In a rare show of slightly skewed honesty, the folks at CNBC came out with a report today highlighting the United States’ debt and who actually owns that debt.
Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/biggest-holders-of-us-gov-t-debt.html\
Though written in the guise of their typical “10 Best Cities To Get A Job” or “10 Most Beautiful Beaches In The World” format, finally a little bit of truth is coming out of the mainstream about government finance!
Today’s episode: “The 10 Biggest Holders Of U.S. Debt”.
Listed as the #1 holder of government debt, just as Walter Burien of CAFR1.com has been proclaiming for 20 years… The U.S. Government! Here listed as:
1. Federal Reserve and Intragovernmental Holdings
Total U.S. debt holdings: $6.328 trillion
(From the article)
“That’s right, the biggest single holder of U.S. government debt is the Federal Reserve system. The Fed’s system of banks and other U.S. intragovernmental holdings accounted for a stunning $6.328 trillion in U.S. Treasury debt in Spetember 2011 (the most recent number available). The amount is an all-time high as the Federal Reserve continues to expand its balance sheet, partially to purchase U.S. government debt securities.
“About a decade ago, the total government holdings were “only” $2.5 trillion.”
So, the U.S. Government is in debt primarily to… itself?
Hmmm. As Mr. Burien has been trying to bring forward into the comprehension of the American and international people for many years, this is the sobering truth. And as many people are just begining to wake up to Walter Burien’s tireless work on exposing the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) system of general accounting for all corporations, including the over 230,000 individual governments listed within the April 1, 2000 government census report, this fact is quite verifiable – as the CAFR is the audit of government.
But wait, can a government really be in debt to itself?
Well, can you? Can you tell the IRS, for instance, that you borrowed money from your checking account and placed it into your savings account and therefore have no money available to pay the IRS because your checking account balance is at a negative balance because you owe your savings account money from your checking account (while gaining interest on that savings account in the mean time)?
No, you can’t…
But the question is, can government be in debt to itself?
Of course it can. For government makes its own rules. That’s the golden rule after all… He who holds the gold, makes the rules. And in this case, those who make the rules certainly hold most of the gold.
In fact, as shown in the 2010 CAFR for the Federal Reserve (fiscal year ending December 31, 2009), over $47 billion dollars was collected from the American people that year, every cent of which was placed into the accounts of the United States Treasury. And over the life of the Federal Reserve, over $687.6 billion dollars has been paid by the Federal Reserve to the U.S. Treasury in the form of “Interest On Federal Reserve Notes”. And would you have ever guessed that the U.S. Treasury is holding over 261 million troy ounces of gold – which is listed as “collateral” for Federal Reserve Notes in the Federal reserve CAFR?
You can only find this type of information in the audit of government – the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
I mention this mostly to dispel the popular fallacy that the Federal Reserve is somehow an autonomous agency without any ties to the Federal Government. This simply is not true. It is federal law that all government agencies file a CAFR each year, of which the Federal Reserve has been filing since this laws’ inception. The Audit of the Federal Reserve System can be found here:
Audit (CAFR) of the Federal Reserve Board Of Governors – Link: http://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/annual-report/default.htm
Audit (CAFR) of each individual Federal Reserve Branch Bank – Link: http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_fedfinancials.htm
The term intragovernmental is a term used to describe the investment fund structure of all of these over 230,000 government municipal corporation (city/county), state, and federal corporate governments. As a standard of practice, these local, county, and district governments place their taxpayer money into what is called the State Treasurer’s Investment Funds (commingled funds), which are generally managed by the State Treasurer as trustee of those funds. The average daily balance of those funds is then invested into the bonded indebtedness of the United States governmental structure, called the U.S. Debt. These funds generally invest into such things as Federal securities, commercial paper, national/international banking institutions, municipal and federal bonds and warrants, and other forms of indebtedness, gaining interest and dividends from those investments. States hold these funds with the permission of Federal US CODE. And one government makes a profit from another government via interest payments on these bonds – which is paid via taxation on the people.
