What’s Dead (Short Answer: All Of It)

Dandelion Salad

By Karl Denninger
The Market Ticker
Thursday, 05 March 2009

Just so you have a short list of what’s at stake if Washington DC doesn’t change policy here and now (which means before the collapse in equities comes, which could start as soon as today, if the indicators I watch have any validity at all. For what its worth, those indicators are painting a picture of the Apocalypse that I simply can’t believe, and they’re showing it as an imminent event – like perhaps today imminent.)

* All pension funds, private and public, are done. If you are receiving one, you won’t be. If you think you will in the future, you won’t be. PBGC will fail as well. Pension funds will be forced to start eating their “seed corn” within the next 12 months and once that begins there is no way to recover.

[…]

Tax receipts are cratering and will continue to.  I expect total tax receipts to fall to under $1 trillion within the next 12 months.  Combined with the impossibility of continued debt issue (rollover will only remain possible at the short duration Treasury has committed to over the last ten years if they cease new issue) a 66% cut in the Federal Budget will become necessary.  This will require a complete repudiation of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, a 50% cut in the military budget and a 50% across-the-board cut in all other federal programs.  That will likely get close.

[…]

via What’s Dead (Short Answer: All Of It) – The Market Ticker (no longer available)

available here: http://www.321gold.com/editorials/denninger/denninger030909.html

see

When Securitization Blew Up; So Did the Economy By Mike Whitney

Richard C. Cook on Alex Jones 03.03.09

Modern Money Mechanics Federal Reserve

Inflation and the Dollar’s crash (2008)

America’s Fiscal Collapse by Michel Chossudovsky

The “Great Financial Crisis”: A whole new kind of struggle is emerging by Mike Whitney

Social Collapse Best Practices by Dmitry Orlov