CHRISTmas 2011

SCARY STUFF - WAKE UP!

50 Economic Numbers From 2011 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

---

Even though most Americans have become very frustrated with this economy, the reality is that the vast majority of them still have no idea just how bad our economic decline has been or how much trouble we are going to be in if we don't make dramatic changes immediately.

If we do not educate the American people about how deathly ill the U.S. economy has become, then they will just keep falling for the same old lies that our politicians keep telling them. Just "tweaking" things here and there is not going to fix this economy. We truly do need a fundamental change in direction. America is consuming far more wealth than it is producing and our debt is absolutely exploding.

If we stay on this current path, an economic collapse is inevitable. Hopefully the crazy economic numbers from 2011 that I have included in this article will be shocking enough to wake some people up.

At this time of the year, a lot of families get together, and in most homes the conversation usually gets around to politics at some point. Hopefully many of you will use the list below as a tool to help you share the reality of the U.S. economic crisis with your family and friends. If we all work together, hopefully we can get millions of people to wake up and realize that "business as usual" will result in a national economic apocalypse.

The following are 50 economic numbers from 2011 that are almost too crazy to believe....

#1 A staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be "low income" or are living in poverty.

#2 Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be "low income" or impoverished.

#3 If the number of Americans that "wanted jobs" was the same today as it was back in 2007, the "official" unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.

#4 The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks.

#5 One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.

#6 There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.

#7 Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% once you account for inflation.

#8 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.

#9 A Gallup poll from earlier this year found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed.

#10 According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.

#11 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#12 Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July, only 81.2 percent of men in that age group had a job.

#13 One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.

#14 The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of U.S. households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.

#15 According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.

#16 As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.

#17 The U.S. Postal Service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past year.

#18 In Stockton, California home prices have declined 64 percent from where they were at when the housing market peaked.

#19 Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 59 months in a row.

#20 If you can believe it, the median price of a home in Detroit is now just $6000.

#21 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63 percent larger than it was just ten years ago.

#22 New home construction in the United States is on pace to set a brand new all-time record low in 2011.

#23 As I have written about previously, 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 are now living with their parents.

#24 Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.

#25 According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%.

#26 One study found that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

#27 If you can believe it, one out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.

#28 The United States spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the United States.

#29 It is being projected that the U.S. trade deficit for 2011 will be 558.2 billion dollars.

#30 The retirement crisis in the United States just continues to get worse. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46 percent of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29 percent of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.

#31 Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below the federal poverty line.

#32 According to a study that was just released, CEO pay at America's biggest companies rose by 36.5% in just one recent 12 month period.

#33 Today, the "too big to fail" banks are larger than ever. The total assets of the six largest U.S. banks increased by 39 percent between September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2011.

#34 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have a net worth that is roughly equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans combined.

#35 According to an analysis of Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 35.

#36 If you can believe it, 37 percent of all U.S. households that are led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero or less than zero.

#37 A higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty (6.7%) than has ever been measured before.

#38 Child homelessness in the United States is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007.

#39 Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent.

#40 Sadly, child poverty is absolutely exploding all over America. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.

#41 Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.

#42 In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for more than 18 percent of all income.

#43 A staggering 48.5% of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.

#44 Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.

#45 For fiscal year 2011, the U.S. federal government had a budget deficit of nearly 1.3 trillion dollars. That was the third year in a row that our budget deficit has topped one trillion dollars.

#46 If Bill Gates gave every single penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days.

#47 Amazingly, the U.S. government has now accumulated a total debt of 15 trillion dollars. When Barack Obama first took office the national debt was just 10.6 trillion dollars.

#48 If the federal government began right at this moment to repay the U.S. national debt at a rate of one dollar per second, it would take over 440,000 years to pay off the national debt.

#49 The U.S. national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.

#50 During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.

Of course the heart of our economic problems is the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a perpetual debt machine, it has almost completely destroyed the value of the U.S. dollar and it has an absolutely nightmarish track record of incompetence. If the Federal Reserve system had never been created, the U.S. economy would be in far better shape. The federal government needs to shut down the Federal Reserve and start issuing currency that is not debt-based. That would be a very significant step toward restoring prosperity to America.

During 2011 we made a lot of progress in educating the American people about our economic problems, but we still have a long way to go.

Hopefully next year more Americans than ever will wake up, because 2012 is going to represent a huge turning point for this country.

Separation of Church and State?

Separation of Church and State?

article by Scott Ashley

Some people believe that the U.S. Constitution forbids any connection between religion and government - or, as it's popularly known, separation of church and state. American history, however, clearly proves otherwise.


Source: CorbisThe website for the U.S. Library of Congress contains a lengthy history of Christian church services being held in the most recognizable of government buildings—the U.S. Capitol building, where the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives meet! Notice these excerpts from a portion of the site titled "Religion and the Federal Government" (emphasis added throughout):

"It is no exaggeration to say that on Sundays in Washington during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) and of James Madison (1809-1817) the state became the church. Within a year of his inauguration, Jefferson began attending church services in the House of Representatives. Madison followed Jefferson's example . . . Worship services in the House . . . continued until after the Civil War . . . Preachers of every Protestant denomination appeared. (Catholic priests began officiating in 1826.) . . . Throughout his administration Jefferson permitted church services in executive branch buildings. The Gospel was also preached in the Supreme Court chambers.

"Jefferson's actions may seem surprising because his attitude toward the relation between religion and government is usually thought to have been embodied in his recommendation that there exist "a wall of separation between church and state." In that statement, Jefferson was apparently declaring his opposition, as Madison had done in introducing the Bill of Rights, to a 'national' religion. In attending church services on public property, Jefferson and Madison consciously and deliberately were offering symbolic support to religion as a prop for republican government."

