By Freewvemaker, LLC (Jerry Nix Author) February 05, 2025

Art Provided by Copilot AI 1

The Money Changers

Why do I bring Money Changers into the final part of my Social Insecurity Article?  I think this has been one of the biggest problems that have led to many of the current issues in the Social Security System over the years.  Our Politicians need to “Appease” the Money Changers we have hanging around Congress, and the United States of America is costing us dearly, and in the future, those paying into the system may not be getting anything for their contributions today.

What does the Bible say about Money Changers?

The Bible addresses money changers in the New Testament, specifically in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John. One of the most notable passages is when Jesus expels the money changers from the Temple in Jerusalem. Here’s a brief summary of that event:

Jesus was angered by the presence of the money changers in the Temple because they were turning a place of worship into a marketplace. He overturned their tables and drove them out, saying, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, John 2:13-16). This event is often interpreted as a condemnation of those who exploit religious settings for financial gain and a call to maintain the sanctity and purity of places of worship.

Is there a reference to money changers and government in the Bible?

While the Bible doesn’t directly reference a relationship between money changers and government, there are passages that discuss the role of money changers and the broader themes of justice and fairness in economic practices. The clearest instance of Jesus addressing money changers is when He expels them from the Temple, condemning their exploitation and dishonesty.

The Bible also contains numerous references to just and fair practices in broader economic terms. For example:

• Proverbs 11:1: “The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him.” This emphasizes fairness and integrity in financial transactions.
• Micah 6:11: “Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?” This verse similarly underscores God’s disdain for dishonesty in economic matters.

While these don’t specifically link money changers to government, they do highlight the ethical standards expected in financial dealings and the condemnation of exploitative practices.

What about our Founding Fathers … how did they feel about dishonest money changers?

The Founding Fathers of the United States had strong opinions about economic practices, including the role of money changers and the importance of honest financial dealings. Here are a few key points:

1. Alexander Hamilton: As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was a strong advocate for a stable and honest financial system. He believed in the importance of sound money and was against any form of financial dishonesty or exploitation.
2. Thomas Jefferson: Jefferson emphasized the importance of personal responsibility and integrity in financial matters. He advised against spending money before earning it and warned about the dangers of debt.
3. Benjamin Franklin: Franklin was known for his practical wisdom on financial matters. He believed in the power of saving and investing wisely, and he condemned dishonest practices in business.
4. John Adams: Adams stressed the importance of financial education and literacy. He believed that many of the economic problems in America arose from a lack of understanding of money and credit.
5. James Madison: in 1787, said this …

Found on the Internet 1

Overall, the Founding Fathers valued honesty, integrity, and responsibility in financial dealings. They believed that a stable and fair economic system was essential for the success and prosperity of the nation.

Why doesn’t America Learn?

America is one country that does not seem to learn from past mistakes or its own HISTORY.

Throughout history, several great empires have fallen due to financial or economic mistakes. Here are a few notable examples:

1. Roman Empire: The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 AD after centuries of economic troubles, including heavy taxation, inflation, and reliance on slave labor. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) lasted until 1453 AD, but it too faced economic challenges, such as loss of vital territories and trade concessions.
2. Byzantine Empire: The Byzantine Empire, which continued from the Eastern Roman Empire, lasted until 1453 AD. Its decline was partly due to economic downturns, loss of territories, and the inability to maintain a stable economy2.
3. Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1299 to 1922, faced significant economic challenges in its later years, including inflation and military overreach. These issues contributed to its eventual collapse.
4. British Empire: The British Empire, at its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, began to decline after World War I due to economic strain, rising nationalism in its colonies, and the costs of maintaining its vast territories. The empire effectively ended in the mid-20th century.

These examples show that economic mismanagement, overexpansion, and reliance on unsustainable practices can weaken even the mightiest of empires.

Will America be next? We’ve been warned about “unfair money changers” and things like spending money that we don’t have. And what do we do? We create the Federal Reserve bank first of all – then Social Security, that I’ve been writing about, just a few years later.

