By Fred Cederholm: INNUENDO: Getting a Crash Course in Semantics and Word Choice!

I've been thinking about innuendo. Actually, I've been thinking about the "so-called" government shutdown, the $16.7 TRILLION, the U.S. Government Debt, collateralization, default, Social Security, and the alleged ceiling. The American public is being "treated" to a lesson in semantics, the cherry picked use of words to create a desired image/illusion for a specific purpose Innuendo is the select using of words to create a desired image/illusion for a specific purpose. Innuendo is the select using of words for insinuation, intimidation, or suggestion against something. We are being inundated by the two political parties in Washington DC that we "gotta" raise the debt ceiling, or all HELL will break loose, and the life that we know is over. You see I will admit that we are the working class, no. make that a major crisis, because the political elites desire to go merrily on their way ignoring a growing problem which has plagued our system since the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson! There is nothing "new"here.  what has changed is that the problems have grown and keep growing until they have reached almost celestial proportions. Now I fear that Congress has no clue how to really "fix" things. Well, they know in their silent heart of hearts what they must do, but the only true solution would greatly erode their power as elected servants. Power comes from money and spending. This bottomless spending would end abruptly, casting a death blow to their political power. Almost all of our elected officials would be thrown out of office.  I am not saying that THAT would be a bad thing. Our National Debt has been hovering at just over $16 TRILLION since the first of the year. If you look to the US Treasury website you will see that the sum total has not really grown much since last May. Uncle Sugar has not stopped spending, he has just stopped paying. Mostly this has been in the area of Government pension expense and military equipment. This should tell US/us that the October crisis began last May when Uncle effectively shut the checkbook. It took US/us from George Washington thru the mid-Ronald Reagan years to accumulate a TRILLION in debt. Now the latest TRILLION takes about nine months. In fact, the five years under Obama have been the most costly as far as our debt is concerned. Congress was a co-conspirator never-putting a-lid on spending and continuing on with the deficit financing. Now everybody's backs are against the wall and the only desired "solution" is once again, raise the debt ceiling and continue on with the profligate spending. Congress does not use "profligate." Governmental accounting is based in Never-never land. Our National Debt belongs to the nation only in the sense that the citizens will ultimate be held liable for it. There is no collateral behind this debt other than the catch phrase "full faith and credit" for the United States. This means that the future power to tax the citizenry is the only guarantee there is behind the debt. We are not being told this tabloid. The debt is not cross-defaulting, meaning that if the covenants are not met on part of the debt, all the debt comes due at once. That is simply NOT true. Let us assume that 1% of the outstanding debt comes die on a given weak. That means $167 BILLION matures. The Treasury Fed roll this over into a new debt instrument. Nothing has changed. What about the interest due upon maturities? Well, this is capitalized, meaning added to the latest debt rollover. Uncle must thus add $1.67 BILLION to the outstanding debt to cover this interest due in the week. I have used the assumption of a 1% interest rate and a one year maturity date for this example to keep things simple.