PDA

View Full Version : What could the U.S. Sell to Erase Debt?




bobbyw24
05-16-2011, 06:02 AM
With the United States poised to slam into its debt limit Monday, conservative economists are eyeballing all that gold in Fort Knox. There’s about 147 million ounces of gold parked in the legendary vault. Gold is selling at nearly $1,500 an ounce. That’s many billions of dollars in bullion.

“It’s just sort of sitting there,” said Ron Utt, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “Given the high price it is now, and the tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/economy/us-should-sell-assets-like-gold-to-get-out-of-debt-economists-say/2011/05/12/AFIvmI4G_story.html?hpid=z1

fisharmor
05-16-2011, 06:26 AM
Wow, Ron Utt is obviously a math genius.
That equates to 220 billion dollars.
Meaning that at deficit levels of 1.5 trillion/year they could keep things going for another... 53 days.

Seriously, this makes me want to cry. People with better and more schooling than me are out there seriously advocating this horseshit?
How can people not see why I'm so against school at this point? Do they intentionally program us so that if a number has more than seven digits we just shut down? Is this why distances are always measured in football fields?
No seriously, I can't even think about work now... my mind has been poisoned for the morning with how absolutely mind-bogglingly retarded people are.

Matthew Zak
05-16-2011, 06:33 AM
Alaska

dean.engelhardt
05-16-2011, 06:34 AM
They could sell Alaska to Saudi Arabia. They can afford it. Than the Saudi's would start selling us the oil.

Krugerrand
05-16-2011, 06:40 AM
I hear China has a shortage on women.

outspoken
05-16-2011, 06:51 AM
our souls... oh wait, we already sold them. We'll have to look for something else....

armstrong
05-16-2011, 07:03 AM
military bases outside our country maybe?

nocompromises
05-16-2011, 07:06 AM
There is no need to sell anything. The USA needs to default on it's debt.

Don Lapre
05-16-2011, 07:09 AM
Lots more p0rn and Hollywood entertainment?

It's pretty much all we're good at manufacturing anymore, isn't it?

tangent4ronpaul
05-16-2011, 07:14 AM
Well known neocons and socialists. I bet the carnival circuit would make a mint from ppl wanting to take out their frustrations on these clowns.

Koz
05-16-2011, 07:35 AM
We could sell off the TSA, hell the entire dept. of homeland security, most of Congress, Dept. of Education, Agriculture, Commerce, etc. We wouldn't get two cents for all of this, but even if we could get some government to take this stuff off of our hands we would be making out.

Working Poor
05-16-2011, 07:42 AM
pot

YumYum
05-16-2011, 07:45 AM
Yellowstone Park and Yosemite Park would go for a premium. The government should sell those to the highest bidder.

nobody's_hero
05-16-2011, 07:49 AM
Poor guy, thinks there's gold in Fort Knox, lol.

I say we sell corrupt politicians.

Simon
05-16-2011, 08:12 AM
Land. The US govt. owns nearly 30% of land in the country.

tangent4ronpaul
05-16-2011, 08:19 AM
Land. The US govt. owns nearly 30% of land in the country.

I think you might have something there... CA, Chicago, NYC, NJ - maybe DC... I don't think we would miss them... oh, and Connecticut! Any state stupid enough to keep re-electing Mr Police state deserves to go!

Bryan
05-16-2011, 08:37 AM
Yellowstone Park and Yosemite Park would go for a premium. The government should sell those to the highest bidder.

Too late-- a big part of Yosemite has already all but been sold off to the Bay Area, mainly the Hetch Hetchy Valley (its actually been under lease for many decades).

But yeah, there's more. I've heard that Clinton put up our national parks as collateral for our debt so if we default on the debt, we loose the parks. Can anyone confirm this? I don't doubt that some establishment aristocrats would love to turn them into private hunting / play grounds and will do so the first chance they get.


fisharmor- lol. I hear you....

Southron
05-16-2011, 08:41 AM
Yellowstone Park and Yosemite Park would go for a premium. The government should sell those to the highest bidder.

If we absolutely have to sell off federal land, why can't we sell it in small parcels to individual U.S. citizens?

tangent4ronpaul
05-16-2011, 08:45 AM
Too late-- a big part of Yosemite has already all but been sold off to the Bay Area, mainly the Hetch Hetchy Valley (its actually been under lease for many decades).

But yeah, there's more. I've heard that Clinton put up our national parks as collateral for our debt so if we default on the debt, we loose the parks. Can anyone confirm this? I don't doubt that some establishment aristocrats would love to turn them into private hunting / play grounds and will do so the first chance they get.


fisharmor- lol. I hear you....

If they sold it, they sold it to China or Japan

goRPaul
05-16-2011, 08:58 AM
-National Parks & other gov't land
-NASA
-Military bases
-National highways
-The USPS
-Federal buildings once we get the IRS, CIA, the Fed, and the departments out of them
-Any institutions related to the arts and sciences, such as the Smithsonian museums

Just to name a few.

