[kitchencabinetforum] DRUCKENMILLER FAVORS AMERICAN DEFAULT!

Legend Stan Druckenmiller, a one-time partner of George Soros, favors an American default if in exchange lawmakers in Washington struck a deal for massive spending cuts and a medium-term plan to tackle the $1.4 trillion deficit. This has a lot of impact on Republicans. The idea that a short-term default would not be a problem is definitely becoming a mainstream belief. There is only one solution to the dilemma faced by a government over its inability to borrow more money. Shut it down! http://venitism.blogspot.com

Defense spending in the West is over two trillion euros a year. The West spends twice on defense than the rest of the world combined. The West has over 1,000 foreign military bases and station troops in over 150 countries. Much of what passes for defense spending has no recognizable connection to West security. Since maintaining a strong national defense has nothing to do with maintaining a strong offense in every corner of the globe, foreign bases should be shut down.

When the government failed to protect the citizens from terrorists, parliaments responded by creating new services of antiterrorism. But since we already have Ministries of Defense, and the antiterrorist services have become a menace to society, the airlines, like any other business, should provide their own screening and security and the antiterrorist services should be shut down. The government itself is the largest terrorist organization after all!

Moody's warns it would consider cutting the United States' top-notch credit rating if it does not see by mid July substantial progress toward an agreement between the White House and Congress to increase America's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit. Moody's would not immediately downgrade Washington's Triple-A credit if it misses the August 2 deadline. It would wait to see if interest payments were made. http://venitism.blogspot.com

The war on drugs drains 100 billion euros a year. It has destroyed financial privacy, eroded civil liberties, swelled prison populations, turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, failed to reduce drug use, and ruined more lives than drugs themselves. The war on drugs should be shut down.

Many Republicans doubt the August 2 deadline. They argue that if the borrowing cap is not raised by then, the Treasury will have sufficient revenues to service the nation's interest payments and, for a period of time, pay obligations such as Social Security and Medicare. Democrats claim the threat of growing Republican opposition to a debt ceiling rise is a clear negotiating tactic.

The West provides some form of assistance to over 150 countries. Foreign aid loots taxpayers and lines the pockets of foreign kleptocrats. Trillions of euros have been doled out the last quarter of century. And with poverty, unemployment, and crumbling infrastructure in the West, it doesn't even make any sense for kleptocrats to send taxpayer money overseas. Spending on foreign aid should be shut down. It's not yours to give!

Investors assert the government should put debt interest payments ahead of other federal spending, an approach that would allow the government to prioritize obligations while a deal to dramatically cut spending is negotiated. http://venitism.blogspot.com

The West pays half of the regular operating budget of the United Nations and three quarters of the peacekeeping budget. And then there is the money that Western taxpayers are forced to give the World Bank and the IMF. Spending on these globalist organizations should be shut down.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says failure to increase the debt limit by August 2 will lead to a crisis in the markets that could plunge the back into recession. Moreover, $25.6 billion in Treasury interest payments due on August 15 could be in jeopardy if the August 2 deadline is not met.

Western governments own over one billion acres of land, with ownership exceeding 50 percent in some states. All government land should be sold and the Ministries of the Interior should be shut down. http://venitism.blogspot.com

If the United States defaults, money market mutual funds that invest in short-term government bills, considered one of the most secure investments, will break the buck. The resulting losses will spark a bank run of the sort seen when Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.

Internet can replace schools. Aside from that bloated bureaucracy of the ministries of education, there is the National School Lunch Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Pell Grants, research grants to colleges, Erasmus, EIT, and student loans. And since most constitutions are silent on the government's authority to spend one dime on education, spending on education should be shut down.

Some muse the worse that would happen is some form of rolling government shutdown, rather than a real default. The 10-year Treasury note, now around an historically low 3 percent, could quickly jump 40 to 50 basis points if the debt ceiling is breached.

The government regulates and funds health care. Yet, most constitutions authorize not a dime to be spent to do either. This means no Ministries of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, IKA, or funding of laboratories, community health centers, medical research, clinical trials, family planning, vaccinations, or AIDS prevention initiatives. Spending on medical care should be shut down.

The impact on the dollar could be even greater, especially if ratings agencies cut America's credit rating. Foreigners don't buy Treasuries for the yield but for the safe-haven status. If you do your best to blow up that safe-haven status, they won't want the dollar exposure. Their patience is not infinite. It would be a whole new world where people would be less inclined to purchase our debt, finance our deficits, it would definitely be a game changer globally.

The space program funnels billions of taxpayer dollars to privileged scientists, researchers, and contractors. And since space exploration and experimentation are no more legitimate purposes of government than providing health care, they should be shut down.

State insurance is an entitlement program, an income transfer scheme, a wealth redistribution plan, and a Ponzi scheme. It is a welfare program just like unemployment benefits, food stamps, Head Start, farm subsidies, and housing subsidies. State insurance taxes should be abolished and the program should be shut down. http://venitism.blogspot.com