While the spin doctors are trying their best to keep everyone from panic, the same people that brought us “it’s the economy, stupid” are also reporting major layoffs all over the country and still talking about “soft landings” and comparisons to minor recessions few even recall.

Just remember, media people live in an ivory tower where they spend most of their time talking to each other and where they can’t see the forest for the trees. With an irrational confidence in the spoken word, their own sword so to speak, they even resort to blaming our new President for possibly causing recession by making negative statements about the economy and pushing his own interest in a promised tax cut. You are better off if you don’t listen to them. We haven’t had investigative journalism since Woodward and Bernstein exposed Nixon. Even then, they left us a juicy legend of Watergate that overwhelmed the fact that Nixon started relations with communist China and took us off the gold standard.

A few economists like 88 year old Sir John Templeton are warning of another crash like the 1929 start of the 10 year Great Depression. A time when people carrying debt lost their farms and homes, the rate of population growth dropped more than in half, and we stalled off helping Europe fight Hitler until recovery was well underway, France was occupied, Germans were deep into Russia, and the axis Japs did their thing in December of 1941.

Finally beginning to realize that Alan Greenspeak does not sit at the right hand of God, many are realizing that the federal government does not have a whole lot to do with an economy resting on the sweat equity of working people and private enterprise. Some, like Ron Paul (R-Texas) are starting to criticize the Federal Reserve. A privately owned system of central banking that cannot do much more than regulate banking’s interest rates and create a little fiat money with its accumulation of Treasury securities auctioned on the open market.

These are all long overdue points, and it’s a good thing they’re coming out, but it doesn’t do much good to talk about a lack of maintenance when the ship is sinking.

Take Heart, it could be worse

No matter how bad it gets, the American people still have several things working for them, not the least of which is the fact that the economy belongs to you, not the government. Washington's Beltway Bandits don’t do much of anything constructive.

In the worst of times, the Great Depression of the Thirties, the stock market still managed to return a minimum of three percent on investment. You may have thought you were making a quick killing, but you should stay in for the long haul. If possible, hang on to what you’ve already got invested and have faith in the fact that there are still 140 million Americans working to make this country great. If you buy anything, buy American. And support your local independents as much as you can. The big chains only came to town because they saw the dollar volume for their restaurant atmosphere and discounted fringe quality products. Shop quality for a change, even if it means buying less.

If you are carrying debt, get out of it as fast as you can. Thousands lost their farms and homes when they couldn’t make payments during the Thirties. Debt is not good for you anyway. Make arrangements with your creditors. Re-finance if you can and get it on paper.

Think of what you own in a positive sense. And remember that your representative federal government has been screwing you for at least twenty years. They’ve been stealing 16 percent of your entitlement payments to Social Security since 1983 when the supplemental walking money retirement plan was taken off the pay-as-you-go system and put on a “partial reserve” system.

A partial reserve was a great idea if the surplus money had been invested wisely. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Instead, your federal government used it to beat the Russians into the ground economically and win the Cold War. Then they kept right on by building a false economy based on debt that has reached phenomenal proportions, all in the last twenty years.

Today, the amounts they can steal from Social Security and other entitlements have reached unbelievable proportions. Your retirement, health care, gas, airport, unemployment, and dozens of other entitlement overpayments have reached the point where the government can play Scrooge McDuck with trillions in expected extra revenue over the next ten years. They can use it to pay off trillions they borrowed from investors that would otherwise take at least thirty years under a normal debt reduction schedule like your mortgage.

While your energy bills have tripled, brown outs are occurring in California first, major industries have moved south of the border, layoffs are happening all around you, and gas prices are due to go up even further—your federal government is bragging about, gloating, and arguing over trillions they expect to steal from you in the next ten years. The crime is obvious to everyone (except the media and free press, of course).

We’ve been giving them billions in real entitlement money that they spend wherever they want, while giving us debt in return. They award us funny-money nonsense bonds that they stuff in trust funds that aren’t lock-boxes. How else do you think the Social Security Trust Fund got to be 18 percent of the National Debt, and rising???

Think of it this way. Instead of investing in the stock market, you could have given that money to the government. Then, instead of just going broke or down to a three percent return, you would actually be in the hole more than 130 percent. Not only do they give you debt in return for your money, they add compound debt on top if it, calling it “interest” that helps “preserve and extend the life of Social Security.” The pay-it-again, Sam plan or double taxation with compound debt added annually.

Best of all, massive layoffs and high unemployment will make their surplus evaporate. They won’t have trillions to worry about. And they may even have to take money out of their general fund if the Social Security Administration wants to cash in some the of $1.016 trillion worth of nonsense bonds being held. That will really shake up the politicians and cause them to go bananas again. They’ll probably double payroll taxes for those left with a job.