For more information on these state “commingled funds”, please see my video here explaining the over $64 billion California State Treasurers Investment Fund:
And of course, it is perfectly legal to write off the majority of this debt at any time the government sees fit, according to US CODE which houses the amended FEDERAL RESERVE ACT.
Also, we can’t forget the humongous $2.6 trillion Social Security Trust Fund investments into this U.S. debt either.
See more on the Social Security Trust Funds here:
Link: https://realitybloger.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/social-security-trust-fund-tops-2-6-trillion/
But let’s take a look at some of the other holders of U.S. debt…
3. Other Investors/Savings Bonds
U.S. debt holdings $1.107 trillion
(From the article)
“With the most recent numbers from June 2011, this extremely diverse group includes individuals, government-sponsored enterprises, brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts, estates, savings bonds, corporate and noncorporate businesses for a total of $1.107 trillion.
“Although the level of debt held in U.S. savings bonds has remained basically constant since 2000, the broad category of “other” investors has nearly quadrupled since reaching a four-year low in December 2007.”
Note here that this group includes “government -sponsored enterprises”. Of course, this report doesn’t tell you that the vast majority of investment wealth that sits in these other funds like “individuals (corporate persons), brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts, and corporate and noncorporate businesses” is funded by government taxpayer money.
And the corporations/businesses that are listed here, when we understand that collectively the over 230,000 governments hold together majority stock ownership in all major corporations in the world through pension and other trust fund investment and are the main investors in savings bonds and other debt, this “category” is a very deceiving look into who actually holds and more importantly controls these savings bonds and investors through “corporate governance”.
5. Pension Funds
U.S. debt holdings: $842.2 billion
(From the article)
“Pension funds control large amounts of money, reserved for personal retirements, and thus are obligated to make relatively safe investments. This group, which includes private and local government pension funds, holds $842.2 billion in U.S. debt. The private pension fund category also includes U.S. Treasury securities held by the Federal Employees Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan G Fund.”
And so here again, because pension funds are mostly government controlled, and because the private/publicly traded corporations that have pension funds are held by government stock investment as their majority stake holders and vote through proxy shareholder voting rights on all that happens within these “private” and “public” corporations, government once again is in reality the holder of its own debt.
See “The Great Pension Fund Hoax” for a complete breakdown of the pension fund system, here:
6. Mutual Funds
U.S. debt holdings: $653.5 billion
(From the article)
“According to the Federal Reserve, mutual funds hold the sixth-largest amount of U.S. debt compared to any other group, although mutual fund holdings have diminished by more than $105 billion since December 2008. Including money market funds, mutual funds and closed-end funds, this group of investments managed about $653.5 billion in U.S. Treasury securities as of June 2011, which are the most recent numbers available.”
And here again, as with U.S. Savings Bonds, we find that the main holder of investments in mutual funds is indeed the government pension fund system listed above. Funds like Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street Corporation are always in the top holdings of government, especially in the pension system. (See: The Great Pension Fund Hoax for sources).
7. State and Local Governments
U.S. debt holdings: $484.4 billion
(From the article)
“U.S. state and local governments have nearly a half-trillion dollars invested in American debt, according to the Federal Reserve. The level of investment has remained stable since 2006, moving within the range of $484 billion and $576 billion. The current debt holdings, however, represent the lowest aggregate level for state and local governments since December 2005, when they stood at $481.4 billion.”
To reenforce the fact that government is the main share holders of U.S. Debt securities, CNBC lists State and Local governments to the list. Again, through the commingled funds discussed earlier and as listed within all of the CAFR reports of local and state governments, we see that these government/municipal corporations are indeed the holder of vast amounts of public debt.
