The American Dream is Just a Dream

Uncle Sam is finally paying the Piper. It's a bitch, isn't it. Whenever Americans think about "currency meltdowns," we think about those poor third World Countries in South America who need to be lectured by American economists on how to set their economies right. Well, that was then. This is now:

Hit by a free fall with no end in sight, the once mighty U.S. dollar is no longer just crashing on currency markets and making life more expensive for American tourists and business people abroad; its clout is evaporating worldwide as foreign businesses and individuals turn to other currencies.

The fact that we've spent $500 billion in Iraq (a conservative estimate) has only made fiscal matters worse, because the budget deficit, after declining since 2004, will jump in fiscal year 2008, thus making us more in debt. With debt at $9 trillion, we have little wiggle room to fiscally stimulate our economy with increased domestic spending while keeping a lid on inflation, which has hit a decade high of 4.3%. If the Fed continues to lower the key interest rate, inflation will be controllable and our savings will continue to depreciate. The erosion of our standard living is the biggest threat to the United States. Yes, even bigger than terrorism.

I don't know what to really think about this. I really love this country, but it's so hard to love the United States when it continues to fuck up BIG TIME. I hope people start wising up start critically looking at our government's foreign policy and economic failures and how those two are intertwined. We can start asking right now, even though the White House is defiant on explaining why the purchasing power of the US Dollar continues to decline every day.

From Crooksandliars:

Friday’s White House Press Briefing included two economic advisers to discuss the volatile economic situation here in the US, though they were careful to not paint to dire a picture. Obviously, with crude oil trading at record levels and OPEC releasing a statement blaming the price on the weakness of the American dollar, the media might be expected to ask a question or two. However, White House Spokesperson Dana Perino was not having any of it.

Q I’d like to follow up on their refusal to talk about the dollar, if I could. I mean, we’re in a kind of a bad situation here, when OPEC says the reason for $105 or $106 a barrel of oil is the falling value of the dollar — and you won’t address that issue. Where do we go to find out who is right?

MS. PERINO: Well, as he just said, the Treasury Secretary is where you go to talk about the dollar. It’s a longstanding policy that predates this administration, and I’m not going to change it today. But Treasury can talk about it.

Q I don’t expect you to change it, but I do expect you to be able to say whether OPEC is completely wrong about this, or whether there is at least something to their claim that the dollar is responsible for the high price of oil right now.

MS. PERINO: Wendell, I’m under strict instructions, and have been from the beginning, to not talk about the dollar, and I’m not going to get fired to satisfy your question.