My discussion with David Walker

I went to Fox yesterday and who do I bump into? None other than David Walker, former Comptroller General of the U.S. and now the president of the Pete Peterson Foundation. Walker is the leader of Deficit Terrorist Nation and he has been on a mission, backed with Peterson’s money, to scare the daylights out of the citizens of this country and our political leadership into believing that Social Security is insolvent and that the nation itself faces bankruptcy unless we reign in runaway spending and the deficits that are accruing.

Back in 2008 I had Walker on as a guest on my radio show on Biz Radio and I got him to admit that there is no solvency issue and that the checks were never going to bounce. As far as I know, I was the only one who has ever gotten him to say that publicly. (I have often asked Neil Cavuto to pose that question to Walker the times when he is on his show and I have personally given Neil the audio clip of that interview, but he hasn’t done it.)

Anyway, when I went into the green room and saw him sitting there, I walked right up to him and introduced myself and asked if he recalled that exchange we had back in 2008. He actually said that he did. So I asked him why he continues to go around saying that social security is facing insolvency.

He said to me that he doesn’t say that.

I questioned him as to what would happen if those deficits were not closed as per his warnings and if the government just kept writing checks. He said that interest rates would rise. Note: he didn’t say we’d go bankrupt; just that interest rates would rise. I asked why he thought interest rates would rise if the Fed sets rates? He said the Fed only sets short term rates, but not “market rates.” I asked him if he was aware that the Fed has been guiding long term rates lower by buying bonds. I tried to explain to him that the Fed could set rates anywhere along the curve, by exactly the same manner of operations that it uses to set short rates. He seemed confused and not fully understanding that the Fed could keep rates low for however long it wanted. Then I brought up the example of Japan, where debt was far higher than in the U.S. and where rates have been virtually at zero for two decades.

He said Japan has no “foreign debt.” I say neither do we, because our “foreign debt” is our own debt—in dollars. Same exact thing as Japan. He had a hard time with that.

Then I asked him if he truly believed that a nation that issues its own currency and where its debts were denominated in that currency could go bankrupt? He responded, “No, that can’t happen.”

Then I followed up by trying to make him see that Social Security or Medicare or any obligation of the government doesn’t face solvency risk by that same logic.

And…he agreed!

So I asked him why he keeps saying it’s going broke?

He says he doesn’t say that. He said that he never says it’s insolvent. (Which is bullshit, because he does say that!)

I told him about what Greenspan said back in 2005 during Congressional testimony, when he was asked that very question, about Social Security solvency. Greenspan said that the Federal Gov’t can pay any amount of money to whomever it wants, but the real issue was whether or not the real assets were going to be there for people to consume. In other words, would we end up having inflation.

Walker seemed to understand this. Then I said that if we were going to have a realistic dialog and discussion about Social Security, we should not frame it in context of risk of insolvency, but rather, whether or not the crediting of bank accounts (issuing checks) was going to lead to inflation down the road. I said that no real examination of that potentiality was ever done. He agreed.

I said that since he is the voice of deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility, he should refrain from using words like bankruptcy and insolvency and reframe the discussion so that people start talking about the real issue; which is whether or not there is a risk of inflation if the government keeps writing checks.

He agreed and said that he won’t talk about solvency. HE SAID HE WASN’T GOING TO TALK ABOUT INSOLVENCY! He also agreed with me that it’s not about interest rates!

In the end he said it’s about inflation and the value of the currency. (I’m not even sure it is about the value of the currency, but I gave him that one!)

So in the end, David Walker, Deficit Terrorist in Chief, basically agreed on all points espoused by the MMT community. He said to me he would characterize it in that way. He said I should ask Neil Cavuto to ask him that question. (I promptly sent an email off to Neil.)

Then he walked out to the studio to do an interview with Fox Anchors David Asman and Liz Claman. Not more than two minutes into this interview, he was talking about restoring SOLVENCY to Social Security.

What a disingenuous, lying, douche bag!

Another misinformed article about Social Security and Medicare

Fix is hard for Medicare, Social Security finances
Base-closing formula considered for tough vote on fixing Social Security, Medicare finances
Tom Raum, Associated Press Writer
On Sunday May 24, 2009, 11:15 am EDT
Buzz up! Print WASHINGTON (AP) -- There is no easy fix.

