American Meltdown: Book Two of The Economic Collapse Chronicles (5 page)

CHAPTER 9

"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

-Proverbs 22:7

Anthony Howe sat in the oval office with Treasury Secretary Melinda Chang, Fed Chair Jane Bleecher, his new Press Secretary Jared Campbell and his new Chief of Staff Alec Renzi. It was hard to say how long Jared and Alec would last. In the high stress environment of the financial meltdown, those two positions were likely to have a higher-than-average turnover rate.

"People, this is not pretty. Everyone needs to understand that the next few weeks are going to be tough. The press is going to be attacking us and the people are going to be blaming us for this mess we walked into. Get over it and do your job. When we send soldiers into war, everyone knows there are going to be
casualties. People accept that with no problem. They are going to have to accept the fact that there are going to be some losses in this crisis.

“We all knew a crunch was coming, I just wasn't expecting it today. But it's here so let's just roll with the punches. I'm open to any ideas you have about holding the country together. A lot of it is going to be damage control. Jared, you are my man for that. Spin this to be Paul Randall's fault. Say whatever you have to say. I'll sign off on anything you come up with as long as you make us look like we
’re doing everything we can. Just let the public know we’re up against impossible circumstances. I don't even need to see what you’re going to put out. You know what they need to hear to make them feel better, so write it up and roll it out.

“Alec, get the military, FEMA and DHS together and come up with a plan to keep order. I want it finalized and ready to go into effect by sundown. I am declaring martial law and suspending the Posse Comitatus Act.  I want troublemakers detained at the first signs of civil unrest. Anyone who breaks dusk-til-dawn curfew is to be detained. Anyone who resists detainment is to be shot on sight. We are not playing around with rioters for the next month like Al Mohammad did last year in the EBT riots. If people went nuts over that, you can bet they
’ll go stark raving mad over this. People are going to get upset when we start shooting Americans, but they’ll get the message that we won’t tolerate chaos.

“Melinda, if you
’re not up for this, I need to know now. You had a little meltdown earlier. If you need to tap out, tell me now. I can promote New York Fed President Sydney Roth to Treasury Secretary. Nobody will think any less of you."

Chang had adjusted herself with a couple of stiff drinks
prior to the meeting. "I think I’ll be okay, Mr. President. It was just the initial shock."

"Jared," Howe said, "I am leaving you in control of the fort. People need to see you in the White House Press Briefing Room to feel like things are normal.
You’ll be staying in the White House subterranean bunker. Marines and Secret Service will be with you.  The bunker is designed to withstand a bomb, you’ll be perfectly safe there from a few protestors. You can bring your wife and kids, but absolutely no one else can know about it.

“The rest of us are relocating to Mount Weather in Virginia. It's not far, and it
’ll be a much better place to work. Same thing goes for the rest of you. Bring your spouse and children and nobody, and I mean nobody else knows where you are. I am not threatening you with your job. If it leaks out and causes me more trouble, you will be prosecuted."

The intercom phone buzzed."
Mr. President, Stanley Klauser from the IMF is on the line."

"Didn't I say I was not to be disturbed?" Howe shot back.

"Yes, Mr. President, but he said if you don't take the call, not to bother calling back," The voice said.

"Put him through," Howe growled.

"Mr. Director," Howe said.

"Mr. President," Klauser said
over the speaker phone. "Are you free to speak or do you need to take me off speaker?"

"I am here with my staff, but they need to hear our conversation. They
’ll be involved with the decision process of our crisis," Howe said.

"Very well then," Klauser said in his thick German-Swiss accent. "We seem to have something of a conundrum. As we discussed previously, the IMF was depending on a percentage of the deposits in your banks to secure additional relief monies for your fiscal shortfall coming up at the end of the month.

“It is my understanding that much of those deposits are now evaporated by today's action in the derivatives market. Most of the money in the banks has already been carted off by the derivatives investors to other countries. I also understand that if there were more money, that the derivatives investors who were not able to cash out would be first in line to receive it under your current bankruptcy laws.

