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After FoxNews.com truncated Jennings' quote, Wash. Times, Fox Nation accuse "safe school czar" of "encouraging" statutory rape
Research ››› ››› DIANNA PARKER
A Washington Times editorial accused "safe school czar" Kevin Jennings of "encourag[ing]" a relationship that amounted to "statutory rape," by suggesting that his only response to an underage student's revelation that he had sex with what the Times described as an "older man" was to "make sure 'to use a condom.' " In fact, Jennings stated that he hoped the student "knew to use a condom" to protect against STDs; moreover, the FoxNews.com article from which The Washington Times based this claim truncated Jennings' remarks to exclude his statement that he thought to say this because his "best friend had just died of AIDS the week before."
Wash. Times cites Fox News' discovery of audio to accuse Jennings of "encourag[ing]" statutory rape
From the September 28 editorial:
A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an "older man." At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report the abuse. That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama's "safe school czar." It's getting hard to keep track of all of this president's problematic appointments. Clearly, the process for vetting White House employees has broken down.
In this one case in which Mr. Jennings had a real chance to protect a young boy from a sexual predator, he not only failed to do what the law required but actually encouraged the relationship.
According to Mr. Jennings' own description in a new audiotape discovered by Fox News, the 15-year-old boy met the "older man" in a "bus station bathroom" and was taken to the older man's home that night. When some details about the case became public, Mr. Jennings threatened to sue another teacher who called his failure to report the statutory rape "unethical." Mr. Jennings' defenders asserted that there was no evidence that he was aware the student had sex with the older man.
However, the new audiotape contradicts this claim. In 2000, Mr. Jennings gave a talk to the Iowa chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an advocacy group that promotes homosexuality in schools. On the tape, Mr. Jennings recollected that he told the student to make sure "to use a condom" when he was with the older man. That he actively encouraged the relationship is reinforced by Mr. Jennings' own description in his 1994 book, "One Teacher in 10." In that account, the teacher boasts how he allayed the student's concerns about the relationship to such a degree that the 15-year-old "left my office with a smile on his face that I would see every time I saw him on the campus for the next two years, until he graduated."
The Fox Nation: "Did 'Safe School Czar' Encourage Statutory Rape?" On September 28, the Fox Nation linked to the Times editorial, with the headline: "Did 'Safe School Czar' Encourage Statutory Rape?"
Times editorial mischaracterized what Jennings said about condom use
Jennings said he "hope[d] you knew to use a condom" -- not "make sure 'to use a condom.' " According to audio of Jennings' comments to GLSEN in 2000, he said his "best friend had just died of AIDS the week before," so he said to the student: "You know, I hope you knew to use a condom." From audio of Jennings' statement on WThrockmorton.com:
JENNINGS: And I said, "Brewster, what are you doing in there asleep?" And he said, "Well, I'm tired." And I said, "Well, we all are tired and we all got to school today." And he said, "Well, I was out late last night." And I said, "What were you doing out late on a school night?" And he said, "Well, I was in Boston." Boston was about 45 minutes from Concord. So I said, "What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?" He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, "Well, I met somebody in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him." High school sophomore, 15 years old. That was the only way he knew how to meet gay people. I was a closeted gay teacher, 24 years old, didn't know what to say. Knew I should say something quickly, so I finally -- my best friend had just died of AIDS the week before -- I looked at Brewster and said, "You know, I hope you knew to use a condom." He said to me something I will never forget. He said "Why should I, my life isn't worth saving anyway."
FoxNews.com disappears Jennings' concern about AIDS
FoxNews.com article promoting audio truncated Jennings' concern about AIDS. A September 23 FoxNews.com article linking to audio of Jennings' comments on Throckmorton's website purported to quote Jennings as saying: "I said, 'What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?' He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, 'Well I met someone in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him.' High school sophomore, 15 years old' I looked at Brewster and said, 'You know, I hope you knew to use a condom.' " However, Jennings had prefaced his advice about condom use by saying "my best friend had just died of AIDS the week before." The article gave no indication that it edited Jennings' comments in any way. From the September 23 FoxNews.com article:
But a professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, Warren Throckmorton, has produced an audio recording of a speech Jennings gave in 2000 at a GLSEN rally in Iowa, in which Jennings made it clear that he believed the student was sexually active:
"I said, 'What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?' He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, 'Well I met someone in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him.' High school sophomore, 15 years old' I looked at Brewster and said, 'You know, I hope you knew to use a condom.'" [Audio is available on the professor's Web site.]