Medicare and Social Security will go broke sooner rather than later because of the recession. With millions of baby boomers beginning to leave the work force, the cost of these popular benefit programs threatens to swamp the government in debt in the coming years if nothing is done.

It can no more go broke than the government can "run out of money," which happens every several years when we reach the debt ceiling. Then what happens? Congress raises the debt ceiling and, Voila!, the government is spending again. This notion of insolvency is perhaps the most dangerous flawed belief currently facing our nation. It is a belief so dangerous it could kill us.

Congress and the White House are under increasing pressure to find a solution.

Yes, pressure from ignorant and misguided people, like Pete Peterson and David Walker.

One proposal gaining steam is a creating bipartisan commission to tackle the approaching insolvency of the government's three big "entitlement" programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

There is no insolvency. Chief debt propagandist of them all, David Walker, said that on my radio show. Here is the audio clip: Listen.

Everything would be on the table, including tax increases and benefit cuts. The commission would produce a "grand bargain" package of recommendations that Congress could accept or reject in total.

Tax increases would apply "fiscal drag" upon the current generation of workers for a problem that does not exist in the future. That would cause us to produce less of the real assets that we are going to need in the future. In other words, raising taxes to "fix" the problem, actually makes the problem real. Moreover, the notion that the government needs to get money to pay for these investments is a gold standard based idea. We're not on a gold standard.

It's the same process the country has used since 1988 to handle military base closings, where the single take-it-or-leave-it vote provides a measure of political cover to lawmakers. President Barack Obama has said that action to overhaul Social Security and other guaranteed-benefit programs is critical. But top aides are cool to the commission idea for now, wanting Congress to deal first with the president's ambitious health care and global warming initiatives.

He says it's critical becausae he doesn't understand our monetary system.

The commission idea is being resisted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and some influential committee leaders who see it as an end run around the normal legislative process. "The fact that the leadership has been opposed to it has been a problem," said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., one of two original authors of the commission bill in the House. Still, Wolf said in an interview, "There's an economic tsunami off the coast and it's ready to wipe us out."

The fact that our leadership is opposed to it is good. It buys us time. There is no "economic tsunami" off the coast, but it figures a Republican says that. They are the leading debt terrorists.

Wolf also introduced the measure in the last Congress but failed to interest either President George W. Bush or then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. In a letter Friday to Obama, Wolf raised the prospect that the nation's coveted triple-A bond rating, which it has held since 1917, may be jeopardized if Congress doesn't act soon on shoring up Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The AAA rating will be downgraded by the know-nothing rating agencies who are in the wrong paradigm anyway. They gave AAA to subprime junk, but don't understand that there can never be a payments risk with a nation that spends in its own, non-convertible, free-floating currency.

Financial markets were rocked last week when Britain was warned by Standard & Poor's Ratings Service that debts it had incurred in trying to dig out of its economic crisis could result in the loss of its triple-A rating. The threat of a downgrade could signal similar problems for other big economies -- particularly the United States, whose finances has been hit just as hard. The White House said it did not expect the U.S. government's credit rating to be cut.

A stupid move by S&P. They just don't understand. They did it to Japan in 2002.

Wolf joined with Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, which has long pushed for a Social Security overhaul. A similar bill is being pushed in the Senate by Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the chairman and senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.

They're clueless, but have huge influence in policy. They led the charge in shrinking our domestic auto industry: a move that consumers will pay handily for down the road.

"We cannot allow this issue to be kicked down the road any further," said Conrad.

We can and we should. Someone should kick some sense into Conrad and his ilk.

A similar proposal is being pushed by Sens. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

The bills would create a panel to examine the country's fiscal crisis and come up with a plan to bring revenues and expenditures into balance for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Spending on these three programs now totals more than $1 trillion a year, almost one-third of the entire federal budget.

"Bringing revenues and expenditures into balance" simply means reducing the net savings of the non-governmental sector. That's us!

Social Security has often been called the "third rail" of American politics -- so electrically charged that touching it can be life-threatening to political careers.

Let's hope the electricity stays on!

Neither raising payroll taxes on current workers nor cutting benefits for the nation's elderly has much appeal to politicians. That's why it's so hard to put Social Security and Medicare on firmer financial footing.

Even if they don't touch it because touching has no appeal, that's fine. Just don't touch it.

"What's missing here is not ideas, it is political will," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., one of a growing number of lawmakers hopping aboard the commission idea. He suggests Congress could begin debating the commission legislation later this year.

