Most Americans may not realize how much money they’re loaning to George W. Bush so he can expand his military empire, send more troops to Iraq, build more cluster bombs, carry on more invasions, and bring more misery to the world.

These loans to the government are made by 401(k) and IRA managers, insurance companies, plus retirement and investment houses that truly believe they are doing something good when they invest some of their member’s money in treasuries by buying what was once known as “the safest investment in the world,” U. S. Treasuries or federal bonds, bills, notes, and savings bonds.

If the American people really wanted to put an end to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, they would stop supporting this crazy venture with their money. They would find out how much each of their retirement accounts have in treasuries and tell their managers – no more. Stop buying debt instruments that loan money to madmen and put our fellow citizens further in debt.

Better yet, they can tell these managers to get rid of every treasury they’re now holding. Treasuries are “cashable” at any time with the accompanying loss of minor interest. Invest elsewhere. For a change, this action will take money away from the government.

By far, this is the most important thing average Americans can do to stop the war. Without money, the government can do little.

This is also the proper action for a majority that just voted us “out of Iraq” by putting the democrats in charge of Congress. Unfortunately, the demos haven't been able to do much and have, in effect, recently approved the $128 billion in extra war spending that Bush has been insisting upon.

till, we shouldn’t give up on the democrats, not yet. They have another chance coming up in the form of the debt limit and this time it’s the democrats that have a “contract with America” in their pockets. This time it’s the democrats that can shut down the federal government simply by refusing to raise the debt limit.

By the middle of May, Henry Paulson and Bernard Bernanke will be pleading with Congress to raise the national debt limit another trillion or so. And they’ll be taking to the airwaves to warn all of us of what will happen if they don’t get this authority to borrow; how the al Qaeda have been waiting for an opportunity to destroy our economy; and unless we help him, how poor George is going to be hamstrung by those democratic fiends in Congress.

How long will the democrats last? How long can they hold out? And that’s assuming they have the nerve to take on the challenge and do what the republicans did to them in the late months of 1995. And the controversy at that time was for the democrats to agree to a date to balance the budget. This time we should at least come away with a date for withdrawing our troops from Iraq.

The only thing that made treasuries the “safest investment in the world” in the first place was the fact that they were backed by every taxpaying citizen in the country. Now that these same citizens have a negative savings rate for the first time since 1933, things are considerably different. We are no longer one of the richest countries in the world. We are the world’s greatest debtor nation.

More than thirty countries, including China and Japan who have loaned us the most, have already abandoned the dollar. More do the same every day, while others scatter their investment money.

So far, China and Japan are being nice to us. Instead of dumping their treasuries, they are letting us down easy. Either nation could bankrupt us overnight by “cashing in” about a trillion in securities loans and raw cash from our outlandish trade deficit. 

Meanwhile, what passes for news in this country is hoping that the problem will simply go away if they don’t talk about it. And Americans would rather hear about the trials and tribulations of Anna Nicole Smith or the ranting of Don Inus.

Summary

Every cowboy knows that if he drives his horse to exhaustion, if the loyal animal is lying there with a broken leg, it’s the cowboy’s duty to put him down. Unpleasant as it is, you don’t turn that final task over to someone else.

Therefore, if you have any qualms about “cashing-in” U.S. Treasury bonds bought in your name – forget about it. Would you rather a stranger deliver the coup de gras?