Bankrupt USA, States, Counties, Cities

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Bankrupt USA, States, Counties, Cities: America is Not the Greatest Nation Anymore

By Karl W. B. Schwarz
6-18-14

The classic scene in the TV series “The Newsroom” about “America’s not the greatest nation anymore” can be proven in many ways. It is far more than the fact that as of 2013 the USA ranked in the world 36^th in math, 28^th in science and 24^th in literacy. Those are merely symptoms of a much larger problem of structural, governmental, educational, financial and societal failure.

All it takes to debate this subject successfully is to know the real numbers of homeless in America, people living under the poverty line, dependent on welfare, Food Stamps, Social Security, and other forms of dependency creating Federal Government programs. Add in the number of stated unemployed versus real unemployed (structural and otherwise), long-term unemployment benefits and it is easy to see that there are dysfunctional things about America the politicians do not wish to discuss.

No nation that professes greatness would have a resume that reads like that of the USA. No truly great nation would lie to start wars, promote terrorism, illegal arms and drugs sales, and other things they try to keep quiet. No truly great nation has to spy on everyone and everything.

When such things are true the greatness is an illusion and a pretense.

When the actions of a federal government cause things to be worse in those categories stated above, it is time to fire the management and start over.

Any federal government that can blow $2 trillion on wars based on lies, blow $5 billion to force regime change in Ukraine just to pick a fight with Russia, and even more in what they did in Libya and Syria, needs to have their head examined when the financial blowback starts to put entire states, counties and cities into bankruptcy.

When the big pile of elephant crap is no longer dumped overseas but rather in our laps in our own home towns, it is time to fix what is wrong with America.

Any nation that can spend so much money being terrorists and pretend to be defending the world from terrorists has some serious issues internally that need to be fixed.

The following is a map that is available at Governing.com about the most recent Chapter 9 bankruptcy filings of cities, municipalities and counties.

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/municipal-cities-counties-bankruptcies-and-defaults.html

Of course, most Americans have at least heard about Detroit being the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history, but lesser reporting was done on say Stockton CA that was the biggest, or Jackson County, Alabama. What was stunning about the Stockton CA Chapter 9 is it has half the population as Detroit and was almost as big in total debt. Their city government was running amuck and blowing money like it grew on the trees out there.

You can note on the following map that what is now the largest municipal bankruptcy of Detroit is not shown since it was filed in 2013. However, there are some on the map below that are not shown on the map above.

One of the parts of the Detroit story that is not getting much press is that through the bankruptcy the City of Detroit has done a bail-in on the pension fund to help pay its costs of bankruptcy and the reorganization costs. That is somewhat akin to stealing your Social Security retirement to pay for the fiscal follies of Washington DC. Some experts are warning that such is exactly what is coming at you, too.

However, the problem goes much deeper and is much larger than is being reported. Many states either conditionally allow for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, or do not allow it at all under their state constitutions and laws. That cluster on the map above around Omaha Nebraska was their waste recycling districts each filed a separate bankruptcy.

If Chapter 9 bankruptcy was allowed in all 50 states there would be many more marked placed on all of the maps in this article.

When they get into financial trouble they have no exit strategy to reorganize if existing laws prohibit that solution.

When it is factored in that some states only conditionally allow for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, some states do not authorize it and two (Georgia and Iowa) specifically prohibit it, the picture across the landscape of America is truly bankrupt. Some researchers are stating that up to 2,500 additional cities, municipalities and counties are bankrupt right now in the literal sense, but cannot seek remedy through Chapter 9 due to the state laws of where they are located.

The asset management company BlackRock, a spinoff from Blackstone Group and now the largest asset management company in the world, monitors the relative health of the various states, counties and municipalities for long term asset management and investment advice.

There are some areas of the USA where the local governments are operated on a sound fiscal basis, and others that are bottoming out as bad investments. Of particular note to me on this following map is the depressed area of Arizona and Southern California and up into the central part of that state. If one digs just a little that is home base of Fascist Zionist Neocon John McCain and in next door Southern California yet more of the same ilk that pushed this big war agenda and then their constituents dependent on a war economy collapsed.

Said another way, John McCain is pro-war because his home state economy is overly dependent upon it. That same area denoted as “boom ­ bust housing triangle” is an area that was heavily dependent on US war policy. So were other states like Texas, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, however they had more diversified economies and did not crash as much as that boom-bust housing triangle.

Further exacerbating these problems are the gutless wonders in Washington DC. When they want to change structural policy from being under local and state control to federal control and they cannot figure out how to pay for it, they pass the law any way and treat it as an Unfunded Mandate.

That shifts the burden to the states, counties and municipalities to increase taxes, whether their local economies can support that or not. There is no equity, fairness or soundness in how they do it; they just do it because they think they are important and something special in DC. Since DC cannot run DC without screwing it up, I hear many states, counties and cities are moving away from the Bankrupt Uncle Sam that keeps passing the dinner tab down to everyone else.

Many Americans do not realize that this is much closer than they can imagine:

At the current time the US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, but these idiots in Washington DC are scratching their heads trying to figure out why the well is running dry on capital investment to create new jobs. That is both domestic and foreign capital that has both dried up or initiated capital flight and went back to where their money would earn more.

Most astute and experienced investors know what to look for in the way of bubbles that will blow up, and the USA economy has flashing red lights almost everywhere such people look.

About the only reason companies like BMW, Toyota, Honda, etc. build in the USA is due to customer demand and it is cheaper to make the vehicles in the US rather than in higher wage and operating cost markets and then have to transport to the USA.

IMF has come out saying that the USA needs to increase the minimum wage because the structural damage is starting to set in and nearing a meltdown point. Many Americans have not realized yet that the lust for corporate profits and the US government intentionally keeping the minimum wage down at poverty level has turned the USA into a ‘low wage labor pool’ just as Third World nations are viewed.

There is no minimum wage in Switzerland yet smart children graduate from high school and can make 20 CHF per hour which is about $22 per hour. Compare that to the USA minimum wage of $7.65 per hour and maybe it will sink in why the quality of life in the USA is decreasing.

Add in lunatic laws like FATCA that presumes to take over operational control of every dollar based transaction anywhere in the world, and has up to 30% confiscation of financial assets as a penalty for non-compliance, that has the idiots in DC scratching their head with both hands trying to figure out why more and more are saying NO WAY. That same ill-advised law has more and more US citizens renouncing their citizenship and moving on without “Der Fatherland”.

I never envisioned in my life that a US passport or citizenship would be a liability but it is now exactly a liability and an impediment to progress.

The USA is led by incompetent management in DC. Their laws are bordering on absurd, asinine to ridiculous. Their business plan is being rejected more each day by a world that wants to head to peace and prosperity and the biggest impediment to that is the federal government in Washington DC refusing to cease and desist with a failed business plan of global hegemony, domination and visions of USA Empire.

The very fabric of America’s society and economy are being crushed by a government in Washington DC that I would not trust with even $100 to not spend it on something stupid.

I think many do not stop and think about the fact that homeland security includes the financial well-being of the nation as a whole. In regards to that destruction of homeland security, Washington DC is solely to blame for the mismanagement of the United States of America.