Identity Theft

I have not been the victim of identity theft, but I know that fear which comes from misplacing a wallet or credit card, and being worried that it might lead to such. I have also received a letter from the investment firm that my former employer retained to handle the retirement funds which explained that they had "misplaced" some backup media, and that the employees identity records might be at risk. So it is a real concern for almost anyone these days.

What is the worst that could happen? You receive a letter in the mail some afternoon which recounts that you are in debt to some bank or credit card company for $20K, $30K, or even $50K, and that your credit score is now 52 (out of 850 ... I think my neighbor's dog has a credit score of 200). Can you imagine that? To suddenly wake up one morning and find that you are suddenly in debt $50K, and you had never bought a thing? You never even heard of this company.

Scary, isn't it!

Well, if you are not sitting down, do so.

The national debt just topped $14 TRILLION. That is $14,000,000,000,000.00.

There are about 350,000,000 people in the United States. So, as of this month, every man, woman, and child now ows

$14,000,000,000,000.00 / 350,000,000 = $40,000.00

So, if you are an average family with 4 people, that is $160,000.00 that you owe.

And that is if the government does not spend another penny for the rest of your lives.

The government does not have a stash of money somewhere. Every penny they spend comes out of our pockets, out of our childrens' pockets, out of our grandchildrens' pockets, and at this point, out of our great-grandchildrens' pockets.

If someone came up to me on the street and asked me for a $1 for a cup of coffee, I would not begrudge them $1, I would either give it to them, or take them to McD's for a burger and fries (and I have done both before). However, if someone came up to me and demanded that I dig into my grandchildrens' college fund to buy them a car, I would tell them to take a long walk off a short pier. Oh, unless it was cash for clunkers ... then I would have to give it to them.

Here's how that whole thing works: Ed has $100, Bob and Joe each have $10. Fred comes along and runs for office that he will tax the rich and make everything better. So Bob and Joe vote for him while Ed does not. Fred wins with 75% majority (he voted for himself), and he takes $90 from Ed and gives $5 to Bob, Joe, and Ed, and pockets the other $75. So now Bob, Joe, and Ed each have $15 amd Fred has $75, and everyone is happy except Ed.

That is all fine and dandy until next round, when Bob, Joe, and Ed have $15, and Fred has spent his $75. He comes back to take some more money, but there isn't the big pile that there was the first time through, so he goes to Lou the loan shark and takes out a loan for $90 in Bob, Joe, and Ed's names, and gives them each another $5 and pockets $75. It is a miracle, he has "created" money. Bob and Joe are happy because they got another $5. Ed is a little leary because he knows what happened the first time, and wonders when things will hit the fan.

Things go fine and dandy for a little while, then the loan comes due, and Bob, Joe, and Ed, with $60 between them are now faced with a bill for $100 (that includes intrest), and they don't have the other $40. Lou tells them that they have the choice of selling themselves into servitude or getting shot in the kneecaps.

Folks, in the real world, they just raised the debt ceiling to $14 Trillion ... Fred has just gone to the loan shark and gotten a loan in our names. We have a choice, when Fred comes to give us our $5, we can take it and wait for Lou to come and offer us slavery or amputation, or we can kick Fred out on his can, take back the money in his pocket and pay back Lou before the loan comes due.

Bill Gates is worth something around $50 Billion. If there were 200 Bill Gates, and the government took ALL their monies. That would still only be $10 Trillion. We would still be $4 Trillion short of being able to pay this off. There are just not enough millionaires and billionaires in this country to pay off all that debt.

In the 1980s, the villians used to be the millionaires, they were the "evil rich" who should be the target of the governmental "Robin Hoods" who would, on our behalf, steal from the rich and give to the poor, us. Then, in the 1990s, some brilliant politician reasoned that if you made $250K a year for 4 years, that was a million dollars, so, in essence, you were a millionaire. The new magic number for the evil rich dropped to $250K. (I hesitate to make this following point for fear that some clever politician will pick it up and run with it ...) Do you realize that if you make $100K for 10 years, that also is a million dollars, so those making $100K are then millionaires. For that matter, if you make $20K for 50 years, that is a million dollars, that makes you a millionaire, too (even though that is about $10K below the poverty level). Ergo, we need to raise the taxes on everyone making over $20K per year, because YOU my friend, have now become part of the "evil rich" millionaires' club. Quake in your boots, I heard that the IRS is looking for thousands of shot guns to help them in those difficult-to-collect cases.

If your child has a piggy bank, I recommend that you hide it quickly, before the census takers get a look at it and report you to the IRS for possible undeclared income.

Buz