“I am very much unable to secure additional financing for the US unless you can come up with another way to produce good faith capital. The other member nations have been very patient with your country in taking the recommendations from our last agreement."

"Mr. Director," Howe said, "we have made the 15% across the board cuts to all of our military, government and entitlement programs. This deep cutting austerity has been in the face of very high inflation which has caused the strain to be much more for our citizens and government employees to bear than the nominal 15% cuts."

"Mr. President," Klauser countered, "The International Monetary Fund put those requirements in the last deal as mandatory austerity measures. It was our expectation and the expectation of the other member countries that America would continue to find other areas to reduce spending. You still have more entitlement spending and more military spending than any other country in the world. America asking for more is the equivalent of the CEO of a company going around and begging for change from the people in the mailroom. The mailroom clerks are none too happy about lending money to the man they see ride around in a limousine while they are struggling to put bread on the table. I am sure you see my position."

The mailroom analogy sent a shot of anger to Howe's brain. His face was glowing red, but he knew he had to endure the abuse. He knew Klauser was loving every minute of it.

"Does the Director have any recommendations?" Howe said like a dog with his tail tucked.

"Of course, I would have to run it by the board of directors and have any agreement ratified by the member countries but I may have a thought or two," Klauser said.

Howe knew he was toying with him. Klauser had the board and the new Council of Member States that ratified agreements eating out of his hand.

In the past few years, the IMF and the UN had grown closer and closer. The Council of Member States had been formed as a permanent committee to function in the role that the Troika had filled in the previous European crisis. The Troika was made up of representatives from the European Central Bank, the IMF and the European Union. Financial woes were spreading around the world and an international board was needed to help govern the bailouts and bail-ins in a way that made all member countries feel included in the process.  New international law continued to change the procedure used to grant loans and reduce the sovereignty of nations. Now, accepting loans from the IMF was tantamount to selling your soul to the devil. Klauser already had a list and Howe knew it. Klauser would have never initiated the call unless he knew the terms he was going to dictate to Howe.

"First, you must cut your spending across the board by 50%. Your economy has collapsed and you will soon have no tax revenue whatsoever
," Klauser said.

"So another 35% on top of the 15% cuts made last year?" Howe asked.

"No!" Klauser shot back somewhat annoyed. "50% from current levels."

The audacity of the IMF Director infuriated Howe. "There is no way I can cut military spending, social security, government payrolls, health care, and government assistance programs by 50% in one swipe, Stanley!"

There was silence on Klauser’s end. Howe had just yelled at the only person who could help him and in front of his staff to boot.

"Then descend into chaos, Mr. Howe and let the vultures lick up the scraps! Good day!" Klauser yelled as he hung up the phone.

No one in the Oval Office said a word. Melinda Chang helped herself to a glass of brandy from the decanter on the shelf. No one noticed. Not even Howe, who would have usually sent a staff member home for drinking his brandy without it being offered to them. 

Howe yelled at his staff
, "Don't you people have something to do?"

The room cleared in less than 15 seconds without anyone saying a word.

CHAPTER 10

“The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die."

-George Washington

Paul Randall called Texas Governor Larry Jacobs. "Larry, are you issuing a statement about martial law?"

"I Informed the National Guard that federal troops or agencies were not to be allowed to take any action in the state," Larry said. "I drafted a letter to the White House telling them that Texas will not surrender
semi-automatic firearms.  I also informed them that federal troops or agencies taking action to disarm Texan citizens would be arrested. If they resist arrest, they’ll be fired upon. The National Guard is coordinating with militia to set up perimeters on border roads leading in and out of Texas. I am placing a couple of Guardsmen with each militia group to relay my orders regarding the borders and action against federal troops. That will free up the Guardsmen to help secure civil unrest inside the state. I don't want militia getting involved in policing right now. Protecting our borders will keep them busy enough. I’m sure we’ll see quite a mess by evening.