No, there are plenty of ideas, they're just all wrong!

Federal overseers said this month that the Medicare fund will be depleted in 2017, just eight years from now and two years earlier than estimated just a year ago. The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2037, four years earlier than predicted a year ago.

"Depleted?" Like when we hit the mandated debt ceiling. Has the government's money been depleted when that happens? No! They just raise the debt ceiling and keep on spending!

People are living longer, which adds to the costs. Some 80 million baby boomers -- born from 1946 to 1964 -- will become eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits over the next two decades.

All the more reason why we have to focus on growth policies now. We need to assure that we will have sufficient amounts of the real assets that will be demanded by longer-living population. Raising taxes to "pay" for this stuff does the opposite!

Prospects for establishing an entitlement reform commission may not be great now, but should improve once the economy improves and Congress can turn its attention away from bank bailouts and stimulus spending, said David Walker, president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The group, which promotes fiscal responsibility, is a strong supporter of the commission approach.

David Walker is a liar! Listen to him lie on my audio clip! Listen.

He said that while Britain may be ahead of the U.S. in facing a possible credit downgrades, "we may be headed in the same direction unless Washington wakes up and starts making tough decisions."

David Walker is a liar! Listen to him lie on my audio clip! Listen.

A bipartisan commission chaired by Alan Greenspan in 1983 made a set of recommendations -- accepted by Congress and President Ronald Reagan -- to head off a looming crisis in Social Security. It pushed the day of reckoning decades ahead by increasing Social Security taxes, cutting some benefits and raising the age for retirees to start collecting full benefits. The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a New York Democrat, was co-chairman of a panel created by Bush in 2001 to review Social Security and suggest ways to shore up its finances, including partially privatizing the system. Bush ignored most of the commission's work but latched onto its call for allowing younger workers to set up personal investment accounts to invest in the stock market and made it part of his 2005 effort -- which failed -- to overhaul the system.

Bush was a lot smarter than people gave him credit!! Bring him back!!!

David Walker is a liar!

David Walker runs the Concord Coalition, which is an organization charged with getting our leadership to believe that the U.S. faces an insolvency and, therefore, we should be cutting people's Social Security and Medicare benefits and raising taxes.

Yet, on my radio show in 2008, Walker stated that "solvency was not an issue" and "the checks would never bounce."

Take a listen:

David Walker the big, fat, liar.

Please join my efforts to expose this lying propagandist who is trying to destroy the benefits of millions of Americans. It is nothing short of subterfuge.

Send this audio clip around!

My conversation with David Walker today exposed a lot. Like, he really, really, doesn't have a clue.

My Twitter conversation today with David Walker exposed a lot, like, he's very confused. First he tried to say that I "grossly misrepresented" him with my sound clip of our interview, where he said that the Social Security checks would not bounce, thus contradicting himself and all of his efforts in trying to make people believe that the program was insolvent.

Today he clarified in his tweet that he was referring to the short term health of SS, but not long term. Then I said to him that it didn't matter, short term or long term; the U.S. can't run out of dollars. I sent him the clip of Alan Greenspan smacking down Paul Ryan on this very subject.

The effort apparently went right over Walker's head because his response to me was that I didn't understand government finance. He said--get this--that it was a question of fiscal policy and not monetary policy. (As if I didn't understand that.) I never even mentioned monetary policy to this guy!!!

All at once it made me realize that Walker didn't grasp what Greenspan and I were saying. I guess he thought that we must have been referring to monetary policy because we said something about the government not running out of dollars and he believes those dollars can only come from one place and one place only and that is the Fed. (He's obviously hooked on the Fed "money printing" thing.)

Walker went on to say there were "legal issues" that I didn't understand as well. What legal issues? My guess is that he was trying to make a point that the Fed could not "pay into" Social Security. No kidding, but that was never anything that I ever mentioned.

He continued by trying to impress me with the fact that he was a Social Security Trustee for five years. This was intended to mean that he, not I, was the expert on the matter. (And we all know that government bureacrats and even high level policy "experts" ALL know what they're talking about when it comes to the monetary system right? !@#$%)

Anyway, the whole conversation left me very depressed. This guy really, really, has no clue.

Working on a new podcast interview with David Walker

Hi folks. I am working on a new podcast interview with David Walker, former Comptroller General of the USA and self proclaimed, "Deficit Ranger." ( https://twitter.com/DeficitRanger)

It's been a while. Many of you might recall this: Interview with David Walker on my radio show.