And remember, government charges the taxpayers with the responsibility for this debt, while it uses that wealth to purchase everything in sight! So government is in truth collecting interest and capital gains (tax free, of course) as well as dividends on the money that it borrows… from itself!!! The people pay their taxes in order to pay this interest, which is in reality a “profit” for the so-called “non-profit” government. It’s really a win-win situation for government investment funds.
9. Depository Institutions
U.S. debt holdings: $284.5 billion
(From the article)
“As of June 2011 (the most recent numbers available), the Federal Reserve Board of Governors lists depository institutions as holding about $284.5 billion in U.S. debt.
“This group includes commercial banks, savings banks and credit unions. In 2011, its holdings more than tripled from the 2008 low of $105 billion. Between June and September 2011, holdings for depository institutions fell by nearly $44 billion.”
10. Insurance Companies
U.S. debt holdings: $250.1 billion
(From the article)
“According to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, insurance companies hold $250.1 billion in Treasury securities. This group includes property-casualty and life insurance firms.”
Once again CNBC reports that – according to the Federal Reserve System – banks, financial institutions and insurance companies are a large shareholder of U.S. government debt instruments and securities.
But once again we must realize that the main stockholder of these publicly traded banks and insurance corporations is in fact government itself, through its pension fund and other trust and investment funds.
For example, as of March 31, 2010, just the “New York State And Local Retirement System” pension fund held the following shares in banks and investment corporations:
Company Shares of Stock Market Value
Morgan Stanley 4,301,770 97,951,303
Goldman Sachs Group Inc/The 1,961,585 207,967,242
Goldman Sachs Ssga Em Mrkts 8,934,287 102,501,423
Wells Fargo & Company 16,257,120 231,501,389
Bank of America Corp 23,819,237 162,447,196
Citigroup Inc 18,601,505 47,061,808
Citigroup Inc Depository Shares 199,368 3,046,343
American Express Company 4,249,664 57,922,920
American Financial Group Inc 492,854 7,910,307
Visa Inc – Class A 390,400 21,706,240
Mastercard Inc – Class A 306,830 51,387,888
Zions BanCorp 558,029 5,485,425
Fifth Third Bancorp 2,678,672 7,821,722
Fannie Mae 6,000 4,200
Freddie Mac 6,100 4,636
Hartford Financ Serv Grp Inc 1,099,070 8,627,700
Hudson City Bancorp Inc 2,946,851 34,448,688
Western Union Company 2,656,147 33,387,768
Siemens AG 757,252 43,473,647
Experian Group Ltd 1,034,174 6,474,091
Equifax Inc 626,161 15,309,636
Equinix Inc 13,800 774,870
State Street Corp 1,867,120 57,469,954
People’s United Financial Inc 1,234,207 22,178,700
Fidelity Nat Financial Inc – Cls A 839,867 16,385,805
Fidelity Nat Info Services Inc 657,748 11,971,014
Westpac Banking Corp 298,305 3,956,638
Axis Bank Ltd 191,458 1,565,891
Discover Financial Services 1,874,548 11,828,398
Softbank Corp 3,664,300 46,596,748
Solera Holdings Inc 556,652 13,793,837
Signature Bank 210,333 5,937,701
HSBC Holdings plc 8,349,382 47,271,967
HSBC Holdings plc 1,389,200 7,645,081
HSBC Holdings plc – Rights 893,766 1,806,322
Royal Bank of Canada 169,300 4,949,214
Royal Bank of Scotland 6,330,271 2,223,006
Royal Bank of Scotland, Rights 6,427,941 -0-
Allied Irish Banks 1,216,447 969,046
National Australia Bank 1,406,252 19,638,984
Aust & New Zealand Bank Group 701,045 7,671,606
Commonwealth Bank of Australia 19,794 477,637
National Bank of Canada 161,300 5,161,497
