Banks in the United States have been quietly borrowing “massive amounts” totaling $50 billion so far from the U.S. Federal Reserve in recent weeks.

The Financial Times said the move has sparked unease among some analysts about the stress developing in opaque corners of the U.S. banking system and the banks’ growing reliance on indirect forms of government support.

Put simply, banks have their secrets too, and their need to borrow huge amounts is an indicator that all is not well. Just as our government has plunged our nation into a bottomless well of debt with predatory lenders, China and the Saudis, our banks are plunging into debt with our government and with their credit based on what is in turn owed to them.

What’s owed to them are all the mortgages we Americans have on our homes and businesses, and the balances due on our credit card statements, the latter backed by nothing more than our promises and/or our ability to pay.

Too much credit has wrecked economies in the past and ours is heading down that same slippery slope. The more banks borrow from the Federal Reserve, the more our government must borrow to replace it. The only other ways to do so are to either print more money, causing rapid inflation, or to sell off Federal assets such as our gold supply. All directions lead to the impoverishment of our nation.

This, like my last post, may not seem to have anything to do with the threat of Islam, but it has everything to do with it. It is Saudi Arabia that we are indebted to, along with Communist China. The goal of the Chinese is our enslavement to Communism. The goal of the Saudis is our enslavement to Islam. Anything that weakens our nation furthers their goals.

Non-event of the day is Fidel Castro saying he’ll step down. Even if Cuba regained its independence again it would be short-lived. Castro came to power in the first place because we propped up another dictator, Juan Batista, whom Castro overthrew and immediately became even worse. Cuba ceased to matter to the world after we threw the Russians out of there during the Cuban Missile Crisis blockade (of which I was a participant).

Of greater import is the Pakistan election, in which Musharraf’s ruling party has been defeated. The Islamic religious parties in the North West Frontier Province were routed as well. This is an indication of the national mood that should help the United States. In place of the religious parties, the province chose two secular parties as the powers in the important local assembly, thus fending off a takeover by the Islamists.

The North West Frontier Province abuts the tribal areas that have become sanctuaries for the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and from where they send increasing numbers of suicide bombers into the populated regions of Pakistan. The Pakistani citizenry are rapidly tiring of these assaults by Islamic fundamentalists.

Senator Joe Biden, who has criticized what he called the “Musharraf-centric” policy of the Bush administration, said that the new head of the army was a “rational man who understands the obligations and limitations of the military.” Also, while Musharraf remains as Pakistans president, he has now lost his former dictatorial powers with this huge change in parliament.

The emergence of a Parliament of moderation should be good news for the United States, Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani military analyst based in Washington, said. ”If Parliament will now have a stronger hand than before in national decision making then the United States should be pleased, since it will not have to beg and cajole Pakistan to act in its own interests against the terrorists,” Mr. Nawaz said.

Yeah, it would be nice. We could use a little good news.

Always open trackbacks. Just click on the title for the URL.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 9:51 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.