Or this: bumping into him at Fox News several years ago where he insisted that he was not pushing for ending Social Security and that he NEVER said it would go bankrupt. Remember?

Well, hopefully I will get him. (And I will be nice.) Give me questions to ask.

He said possibly late next week. (Tweet to him!)

Cool how Mike Norman Economics is starting to get some pull. (I think.)

David Walker Invents Reverse IQ Test

Former US Beancounter-in-Chief David Walker was out today in the media rolling out a new "Fiscal IQ" test for the public and policymakers.  Related OpEd from Walker at Politico here.

It looks like this IQ test works in reverse to most normal IQ tests, in that with Walker's test here, the higher score you get, the less intelligent you are.

Here is a link to the online test.  (Where do these people get the funds to do this stuff?)

Interesting excerpt from his Question 9 here: "Health care is the one thing that could literally bankrupt America."  This does not square with his own assertion to Mike from months ago that "there is no solvency issue" with regards to the US government finances.

TIP:  Go back to counting your beans David, and leave macro policy recommendations to those who know how a Free Floating Non-convertable currency system operates.

Blast from the past. My interview with David Walker, lying sack of shit.

Just thought I'd post this again.

David Walker, former Controller General and Chief Propagandist in the effort to "reform" Social Security (he's a self-proclaimed, fiscal responsibility expert). Also, an all-around lying sack of shit. This was from an interview I did with him on my radio show back in 2008, where he admitted that the Social Security checks would NEVER bounce. He admitted it. Listen.



I am the only person, EVER to get Walker to admit this publicly and I have no job in the media.

By the way, when I worked at Fox News I offered this audio clip numerous times to the producers and Neil Cavuto, but they didn't have any interest at all even though they had Walker on numerous times. Why not confront him on this comment, especially when he's been leading a billion dollar crusade to strip seniors of Social Security even though he's lying about its solvency.

Fed Capital

MMT affiliated legal academic here approvingly citing a report from the future Peterson affiliated David Walker headed GAO from 17 years ago... what for I have no idea...

What ever happened to all the bs "neoliberal framing!" concerns?  Getting confused over the figurative "framing!" maybe?  Maybe thinking "neoliberal framing!" is an actual literal framed picture of the the word "neoliberal!" hanging on the wall in Larry Kudlow's  Whitehouse office???

7 part tweet thread endorsing a David Walker GAO report... nice job kid!..

Another great extract from a 2002 GAO report on CB operating capital:

"Federal Reserve Board officials have acknowledged publicly the argument that a central bank may not need capital to absorb losses because ...

1/xhttps://t.co/FFrcPxT0qM

— Rohan Grey (@rohangrey) June 21, 2019

I am the only one, EVER, to get David Walker to admit publicly that there is no solvency issue when it comes to Social Security

Forget CNBC, Fox Business, MSNBC, CNN...forget Neil Cavuto, Joe Kernan, Larry Kudlow, O'Reilly, Hannity, Bartiromo, Chuck Todd, Chris Wallace, Bob Schieffer, Brian Williams...forget them all.

I am the only one, EVER, to get former Comptroller General of the U.S. -- David Walker -- to admit, publicly, that there is NO SOLVENCY ISSUE WITH SOCIAL SECURITY.

It was on my radio show back in 2008. Here is the soundbite from that interview where he dishonestly states, "I don't think there's a solvency issue. I am not asserting there is a solvency issue."

Yet we all know that he and his deceitful backer, Pete Peterson, have been spending millions in a dishonest campaign of fear mongering in an attempt to convince people that Social Security is bankrupt and needs to be eliminated.

Here's the audio:



Pass it around.

Nonsense From Some of the NAF People Who May Have Been in the Audience at Stephanie Kelton's NAF-Sponsored Talk

Raising [Fiat Currency Issuer] Revenue from Higher Earners through Base Broadening

What's Bill Black say about self-parody?  Somehow, these people either didn't get Beardsley Ruml's 1946 memo, or they simply didn't understand it.

Perhaps their fiat train of thought is still deciding whether or not to acknowledge the station at all, let alone board?

So which is more obsolete? Taxes as revenue to a fiat currency issuer, or the current CRFB membership?