Fox has a history of misleadingly cropping quotes
Chris Wallace repeatedly cropped quotes from a VHA document to falsely suggest that the Obama administration is pressuring veterans to end their lives prematurely. In doing so, Wallace accused assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth of lying about the advice given in the document. In fact, contrary to Wallace's false assertions, the document he referred to does not require doctors to direct veterans to what conservatives have labeled the "Death Book for Veterans." [Fox News Sunday, 8/23/2009]
Fox News presents deceptively cropped six-month-old Biden clip as new. Fox News' Martha MacCallum claimed that "after weeks of economic doom and gloom, the Obama administration is now singing a slightly different tune. Take a look at what was said in recent interviews this weekend." Fox News then aired clips of administration officials purportedly giving an optimistic view of the economy, which included video of Vice President Joe Biden stating: "The fundamentals of the economy are strong." However, Biden did not make those remarks during an "interview" that weekend; he made them at a September 2008 campaign event in which he criticized statements by Sen. John McCain. [Live Desk, 3/16/2009]
Fox News on a witch hunt for "czars"
Fox News personalities, led by Glenn Beck, have waged war against what they describe as President Obama's "czars" -- such as former "green jobs czar" Van Jones, Obama science and technology adviser John Holdren, and Cass Sunstein, head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs -- by unearthing and criticizing statements the officials had made in the past rather than critiquing their job performance or their credentials for the jobs they hold. Sean Hannity, for example, has declared that "my job starting tomorrow night is to get rid of every other ['czar']."
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European Commission
Press release
Brussels, 21/09/2012
Food: Commission proposes clearer rules on status of pollen in honey
A proposal to amend rules on honey1 to clarify the true nature of pollen following a European Court of Justice preliminary ruling2 was adopted today by the European Commission. In line with international WTO standards, the proposal defines pollen as a natural constituent of honey and not as an ingredient.
The Court of Justice based its interpretation on the honey directive dating back to 2001 and qualified pollen as an ingredient in honey arguing that the pollen is found in honey mainly due to intervention by the beekeeper. However, the Commission proposal recognises that pollen is a natural constituent and not an ingredient of honey; it enters into the hive as a result of the activity of the bees and is found in honey regardless of whether the beekeeper intervenes. Consequently, since pollen is considered as a natural constituent of honey, EU labelling rules requiring a list of ingredients would not apply.
The Commission's proposal will not affect the conclusion of the Court as regards the application of the GMO legislation to GM pollen in food. In particular it does not alter the Court conclusion that honey containing GM pollen can be placed on the market only if it is covered by an authorisation under the legislation. Furthermore, the labelling rules on GMO in food will also be applicable3. The proposal also aims to align the existing Commission implementing powers in the Honey Directive 2001/110/EC with those introduced by the Lisbon Treaty.
The EU honey market in figures
The EU accounts for around 13% of global honey production (200,000 tonnes): Spain is the largest producer (33,000 tonnes), followed by Italy, Hungary and Romania (which each produce around 22,000 tonnes) and Portugal (21,000 tonnes). EU honey imports amount to around 140,000 tonnes and account for 40% of total EU consumption.
This issue arose in the context of a challenge by a German beekeeper on the legal status of honey when his honey was found to contain pollen of MON 810 genetically modified maize. The German Court referred the case to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.
On 6 September 2011, the European Court of Justice issued its judgement where it indicated that: a) the previous understanding of the scope of GMO legislation was wrong (this legislation was fully applicable to GM pollen in honey) and b) that pollen in honey was to be considered as an ingredient.
For more information on case C-442/09:
Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2001/110/EC relating to Honey.
