THE POISONED CHALICE

"As the opinion polls move steadily in favour of President George W. Bush and the likelihood of a John Kerry presidency recedes, Democrats in the United States can take solace in two facts. If their man is not in the White House for the next four years, then they will not end up carrying the blame for the almost inevitable US defeat in Iraq -- and they will not have to preside over the biggest financial crisis to hit the United States since the Great Depression.

'The US dollar is going the way that [the British pound] went as it lost its place as the world's reserve currency,' said Jim Rogers, the Wall Street wizard who in 1973 co-founded the Quantum Fund, one of the first and most successful hedge funds, in a recent interview. 'I suspect there will be exchange controls in the US in the foreseeable future.... Whoever is elected president is going to have serious problems in 2005-06. We Americans are going to suffer.'"

From: The Poisoned Chalice
By Gwynne Dyer

"We Americans" of course excludes Bush and his fatcats, who will profit big (and already have); it will be the middle and lower class (particular pain for those conned into voting for Bush) who will pay the Big Bill with stock, real estate and job losses, starting when the reality hammer comes down on Nov 3. (IF the fatcats can keep it all from collapsing until the election is over; there are already considerable leaks in the dike.)

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