In the meantime, it seems President Obama and Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner are busy playing chicken. While one waits for the other to blink, the rest of us are losing our shirts in the stock market. In the last 3 weeks the Dow has dropped 1,100 points. Many analysts speculate the stock dump will accelerate, as wealthy investors position themselves for a myriad of tax breaks to expire and automatic spending cuts to kick in that could hurl the country back into a recession. Swiss investor, Marc Faber told CNBC: "I think the whole global financial system will have to be reset and it won't be reset by central bankers but by imploding markets." Others play down the looming fiscal cliff and stare instead into a fiscal abyss: the country's 16 trillion dollar debt.
Peter Schiff, CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, believes it's the Federal Reserve policies like quantitative easing (QE1, QE2, and QE3) that will lead to catastrophe. He believes all this money printing will lead to QE3-fueled inflation. "The impact will hit Americans hard. Ultimately, I think we're going see prices skyrocketing."
We will know in a matter of weeks whether or not there are any grown-ups in the room. If not, it could cost the average family roughly 2-3 thousand in new taxes per year! We believe they will manage to co-operate with each other and avoid this fiasco. Maria Bartriromo, CNBC's 'money honey', isn't as optimistic. "Obama has dug in his heels, unwilling to compromise. He's asking for 1.6 trillion in new taxes, double what he asked for last year. If the stock market is a good predictor of what's ahead financially, we may be going off that fiscal cliff."
Meanwhile, life in Israel has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. They are in the midst of an escalation in the latest round of violence between Israel and the Palestinian organization, Hamas, based in the Gaza Strip. As of this writing, Israeli forces are pounding Gaza from the air after Hamas missiles killed three Israeli civilians and sent Tel Aviv residents scrambling for cover. The Israeli Defense Force is calling up reserves ahead of a possible Gaza ground operation. The Hebrew name of the campaign is Amud Anan, which means 'Pillar of Cloud'--a biblical reference to God's taking on the form of a Pillar of Cloud during the Exodus (Exodus 14:24).
Only time will tell how this current skirmish will end. We know from Psalm 83 that eventually Israel will be attacked from every bordering nation and win (with God's help), only to be attacked again by Iran, Russia, and an Islamic coalition. Speaking of Iran, a new IAEA report indicates Tehran is continuing to move its nuclear program deep underground, beyond Israel's ability to reach. The centrifuge count now stands at 2,700.
And then there's the Euro Zone. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans clashed with riot police, as they demanded that governments stop cutting benefits and create more jobs. The protests were met with tear gas.
Oh boy. The problems affecting the world right now are legion. Better start praying, people.
A wise man once said: "My hope despairs; but my despair keeps me hoping!"--Martin Luther
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." -- Matthew 21:22
"And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." --Isaiah 2:4
News:
- Drudge Report: Jobless claims up a staggering 78,000 in the first week after election.
- MSN: Rockets fired on Tel Aviv ramps up speculation of a full-scale war.
- Reuters: U.S. Postal Service has record loss of $15.9 billion; triple last year's loss.
- World News: Spain suspends home evictions for most needy in emergency response to economic crisis.
- Global Markets: Japan cuts economic view for 4th month as recession looms.
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