National Bank of Greece 102,386 1,551,051
Deutsche Bank AG – ADR 9,800 398,370
Deutsche Bank AG – Registered 654,969 26,888,105
Credit Suisse Group 1,174,244 35,793,762
Credit Suisse Group – Spons ADR 300 9,147
Bank Montreal Quebec 428,291 11,230,235
Bank Mutual Corp 94,860 859,432
Bank of Baroda 542,734 2,506,942
Bank of Communications 1,376,000 955,210
Bank of Cyprus Ltd 51,909 157,826
Bank of East Asia 2,605,019 5,028,527
Bank of Hawaii Corp 192,499 6,348,617
Bank of India 934,270 4,040,186
Bank of New York Mellon Corp 4,420,585 124,881,526
Credit Agricole S.A. 311,625 3,439,044
Credit Saison Company 14,918 144,241
Bank of Nova Scotia 149,900 3,701,779
First Bancorp Puerto Rico 143,010 609,223
Bank Yokohama Ltd Japan Ord 903,100 3,821,968
Hiroshima Bank Ltd/The 13,000 49,357
Bank of Kyoto Ltd/The 73,000 614,924
Osaka Gas Company Ltd 2,035,146 6,346,309
Bank of China Ltd – H 8,527,000 2,827,663
Ind Comm Bank of China Ltd 4,464,000 2,321,280
China Citic Bank – H 484,000 182,983
China Construction Bank – H 4,331,000 2,458,890
China Merchants Bank – H 283,000 494,428
Shizuoka Bank 183,000 1,637,866
Shinsei Bank Ltd 1,450,154 1,453,531
Chiba Bank 176,500 866,685
Cheung Kong (Holdings) 3,376,000 29,077,161
Hang Seng Bank Ltd 328,500 3,308,313
Hanmi Financial Corp 55,300 71,890
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Grp 6,409,847 30,890,829
Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Fin Co Ltd 1,600 33,370
Bangkok Bank 554,400 1,172,424
Bangkok Bank Public Co Ltd 446,200 937,316
Siam Comm Bank Public Co Ltd 376,900 579,192
Malayan Banking Berhad 802,525 849,745
Malayan Banking Berhad – Rights 361,136 -0-
Blackrock Inc 7,135 927,835
Blackstone Group Lp/The 1,289,215 9,346,809
Zurich Financial Services 9,387 1,486,829
Aetna Inc 1,881,924 45,787,211
Cincinnati Financial Corp 736,150 16,835,751
First American Corp 496,770 13,169,373
First Bancorp Puerto Rico 143,010 609,223
First Cash Financial Services Inc 48,800 728,096
First Commonwealth Finan Corp 394,940 3,503,118
First Financial – 144A GDR 48,113 444,083
First Financial Bancorp 62,100 591,813
First Financial Bankshares Inc 54,475 2,624,061
First Financial Holding Company 978,455 451,546
First Financial Holdings Inc 23,950 183,218
First Horizon National Corp 766,191 8,228,888
First Mercury Financial Corp 213,900 3,088,716
First Midwest Bancorp Inc 280,825 2,412,287
First Niagara Financial Group Inc 414,400 4,516,960
First Potomac Realty Trust 75,284 553,337
First Quantum Minerals Ltd 6,400 180,583
First Solar Inc 39,400 5,228,380
Discover Financial Services 1,874,548 11,828,398
–For a closer look at this fund, go here:
Link: https://realitybloger.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/why/
And this is just one single pension fund! There are thousands of these investment funds out there, all controlled and used collectively to control the financial markets of the world.
Do you still believe that government is a non-profit public entity, or are you starting to understand that government is in fact organized crime to the extreme?
And that leads us to the other listed holders of United States debt.
Here, CNBC lists its most deceiving holder of debt:
2. China
U.S. debt holdings: $1.132 trillion
(From the article)
The largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities, China currently has $1.132 trillion in American debt, although it is down from all time highs of $1.173 trillion in July 2011…
4. Japan
U.S. debt holdings: $1.038 trillion
(From the article)
“One of the U.S.’s largest trade partners, Japan is also one of the U.S.’s largest debt holders, currently owning $1.038 trillion in Treasury securities.”
