From: bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Brian F. Redman)
Subject: Bankruptcy 1995 (part 8)
Summary: The approaching fiscal Armageddon
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 03:21:03 GMT
Keywords: treachery trickery deceit deception



Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America & How to Stop It.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

by Harry E. Figgie, Jr.
with Gerald J. Swanson, Ph.D.

About the authors:
-- Harry E. Figgie, Jr. is the CEO of Figgie International Inc., 
a diversified *Fortune 500* operating company. He was co-chairman 
of President Reagan's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, also 
known as the Grace Commission.
-- Dr. Gerald J. Swanson is an Associate Professor of Economics 
at the University of Arizona.

"Any profits from this book have long since been assigned to 
charity. We make no profit whatsoever from it." (p. 25).

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
*                                                               *
* The United States has a problem that is easy to understand,   *
* but whose effects are difficult to comprehend. Its solution   *
* is simple to prescribe, but hard to implement. This problem   *
* is more insidious than drug addiction, more pressing than     *
* recession; it is crueler than poverty and illness and more    *
* hazardous than a hole in the ozone.                           *
*                                                               *
* This problem, which is of our own making, will precipitate    *
* an economic nightmare that will dwarf the Great Depression    *
* and turn the history of America into one of history's         *
* closed chapters. This problem has a name. It is *government   *
* debt.*                                                        *
*                                                               *
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

--------------------------- part 8 ------------------------------

"A man in the prime of his life is lying on an operating table, 
bleeding from open wounds. A team of surgeons is busily clipping 
his toenails."

"The United States desperately needs fiscal surgery to staunch 
the dollars bleeding from its deficit wounds." Instead, the 
government quibbles over "...which of the country's toenails to 
clip."

According to the authors, it is almost too late. The middle class 
is about to go under. The money is about to inflate. By 1995, if 
not sooner, the United States will have an economic collapse. 
Then, like the former Soviet Union, we will be "...vulnerable to 
exploitation, dependent on the kindness of foreign strangers, 
and, in a word, pathetic -- the hulk of a once-great nation."

"The odds of American survival as a proud, independent nation 
have already grown terribly slim."


The citizens of the U.S. are going to have to insist of our 
government that "...we won't stand for more delay and 
infighting." According to the authors, here is what the 
government must do:

1) Re-establish Credibility.
The government must start telling the truth. "The slick gimmickry 
and shameful deceit now practiced by the executive and the 
legislative branches have to end. Our leaders must, for one, stop 
masking the size and the seriousness of the deficit situation."

2) Put a General in Charge of the Fiscal War.
[The authors have great faith in the use of war symbolism as part 
of the solution. B.R.] The authors call for "...an army of highly 
trained and experienced cost-cutters." They believe we will need 
a "general," several "colonels," and a mass of "foot soldiers." 
This army "...would be divided into battalions, each assigned to 
tackle overspending in a particular sector of the government."

3) Create a Deficit-War Cabinet.
"The deficit-war cabinet must keep driving home the message that 
there is a larger battle to be won, and that cutting costs 
doesn't necessarily result in fewer services or a reduction of 
their quality. We can reduce costs simply by doing the same jobs 
more efficiently."

4) Set Overall Strategic Goals.
"Roughly $3 out of every $10 currently spent [by the government] 
must be eliminated. [Curiously, the authors do not call for a 
rise in the corporate tax rate as a possible "strategic goal." 
B.R.]

5) Establish Postwar Reform.
The authors favor streamlining of government, with a reduction in 
the layers of management and elimination of bureaucratic fat. The 
debt must also be reduced or else "...we will remain vulnerable 
to attack by rising interest rates."
     The authors also suggest that we (a) examine possibilities 
of privatizing one or more areas of government and (b) contract 
out on a competitive basis many of the services it now provides.

6) Don't Raise Taxes.
"Raising taxes does not eliminate deficit spending."

7) Don't Raid Savings to Pay for Current Expenditures.
The government must stop borrowing money from Social Security and 
from trust funds. Even if it does this, however, "We need to face 
reality and tell some people that the generous Social Security 
benefits they are planning on when they retire won't be there."

8) Don't Allow Government Agencies to Create Debt.
"Loans and loan guarantees [such as S&L, FHA, VA, etcetera]... 
are ticking time bombs that have to be defused." The authors feel 
that these federal guarantees just cause more expense for 
taxpayers. "The collapse of the thrift industry, for instance, 
has saddled taxpayers with as much as $500 billion in added 
obligations..."

9) Don't Monetize the Debt.
In other words, don't reduce the debt by simply printing more 
money.

10) Don't Count on a Balanced-Budget Amendment.
The idea that a balanced-budget amendment will solve the problem 
is a delusion. "It will take at least three years to get the 
required number of thirty-eight states to ratify the amendment. 
We can't wait that long... Moreover, any balanced-budget 
amendment could easily be evaded." The Congress would just invent 
new tricks to avoid fiscal responsibility.


"Once we show the world that we have the will and discipline to 
face our toughest problem, the value of our debt instrument and 
our credit rating would rise immediately." There would be "...a 
resurgence of confidence in American industry."

The authors insist that we are already late in launching this 
"war" on the deficit/debt and that we must begin now.


------------------------- end part 8 ----------------------------

You can do a lot of good by taking this article and posting it to 
other areas besides "alt.activism." You can also post this or 
upload it as a file to a local BBS. This would help give the 
people of this nation an alternative to the "fluff" and 
propaganda posturing as hard news which they are currently 
getting from the major networks.


Synopsis/Review by Brian Redman
"Ah yes, Armageddon. I remember it well."
End part 8



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