What is the Federal Reserve Bank and is it part of the U. S. Government?

Art Provided by Copilot AI 2

The Federal Reserve Bank, often referred to as the Federal Reserve or the Fed was formed on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act.

The call for the formation of the Federal Reserve was largely driven by financial instability and the need for banking reform in the early 20th century. A pivotal moment came after the Panic of 1907, which highlighted the weaknesses in the U.S. banking system.

A secret meeting took place at Jekyll Island, Georgia, from November 20 to November 30, 1910. This meeting was attended by six prominent figures: Nelson Aldrich, A. Piatt Andrew, Henry Davison, Arthur Shelton, Frank Vanderlip, and Paul Warburg. They gathered to draft a plan to reform the nation’s banking system. The secrecy of the meeting was maintained until the 1930s.

The plan they developed laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Federal Reserve System. Their goal was to create a central banking system that could provide stability and prevent financial panics.

I’m still wondering, especially after the past 50 years, if it really does provide stability and prevent financial panics. I think it does more harm than good – and many who are smarter than me agree with me.

As for whether it is part of the U.S. Government, the answer is a bit nuanced. The Federal Reserve System is not “owned” by anyone. It is an independent entity within the government. The Board of Governors, which is a central governing body, is an agency of the federal government and reports to Congress. However, the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks operate similarly to private corporations and are organized similarly to private sector entities.

So, while the Fed is independent, it is still subject to oversight by Congress and is considered part of the federal government.

Remember what President Ronald Reagan had to say?

                    Found on the Internet 2

Ronald Reagan famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.'” This quote encapsulates his skepticism about the effectiveness of government intervention.

He did a lot to keep the government out of American Business … though as soon as he left office the country went right back to things they were doing before him that did nothing to help.

Then in 2016 Donald Trump had been voted into the presidency and really started to go to work in trying to get the country back on the right track but was met with all kinds of investigations, two impeachments and a congress that was actually not on his side (or at least most members were not).

                                                                                                                                 Found on the Internet 3

He did not win his bid for re-election in 2020, and we elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who, together, turned back the hands of time for a couple of decades. Now Mr. Trump (who came back to win the White House once again) has his work really cut out for him. But I ask you … even if he is able to do a lot in the next four years to get our country back on track – will it last when the next bunch of people replace him? Probably not! As I said – Americans do not learn from past mistakes or their own and others, past history.

Lobbyist – What do they do?

Part of the “money changing” going on in America is due to lobbyists (in my opinion). Lobbyists work to promote or oppose legislation, regulations, or other policy proposals that affect their clients. They help to raise money for political candidates who support their clients’ interests and provide lawmakers with information and analysis on key policy issues. Lobbyists also play a key role in fundraising and campaign finance, helping to raise money for political candidates who support their clients’ interests.

You are correct. The list I provided earlier includes members of Congress who receive contributions from lobbyists, not the lobbyists themselves. I apologize for the confusion.

Here is a revised table of the top 25 lobbying organizations in America and the amount of money they spent on lobbying:

Rank	Lobbying Organization	Amount Spent (2021)
1	U.S. Chamber of Commerce	$66.41 million
2	National Association of Realtors	$44.00 million
3	Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)	$30.43 million
4	Blue Cross/Blue Shield	$25.27 million
5	American Hospital Association	$23.65 million
6	Business Roundtable	$23.00 million
7	American Medical Association	$21.53 million
8	Facebook Inc.	$20.07 million
9	Amazon.com Inc.	$19.30 million
10	Open Society Policy Center	$18.90 million
11	National Association of Broadcasters	$18.50 million
12	Northrop Grumman	$17.60 million
13	Boeing Co.	$17.50 million
14	Lockheed Martin	$16.90 million
15	Comcast Corp.	$16.80 million
16	Alphabet Inc. (Google)	$16.70 million
17	AT&T Inc.	$16.50 million
18	National Cable & Telecommunications Association	$16.40 million
19	Raytheon Technologies	$16.30 million
20	Verizon Communications	$16.20 million
21	Pfizer Inc.	$16.10 million
22	General Electric	$15.90 million
23	Exxon Mobil	$15.80 million
24	Microsoft Corp.	$15.70 million
25	National Association of Manufacturers	$15.60 million
	Total Spent by Top 25 Lobby Groups	$1.478 billion