Case C-442/09, Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 6 September 2011 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bayerischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Germany)) — Karl Heinz Bablok and Others v. Freistaat Bayern, OJ C 311, 22.10.2011, p. 7. The national courts in each EU country are responsible for ensuring that EU law is properly applied in that country. To prevent different EU countries interpreting EU laws in different ways, a 'preliminary ruling procedure' exists which allows a national court, if in doubt about the interpretation or validity of an EU law, to ask the European Court of Justice for advice. This advice is called a 'preliminary ruling'.
Following Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, the presence of material containing, consisting of produced from authorised GMOs in food shall be labelled except where that presence does not exceed 0,9% of each ingredient.
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On a hot, sticky August afternoon in northern Virginia, three Washington-area advisors created their own cool heat inside as they discussed what they learned about themselves and their firms from participating in Schwab Advisor Services' "Insights to Action" (ITAP in common parlance by participants, if not a formal name for the program). By many of the usual success measures used by RIA firms—growth in clients, in revenue and in assets under management—their three firms were already successful. But Dee Ann Remo, Michael Mussio and Barry Glassman and their colleagues suspected that they could do better, and that there might be different, unique ways to measure success for their firms. That is what participating in the ITAP program—present tense intended—taught them about themselves and their firms.
Over the course of several hours at the local Schwab office, the advisors shared the reasons why they had signed up for the program, what they had learned and where they were headed. "If you were driven by assets under management" alone, said Glassman, "strategic planning would be easy." Remo said that while her firm was "ready to embrace" a plan, the process of building a strategic, customized plan made her realize that doing so "can get you where you're going more quickly." Mussio said that the driver for his firm was a desire to build an excellent client service experience, but that the likelihood of the founder's retirement made the team members ask themselves, "What's going to happen when Susan retires?"
Rather than provide direct answers to any or all of those questions, participating in ITAP, the advisors said, gave each firm a structure with which to answer any question, be it succession planning, career paths or all the issues revolving around growth.
Who They Are; What They Want
Michael Mussio is a portfolio manager and part of the management team for FBB Capital Partners in Bethesda, Md., an RIA firm that's been in business for 25 years but is in many ways a much younger company. It had been acquired by a roll-up firm, but several years back, management went private again. The firm manages about $580 million for mostly high-net-worth individuals and some small institutions.
FBB decided to participate in the ITAP program, Mussio says, because while "up to this point we've been successful," the firm still dealt with issues around growth and strategic planning "on a more reactive basis." At FBB, he says, "we spend a lot of time on serving clients and managing the portfolios but less time on the actual business." Following the ITAP strategic planning program presented an opportunity, Mussio says, "to get some guidance from Schwab on how to be more proactive on some of these challenges we're facing as we grow." There's another twist to FBB's story. One of the original dynamic founders of the firm has retired, and the other may be looking to do the same over the next five or six years, which raised the succession planning issue for management, employees and clients. "We've covered the 'bus' event," Mussio says, referring to the proverbial "getting hit by a bus" scenario, but having a "framework around succession planning was a big driver for us."
Barry Glassman is president of Glassman Wealth Services, a fee-only financial planning and wealth management firm based in McLean, Va. Founded three years ago by Glassman, the firm manages $550 million, providing "family-office-level services" to families that, Glassman says with a smile, "used to be considered HNW clients, though they don't think of themselves that way."
Dee Ann Remo is managing director of Richmond, Va.-based Heritage Wealth Advisors, a now seven-year-old firm that she calls a "multi-family office" for varying levels of family wealth. In addition to providing fee-only investment management for those clients, Heritage Wealth also does tax planning (Remo, a CPA, says she "grew up in the accounting world" at KPMG) and tax compliance for the majority of clients, charging separately for "high-level" wealth management services.
Be Ready, Do Your Homework, Go To Workshop
Glassman has a warning for his peers who are considering whether to undergo a strategic planning initiative—whether it's Schwab's version or another. "Unless your firm is ready, then it's not the right time," he cautions. "We happened to attend the workshop at the perfect time for the firm—three years ago when we started the firm, it was too early; three years from now would be too late." That's because, he says, the firm already had goals in place—the technology, research and systems, and human capital.