(maybe that could be in one of Bill Mitchell's saturday quizzes)

I'd forward this to Maya MacGuineas, but have given up talking or corresponding with her. She has too much invested to even consider giving up, and is in denial. Ditto for David Walker.

It's reminiscent of an old movie plot.

The DT Death Star seems to be closing on the rebel hideout. Some on board may have analyzed the rebel strategy and realized there is a danger ... but top DT management is not about to show any sign of weakness, so close to their moment of victory. The end is nigh ... one way or another.

Meanwhile, a former master has learned the art of communicating from the grave. Master Marriner Eccles. Teach them to communicate with him I would ... if they'd listen. Not ready are they. :(

I sense great fear in these people. Fear -> anger -> hate -> OutputGap. Always clouded is their freedom to think. I sense the influence of the Dark Side of group dynamics, the Conformists. Always two forms there are. But which are the cons and which are the formists, the followers? Confront this Pete Peterson in person, someone must. To see if he is a con lord, or only a follower.

David Walker is the fault of Jacksonville University and Harvard University training. If only he'd been trained by Master Mosler at the MMT Temple, different things might have been.

(Where was Marriner Eccles trained? Have nearly all the Currency Operations Knights been hunted down by the Emperors DT Troopers?)

My interview with David Walker

Here is my interview with former Controller General, David Walker.

Part 1.

Part 2.

David Walker's admission to me that, "there is no solvency issue."

(Many thanks to Warren Mosler for putting this up on his blog as I have had a difficult time, for some reason, getting it posted on mine.)

Deficit terrorist #1 David Walker of the Peterson Institute states to host Mike Norman there is no solvency issue!

I am the only one, EVER, to get David Walker to admit that Social Security can never become insolvent

Here it is. The clip from my interview with him back in 2008 on my radio show.

Mike Norman's interview with former Controller General of the U.S. David Walker, who admits that Social Security can never become insolvent.

Phil Pilkington discusses my media appearances and the subversion of the truth on Naked Capitalism blog

***(Correcting previous headline. Phil Pilkington, not Yves Smith, is the author of this blog post discussed below.

Phillip Pilkington mentions me a lot in his recent post on the Naked Capitalism blog.

Here is an excerpt:

Then Mike Norman – a regular guest on various TV shows, including on Fox News – made an even more interesting comment (starting at around 20.30). He tells a story about how he once had David Walker – former Comptroller General and member of the deficit terrorist lobby over at the Peterson Foundation – on his show. While talking with him, Norman got Walker to admit that insolvency is not an issue for US government debt –Walker and his chums, of course, have been pushing the ‘bankruptcy’ argument hard so this was something of a shock to Norman. You can hear Walker quite clearly admit that there’s no solvency issue in this audio clip.

Brian Murphy — Meet ALEC's (Hoped For) Man in Washington: Scott Walker

It’s a mistake, therefore, to think of ALEC primarily in terms of its documented association with Charles and David Koch. Rather, it’s an organization that facilitates intimate and discreet lobbying opportunities where donors have access to a self-selecting set of willing accomplices drawn from the nation’s fifty state legislatures. Those lawmakers are often pampered on donors’ dimes at the organization’s gatherings. And all of it is tax deductible for the companies because ALEC turns what would ordinarily be lobbying expenses into ‘scholarships’ for state lawmakers to further their educations. So if you’ve ever wondered why voter ID laws, so-called ‘right to work’ laws, attacks on private and public sector unions, attacks on clean air standards and sustainable energy, pro-charter school bills, attacks on college accreditation and teacher certification, laws proposing to centralize rulemaking on energy, pollution, power plants, state pension investments, tort reform, or food labeling seem to pop up in different state capitals seemingly simultaneously, with the identical legalese backed by the same talking points and even the same expert witnesses, ALEC is often the reason.

And now, heading into 2016, one of the group’s most high profile alumni is Scott Walker. It’s possible that no American politician who holds office today has worked harder to successfully advance ALEC’s agenda than Walker. And no previous candidate for the White House has ever owed so much to ALEC at the outset of his campaign.….

If Walker is elected, it won't be Scott Walker that's really POTUS, but rather Alec Walker.

TPM
Meet ALEC's (Hoped For) Man in Washington: Scott Walker

Brian Murphy

Bradford Richardson — Ex-GAO head: US debt is three times more than you think

David Walker still foaming at the mouth.