Now, the biggest and most often portrayed fallacy in the mainstream media is that China holds U.S. Debt. But is this a true statement?
The answer to this question must be obtained by first asking a different question…
When CNBC refers to the abstract name of “China” as the 2nd largest holder of U.S. debt, is it referring to the government of China or to the geographical location of China? Ah… this is a very clever trick used to fool taxpayers into thinking that the country and government of China holds American debt. But here is the reality of the situation:
Over many years, American corporations (majority held by government investment in their stock) have been moving to China and setting up their manufacturing and investment corporations in that country, with the absolute permission of the Chinese government. With this build-up came trillions of dollars of investment capital from the U.S. government, building up China’s infrastructure to that of a 1st world country. Walter Burien has recently estimated those investments to be over $14 trillion in value, meaning that the well-being of China’s global corporate manufacturing base is solely dependent on American and European investment capital.
In short, China houses American corporations, which sell their product back to America. And without the pollution, health, and employment protections and regulations that are imposed upon these American corporations while operating in America, they are able to pay pennies to the Chinese workers and pollute the country with very few regulatory infringements.
If China were to suddenly threaten the United States in any way, American corporations would pull out of China to sufficiently destroy the economic prosperity that American corporations have allowed. In short, these $14 trillion in investments into China’s infrastructure and marketplace makes China all but a colony of the American/European military and industrial manufacturing complex. And the thought of “China” doing anything to change this, including demanding what little U.S. debt it might actually own, is patently ridiculous.
The U.S. debt that is listed here as held by “China” is held by the investment structure that has been built up by American interests.
So who owns the corporations that are taking on American debt securities in these two countries?
Let’s go back to the New York Pension Fund and see what is happening here:
Company Shares of Stock Market Value
Banks and Investments
Bank Yokohama Ltd Japan Ord 903,100 3,821,968
Hiroshima Bank Ltd/The 13,000 49,357
Bank of Kyoto Ltd/The 73,000 614,924
Osaka Gas Company Ltd 2,035,146 6,346,309
Bank of China Ltd – H 8,527,000 2,827,663
Ind Comm Bank of China Ltd 4,464,000 2,321,280
China Citic Bank – H 484,000 182,983
China Construction Bank – H 4,331,000 2,458,890
China Merchants Bank – H 283,000 494,428
Shizuoka Bank 183,000 1,637,866
Shinsei Bank Ltd 1,450,154 1,453,531
Chiba Bank 176,500 866,685
Cheung Kong (Holdings) 3,376,000 29,077,161
Hang Seng Bank Ltd 328,500 3,308,313
Hanmi Financial Corp 55,300 71,890
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Grp 6,409,847 30,890,829
Oil/Electic
Tokyo Electric Power Company 359,150 8,945,115
Tokyo Electron Ltd 363,650 13,401,701
Tokyo Gas Company 2,375,746 8,298,394
China Petroleum Chemical 3,982,000 2,548,480
China Power Int Dvlp Ltd 6,012,000 1,194,643
China Coal Energy Company 416,000 307,035
China Oilfield Services 212,000 167,685
China Shenhua Energy Co 341,000 768,240
Chiyoda Chemical Engineering 935,400 4,962,535
Chubu Electric Power Co Inc 241,917 5,314,973
Shanghai Electric Grp Co Ltd 12,052,000 3,467,866
Shinsei Bank Ltd 1,450,154 1,453,531
Nissan Chemical Industries Ltd 41,500 344,958
China Coal Energy Company – H 416,000 307,035
Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd 5,485,330 8,649,127
Hong Kong Electric Holds Ltd 3,200,500 18,996,516
Mitsubishi Electric Corp 3,036,548 13,557,939
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical CO Inc 4,000 17,009
Automobiles
Toyota Motor Company 1,764,412 55,735,197
