Crap to Fan FryDay- Social Security May Not Be So Secure After All - Where is The $2.6 Trillion Trust?; S&P Says Downgrade Coming, Default Possible Even With Debt Ceiling Increase; Consumer Confidence Closes in on Reality, Plummets to Two Year Low; Empire Manufacturing Slows; U.S. Treasury Burns $90 Billion in Under Two Weeks; More

When something is too unimaginable, too unbelievable to even think about - it can't be true, right? We've discussed the term "cognitive dissonance" here in great detail and it's about to be used as a daily term. Obama made waves this week when he said,  "I cannot guarantee that those checks [social security checks] go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it."

The reason it has ruffled so many feathers is because most people, including the majority of the politicians, assume or believe without a doubt that the Social Security Trust Fund still has $2.6 Trillion in it's coffers as the SS Trustees are reporting. If that is the case, then Obama is simply pulling a real political stunt and he is outright lying. 

On the other hand, this might be one of those "need-to-know" factoids that only El Presidente and few other top officials know and he just let the cat out of the bag that the SS Fund is broke. Could it be? It's unimaginable to even think about it. Yet, the evidence is mounting it could be true. Forbes has an excellent article on this very topic and you may prefer to bury your head in the sand or drink a full bottle of your finest whiskey before you do. 

We even have been speculating that the debt ceiling will be raised - that all of this is just political drama that is becoming more wild by the minute. But what if, all of this is not just theatrics? The S&P (a day after Dagong) is now claiming even if the U.S. raises the debt ceiling, there exists a real possibility of default. 

And the EU? Forgetaboutit. Greek bond yields are through the roof, along with skyrocketing Irish, Portuguese and now Italian bonds. Then again, we already knew the EU was in a similar debt-death-spiral the U.S. is in. 

Yesterday, we reported the Rasmussen Consumer Confidence plummeted to a two year low. Today, we bring to you the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence, which surprisingly is not that far off from the Rasmussen report - two years lows across the board. Of course, we suggested months ago to take the pulse of the U.S. economy by doing a "Friends and Neighbors Survey." Get ready for the knock out round.

The only toenail the U.S. has hanging on, from keeping the world from going off the edge, is the little manufacturing that remains here and most recent data suggests now even that is failing. NY State manufacturing and indicators all show the final days are here. Everything must go. 80-90% off everything. 

Finally, we present to you a great find from ZeroHedge which shows how bad the situation really is (in case you haven't believed us all this time). US Treasury burns $90 Billion in less than two weeks time. No commentary is required, but we will say, someone might want to ask how much fiat money is remaining in the federal pension funds. Don't look now, but the EU is in even worse shape while England quietly distracts with royal this and royal that. "Oh look what dress Kate is wearing for tea."

We'll be doing some updates over the weekend and today so be sure to check back often.