Having Schwab as its partner was also critical, he says, since it "wasn't an outside consultant who could come in and put together a mission statement you could frame on the wall in your lobby." Schwab, he says, "cross-pollinates" all the time, collecting data from "7,000 of its advisors, a thousand in its benchmarking studies, and hundreds and soon to be thousands" who are taking advantage of the ITAP strategic planning process. "Yes, they hope we succeed in a way that will benefit them, if we choose to custody with Schwab, but […] they've spoken with and had the experience of people who do exactly what I do, a small and growing RIA firm; they can speak the same language." That extends to the point, Glassman says, that "the workshop materials that guide us through the process are designed for me and my businesses—it doesn't necessarily apply to a small construction firm or an electrical contractor."
Schwab's relationship managers and internal consultants led by Scott Slater are critical in the process as well, with all three advisors mentioning in particular Bob Ciullo, the managing director for the D.C. area for Schwab Advisor Services, and Lori Silverthorne, the D.C. relationship manager for Schwab. "As we're going through this with Liz [Manibay, a Schwab senior business management consultant]," recalls Glassman, "she'd call us out on the 'easy outs'—if we say we can't do something, she will challenge us because she's known other firms who have said that before and overcome it."
Glassman Wealth already had goals, he says, revolving around number of clients and AUM, but that wasn't enough. "If our goals were based on assets under management, strategic planning would be easy. We're not driven by AUM. If we sign on a handful of clients every year and are able to manage them and our current clients well, we view that as success."
Heritage Wealth's Remo's readiness sprang partly from "a request by my management group that my top goal for the year was to develop and implement a strategic plan; thankfully, Schwab decided at the same time that this was going to be the focus" of their ITAP workshop programs. "Schwab was able to get us started because they know our industry, they know us. You can get where you're going probably more quickly because of that."
Part of the ITAP process is for each firm to complete a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, and Remo says that "when we sat down to look at our weaknesses, we realized we had some pretty darn good successes." While she says "the whole exercise was useful," she also realizes that "we had those successes in spite of ourselves."
Heritage Wealth had "charged out of the gate as a new firm […] but we probably waited too long to get focused on what our long-term plan was, what people's roles would be in the firm, what we wanted to be." Remo also worried about how to marry firm growth with staying true to the firm's "client first" values. The answer partly came through realizing that sharing the firm's vision with all its employees, and having clear job descriptions and career paths for those employees, made it possible to not compromise on values while achieving numeric goals and increasing employee buy-in to the strategic plan.
Each firm also realized—through the process of preparing for the in-person ITAP workshops, attending the workshops with their peers, and following up on their own with their Schwab contacts' encouragement—what was the core of their value proposition to clients.
"As we were defining the actual goals" as part of the ITAP process, Mussio realized the "driver is the experience we want to display for clients and prospects: what our investment management philosophy is, what our client service philosophy is."
Referring to employees, Remo recalls she "used to say, 'Choose your title; it can be anything you want it to be,' but the world doesn't operate that way. They needed to know their career path, a real meat-and-potatoes job description that adds to accountability." Remo added, "If you're really good at doing a bunch of things, it may mean you're not accountable [for any one thing]. We recognized that clarity [around job descriptions] helps with accountability. We don't want to lose the entrepreneurial spirit, but people need to have definition in their lives."
Implementation and Next Steps
For Remo, starting with Heritage Wealth's value system—always "the client first, the client first"—one of the first follow-ups from the strategic planning process was to "get better feedback from clients." Using Schwab's good offices, Heritage Wealth has already completed the first step by using Julie Littlechild's firm, Advisor Impact, to survey its clients. The results of that survey, however, are only the baseline for ongoing client research efforts. "We want to grow," she says, but "without sacrificing what's got us to this point—so we have to keep testing [with clients the implementation of] our strategic plan, to match with client expectations."
Another key follow-up has to do with creating career paths, job descriptions and accountability for implementing the strategic plan "at every level in the firm." Remo held a meeting with all employees in which she "walked through the steps in the strategic plan." Since the firm and its employees now know "where we are going," that allows you to "back yourself up into shorter-term goals," she says. Referring to Heritage Wealth's employees, she says, "people really got it. We're talking a new language around goals—what we need and want to accomplish in the short term," but with "every conversation pointing to the long term."
For Glassman, "because there's now a common language within the firm, because our core values are shared, it gives us a good filter to know who is a good fit or not" when contemplating a new hire. Also, "we want to outsource everything that isn't involved with taking the knowledge that's out in the world and applying that to the time we spend with clients."
