Page 79 - Why We Want You To Be Rich - Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki.pdf

WHY WE WANT You To BE RICH I 73

pilot, combat ace in Vietnam and Top Gun instructor, was convicted and
sentenced to jail for accepting bribes. Even though he admitted his guilt and
was convicted, he will still receivehis retirement checks from Congress. And
that is in addition to his retirement checks from the Navy. Which means,
evenifyou are a convicted felon, you are still entitled to your government
handout.
Our Social Security and Medicare systems are in trouble, but millions
of people are still counting on that entitlement. When President Bush
attempted to reform Social Security by privatizing it, the intense negative
reaction he received quickly showed him how much this country loves its
government entitlement checks.

The Perfect Storm

The financial problems we all face are now bigger than the U.S.
government alone can handle. For example, our financial challenges cannot
be solved simply by the Federal Reserve raising or lowering interest rates,
yetmillions ofpeople all over the United States and the world worship the
wisdom from the Federal Reserve. Whenever former Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan and current chair Ben Bernanke speak, the world
listens. However, the problems have not been solved and now are becoming
globalproblems, beyond the borders ofour country and beyond the control
ofour political leaders.
Let'sreview some ofthe problems and how they are related;

1. A growing trade deficit: The U.S.trade deficit for 2006 is forecast
to be $423 billion. This means we asa nation will consume $423 billion
more than we produce. On a smaller scale, this would be the same as a
family who earns $5,000 a month spending $6,000 a month. You and I
know that this $5,000-a-month family is only making their problem
bigger. This problem leads to the next problem.

2. A growing U.S. national debt: According to the Treasury
Department, 42 presidents, from Washington (1789) to Clinton
(2000), borrowed a combined total of $1.01 trillion from foreign

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