“This is going to be a battle on two fronts. We’ll have massive rioting and looting in our cities by sundown and we will be fighting to keep the US military from marching on our streets and enforcing this unconstitutional gun ban. I won’t have our citizens disarmed at the time they need their weapons the most."

"Have you floated this by any other governors around the country to see if anyone else is with you?" Randall asked.

Governor Jacobs said
, "South Carolina Governor Hayden Nicholas is sending an almost identical letter to D.C.  Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are coordinating their own styling, but the three of them will be sending one letter that represents the intention of all three. It is being termed the Northwest Coalition. They have invited North and South Dakota to join.  eastern Washington and eastern Oregon have filed for an emergency partition vote to separate from the western halves of their two states. They are threatening violence if the partition is not granted.  The liberals on the west coast have fought the partition for years, but they may be willing to grant it now. The irreconcilable differences are a bit more obvious now.  If they get the partition, eastern Washington and eastern Oregon will also join the Northwest Coalition.”

Governor Jacobs paused a moment. “Did you speak with General Jefferson?"

"I did." Paul Randall said, "The brass at Fort Hood are holding a meeting right now explaining the intentions of the leadership on the base. They will offer any soldiers or officers who remain loyal to D.C. the opportunity to leave provided they are off the base by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.  Anyone who stays will be treated as a deserter if they leave or suddenly decide to renounce their allegiance to Texas.

“Fort Bliss, Fort Sam Houston, all the Air Force Bases and Naval Bases in Texas seem to be coordinated to give the same opportunity. The good General offered to get some Bradleys, Cougars and Humvees out of Red River if you think you would have any use for them. Maybe a couple of those would be a good show of strength at the border roads; if the militia won't mind that is."

"That would be much appreciated, Paul," Jacobs said. "I am sure Jefferson is aware of the Northwest Coalition. There aren't many bases up there, but the ones that are, would be worth locking down. There are some heavy hitters up that way. Specifically, Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. They’re two of the three that "officially" control Minutemen ICBM Missiles."

Paul
replied, "I know he positioned leadership up there in hopes that Montana and Wyoming would side with the patriots. Jefferson is also hoping the partitions go through, specifically for Washington. Fairchild Air Force Base is right outside Spokane. The official story is that all of their nuclear silos were decommissioned, but General Jefferson seems to think that may not be entirely true. Same story with Vandenberg Air Force Base located in the People’s Republic of California. Not much hope for getting control of that one.

“The only other active silo site "officially" is in Minot. We would have all of the official nuclear missile silos if North Dakota sided with us. Of course ICB
Ms are only one point of the nuclear triad. Weapons storage, B-52s, B-2s and nuclear subs armed with Tridents are sprinkled all over the country. If we’re talking quantity, there are over 2,000 warheads still waiting to be dismantled at Pantex, right here in Texas. Well, mutually assured destruction has kept us all alive this long. Have you thought about what you’ll do with the federal agencies inside Texas borders?"

"I'll wait until the military bases get settled and then issue eviction notices as soon as I know we have the support from the bases
," Jacobs said.

“What about controlling the riots?” Paul asked.

Jacobs replied, “I’ll issue a statement that everyone needs to stay home. I’ll make a point of reminding everyone of the Castle Doctrine and extend it to include their right to use deadly force in defense of their neighborhoods, but we don’t have the manpower to keep every street safe. Even if we had every soldier from every military base in America, we couldn’t stop this. The banking system just collapsed and no one can get a nickel out of their bank, write a check or use a credit card. I hope people took the opportunity to get prepared after that shot across the bow last November with the EBT riots.

“I also hope all the good folks of Texas have guns and are ready to defend themselves. The bad element will have a heyday with this one. Not only ha
s the government taught people that they will take care of them financially through welfare, they’ve taught them that the police are responsible for their safety. That’s a bigger lie than the welfare system. In the best of times, all a police officer can do is come file a report after the crime has already been committed. Sometimes they can catch the guy who did it, but even if they do, the damage is already done. I hope folks have figured out that they’re responsible for their own security. Tonight would be a bad time to come to that realization.”