                                                             Table from Copilot AI

Now, here is a table showing what Lobbyist contributed to 25 Congresspeople during the 2024 Election Cycle:

Rank	Lobbyist	Amount Spent
1	Maria Cantwell (D-Wash)	$680,921
2	Kamala Harris (D)	$662,517
3	Jon Tester (D-Mont)	$575,955
4	Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md)	$572,011
5	Bob Casey (D-Pa)	$566,955
6	Martin Heinrich (D-NM)	$469,708
7	Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)	$467,916
8	Tim Kaine (D-Va)	$451,186
9	Steve Scalise (R-La)	$428,547
10	Jacky Rosen (D-Nev)	$416,280
11	Ken Calvert (R-Calif)	$413,089
12	Mike Johnson (R-La)	$399,973
13	Tom Emmer (R-Minn)	$394,397
14	Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del)	$381,679
15	Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz)	$334,928
16	Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)	$332,916
17	Roger Wicker (R-Miss)	$327,838
18	Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)	$326,587
19	Larry Hogan (R-Md)	$325,765
20	Kevin McCarthy (R)	$324,356
21	John Barrasso (R-Wyo)	$313,419
22	Ted Cruz (R-Texas)	$311,555
23	Tom Cole (R-Okla)	$285,967
24	Adam Schiff (D-Calif)	$283,520
25	Jason Smith (R-Mo)	$275,071
	Total Spent on Top 25	$10,323,056.00

                  Table from Copilot AI

Keep in mind this is the top 25 campaign contributions for 25 congressional people. We have 435 congressional people in the House of Representatives and 100 congressional people in the Senate for a total of 535 potential recipients of campaign contributions from this form of “Money Changers.”

Now I ask you … what happens when, say, Facebook Inc. (actually META, Inc. now) spends $20.07 million in campaign contributions to have some law passed, and the Senators who receive those contributions get it passed, and it costs, let’s say $500,000,000 to put it in place and America does not have the money – where do you think the money will come from?

1. Another fund that has it (such as our Social Security Trust) which is stealing from future generations,
2. The selling of more U. S Treasury Bond, which will add to our deficit, or
3. The printing of additional currency which will help skyrocket inflation in America.

None of these alternatives are good, just to appease Facebook or any other lobbyist group that may be calling on our congressional people for our money.

Is America “Going Down?”

Some will tell you that eventually we will }go down” due to outside sources … e.g., China, Russia, or other countries either at actual war or cyber war.

Some will also tell you that America will “go down” due to internal turmoil and potential terror threats within our own country.

I think if we “go down” (after all, defensively, we are strong), it will be due to our own stupidity and the fact that we’ve built the nation doing exactly what our founding fathers warned us against. They told us to value honesty, integrity, and responsibility in financial dealings – but do we do that?

Personally, I think it is going to be a financial downfall. Just look at these numbers:

• When George W Bush took the Office of President on January 20, 2001, the national debt stood at $5.7 trillion.
• Eight years later when Barack Obama took the Office of President on January 20, 2009, the national debt stood at $10.6 trillion. The Bush Administration (Republican) raised the deficit by 85.96% over 8 years.
• Eight years after that, when Donald J. Trump took the Office of President on January 20, 2017, the National Debt stood at $19.9 trillion. The Obama Administration (Democrat) raised the deficit by 87.74% over 8 years.
• Four years later when Joe Biden took over as president on January 20, 2021, the National Debt stood at $27.8 trillion. The Trump Administration (Republican) raised the deficit by 39.70% (now some understand that a part of the excess spending was due to COVID-19 … or Trump Calls it “The China Virus”) over 4 years.
• Today, as of right now … 10:42 AM on 01/14/2025 … the national debt is at $36.4 trillion almost. The Biden Administration (Democrat) has increased the debt by 30.94% over 4 years (and they will also blame this on Covid 19) – see debt clock below:

https://www.usdebtclock.org/ 1

The bottom line is this … in just 24 years (2001 – today), the national debt has increased by 538.6%, and no one in government wants to do anything about it but Spend More Money that we do not have. On an annual compounded basis, our debt has increased by an average of 8.03% per year, while the cost of living (as measured by the government on CPI) has only gone up by 2.8% per year. The debt exceeds the CPI by about 187% per year.

If this trend continues, this is what you can see as our national deficit over the next 3 decades (30 years), along with interest cost to cover the deficit (assuming just 3% per year).

• One Decade (2035) = $78.8 Trillion (interest cost in 2035 alone – $236.4 Billion)
• Two Decades (2045) = $170.6 Trillion (interest cost in 2035 alone – $511.8 Billion)
• Three Decades (2055) = $369.4 Trillion (interest cost in 2045 alone – $1.1082 Trillion)

With numbers like this … how can we continue to exist? Do any of you dear readers have an answer? I certainly don’t.

Now, here’s a final question on this subject.

Who do we actually owe this debt to:

The U.S. national debt is owed to a variety of creditors, including:

1. Domestic Holders: This includes U.S. government agencies (like Social Security), mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, state and local governments, and private investors.
2. Foreign Holders: Countries such as Japan and China are among the largest foreign holders of U.S. debt.

In 2023, the Federal Reserve System was the largest domestic holder of U.S. public debt, with holdings of approximately $5.24 trillion. Foreign investors, including countries like Japan and China, also hold significant portions of the debt.

For a more detailed breakdown, check out this table below (this is as of the end of 2023) of the largest debtors to America:

Holder Category	Amount (in trillions)	Percentage of Total Debt
Federal Reserve System	$5.24	15%
Mutual Funds	$3.70	11%
Depository Institutions	$1.60	5%
State and Local Governments	$1.70	5%
Pension Funds	$1.00	3%
Insurance Companies	$0.50	1%
U.S. Savings Bonds	$5.70	17%
Foreign Holders (e.g., Japan)	$1.13	3%
China	$0.82	2%
Other Investors	$4.00	12%
Intragovernmental Holdings	$7.00	21%
Social Security Trust Fund	$2.60	8%

China holds about $0.82 trillion (2%) of the U.S. national debt, and the Social Security Trust Fund holds about $2.60 trillion (8%). Everyone seems to be worried about the amount of Debt China and other countries own, and no one seems to care that Social Security owns (and is owed) 2.6 trillion dollars of our debt as of now.

The more we borrow for such things as The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to build such silly things like 500,000 charging stations nationwide (signed into law November 15, 2021) by President Biden (and only 37 charging stations have been built and the law provided for $2.5 Billion), we will continue to have deficit spending issues – and it’s not getting any better regardless of Democrats or Republicans in office.

Now, just 4 hours later, at 2:44 pm on 01/14/2025, look how much more debt we have acquired while I wrote the last part of this article (including research time):

$36,350,901,778,876 – $36,350,205,813,406 = $695,965,470 or about $2,899,856.13 per minute.

Now convince me we are not in trouble!

https://www.usdebtclock.org/ 2

Art Provided by Copilot AI 3

And then convince me that the Social Security System as we know it today is not in trouble!

Now, have a great weekend as you ponder some of the questions asked in this piece.

Until next time, remember –  This is our country, and we must take care of her!  It is our Social Security, and we must DEMAND that it be managed properly!

Jerry Nix | Freewavemaker, LLC