Politicians again!

The blue vest is off to Yoga! Click here to view this email as a web page Nation’s Debt Will Hit Americans in 5 ‘Awful Ways’ Politicians in Washington are once again squabbling over raising the debt ceiling even though the national debt already stands at $16.4 trillion — or $52,000 for each of America’s 333 million people. “Although the government won’t send each of us a bill for $52,000, Americans will pay the debt in five increasingly awful ways,” two economists observe in an op-ed piece for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The first is a cut in public services. The federal government currently pays interest on the debt equal to 17 cents out of every dollar it collects. That figure will likely rise to 25 cents within the next 10 years, lowering the amount the government can spend on public services. The second way Americans will pay for the debt is in delayed retirement and lower wages, according to Antony Davies, an associate professor of economics at Duquesne University and an affiliated senior scholar at the Mercatus Center, and James R. Harrigan, a fellow of the Institute of Political Economy at Utah State University. Due to the debt, the Federal Reserve will be under pressure to keep interest rates low to control interest expenses. Low rates mean seniors can’t afford to retire because their investment savings earn low returns, and this increases competition for jobs and lowers wages for younger workers. The third way is obvious: higher taxes. The fourth is inflation due to the Federal Reserve’s need to print money to cover government expenses. This “quantitative easing” causes inflation and requires Americans to pay more for everything they buy. Finally, debt would ultimately lead to cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits. There are precedents: Beginning in 1983, many seniors were required to pay income tax on their Social Security benefits, and in 2000 Congress raised the retirement age for the first time. The authors conclude: “The $16 trillion debt is as serious as a heart attack” and Americans will pay “because our government lives beyond our means" 4. US Slips Out of Top 10 ‘Happiest Countries’ For the first time, the United States does not rank in the top 10 of the Legatum Institute’s annual ranking of the World’s Happiest Countries. The country ranked No. 10 last year in Legatum’s Prosperity Index, which has been computed for the past six years, but this year the United States ranks No. 12. The Prosperity Index is based on a study of 142 countries. Nations are ranked on 89 indicators in eight categories including Economy, Governance, Education, Health, Personal Freedom, and Entrepreneurship & Opportunity. “In general, the most prosperous (thus ‘happiest’ in my book) countries enjoy stable political institutions, a strong civil society with freedom of expression, good education and healthcare, personal freedom, and a feeling of being safe and secure,” observes Christopher Helman on Forbes.com. The United States slipped to No. 12 in the Entrepreneurship & Opportunity category “due to a decline in citizens’ perception that working hard gets you ahead,” the Legatum’s report states. America ranks only 27th in Safety & Security and 20th in Economy, but No. 2 in Health and No. 5 in Education. Its rank for Personal Freedom is 14th. Luxembourg is the healthiest nation, Iceland the safest, and Switzerland is tops in the Economy and Governance categories. But the No. 1 spot overall goes to Norway, which ranks among the top six in seven categories and is No. 1 or No. 2 in three of them. Norway has a per capita GDP of $57,000 a year; 95 percent of Norwegians say they are satisfied with the freedom to choose the direction of their lives; and 74 percent say other people can be trusted. The No. 2 spot goes to Denmark, which is tops for Entrepreneurship & Opportunity, followed by Sweden, Australia, New Zealand (which has the No. 1 spot in the Education category), Canada (No. 1 in Personal Freedom), Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the United States. At the bottom of the rankings at No. 142, the “saddest” country is the Central African Republic, where the per capita GDP is $790 a year and life expectancy is 48 years. The country ranks dead last in Education and next to last in Entrepreneurship & Opportunity. The next lowest ranking goes to Republic of Congo — last in Health and Entrepreneurship & Opportunity — followed by Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Haiti. Among other countries, Iran is No. 102, Mexico is No. 61, Iraq is No. 131, Israel is No. 40, and China is No. 55. The most dangerous country on earth? Chad, which ranks No. 142 in the Safety & Security category. Yemen ranks last in Personal Freedom, although several countries including North Korea were not included in the rankings. Editor's Note: Flu Epidemic Hits U.S. — What You Need to Know About Flu Shots 5. Census Bureau: Net Mexican Immigration Has Halted Immigration to the United States is down sharply from the levels of 1982 to 2007, and equaled just 0.6 percent of the 2010 population in the last two years, according to new data from the Census Bureau. Immigration topped 1 percent of the 2010 population only in New Jersey, New York, and Florida, and was only slightly above the national average in California. In Arizona, with its enforcement of anti-illegal immigrant laws, immigration was actually down. The Bureau reports that net Mexican immigration has halted, and California is likely getting more Asian immigrants than Hispanics. Most immigrants in recent years have been going to just a few metropolitan areas — New York, Miami, Orlando, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Nationally, the excess of U.S. births over deaths, 3.3 million, was nearly double the number of immigrants, 1.8 million, in the last two years. The Census Bureau estimates that the country has grown from 308 million when the last census was conducted in April 2010 to nearly 313 million in the middle of last year, for a growth rate of about 1.7 percent. Among the states, the fastest growth has been in North Dakota, 4 percent, thanks to the boom in shale oil production, although the District of Columbia has a higher growth rate, 5.1 percent. After North Dakota, the fastest-growing state is Texas, where the population rose 3.6 percent and accounted for 18 percent of all American population growth. Utah and Colorado also grew by more than 3 percent. Two states lost population in the past two years — Rhode Island and Michigan, although Michigan appears to be rebounding in the last year, notes Michael Barone, a senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner who reviewed the Census Bureau figures. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Illinois suffered the largest outflow of people, more than 1 percent of their 2010 populations. Barone observes: “People evidently aren’t enamored of their high (and in Connecticut and Illinois, increased) tax rates.” Note: Newsmax magazine is now available on the iPad. Find us in the App Store. Editor's Note: Average Middle-Class Paycheck Drops $3,700