Randall stated
, "I'm going to let you go. I'm going to get in as many phone calls as I can this evening. I want to get as much support as I can. We have a lot of work to do."

As soon as Randall had hung up with Larry Jacobs, General Allen Jefferson called. "Paul, Lejeune and Bragg are all set, the lead
ership is just waiting for the Governor of North Carolina to make a commitment. Do you think you could call him and try to get a definitive answer? We put a lot of good officers there hoping that we can work with the state."

"Sure, General," Paul said. "Governor Taylor supported me in the campaign. I hope we can get him onboard with the effort.”

"Tell him it's time to man up!" Jefferson said, "We fight now or live as slaves for the rest of our lives."

Paul Randall said
, “Good-bye” and put in the call to North Carolina Governor Ronald Taylor. Randall quickly explained the support the movement had in Texas, the Northwest Coalition and South Carolina.

“This is a tough call
, Paul. I hope this will all blow over and things will get back to normal,” Taylor said. He was obviously torn on what to do.

Randall replied, “Howe is going to be disarming the American people
whether the financial crisis blows over or not. He couldn’t be more straightforward about his intentions to confiscate weapons. This fight was already coming. The banking system collapse just pushed it up on the calendar.”

Ron Taylor said, “You’re right. We have been discussing that in the North Carolina State Senate. We just ha
ven’t made a final decision on how to handle it.”

Randall continued to explain, “General Jefferson put a lot of faith in you to do the right thing by positioning key leadership in Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg. It
’s all patriot brass running those bases thanks to Jefferson’s planning. He won’t be able to move them around again. If you don’t commit to this effort, we may not be able keep America alive. I’m not being melodramatic, Ron. The freedom of this nation may very well depend on your faithfulness to the Constitution.”

Taylor reluctantly committed to the effort. “
Knowing how much I would be letting you and Allen Jefferson down, I’ll call an emergency meeting with the General Assembly. I’ll try to get this through tonight,”

"You’re doing the right thing, Ron," Paul assured him.

"You and Jefferson are going to have to hold my hand through this, Paul," Taylor replied. "I don't have much experience with coups."

Continuing his plan to solicit support, Paul Randall called the Governor of Kentucky. With the dollar going away, it would be good to have the gold reserves being held in Fort Knox. There was no chance of getting at the gold reserves in the New York Federal Reserve. Randall was unsure of the amount still being held in Kentucky, but Fort Campbell was also there and it was a large military base. Since Kentucky had voted for Randall in the presidential election, he knew he had the support of the people. Governor Simmons talked with Paul for a long time, but in the end was unwilling to make a personal commitment.

"Governor, are you willing to let the Federal Government march on your state and disarm your citizens?" Randall asked.

"I will put it to a vote with the state legislature, Paul. This is not my call," Simmons said.

"Those people elected you to make crucial decisions for them, Governor," Paul said. "They overwhelmingly voted for me in the presidential election. You know where they stand. I am just asking you to hold an emergency session and to personally support it. You carry a lot of weight in the Kentucky General Assembly. I know a lot of those votes are going to go in the direction you recommend."

Governor Simmons was silent for a moment as he contemplated Paul's words. "You are very convincing, Paul, but I can't give you an answer right away. I'll think it over and get back to you on it. I owe it to the people of Kentucky to examine all the angles on this one. The repercussions are tremendous.
I can tell you that we’ll likely support you, but I don't make decisions this big in the blink of an eye."

"I can respect that Governor," Paul said.

He contacted the remaining state governors in quick succession. Several of them were on the fence including Nebraska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama.  Northern Colorado also demanded an emergency partition vote to separate it from the rest of the state. If it went through, Northern Colorado would become part of the Northwest Coalition. The economic problems, the political discord between parties, and the friction between states and the Federal Government had been building up to a flashpoint for years. No one could have ever imagined it would all erupt on the same day.