11 Signs That The U.S. Government Has Become An Overgrown Monstrosity
But it wasn't just AIG that got bailed out. A number of big banks may have gone under if not for the U.S. government. The U.S. government decidedthat they were "too big to fail". Well, what about all the small banks that are going under? The truth is that they are "too small to bother with". We now live in a nation where the U.S. government is the one who decides which banks live and which banks die like dogs. Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
#7) The Bailout Of General Motors
But not only does the federal government bail out financial institutions - it is also now in the car business. Yes, grand old General Motors may have ended up on the scrap heap of history if not for the U.S. government stepping in. So if you work for General Motors or if you work for any company that does business with General Motors, you can thank Uncle Sam for the fact that you still have a job.
#8) The Bailouts Of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
If the U.S. government had not bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we may not have much of a mortgage industry at this point at all. According to Inside Mortgage Finance, government-related entities backed 96.5% of all home loans during the first quarter of 2010, which was up from 90% in 2009. So if you borrowed money to buy a home over the past couple of years, there is a very strong likelihood that the U.S. government was involved.
#9) The U.S. Government - The Nation's Biggest Employer
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 2 million civilians work for the federal government, excluding the Postal Service. When you add in all U.S. military personnel, that number goes much higher.
The truth is that as the government continues to expand (become more bloated), more Americans than ever are hopping aboard the gravy train. Today, the average federal worker now earns about twice as much as the average worker in the private sector. So if you want to do little work, produce little of real value and enjoy super cushy benefits, maybe you should apply for a job with the federal government too.
#10) Millions Of Americans Are Employed By Firms That Rely On Government Contracts
When considering the impact of the U.S. government on the economy, you can't forget the hundreds of companies that would go out of business if their U.S. government contracts were taken away. There are literally millions of people who work for companies that do business with the government. If the government disappeared it would cause economic chaos for those firms. The truth is that a whole lot of people make a really good living plugging into the sweetest revenue source of them all - the U.S. government.
#11) The U.S. Government Takeover Of The Health Care System
The U.S. government takeover of the health care system is going to fundamentally change the economics of the health care industry. The U.S. government will now play a major role in deciding which hospitals get built and which do not. Approximately 17% of U.S. GDP is spent on health care, and now the U.S. government has unprecedented control over where that money goes. Over a dozen new taxes have been established by the new health care reform law, and the U.S. government is going to pour an unprecedented amount of money into the system. So will this result in all of us getting better health care? We'll just have to wait and see.
The truth is that the Founding Fathers never envisioned a federal government that completely dominated that national economy. But that is what we have got. As of now, only a very small percentage of Americans are still able to say that they are completely financially independent of the U.S. government.
You see, in economic terms the U.S. government is not just the elephant in the room. It is the elephant that sat on the room and nearly suffocated everything else out of existence.
As Americans, we live in an economy that is so intertwined with the government that it is impossible to separate the two anymore.
But the really bad news is that the U.S. government is in massive financial trouble. According to one new report, the U.S. national debt will reach 100 percent of GDP by the year 2015. Many economists regard that as an incredibly dangerous threshold to cross.
If U.S. government finances collapse, it will mean the collapse of the entire U.S. economy as well. There is simply no separating the two. And considering the fact that the U.S. government has piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world, things don't look promising.
America is headed for an unprecedented economic collapse, and the U.S. government is leading the way. If you can get financially independent, now is the time to try to do that, but the reality is that we will all feel massive economic pain when this thing comes crashing down.
Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