The former U.S. comptroller general says the real U.S. debt is closer to about $65 trillion than the oft-cited figure of $18 trillion. Dave Walker, who headed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, said when you add up all of the nation’s unfunded liabilities, the national debt is more than three times the number generally advertised. “If you end up adding to that $18.5 trillion the unfunded civilian and military pensions and retiree healthcare, the additional underfunding for Social Security, the additional underfunding for Medicare, various commitments and contingencies that the federal government has, the real number is about $65 trillion rather than $18 trillion, and it’s growing automatically absent reforms,” Walker told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 in an interview airing Sunday. The former comptroller general, who is in charge of ensuring federal spending is fiscally responsible, said a burgeoning national debt hampers the ability of government to carry out both domestic and foreign policy initiatives.…

Where does he think dollars comes from? He apparently can't distinguish between the currency issuer and currency users.

He might have a point if he were concerned that there won't be sufficient real resources in the future owing to lack of private and public investment today so that inflation is likely to result down the line.

The Hill
Ex-GAO head: US debt is three times more than you think

Bradford Richardson

David Walker responds to my tweet

He calls himself "Deficit Ranger." Oh brother.

@mikenorman - Your clip is a gross misrepresentation of my interview via selective editing. My comment was on current not L/T solvency. DW

— Dave Walker (@DeficitRanger) December 29, 2013

Says I "misrepresented" him and he was referring to the "long-term" deficit. So, we're going to run out of dollars in the long term, David?

Here's Greenspan.

The blatant lies of Peterson, Walker, Simpson, Bowles

By now we have all seen the sheer, blatant, empty, vicious lies of the likes of Pete Peterson, David Walker, Erskin Bowles, Alan Simpson and the rest of the subversive Deficit Terrorists clan.

This dangerous and destructive group is on course to decimate a national standard of living that was once the envy of the world. Their program is all based on filthy lies and the worst part is, they're going to get away with it.

I'm sure you're all familiar with the clever soundbites and dogmatic propaganda points they use:

"Stabilize the debt, unfunded liabilities, fiscal sustainabillity..."

Listen to that snake, Bowles, as he spews forth his lies in an interview with Charlie Rose

Erskine Bowles: I would say that any of these budget proposals that don't reduce the deficit by at least four trillion dollars over the next decade because that's the minimum amount you need to stabilize the debt and get it on a downward path as a percent of GDP, any of them that don't do that, any of them that don't address defense, any of them that don't address Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and don't reform the tax code, and aren't balanced in some way between that aren't serious. Charlie Rose: Then why do you think people have not come to support Bowles-Simpson? Erskine Bowles: Because it's politically painful. The problems are real. The solutions are all painful. There's no easy way out. And everybody gets the arithmetic, everybody understand the economics, but they have to make tough political choices in order to do it. And as long as people are worshipping the great god of reelection, then we're going to have a hard time getting to the promised land. Erskine Bowles: You know, you got to respect the fact that this is tough, you know, for one side or the other. It's going to be tough for the Republicans to concede the fact that we have to have some additional revenue. It's going to be tough for the Democrats to make the kind of concessions you have to make to make Social Security sustainably solvent. But, we have to do these things in order to put our fiscal house in order for our kids.

They're lies, damn lies and nobody even questions them outside of these pages (and a few other MMT sites).

The other day I showed you how the U.S. redeemed ("paid back") $32 TRILLION in debt in the past six months alone. That's more than twice the entire national debt. Done. Paid off. In six months.

Or how about the fact that we paid back $64 trillion in 2011? That's four times the national debt PAID BACK in just 12 months.

How did we do it? Where did all that money come from? China? Japan? Taxes? Savers? There's not that many dollars in the whole world.

We "got it" by changing numbers in bank accounts. Simple as that. Keystrokes. Or, if you prefer...we "printed" it. Yes, we printed it and guess what? No hyperinflation, no collapse in the dollar, no spike in interest rates. In fact, inflation has been tame, the stock market has been going up, the economy has been growing, jobs were created, interest rates remained at historically low levels and yes, even the dollar rallied.

All the fear mongering and all the hysteria about hyperinflation or us becoming the next Zimbabwe is pure bullshit.

Yet nobody looks at the facts. They just swallow the poisonous Kool Aid of the Debt clan.

Where is Geithner or Bernanke, who surely know that the U.S. paid back that $32 TRILLION?