Toyota Industries Corp 177,163 3,757,786
Toyota Tsusho Corp 143,200 1,371,542
Honda Motor – ADR 188,000 4,455,600
Honda Motor Company 1,297,926 30,421,167
Mazda Motor Corp 715,000 1,187,203
Nissan Motors Japanese Ord 4,282,864 15,176,697
Mitsubishi Corp 859,769 11,185,615
Mitsubishi Motors Corp 271,000 342,969
Hyundai Motor Company Ltd 30,860 1,238,193
Yamaha Corp 42,813 414,823
Yamaha Motor Company Ltd 184,000 1,630,050
Telecom/Cellphones
Motorola Inc 9,547,354 40,385,307
Qwest Communications Int Inc 4,735,734 16,196,210
Vodafone Group plc – Spons ADR 109,595 1,909,145
Vodafone Group plc New 56,080,988 98,670,972
Samsung Electronics Company Ltd 4,489 1,843,305
Ericsson LM Tele Co – Spons ADR 126,820 1,025,974
Ericsson LM Tele Co – B Shares 7,402,571 60,439,750
Nokia Oyj 2,005,360 23,643,146
Nokia Oyj Corp – Sponsored ADR 151,200 1,764,504
These are some of the corporations that are holding U.S. Debt. And so again, we are seeing that the U.S. government is essentially borrowing money from its own investment held corporations, nationalizing that debt onto the backs of the American people, and using the profits of the bonded indebtedness of the people not for the people, but to further government ownership and control over the world corporate structure. And then it demonizes China and assigns a false power onto its government for “holding U.S. debt”.
And the people of America eat it up, because they can never imagine that they themselves are the problem; that their ignorance of their government and their consent to it is really what’s wrong with the world. America’s creed: blame China. Blame Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan. Watch out for Russia… But just disregard our own actions.
So thanks CNBC… you almost told the truth today! Fortunately there are anomalies like Walter Burien and myself to read between the lines and translate what you fail to mention.
But then, government owns you to, so what should we expect?
Media
Walt Disney Company/The 7,975,404 144,833,337
News Corp – Class A 7,746,798 51,283,803
Time Warner Cable Inc 1,476,825 36,625,251
Time Warner Inc 4,885,448 94,289,152
CBS Corp – Class B 3,518,760 13,512,038
General Electric Company 39,551,471 399,865,372
Sony Corp 811,290 16,411,435
Sony Financial Holdings Inc 24 63,906
Vivendi Universal 2,414,568 63,876,002
Viacom Inc – Class B 2,363,387 41,075,666
Discovery Commun Inc – Series A 79,244 1,269,489
Discovery Commun Inc – Series C 78,831 1,154,874
Marvel Entertainment Inc 175,800 4,667,490
Comcast Corp – Class A 10,473,672 142,860,886
Comcast Corp – Special Class A 20,259 260,733
DreamWorks Anim SKG Inc – A 285,700 6,182,548
DISH Network Corp – Class A 475,200 5,279,472
DIRECTV Group Inc/The 2,048,939 46,695,320
.
And so in the end, of the over $15 trillion of U.S. debt that this report refers to, we can rest assured that approximately 70-80% of that debt is self-funded by the United States government, and the rest by government held investment corporations.
Oh my, how will we ever pay ourselves?
Answer: We wont.
But as long as we the people do nothing, the government will continue to raise our taxes and destroy any chance of recovery for the American people from this tyrannical corporation that we falsely call “government” and its blatant usury. And we will continue to pay the national debt plus interest simply to support the governments investment fund scheme, and continue the hostile corporate takeover of this little globe called Earth.
The government owned media will continue to tell us that this thing is “too big to fail”, as if that is a good excuse to ignore the problem and continue to justify undeclared wars and continue into a fascist global United Nations government where the rights of the individual are trumped by the rights of the collective.
The ball is in our court.
We are arriving at the point of no return.
.
–Clint Richardson (realitybloger.wordpress.com)
–Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
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