The site includes descriptions of religious services also being held in the U.S. Treasury Building (by several denominations) and the Supreme Court chamber, and notes that for a time the U.S. Marine Band provided musical accompaniment for hymns at worship services in the U.S. Capitol building.



The Religious Roots of America's Founding Fathers

The Religious Roots of America's Founding Fathers

Article by Jerold Aust

Were the Founding Fathers of the United States believers in God and the Bible? Were they religious and devout men who believed in and did their best to follow Jesus Christ?
The presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to congress on June 28, 1776.
Source: Painting courtesy of the Architect of the CapitolSome try to argue that America's Founding Fathers weren't particularly religious men and certainly weren't Christian.

One writer states, "The early presidents and patriots were generally deists or Unitarians . . . rejecting the divinity of Jesus and the relevance of the Bible" (Steven Morris, "America's Unchristian Beginnings," The Los Angeles Times, Aug. 3, 1995).
Another author argues, "Most of our other patriarchs were at best deists, [not] believing in . . . the God of the Old and New Testaments" (Michael Macdonald, "Founding Fathers Weren't Devout," The Charlotte Observer, Jan. 15, 1993).
Even one notable historian claims that "the Founding Fathers were at most deists"—men who did not believe in divine revelation or that God was active in His creation (Gordon Wood, "The Radical Revolution: An Interview With Gordon Wood," interview by Fredric Smoler, American Heritage, December 1992, p. 52).

But what is the truth of the matter?

A large part of the problem is that American children are no longer taught about the religious faith of the nation's Founding Fathers, as was common at one time. An 1848 textbook, in use for decades, was titled Signers of the Declaration of Independence. It included a biography of each of the signers of the 1776 document declaring separation from Britain (celebrated annually on July 4), openly discussing the Christian beliefs and faith of many of them.

Many readers have probably seen John Trumbull's famous painting of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence to Congress, which is in the U.S. Capitol rotunda and appears on the U.S. two-dollar bill. While space doesn't allow us to describe the beliefs of all 56 signers (at least 50 of whom were Christian), we'll take a look at a sampling of them—some well known, others not so recognizable.

When we consider the backgrounds of these men, the truth of the religious roots of America's Founding Fathers becomes obvious.

John Witherspoon

"John Witherspoon . . . was an ordained minister of the Gospel, published several books of Gospel sermons, and played major roles in two American editions of the Bible, including one from 1791 that is considered America's first family Bible" (David Barton, A Spiritual Heritage Tour of the United States Capitol, 2000, p. 23).


Charles Thomson

"Charles Thomson was the Secretary of Congress, and he and John Hancock were the only two to sign the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Charles Thomson is another Founder responsible for an American edition of the Bible. That Bible—called Thomson's Bible—was the first translation of the Greek Septuagint into English. It took Charles Thomson twenty-five years to complete his translation, but even today that work is still considered one of the more scholarly American translations of the Bible" (p. 24).


Benjamin Rush

Many Founding Fathers rated Benjamin Rush alongside George Washington and Ben Franklin. He started America's first Bible society, the Bible Society of Philadelphia. Dr. Rush "pointed out that with a Bible, every individual could discover how to have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ; second, he argued that if every individual owned a Bible—and would study and obey it—that all of our social problems, including crime, slavery, etc., would diminish" (p. 26).


Charles Carroll

Charles Carroll died in 1832 at the age of 95, the last of the 56 signers. On his 89th birthday he declared, "On the mercy of my Redeemer I rely for salvation, and on His merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to His precepts" (p. 24). Carroll also personally funded a Christian house of worship.


Richard Stockton

Captured by the British and later released, a dying Richard Stockton penned his last will and testament to his children, which became a living testimony to his faith in God.
He extolled the greatness of God and His divinity and the completeness of the redemption purchased by Jesus Christ. He encouraged his children to a habitual virtuous life, living by faith. He charged his children to exhibit the fear of God, which he viewed as the beginning of wisdom, and that "all occasions of vice and immorality is injurious either immediately or consequentially—even in this life" (p. 28).


Francis Hopkinson

Francis Hopkinson was a church music director, a choir leader and editor of one of the first hymnals printed in America. He set all 150 psalms to music.


John Hancock

John Hancock, whose large signature on the Declaration of Independence is now a byword for fidelity, loyalty, courage and commitment, served as a president of Congress during the Revolution and later as governor of Massachusetts.

As governor, on October 15, 1791, Hancock issued a proclamation for prayer, asking especially "that universal happiness may be established in the world; [and] that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with His glory" (p. 30). Hancock issued other evangelical proclamations to honor God.

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams has been called "the Father of the American Revolution." As governor of Massachusetts, he also issued strong proclamations, one of which closed with a request to pray "that the peaceful and glorious reign of our Divine Redeemer may be known and enjoyed throughout the whole family of mankind" (p. 31).
Adams often repeated such requests, as in 1797, which asked that the people pray for "speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all the people willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is the Prince of Peace" (pp. 31-32).

George Washington

George Washington, though not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was military commander-in-chief during the Revolutionary War.

When Great Britain signed the peace treaty ending the Revolutionary War, General Washington immediately resigned his commission to return to private life. He then sent a letter to the governors of the 13 states informing them of his resignation, closing with a prayer for the States and governors:

"I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you and the State over which you preside in His holy protection, that He would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, to entertain a brotherly affection and a love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field, and finally, that He would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that character, humility, and [peaceful] temper of the mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation" (p. 35).



We could cite and show numerous other examples that could fill many pages of this magazine. Suffice it to say that the more one studies into the origins of the founding of the United States of America, the more one learns of the nation's true biblical roots!

.Article Originally Posted in

Good News Magazine

http://www.gnmagazine.org/