Mussio says that as part of the process, "we learned that we owed it to our clients to spend more time on the management of the business. We need to do a better job internally of reviewing our employees more regularly, providing career definition—not role definition, but career definition—that will help us grow to the next level." But it's more than just growth for growth's sake: "The next stage of growth for us is smart growth," which he defines as growing from $500 million in AUM to $1 billion over the next three to five years, while making sure FBB "still feels likes a $500 million firm" in terms of its client service and corporate culture.
Remo says that one of the surprising things she learned was "how much we're engaging with our clients about the strategic planning process: how engaged they are back, how interested they are in it. They're delighted about it."
Glassman says the strategic planning process led his firm to raise its minimums to $2 million for new clients. "We're slowing down growth," he says, because "we don't want to get to the point where we've reached capacity and our clients suffer."
Advice for Their Peers
When the three advisors were asked what they would recommend to their peers contemplating going through the ITAP strategic planning and implementation program (or a similar one), Glassman said "there has to be buy-in from the firm's leadership. It's like putting together a business plan; you don't know what the final outcome will be until you go through it—the value is not in the printed plan, but the process of developing the printed plan." Speaking as a firm owner himself, Glassman says that "anybody in an entrepreneurial role wants to run toward something—not walk, not jog—but without a strategic plan it's a challenge to know where you'll be running next."
Remo concurred, saying the biggest lesson she learned is that "people can't follow you unless they know where you're going next." Now, she says, each individual in the firm will not only have a job description and a place on an organizational chart showing where they stand, but each of their individual goals "comes out of the strategic plan individually rather than randomly," as used to be the case when employees had their periodic evaluations.
Mussio noted that in performing a SWOT analysis as part of formulating the strategic plan, he looked at internal firm growth over the prior three years and realized that the parts of the firm that were already operating as teams—a senior professional with support personnel—grew at twice the rate of the rest of the firm. "So," he says, the question is "how do we make that work" for the entire firm? What will help provide service at a particularly high level for all clients? FBB's management team also realized it needed to focus immediately on succession planning—"We're going through a formal valuation of the firm now," he reports—and determine how to "bring in the next level of partners."


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The problem of the national debt can seem overwhelming. How do you address $16.4 trillion in gross debt, or even $11.5 trillion in debt held by the public? Congress is gridlocked, President Obama doesn't want to deal with it, and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that we will spend $3.554 trillion this fiscal year, thereby adding another $641 billion to the debt. Caught in such a difficult situation, the problem appears insurmountable.
In part one of this series, I provided a detailed explanation of the national debt. In part two, I explained that we are unlikely to default on the national debt because it is held in U.S. dollars, and we can always print more. However, I added that using the printing press to avoid default could debase the currency. This would lead to rapid inflation, a damaged international reputation, and a violation of our national honor and character. The devastating consequences indicate that printing our way out of a debt crisis is not a viable solution, and so we must therefore still tackle the problem in some other manner.
Is there another solution? Or is the problem already too big to handle?
Is the problem insurmountable?
Many conservatives may find it tempting to answer "yes." The size and scope of the problem is enormous, after all. I've met activists who insist that the country cannot be saved from fiscal collapse. Most of us, however, fall back on our uniquely American optimism and assert that any obstacle can be overcome, including this one.
Fortunately, I do not believe that the problem of the national debt is insurmountable. Although the problem may be extraordinarily difficult and grows larger every day, I do not consider our situation hopeless. Right now, our primary concern is time. If a national fiscal meltdown began tomorrow, then we would obviously be lost. However, if we have years or decades left to go until we reach that point, then we have time to turn this thing around.
I have three solid reasons to think that lenders and creditors will give us enough time to start fixing this problem. First, we have an extremely stable government. Second, we have established a good "credit history" by never defaulting on a loan. Third, there aren't any better options around.
Our stable government
For those of us who actually live in the United States, our government may not feel all that stable. Pundits routinely criticize our persistent gridlock, escalating rhetoric, and "hyperpartisanship." Some, particularly on the left, seem to believe that the country verges on civil war. However, these commentators ignore the fact that we actually live under a very stable regime.
