Savings Bonds - Why Purchase

WHY?  Because it’s in our Nation’s best interest and is one more idea to Preserve Our Nation.

Let’s look at the economics starting with trade.  We have a trade imbalance, that is, we buy more than we sell thus creating a trade deficit.  Our trade deficit is over a trillion dollars.  Currently, we send 700 billion dollars of wealth to other countries each year.  As an example, China owns 800 billion of our debt and securities, Russia owns 118 billion and Japan almost 750 billion. Our total foreign debt is 2,676 Trillion.

In the trade imbalance, we buy more that we sell which is not a good deal for us.  But we pay in U.S. dollars.  Thus foreign countries are collecting dollars, lots of them.  But what can they do with these dollars which are backed by the U.S. Treasury.  Their options for the dollars are:

• Bury them in the back yard or put them under a mattress.
• Loan them back to the U.S. Treasury to pay Congress’s bills.
• Purchase American goods and services.
• Invest in Securities, companies, etc… (U.S. Law limits these investments)

So, as long as Congress continues to spend more than they take in, there will be U.S. debt.  Thus there will always be an investment for the foreign countries to park their U.S. dollars.  But what would happen if they could no longer loan our dollars back to us.  Do you think they might think about spending the dollars to purchase American goods and services?  I think so.

So the question is how we prevent the U.S. Treasury from borrowing all that money from foreigners.  One, we, the citizens, must loan our dollars to the U.S. Treasury and two, we must forbid Congress from borrowing from foreigners.  For every dollar we loan to the treasury that is one dollar that the foreign country cannot loan to the U.S. Treasury.  If enough of us do this then eventually the foreign countries will start buying American goods and services.  And all this buying will stimulate our economy. The trade deficits will go down, maybe even reverse and be in our favor.

We can do this by buying U.S. Saving Bonds: either $18.75/$25 I-Series Savings Bonds $50 EE-Series Savings Bonds.  If 100 million citizens buy one bond a month for a year, that frees up 22.5 billion dollars a year from foreign loans.  In ten years, that is 225 billion dollars.

Not a whole lot considering our debt is 9.4 trillion dollars, that 9,400 billion.  But foreigners holding loans from the U.S. treasurer total about 2,676 billion dollars. (2.6 trillion dollars)  We can slowly reduce it.  As the economy builds we can purchase more and reduce it faster.

Another reason for doing this is to force Congress to balance the budget and control spending.  Let’s bring this down to your family level.  What if your grown son needs money for his rent.  He’s been buying video games and other expensive electronics.  He can borrow on credit cards (foreigners) or he can borrow from you (Americans).  If you loan him the money, then you can monitor his spending habits demanding that he watch his expenses and keep you informed.  Parental pressure does work.

The same is true with Congress, we can demand they limit their spending until they clear the debt.   What if, when Congress spends more than they bring in (taxes) they would have to turn to the citizens to raise the money? What if they had to convince us to buy more savings bonds to fund their deficit spending habit?  Maybe they would even offer higher interest rates, thus making savings bonds a viable investment. (Also see our amendments in we propose an amendment to limit government borrowing from foreigners).)

There are other reasons to buy U.S. Savings Bonds.  We are passing our debt to future generations: our children.  If the government owes all the debt to our children via notes, bonds etc..., then as future generations pay their taxes this money will be given back to that generation as the debts are paid off.

Buy them for yourself, your children or your grandchildren.  Buy them for their education with tax benefits.

There are two methods for you to purchase U.S. Saving Bonds: An individual account with the government through Treasury Direct which is set up to sell bonds, notes, etc…   Or, you can purchase U.S. Saving Bonds through a local bank. 

• Treasury Direct, go to: Treasury Direct
• To set up an account with Treasury Direct, go to: Purchase
• To find a local bank in your area, go to: Find A Bank
• For a comparison of EE and I Saving Bonds go to: Comparison

Requirements to purchase Saving Bonds:

• To purchase Savings Bonds you must have a valid Social Security Number.
• Be a resident of the U.S..
• You must have a bank account when purchasing via Treasury Direct through which they perform an automatic withdrawal each month.