[ExI] Warren Buffett is worried too and thinks Republicans are "asinine"

spike spike66 at att.net
Sat Oct 19 15:01:17 UTC 2013


>... On Behalf Of BillK
Subject: Re: [ExI] Warren Buffett is worried too and thinks Republicans are
"asinine"

On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 2:44 PM, spike wrote:
>> ...So the one feller who said it then was elected president and the other
feller who is saying the same thing now is having his life threatened.  What
changed?  spike


>...Obama got elected...

BillK, I would accept your notion, except for the following:

>... saw the secret set of accounts...

Except that none of it is secret.  These numbers are all right out on the
table.  We have heard whispers and conspiracy theorist rumors that there is
no gold in Ft. Knox, that it has been secretly spirited away in the night
and sold.  But we can see that under the current borrowing rate, it doesn't
matter all that much whether it has or has not.  Its total value is a couple
months of borrowing, eight weeks.  We spent more time that that arguing over
borrowing more money.  None of this is secret.

>...was briefed on how bad the situation actually is...

We are all briefed now on how bad the situation actually is.  Once we get to
where we are borrowing a fully stocked nuclear aircraft carrier every five
days, it scarcely matters if we are briefed that the real situation is
really a nuke carrier every two days.

None of this is secret however.  Anyone who is paying attention sees that
more people successfully signed up for a one-way trip to Mars than have
signed up for the new heath care entitlement for which our government nearly
defaulted in order to sustain.  Is the real situation really worse than
that?  If so, even I would switch sides.  
  
>... and the approaching cataclysm...

At least that would explain why  the government is buying up all that ammo.

>... So he was told that there was no option but to try and keep things
going as long as possible, while preparing as best he could against domestic
insurrection and foreign attacks...

If that were the case, I have a hard time explaining why he didn't agree to
delay the opt-out penalty for not buying health insurance, or offer some
compromise which would buy them a few more weeks.

>...A crisis postponed means it is somebody else's problem. That seems to be
the way cities, states and most of the world is currently operating.  BillK

Ja.  BillK, how are the Brits doing?  Are you guys balancing your books
these days?  Eugen, how are the Germans doing?  Anders, Swedes?  Italians
present?  Where did all our ExI-talians go?  You guys used to chatter a lot
here, we enjoyed that.  Are you guys balancing the books?  Anyone anywhere
else?  Do chime in here please.

I have some practical optimism to apply in this case however.

Right now we are borrowing a nuke carrier a week, but we are getting in
return container ships of cheapy manufactured goods from China, which goes
to stock our Walmarts.  And everywhere else for that matter.  Soon they will
tell us "No more borrow, Round Eyes.  You pay now."  Then we will be mostly
without factories, for we don't do that kind of dirty work much in this
pristine country.  So I can imagine we will get extremely creative with
making do on the stuff we currently have, analogous to the way Cuba is so
masterful at keeping 50s and 60s era American cars running all this time,
after the communist revolution stopped imports of those items.  With the
help of the internet, we can trade used stuff far more efficiently and do
with far less than we have now, while still having a decent life.

spike




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