Just think about it. The United States has functioned under a single Constitution since 1789. We have elected 44 different presidents and 113 different Congresses over that time span. Other than the unique case of the Civil War, we have always experienced a peaceful transition of power from one party to another. No serious political observer believed that Republicans would riot in the streets if President Barack Obama were re-elected, and none of them thought that President Obama would refuse to leave power if he were voted out of office, either. Even though we are a flawed people, we are all small-r republicans. We all believe in free democratic elections and in the American Republic.
For the sake of comparison, let's consider the regime stability of another major first-world power since 1789, such as France. I assure you, they've had a slightly more tumultuous history than we have. Feel free to skip down to the next section if you're willing to take my word on that.
In 1789, the original French Revolution began and the "Ancien Régime" of monarchist, aristocratic, and clerical rule in France collapsed. In its place, the early revolutionaries established a constitutional monarchy. This system fell apart as radical egalitarian republicans, who executed the Bourbon King Louis XVI by guillotine in 1793, took over the Revolution. The Reign of Terror began and Maximilien Robespierre effectively ruled France as a dictator.
More moderate revolutionaries overthrew the tyrannical Robespierre in 1795, and the heavily corrupt Directory took power and ruled ineffectually for a few years. Napoléon Bonaparte led a coup against the Directory in 1799 and replaced it with a three-man Consulate, which he abolished in 1804. He became the first French Emperor and ruled for another decade. He was toppled from power and exiled due to military defeat in 1814. Napoléon was replaced with another Bourbon king, but he returned to French soil in 1815 to wage another short-lived "Hundred Days" of war. He was defeated once and for all at the Battle of Waterloo that same year, and the Bourbon monarchy retook power and ruled until 1830.
The Bourbons were overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830 and replaced by the Orleanist monarchy, which was itself overthrown in the February Revolution of 1848. The revolutionaries established another republic in the monarchy's place, but it was troubled by insurrection (such as in the bloody "June Days") and eventually abolished in favor of a new empire in 1852 by Napoléon Bonaparte's nephew, President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, who had staged an 1851 coup d'état against the rest of the government.
The new Emperor styled himself as "Napoleon III," and he held power until his 1870 defeat in a war against Prussia and the military genius of Otto von Bismarck. The French established a new, more durable republic thereafter, but almost immediately fell into another ugly civil war between the "Paris Commune" revolutionaries and the national government. Despite many missteps and close calls, this republic managed to last until the French were overrun by Nazi Germany in 1940, early in World War II.
During most of the war, France was divided between the collaborationist Vichy regime and the French resistance, which eventually coalesced under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle. Following the war, another republic was established in 1947, but it grew paralyzed and could not handle the problems stemming from decolonization, particularly in Algeria. Charles de Gaulle came out of retirement and established another republic in 1959 (the fifth, mind you, since 1789), which has lasted to the present day.
Follow all that? No? I don't blame you. The modern history of France is admittedly a loaded example of regime instability, but it should illustrate one point very well: We're fortunate to live under a regime as stable as the United States, and such stability is uncommon. If you're trying to safe place to invest your money, American history suggests that our Treasury would be a good choice.
What's our "credit history?"
We have a lot of reasons to be thankful in this country. As I noted in the previous article, one such reason is that the Founders established a solid "credit history" at the start of our country. Given the choice to repudiate some or all of our relatively massive Revolutionary War debt, President George Washington and his Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton decided to honor it instead.
Since that decision, we have always paid our creditors on time and in full. In 1835, we even eliminated our debt entirely for a time. This record may not seem too impressive in the light of my previous point that we probably won't default on our debt because we can always print more money. However, remember that we once stuck to a gold standard. The U.S. dollar was pegged to (and redeemable for) gold. We abandoned the gold standard in 1973, but up until that point, we could not simply print our way out of our debt obligations.
Therefore, this is quite an accomplishment, and it is one reason why people still consider our country a safe place to put their money.
What else is out there?
