankruptcy law several years ago.
#5 At one point during 2010, the average time needed to find a job in the United States had risen to an all-time record of 35.2 weeks.
#6 Back in 1970, 25 percent of all jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs. Today, only 9 percent of the jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs, which is believed to be a new record low.
#7 The number of Americans working part-time jobs “for economic reasons” was the highest it has been in at least five decades during 2010.
#8 The number of American workers that are so discouraged that they have given up searching for work reached an all-time high near the end of 2010.
#9 Government spending continues to set new all-time records. In fact, at the moment the U.S. government is spending approximately 6.85 million dollars every single minute.
#10 The number of Americans on food stamps surpassed 43 million by the end of 2010. This was a new all-time record, and government officials fully expect the number of Americans enrolled in the program to continue to increase throughout 2011.
#11 The number of Americans on Medicaid surpassed 50 million for the first time ever in 2010.
#12 The U.S. Census Bureau originally announced that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that was the highest number of Americans living in poverty that they had ever recorded in 51 years of record-keeping. But now the Census Bureau says that they miscalculated and that the real number of poor Americans is actually 47.8 million.
#13 According to the FDIC, 157 banks failed during 2010. That was the highest number of bank failures that the United States has experienced in any single year during the past decade.
#14 The Federal Reserve brought in a record $80.9 billion in profits during 2010. They returned $78.4 billion of that to the U.S. Treasury, but the real story is that thanks to the Federal Reserve’s continual debasement of our currency, the U.S. dollar was worth less in 2010 than it ever had been before.
#15 It is projected that the major financial firms on Wall Street will pay out an all-time record of $144 billion in compensation for 2010.
#16 Americans now owe more than $881 billion on student loans, which is a new all-time record.
#17 In July, sales of new homes in the United States declined to the lowest level ever recorded.
#18 According to Zillow, U.S. housing prices have now declined a whopping 26 percent since their peak in June 2006. Amazingly, this is even farther than house prices fell during the Great Depression. From 1928 to 1933, U.S. housing prices only fell 25.9 percent.
#19 State and local government debt reached at an all-time record of 22 percent of U.S. GDP during 2010.
#20 The U.S. national debt has surpassed the 14 trillion dollar mark for the first time ever and it is being projected that it will soar well past 15 trillion during 2011.
I’d like to say that these records will never be broken but that is not what I believe. And if all of the above weren’t bad enough, Bruce McQuain of Questions and Observations tells us that both Standard and Poor and Moody are telling the US that if they don¡t see some positive changes soon, the US could lose their triple A rating on their bonds. Here are some excerpts from Bruce’s article:
“We have become increasingly clear about the fact that if there are not offsetting measures to reverse the deterioration in negative fundamentals in the U.S., the likelihood of a negative outlook over the next two years will increase,” said Sarah Carlson, senior analyst at Moody’s.
The view of markets is that the U.S. will continue to benefit fromthe exorbitant privilege linked to the U.S. dollar” to fund its deficits, Carol Sirou, head of S&P France, said at a conference in Paris on Thursday. “But that may change. We can’t rule out changing the outlook” on the U.S. sovereign debt rating in the future, she warned. She added the jobless nature of the U.S. recovery was one of the biggest threats to the U.S. economy. “No triple-A rating is forever.
The most recent official figures show the ratio of federal debt to revenue averaging 397% of gross domestic product in the period to 2020, while the ratio of interest to revenue will rise to 17.6% by 2020, from 8.6% in the last fiscal year. “These figures are “quite high for an Aaa-rated country,” Moody’s said.
Debt affordability is “very important to the rating process,” Ms. Carlson said. U.S. general government debt affordability, including states and municipalities, is “rising over time to a high level for an Aaa-rated country
When one looks at the 20 economic records above coupled with the warnings of Standard and Poors and Moody, it clearly demonstrates that our tenuous situation is trending for the worse. And, is the Obama Administration doing anything to help?. I would say quite the contrary.
The Mid-term elections seem to have had no impact on the Obama Administration. They are moving ahead with their plans in spite of public opinion. I can only think of two reasons for this attitude. They are stupid or they still believe they hold the winning hand. I don’t believe they are stupid. And by winning hand I mean they think they can accomplish, whatever it is they want to accomplish, in the next two years.
What could their goal be? It appears to be the destruction of America as we know it. That is the only possible outcome if current trends are continued. But why would they want to destroy America? My guess is that yes they want to destroy America but they will do everything possible to blame it on the obstructionist Republicans. And if they succeed in convincing enough people of that, It will be they, the socialist, that receive the support to pick up the pieces and build a new Socialist America.
Am I being an alarmist? Am I being hysterical? Am I a conspiracy theorist? Obviously, I don’t think I am any of those things. You tell me what the outcome will be if this Administration continues to debase our currency with more QEs, continues to inhibit sound energy development, continues with their job killing environmental justice, continues with their open boarders policies, and continues with all their other anti growth policies for the next two years.
