News Story of the Day: for whatever reason, perhaps it is the media’s endless obsession with so-called Russian hacking, the nation’s finances have gone under the radar. Although Republicans are giving themselves a round of applause because the president is expected to reform the tax code, grow the economy and provide a better budget, politicians should really hang their heads in shame for what’s transpired.
Prior to leaving, Jack Lew issued the Financial Report of the U.S. Government for fiscal year 2016. It suggests a mess when you add in the assets and liabilities.
Here are the numbers: the U.S. government has nearly $23 trillion in liabilities and just $3.47 trillion in assets.
Robert Wenzel of Economic Policy Journal has some commentary on the matter:
“Selling off the assets of the U.S. government can be part of the solution but stiffing those who hold U.S. debt and thus directly contribute to out of control government explosion in obligations must also be a part of the solution. If such US government debt holders expected the American people to be saps and stand silent while taxes are raised or Federal Reserve prints more money to pay down the debt, well, tough luck for the debt holders. Let’s hope they are stiffed and turn out to be the saps.”
It is inevitable that the U.S. will declare bankruptcy or destroy the value of the U.S. dollar.
Chart of the Day: Tesla has been the darling on Wall Street, and to the government, for so long. Tesla shares even topped $320 earlier this week, but that fun seems to be coming to an end. According to the MarketWatch chart below, it looks like the Elon Musk company is flirting in bear market territory:
Illustration of the Day: you likely have already heard about #CNNBlackmail, a multi-billion-dollar corporation “reserving the right” to destroy a private citizen’s life because they didn’t like his memes. CNN has now become some type of fun police mixed with the East Berlin Stasi. It’s sad.
Quote of the Day: Thomas DiLorenzo has a new book out called “The Problem with Socialism.” It’s a book that you can’t put down and is a great piece of work to serve as a reminder or as an introduction to libertarianism and basic economics. Here is one quote from the book that was great:
In government, waste and inefficiency is good, failure is success, and incompetence is rewarded.
Tweet of the Day: Glenn Greenwald is one of the few journalists who understand how the media really work and can see the disgusting acts of U.S. foreign policy. He’s great on these issues – not so good on others. Here is a sublime tweet from Greenwald:
The most important thing a consumer of news can do is to critically assess reporting. Critically.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 19, 2017
Video of the Day: today, millions of leftists will be screaming their heads off by the sight of President Donald Trump meeting President Vladimir Putin. A new video has been released and it’s beginning to go viral. It is Trump shaking hands with Putin. Cue the autistic screeching!
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