Are  we heading towards an Economic Collapse? Preparing for Financial  Armageddon

Our county sits at over 16 trillion dollars in debt, with unfunded  obligations that make the actual debt number about $120 trillion. The  reality of the situation is there’s really no way out of the situation. Our government, thanks to both political parties, has spent us into a hole that  we cannot dig ourselves out of. The facts, that nobody seems to want to talk  about, indicate our country is still heading towards a complete meltdown of the  financial system.

You can choose to believe the lies that are being spoon feed to you by the  mainstream media, or you can look at the reality of the situation; our Economy  is still facing some enormous challenges, and the prospects for a full economic  recovery don’t look very good. The financial problems that lead to the housing /  financial market crash of 2008 have not been fixed; in fact, many of these  problems are even worse today than they were in 2008.

Preparing for an economic collapse

Twenty years ago, most people would have said you were crazy for thinking our  system could collapse. Even today, most of our country is either unaware, or has  forgotten how closely we came to a complete collapse of the financial system  during the banking crisis of 2008. Here we sit five years after our  government spent $700+ billion to bailout a system they told us would never  fail, and our system is still in just as much danger of collapse as it was in  2008, maybe more. If you’re not prepared, you need to start taking steps to  protect yourself and your family from future troubles.

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Waking Dreams End Unpleasantly

Whenever I endeavor to explain America’s current economic situation to a  person who likely receives most of his information from skewed mainstream news  sources,I try to use two  comparisons; the Great Depression, and Weimar Germany, because what we are  experiencing is actually a combination of elements from both  events.  Some people, unfortunately, have little  understanding of the Weimar hyperinflationary crisis, but at the very least, the  imagery of the Great Depression is present in the minds of most Americans, if  only through television and film.

When the depression is mentioned, they begin to grasp the gravity of our  fiscal disaster, or at least what I am trying to convey.  However, those  slow on the draw almost always sneer at the validity of the threat.  After  all, during the Great Depression, there were bank runs, endless soup kitchen  lines, roving masses of dirty homeless drifters looking for employment, shanty  towns, and desperation everywhere.  We’ve all seen the old stock black and  white photos, and the America of today looks nothing similar…

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To give you a sense of what I mean (keep in mind that real numbers are likely  much worse than reported statistics)…

Despite talk of recovery, U.S. poverty levels have hit all time highs.   Over 50 million Americans are below the official poverty line:

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/11/15/census-u-s-poverty-rate-spikes-nearly-50-million-americans-affected/

In 2009, food stamp enrollment stood at around 32 million Americans.   Today that number has grown to around 48 million; a 50% increase in only 5  years:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/more_americans_on_food_stamps_QfLsaSyEHbnWxAZ0z7MMEP

The number of citizens on federal disability is at record highs, climbing to  almost 9 million people, and has expanded every month for the past 192  months:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/8830026-americans-disability-hits-new-record-192nd-straight-month

Requests for emergency food assistance are on the rise in most cities across  the country, and homeless numbers continue to climb:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/20/us-usa-economy-hunger-idUSBRE8BJ14I20121220

Now ask yourself this:  How many people in this country rely on  government money for most if not all of their survival needs?

Without government funding, and without the fiat printing press at the  Federal Reserve to feed that funding, the veil of financial recovery fades away,  not just in the stock market, but everywhere.  All the poverty that has  remained hidden for the past five years will suddenly be visible on our streets  and doorsteps.  Welfare programs to individuals and to states ARE the  modern day soup lines.  When they go, those reliant on them have nowhere to  turn.

Already, homeless shelters in numerous states are suffering from funding  shortfalls and many are closing their doors:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/las-largest-emergency-homeless-shelter-seeks-funds-to-survive-77494/

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/12/10/news/midcoast/midcoasts-only-homeless-shelter-abruptly-closes-no-reason-given/

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/Tough-times-lead-to-homeless-shelter-s-closure/-/10131532/17589782/-/122ke1n/-/index.html?absolute=true

http://www.khou.com/news/Woman-seeks-help-as-her-southwest-Houston-homeless-shelter-faces-closure–177795891.html

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GAO  Report: Obamacare Adds $6.2 Trillion to Long-Term Deficit

Obamacare will increase the long-term federal deficit by $6.2  trillion, according to a Government Accountability Office report that  will be released today.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), who requested the report, revealed the  findings this morning at a Senate Budget Committee hearing. The report, he said,  “confirms everything critics and Republicans were saying about the faults of  this bill,” and“dramatically proves that the promises made assuring the  nation that the largest new entitlement program in history would not add one  dime to the deficit were false.”

Read the full GAO report here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/127378889/GAO-Patient-Protection-act

The coming pension crisis: States face a $3 trillion funding gap.  Only about 10 percent of Americans now covered by pensions.

Many Americans look at the crisis in Greece and  shake their heads wondering how it is possible for an entire country to derail  the future of its younger generation.  One big problem in Greece was  massive government liabilities funding very generous pensions.  Yet this  came at an enormous cost.  The US is facing a different crisis but the  markets have already responded over the last few decades.  In the early  1980s, roughly 60 percent of private sector workers had a pension.  Today,  it is down to 10 percent in the latest data and will likely continue to  decrease.  For young  Americans entering the workforce, the self-funded 401k is likely the  only path to having a nest egg and any sort of retirement.  This is why so  many people get angry when they hear about some in California that retire in  their early 50s pulling in annual pensions of $100,000.  Over 20 to 30  years this can range from $2 to $3 million of payouts.  And we wonder why  states face a $3+ trillion funding gap with pensions.  Are we simply  ignoring another looming crisis?

- See more at:  http://investmentwatchblog.com/our-country-is-heading-towards-a-complete-meltdown-of-the-financial-system-as-we-are-experiencing-a-combination-of-elements-from-great-depression-and-weimar-germany/#sthash.8BTvQDvj.dpuf Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/our-country-is-heading-towards-a-complete-meltdown-of-the-financial-system-as-we-are-experiencing-a-combination-of-elements-from-great-depression-and-weimar-germany/#dVotIsYZlBMOekVb.99