In my opinion, Barrak Obama is the most un-American president this country has ever had. To stop him it will be necessary to wake-up the RINOs and some of the more moderate Democrats to the truth. The only power that can make that happen is the power of We The People. Through the Tea Parties and other conservative groups, We The People must make our voices heard; loudly and clearly that we want changes now that will reverse the current trends. I for one don’t believe we can wait till 2013. I am truly scared for America’s survival.
Asylum Watch 
“I’d like to say that these records will never be broken but that is not what I believe.”
If obama and the democraps get to run things for another year or two, those records will be smashed.
“…both Standard and Poor and Moody are telling the US that if they don¡t see some positive changes soon, the US could lose their triple A rating on their bonds.”
The way the western world is going and the lack of understanding and concern i find amongst every day people, i’m starting to wonder if this sort of thing needs to happen first before we’ll wake up to what’s been done to us. It’d be nice if we didn’t have to learn through pain, but it seems that’s the only way we will.
“If it has to happen before we wake-up” is a scary thought , MK. What would rise up out of the caos is anybodiy’s guess.
Great, yet depressing post. Obama is “trying” to put out the fire by throwing buckets of gasoline on it.
The Fed, DOJ,EPA,FCC,and the FDA are all moving ahead with their socialist agendas as if they have a mandate from the people. Obama’s foreign policy is a disaster. We have to find a way to stop them now!
I think we have a perfect economic storm that may lead to our country being in much worse shape than we have believed. As Matt said, your post is depressing, but there may be much more truth in it than we would like to admit.
A perfect storm is a great analogy. It can be stopped but only if enough people make it loud and clear that they want it stopped. The clock continues to tic.
The power of the purse has changed hands in the nick of time.
Although it remains to be seen if the new congress will exercise their power in a wise manner verses only a politically expedient one.
In recent times it seems that both parties have had on the blinders while trying to manipulate the message to one they wish for us to see. They have not seen nor listened to the people, and have instead focused on their own political power struggle with the other party. Each side has treated us a cuts of meat, with each trying to slice off a bigger share of the carcass.
In 2009, the people started saying enough of this. They said, “Hey big government, you work for us.” Small local efforts became a huge national movement. We said, “We want limited and constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and accountability from our representation. It is what we elected you to do.”
It took us two years to get through to many of them, and we fired those we could who still did not “get it. ”
Obama is not someone who will change his spots. He is about collectivism, and not about America. He hates the Constitution he is sworn to uphold. His actions abroad betray his lack of loyalty to the America most of us see and appreciate. His domestic actions are decidedly against the ideas of personal freedom and responsibility. His actions are also consistent with leveling capitalism to rebuild socialism in its place.
The leftists and RINO’s that populate the bureaucracies of DC have self preservation of their government jobs as prime motives to continue the big government system of waste and abuse, dictates and redistribution. Likewise, the old media who is so used to their government protected monopolistic corner on the news and information dispensing will stay in the corner of big government as they desperately seek to stave of their increasing irrelevance.
The founders counted on the people to be vigilant, and as the final check on government exceeding its authority. We see the people rising up to do just that. Each of us can do a little bit more to inspire and inform our fellow citizens and to get them involved in the fight for the future of freedom. Sure, sometimes we end up ‘preaching to the choir,’ but often we find out that we have helped to inspire someone else with what we have communicated.
Ronald Reagan, “The Great Communicator,” reiterated this point often. Communicating the facts and the truth is essential. We need to continue to do so, and fight back with our rallies, organizing, letters to the editors, contacting our representatives, and countering those who are bent on destroying this great nation. In short, we need to reengage in the politics we have let become the domain of the leftists, and to do so at every level.
The new Congress is crucial to stopping the damage. We can show the representation we support them for being tough and standing on principles. In fact that is very important to do.
A couple of you I have read have said these words in their comments, ” I promise, I will not give up.” That gives me hope because giving up is not an option. There is only two choices freedom or servitude. As for me, I know not what course other may choose, but having served aboard the USS Patrick Henry (SSBN 599), I will repeat these words, “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death.”
“In short, we need to reengage in the politics we have let become the domain of the leftists, and to do so at every level.”
That’s the ticket, Dave. Nothing scares a politician more than the roar of voices of the people demanding change.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
I think we could be on the road to a very dark place in terms of the economic health of our nation. If there is a book of what not to do during an economic downturn, I think team Obama has been following it word for word. This is why the States need to unplug from the federal beast or it will drag them down with it.
You’ve got it, John. I have to say I didn’t enjoy writing this post but I felt it had to be said. The Obama administration is not going to let the Mid-term elections deter them from their course. And, unfortunately, most of the Republicans will not act unless they perceive the overwhelming support of the people.