Subject: Forget Patriotism From: Phil Heimlich <philheimlich@routecauses.

com> Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:05:22 -0400 (EDT)

FEATURED VIDEOS

Protect Your Family From the Financial Crisis To Come

Preparing For The Coming Crash

Phil shares his testimony at a prayer breakfast

Is God a Conservative? (Short)

Is God a Conservative? (Full Length)

Im going to give you some financial advice. Here are my qualifications: none no Ph.D. in economics, no Nobel Prize, no leading government position. But the people with degrees in finance, teaching positions at Princeton and seats on the Federal Reserve Board led us astray or at least failed to protect us. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, once referred to as the maestro, kept interest rates artificially low, thus precipitating the real estate crash. Ben Bernanke, the current head, didnt have a clue about the bubble in housing prices, the risk in subprime mortgages or the collapse of derivatives. N.Y. Times columnist Paul Krugman, perhaps todays leading economic pundit, believes that more government borrowing and printing of money is the answer; which is ridiculous enough that even a guy with no academic credentials can recognize it. Im like you: somebody with a couple of IRAs who wants to survive (and even prosper). So heres my advice: forget patriotism. The government is $62 trillion in debt when you include the national debt, along with Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid commitments. The conservatives/Tea Party, etc. say this can be paid off by cutting spending, without tax increases. The liberals recognize the need to raise taxes but arent willing to cut the entitlements driving the country into bankruptcy. If you trust either side to reduce the deficit and balance the budget, then keep your assets in the usual investments. Presidential candidates always like to say Americas greatness is ahead of us. I disagree I think its behind us. Historically, governments that have run up this kind of debt the Roman Empire, post WWI Germany, among others end up printing money and imploding in a bout of hyperinflation.

Our nations success in World War II and the Cold War was due as much to our economic strength as our character. If China pulls the plug on loaning us dollars to keep the nation afloat, our currency will collapse, which means the U.S. wont have the means to pay for defense, welfare or anything else. Those who survive will be those who own foreign currencies, precious metals and other assets whose values arent dependent on policies out of Washington. I remember a course in law school called Law and Economics. The professor described something called the Lifeboat theory. Essentially it says that if the ship is going down, you better recognize it and get into the lifeboats because not everyone will make it. Thats why Im putting my retirement accounts in gold, real estate and foreign stocks. Maybe its unpatriotic, but Im more interested in protecting my family than in trusting Congress or the President to resolve the debt crisis.