Elwar
05-16-2011, 08:59 AM
They could sell Washington DC and we'd be in the black forever.

jmdrake
05-16-2011, 09:07 AM
Now more than ever we should push to expose the fact that 2.3 trillion went missing from the Pentagon the day before 9/11.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU4GdHLUHwU

That 2.3 trillion would put a big dent in our national debt.

Cynthia McKinney was trying to find that out and that's one of the reasons she was smeared.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJK3RvkSJFg

If Ron Paul would push this issue in the next debate that would really drive his poll numbers up.

VBRonPaulFan
05-16-2011, 09:10 AM
I read an article the other day talking about how China was making overtures to buy rare mining companies/mines here in the US for some of the rare metals that it needs to produce cars/electronics/etc. You'll probably see American companies scooped up, maybe some land here and there (although probably not much of it).

dean.engelhardt
05-16-2011, 09:12 AM
-National Parks & other gov't land
-NASA
-Military bases
-National highways
-The USPS
-Federal buildings once we get the IRS, CIA, the Fed, and the departments out of them
-Any institutions related to the arts and sciences, such as the Smithsonian museums

Just to name a few.

I agree with the direction, but the USPS would have to be sold at asset value. As a business it is not sellable.

Simon
05-16-2011, 09:16 AM
If we absolutely have to sell off federal land, why can't we sell it in small parcels to individual U.S. citizens?

^^^ Yup.

kill the banks
05-16-2011, 09:17 AM
actually we could write off the illegal interest on the interest or demand it back if we arrest the banksters ie racketeers ... see canadian example of the debt scam , same scenario usa .... http://www.youtube.com/v/WPSoQfumzQ0&hl=en&fs=1 ... kill the banks

Krugerrand
05-16-2011, 09:34 AM
Where's all this Federal Land stuff coming from? Where does the Federal Government have the authority to claim land ownership - such that they can then turn around and sell it.

Federal ownership of parks etc should not be considered valid - and thus not an option for the federal government to sell.

civusamericanus
05-16-2011, 09:47 AM
They could simply take our personal property! Use the powers of Eminent Domain and national security. I could see the government saying, we owe a lot of money to China and we need your land to pay for it. Some states have laws against this, and the federal government would never violate a states sovereignty.

virgil47
05-16-2011, 09:54 AM
-National Parks & other gov't land
-NASA
-Military bases
-National highways
-The USPS
-Federal buildings once we get the IRS, CIA, the Fed, and the departments out of them
-Any institutions related to the arts and sciences, such as the Smithsonian museums

Just to name a few.

You forgot to mention the Constitution and all other currently unused documents, the Statue of Liberty and of course all social security numbers and the bodies that come with them.

Brian4Liberty
05-16-2011, 10:05 AM
I hear China has a shortage on women.

Yep.

showpan
05-16-2011, 03:21 PM
We are heading down a very perilous future for this country:

Foreigners purchased about $41 billion worth of residential property in 2010, accounting or about 4% of the market, according to the National Association of Realtors
http://247wallst.com/2011/04/13/more-foreigners-snapping-up-foreclosed-property/

Zippyjuan
05-16-2011, 07:58 PM
So?- they can't take the property home to their own country with them. Obviously they think it will be a good investment for them.

Pericles
05-16-2011, 08:02 PM
I'd like to buy certain military equipment.

Zippyjuan
05-16-2011, 08:02 PM
Selling property gives you a one time income return. Lease it and you get a continuous stream of revenue- and still retain ownership. One of the short sighted things the San Diego city government did was to sell some of their buildings- and then lease them back. Sure they got a few bucks now, but over time it will end up costing the city more.

Kregisen
05-16-2011, 08:03 PM
Lots more p0rn and Hollywood entertainment?

It's pretty much all we're good at manufacturing anymore, isn't it?

U.S. manufacturing has been improving about 2-4% a year for the past 50 years actually.

chudrockz
05-16-2011, 08:10 PM
Lots more p0rn and Hollywood entertainment?

It's pretty much all we're good at manufacturing anymore, isn't it?

Fire11 ? Back again for more fun ? :)

Brian4Liberty
05-16-2011, 08:12 PM
Selling property gives you a one time income return. Lease it and you get a continuous stream of revenue- and still retain ownership. One of the short sighted things the San Diego city government did was to sell some of their buildings- and then lease them back. Sure they got a few bucks now, but over time it will end up costing the city more.

Short term thinking. It's epidemic in government and big corporations.

Vessol
05-16-2011, 10:08 PM
We should sell Washington D.C and our entire Federal Government.

Make sure to evacuate Ron and Rand before hand and then get some jackhammers and separate it from the rest of the United States and send it floating to China or whoever else wants to buy it.

Anti Federalist
05-16-2011, 10:10 PM
6 or 7 aircraft carriers?

ronpaulitician
05-16-2011, 10:12 PM
The website www.wearenumberone.com?

We haven't used it in years anyway.