An Election Won’t Stop the Dollar Collapse

Updated on

The first time I realized I hated politics was in 1977. Jimmy Carter interrupted my regularly scheduled prime-time enjoyment on a weeknight to share with the American people something I’m sure was probably stupid. Or important. Doesn’t matter. He was raining on my after-homework parade.

I largely feel the same way today. I hate politics. Politicians, too. I spent too much time with them as a daily newspaper reporter in Louisiana, Southern California and Dallas. They’re loathsome critters, really. Pompous. Arrogant. Conceited. Self-centered. Windbags of flatulent verbosity. And often not as smart as they assume they are. Sadly, that’s their better side.

Which is why I dread the next 15 months — a nonstop drama of verbal diarrhea from a collection of has-beens, wannabes, never-will-bes and Donald Trump.

Regardless of the names, we assuredly face four more years of Democrats in the White House, probably eight (most likely, H.R. Clinton), because just about every carnival freak on the Republican side of the ledger (and most definitely Hair Trump and Carly “Dick Cheney in a Bra” Fiorina), are doing all that they can to assure that the Grand Old Party fails to reclaim 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Nothing like pandering to zealots and warmongers while alienating middle-of-the-road independent voters who now determine all elections.

Good or bad, I’m not sure. Democrat, Republican … two animals of the same stripe. One is black with white stripes, the other white with black stripes.

Ultimately, who becomes America’s next Grand Pooh-Bah is kinda pointless — because whoever it is (short of, maybe, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is at least a centrist) will still be bad for me and you, and both of our pocketbooks. And certainly not so good for the dollar.

Arguably, what we need most in America is a political enema.

We need to expel the caustic buildup of political dogma on the right and left — the excessive religiosity, the excessive militarism and the excessive welfarism that has defined us now for the last decade and a half, if not longer.

Alas, that’s not going to change. No reason to dwell on it.

I’ll stick to reality.

No matter what horse (or horse-like animal) wins the race next November, we face the same old, same old — a deep partisan divide that will not be forded. One party will control the White House, only to be blocked by intransigence in Congress. Don’t get me wrong; the intransigence is necessary. Over the last two decades, both parties have shown that power rots the mind. Majorities for either party have roundly screwed things up worse than they were.

In the wake of the next election, the necessary reforms that lawmakers need to implement will not be implemented. The reductions in government regulation necessary to jump-start a small-business sector that’s now atrophying will not be reduced. Reliance on lobbyists and special interests will only deepen. Debts will continue to expand. Budget deficits will continue to grow.

None of this is good for the green paper in your wallet — especially as it points to a dollar collapse.

Would You Invest in This Company?

Given that every currency in the world is now a fiat currency — i.e. just a piece of paper — the dollar’s value is no different than the value afforded to pieces of paper printed with names such as Google or IBM … or Kodak. It’s a reflection of the financial fundamentals underlying the company, and the fundamentals underlying this company — America Inc. — are tenuous, and growing more so by the year.

Consider all that management has inflicted on us in recent years:

  • Dodd-Frank is a shackle imposing massively negative impacts on the U.S. banking sector — and it’s doing the same to mortgage finance.
  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is making up rules as it goes along and imposing costs on the system (this according to highly placed bankers I’ve talked to who deal directly with the CFPB).
  • The Justice Department is squeezing businesses out of existence through its onerous regulations.
  • The EPA has proposed regulations that would see national parks violate clean-air standards, and it has been caught secretly teamed up with environmental groups to expand the agency’s power at a huge cost to business.
  • Congress has enacted myriad programs that cost the economy jobs and have extended our debt to ultimately unsupportable levels — such as Obamacare, unwarranted wars, broad expansion of the welfare system, Baby Bush’s prescription-drug plan and his overzealous tax cuts, among others.
  • We have more than $18 trillion in national debt, closer to $120 trillion when you lump in a litany of unfunded liabilities.

Four more years of present management, and then four more after that, will not be good for our company and, thus, not so good for our stock — our dollar.

The buck is strong now, but only because it’s two key rivals — the euro and the yen — have their own existential threats to battle. The healthiest runt in a litter of runts looks like a blue-ribbon pig … but, alas, it’s still just a runt.

Of course, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Republicans win the White House. Maybe Republicans and Democrats in Congress find a common cause and rally ‘round the flag and right the ills that have capsized our ship.

Maybe.

But given recent history — the ever-increasing polarity in American politics — is that a gamble you’re willing to take with your money? Are you willing to go all-in with every dollar you own and bet that the next president/Congress combination will fundamentally alter America’s fiscal and economic direction? Are you willing to bet that the U.S. dollar, on a 40-plus-year, long-term decline will, from herewith and forever, continually rise against the rest of the world’s currencies, even as the financial situation in our country worsens?

The Only Currency to Survive the Dollar Collapse

If you see any wisdom in the Boy Scout motto — be prepared — then preparation requires that you trade some dollars for gold and silver, the only two currencies that will survive the dollar collapse.

And only physical gold. None of this paper gold in the form of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In a currency crisis that sees gold move sharply and dramatically higher, ETFs could find themselves crashing because of the way they’re structured. So own the metal either directly in your own safe, or through a pooled account online.

It’s a clichéd comment, but gold is your only form of dollar collapse/government insurance. It will survive another four years of Democrats — or Republicans.

Until next time, stay Sovereign…

Jeff D. Opdyke
Editor, Profit Seeker

The post An Election Won’t Stop the Dollar Collapse appeared first on The Sovereign Investor.

Leave a Comment