Timothy Geithner is the Secretary of the Treasury for God's sake!!! Are you kidding me, he knows these figures! These numbers are compiled and reported by his own department. Ben Bernanke knows this, too! But they stay silent. They say nothing, other than to repeat the lies of their masters: "We need to get our fiscal house in order." And this is all the excuse they need to gut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans benefits, education, food stamps, etc.

What a sham!

Now we have this ridiculous debt commission that is proposing their hugely destructive policies designed to address the so-called "unfunded liabilities" of Social Security. Do you know just exactly what those "unfunded liabilities" amount to? They amount to some supposed shortfall of $4.32 trillion 75 years from now! That's right, we just put a bunch of clowns in place to deal with a supposed shortfall of $4.32 trillion SEVENTY-FIVE FUCKING YEARS FROM NOW even though we just paid off 8 times that amount in the last six months!!

The stuff I am telling you is the truth. The stuff you are hearing out of the mouths of Peterson, Walker, Bowles, Simpson and the rest of the Deficit Terrorists clan is not. Nor are the words of the lackey, subservient, politicians who parrot their crap for the promise of some campaign donation, true either.

The bottom line is, the fiscal crisis is a myth. It's a myth manufactured by a bunch of ideological zealots who want nothing more than to steal the wealth of this nation for themselves so they can lord over a bunch of powerless, servile peasants. That would be us.

We have no fiscal crisis in this country. The only crisis we have is that these bastards are in charge. It's time to make that stop.

-Mike Norman

Read It And Weep - Blindfolded Man Walkering

Commentary by Roger Erickson

What'd the Soviets use to yell, endlessly? "We're winning. We're whining. We're winning."

Winning what? The war against group intelligence?
(The Middle Class is now dying to learn which metrics are used to select the "nation's top accountant.")

Don't miss the highlighted phrases. Aside from the comic relief provided by those screamers, the only good news is that fewer people are actually paying any attention to the walkering man.

Nation's former top accountant eyes US debt warily

"The economy is slowly growing, the government's yearly budget deficit falling. But the nation's former top accountant doesn't buy the idea that everything is OK."

"... I'm a patriot who knows math ..."

"... bring in more [fiat] ..."

"I have answers."

Well, responses at least. So did Alice in Wonderland.  Do you suppose David Walker ever heard of Beardsley Ruml? You know, while David was training to be the nation's top accountant? Knowledge of Marriner Eccles' 1936 & 1938 policy explanations might be asking too much of a top accountant. Maybe after David stoops to walking in the Middle Class's fiat, instead of on them.

My email to Terry Keenan of Fox News

Terry did a great job hosting the show today, and she alluded to the real issue when it comes to Social Security and insolvency, somethig no other television anchors understand. I sent her an email:

Terry, Under a non-convertible, floating FX regime, nations can spend any amount they want. Spending is not constrained by tax revenues or even the sale of securities. (The latter functions simply to maintain reserves at a level that supports a desired interest rate. It is not "borrowing," per se.) Every few years we "run out of money" and Congress has to raise the debt ceiling. So they raise the debt ceiling and, guess what? We have money to spend again! It's all by decree. The real debate we should be having in this country (and the one you alluded to in your comment about the currency) is whether or not the crediting of bank accounts to keep the checks from bouncing at some point down the road, will lead to a collapse in the foreign exchange value of the dollar or some kind of runaway inflation. And if so, do we care? That is the real debate, but it is never discussed. I personally know some accountants at the CBO and I have asked them why they keep talking about "insolvency" when under the current structure that is impossible. They say it's because they have to consider the political risk (that Congress WON'T raise the debt ceiling or authorize that the checks get paid). The point is, we CAN do it to ourselves, but it would be like national suicide. I had former Comptroller General David Walker on my radio show last October. I asked him if the nation is facing insolvency and he said, "No!" (The audio clip can be heard on my website, www.pitbulleconomics.com.) So why is Walker going around spending millions telling everyone otherwise? He is a cynical, manipulative, propagandist and a very dangerous guy. If we follow his prescriptions to "fix" SS, we will have a legacy of widespread poverty to hand down to our kids and grandkids. Good show! -Mike Norman

All of you please support Terry as she is one of the most thoughtful and best Fox achors. Tell her she is doing a great job and that having me on is helping to foster real economic education and debunk myths and fallacies. Her email is, terry.keenan@foxnews.com. Thanks.