The Debt Schlemieling

Another deal to extend the debt limit of the U.S. government appears to have been reached. If that’s a surprise to you, then I guess you haven’t been paying attention over the years.

The farce of the “debt ceiling” is simple political theater and nothing more. For decades, cynical politicians have used the imagined “catastrophe of default” as a tool to stoke division and score political points, usually just before major elections. Both sides of The Uniparty will ultimately claim victory, allowing their partisans to rejoice while the public at large gets fleeced.

Completing the absurdity is the fact that the U.S. is now back to a “date certain debt ceiling”. This means that, going forward, there is no hard dollar debt cap. Instead, the U.S. Congress can now simply borrow and spend until January 1, 2025…with no restrictions! And why do these hypocrites do this? Because if they set the new debt limit at just $1T higher, the politicians will blow through that first $1T like crap through a goose, and then we’ll be right back at the “ceiling” by early 2024…and next year is an election year. NO WAY, NO HOW they can allow that! The peasants and sheep might actually notice just how quickly $1T gets flushed down the toilet these days. So, instead, you get this shameful date certain deal. (read more)

What About The Ceiling?

The details are still a bit thin but…..

There is no reduction in the debt on the table. That is, the government refuses to cut spending to less than what it can take in via taxes.

The growth in “mandatory” programs, specifically CMS, is where the problem is as I’ve pointed out for 30 years, all the way back to long before this column was originated and when I was running MCSNet. Its a math problem when you get down to it, but that also means its a serious political problem because waving your arms around will do nothing.

What makes it worse is that all of it is illegal. 15 USC Chapter 1 makes what our medical and pharmaceutical firms do on a daily basis federal felonies carrying 10 year prison terms — for each person screwed, and each occurrence. Two decisions, Royal Drug (440 U.S. 205 (1979)) and Maricopa County (457 U.S. 332 (1982)) both found that there is no immunity from anti-trust law for medical providers, medical “insurance” companies or drug companies.

None.

These decisions have stood unchallenged since 1982. No statute has modified them. The cited claim of immunity in the first (McCarran-Ferguson) was disposed of as not applicable, so that sort of claim regarding insurance firms is void too as res judicata (already decided.)

Neither political party nor any of the States have in the 40 years since prosecuted anyone for these violations, nor sent anyone to prison — including those who got slapped for doing it in the cases that went to the court originally themselves. None have forced the end of discriminatory pricing practices.  California has gone even further and claimed authority to enact same at a state level despite the Supreme Court throwing up all over what they did in the 1982 decision prior to the state’s act and nobody has gone after them either.

We cannot resolve the fiscal mess in the United States without resolving this. 

https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=248919