If the US economy is in 'recovery' and getting stronger by the day...
If the corporate media is 'correct' and we're 'debbie downers'..
Then why is the US economy contracting?
U.S. Economy Shrinks Unexpectedly: First Contraction in 3 ½ years -- " The U.S. economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles...
The economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. That's a sharp slowdown from the 3.1 percent growth rate in the July-September quarter and the first contraction since the second quarter of 2009..." (AP)
OK, so now if you're corporate media or blood-sucking Wall St investors, how do you seek to diminish its significance to an everyday public you're Deseperately... and we do mean DESPERATELY trying to entice to invest again?
Well its like the old song goes...
'You gotta accentuate the positive... Eliminate the negative... Latch onto the affirmative.. Don't mess with Mr In-Between'
You also have to trivialize, marginalize and a bunch of other -izes, but that didn't fit into the original lyrics...
So how is a contraction that no economist predicted explained away?
Well see, economists said the surprise decrease in the nation's gross domestic product "wasn't as bad as it looked." No.. the weakness was "primarily the result of one-time factors"
Mainly it was 'the biggest defense spending cut in 40 years'
Ahh.. is it no wonder when a national economy is in the doldrums, they build up armaments and then send the flower of its youth off to war to fight and die for pretend causes?
We're not picking on the US alone...
Do you think economically bankrupt Argentina is saber-rattling about re-taking the Falkland Islands from Britain, a mere pebble in significance with a population of 3,200 people, out of national pride?
And our allies across the pond are in worse economic shape than we are-- they actually admit out loud their country is in recession once more. What better way to galvanize national pride and and increase spending on defense to get that GDP up.. its what Margaret Thatcher did in 1982.
Do you really believe France is sending its military into the African nation of Mali, a land-locked country with a total yearly GDP of $18bn because its afraid of them attacking? For perspective, Baltimore, MD has an annual GDP of $188bn or 10x that of Mali which is over 1.2 million sq miles in size...
So back to the contraction in the US... Here how one smug little nothing economist described it-- "Frankly, this is the best-looking contraction in U.S. GDP you'll ever see," Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients." (AP)
Sorry to break it to you little man, but you're in la-la land...
The Washington Post explains things a little clearer: "Had the Pentagon not cut back on spending, the economy would have grown at a weak but positive 1.27 percent pace. Was this big plunge in defense spending unusual? Yes and no. To a certain extent, it’s part of a pattern: Defense spending often rises in the third quarter of a year and drops in the fourth quarter."
In other words, if not for these cuts that everyone is treating as a one-timer the US economy would have still been a sickly anemic 1.27% growth-- this is FIVE YEARS after the official start of the recession in December 2007!!
$1 Trillion annually
Do you know what the Total amount in US consumer debt is? We mean, if you add up every American's mortgage, vehicle loan, credit card and student loan, and wrote one big check to wipe off the debts of every adult American citizen...
$2.75 Trillion.
Oh, and do you know what it means when a nation is in negative GDP territory for two quarters in a row? It means all those elitist son-of-a-bitches in Washington, Wall St and the media who've been lying to you about 'recovery' for the last 3+ years must then be Forced by definition to call the economy what we all know it to be currently...
Recession.
Its sad to see so many people brainwashed; this notion that a strong Wall Street and stock market means a strong America... To attach emotions of Patriotism and National Pride to the ability of the Extremely Wealthy to be able to expand their portfolios
And what is a 'living wage'? The best way to define it is a salary that allows someone to pay their bills and obligations, still have something left over to save while maintaining a decent quality of life and not needing credit cards or payday loans to cover the monthly gaps.
What makes America great is not Wall Street; its not those majestic 'Twin Towers' of profit and greed; massive impersonal skyscrapers raised up to an endless sky with logos of banks, investment firms and other corporations adorning..
Its the other 99%-- we don't wish to call them 'bottom'..
Its the 1% which are the bottom-feeders; the ring of filth found in every sink and bathtub drain...
Democrat... Republican... Both are worthless; they're not being pro-active in combating this 5+ year recession head on and proposing & passing legislation to get people back to work and firing up the pistons of the economic machine without Fed involvement...
They've both passed the buck to Bernanke.
We end with this truism when it comes to the powers that be trying to convince you all is well and to resume spending...
"The Harder the Sell, the more Desperate the Seller"
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