It's easy to say that those looking to find refuge for their money should look elsewhere, but a lot of countries are facing some serious problems. Just consider the cases of four of our most important global rivals:
People's Republic of China: The current Chinese regime has only been in power since 1949. It is a young, unstable government attempting to perform a difficult balancing act between political oppression and a measure of economic liberty. In 2010 alone, China reported a staggering figure of 180,000 "mass incidents." If China encounters a serious economic crisis in the near future, revolution and a national fracturing could be the result.
India: India only won its independence in 1947. The country remains mired in poverty and corruption, and its notorious caste system endures to this day. India may be a country "on the rise," but it is still deeply unstable and the threat of war with its ancient rival, neighboring Pakistan, persists.
Germany: Although Germany would appear to be a good "safe haven" candidate, its ties to the unstable Eurozone are troubling. Germany has taken on the enormous task of saving southern Europe and the euro itself from collapse, and that has entailed rescuing Greece and other reckless spenders from themselves. The German economy is large and productive, but there are limits to what one country can do and to how much of a burden you can place on your own people for the sake of others.
Russia: Although Vladimir Putin supposedly reduced the amount of corruption in Russia after the ruinous 1990s, Russia is still tremendously corrupt. One Russian think tank estimated the annual cost of corruption to be somewhere between $300 and $500 billion per year, and that's in a country with a Gross Domestic Product of only $1.5 trillion. You don't need me to tell you that that's a ridiculously large percentage of their economy. Would you entrust your money to such a country?
Every country has its own problems. Some are larger than others, but I would argue that there is not a true "safe haven" country in the world right now that is anywhere near the size of the United States. We're confronting massive and even systematic problems ourselves, but we're still probably the best bet left for lenders.
We have time to fix this
Our regime is stable and our "credit history" is solid. As a result, those who are trying to find a "safe" place for their money tend to choose Treasury securities despite our fiscal problems. In fact, enough people are willing to buy our debt that we can afford to offer very low interest rates on the Treasury securities we sell, almost to the point of them being zero.
Some progressives consider this an indication that we don't have a debt problem at all. They see it as "free money" and say that we're a long ways off from any kind of debt crisis, believing that conservatives are just fear-mongers who want to enact massive spending cuts purely for ideological reasons.
However, there's good reason to believe that time is running out. While our regime remains stable, the future and human nature are unpredictable. History is littered with the corpses of supposedly resilient and durable regimes. No country is completely immune to the effects of deep political division and lingering economic malaise, even ours. As for our "credit history," it's beginning to take some serious blows. Major credit agencies have already downgraded our credit rating once, and it could very well happen again shortly. Keep in mind that our expansionary monetary policy probably won't help along those lines. Finally, there is little to prevent other nations from growing more stable and prosperous while we flounder.
Fortunately, we do have time to avert a debt crisis. Ultimately, our primary fear must be that others will stop lending to us. If they do, we will have run out of time. There are three big reasons why they continue to lend to us for the moment. If we put forth a serious deficit (and debt) reduction plan and follow it, they'll continue to lend and we'll be able to tackle this problem over the coming years and decades in a measured, prudent manner.
In other words, the national debt does not constitute an insurmountable problem if we act quickly and resolutely. In the final post of this series, I will address the two steps we must follow to solve the problem of the national debt: spending cuts and economic growth.
Why is it that for any other kind of debt we see a statement and an estimated minimum payment to dig our way out slowly. Americans could understand that at a simple level just like a mortgage or credit card. Sign the petition to add and estimate of their share of the balance and an estimate of their share of the minimum payment. Put it right on the 1040 tax forms each year so Americans can compare what they are paying in taxes to what would be needed to balance the budget or to pay the debt of over 30 years. Sign the petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/show-credit-card-balance-1040-...
Help fellow Americans understand this in terms they are familiar with, right at tax time where they can see the difference.
Obama seems to think we do not have a spending problem, just a revenue problem. Unless Boehner grows some balls and manages the House better, we are screwed.
I agree with you, Mr. Pickard...it seems apparent to me, Obama doesn't see the growing national debt or the annual deficit as problems. Which tells me, even if we buckle under and raised every tax Speaker Boehner has stated he can raise...it will simply be spent, rather than significantly pay-down the national debt. FreedomWroks should focus on this issue first. Because if it isn't addressed, Obama wins and the nation loses, again.
ex animo


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