If each of us had our own crystal ball, we would have the hardware with which to see into the future.

Yet, without the personal software, if you dare look into the crystal ball with the will to neither blink nor close your eyes you could not see the bleak future dead ahead.

I do not have a crystal ball. And I expect you do not have one either.

However, if you do, or know someone who does, please let me know right away. We could borrow the crystal ball and have it delivered and installed in Washington, DC.

Crystal balls aside, what politicians, appointed bureaucrats, bankers and regulators really do know – almost all of the people do not know – because we have not been told.

The reality is, that no matter how bad things have gotten, we never hear President Obama or any administration official be candid and truthful with the people about our increasingly desperate financial situation.

At best, such apparent lack of faith in the people, or at worse, an apparent political subterfuge, has transformed what was an ailing economy at Obama’s Inauguration Day into a failing economy it is today.

The list of critical conditions is long. Here’s a brief recap:

Trillions of dollars have been spent on bailouts and stimulus schemes. Unions have been given preferential deals and equity positions in auto companies.

Interest rates are up. Unemployment is up too - with numbers understating reality. Foreclosures are up. Home values are savaged by a depressed real estate market. Gas prices are up. Food prices are up too - made worse by government fueled ethanol use. Dozens of states and cities – with thousands of counties and small towns – face credit default.

Analysts note: “Long term bonds … municipal, treasury, etc … are in danger of collapse.” And, that “ … would be a prescription for a banking (industry) catastrophe.”

Should you find the short list above not scary enough, consider the following:

If the big banks went belly up, where would the FDIC get the money to bail them all out?

Making matters worse, those banks still have “ … at least $200 trillion worth … in high-risk derivative investments” on the books.

Can the bleak get bleaker? Yes.

That’s because research finds that there are several thousand banks which – based on inadequate capital, low liquidity, etc. could be too weak financially to survive another debt crisis. What about the Fed?

Here are the facts: The Federal Reserve has been debasing the U.S. dollar for years and over the last 28 months has run amuck. Specifically, Chairman Ben Bernanke increased the nation’s monetary base from “$851 billion to $2.03 trillion” – that’s over 138 percent.

Then, Bernanke printed another $600 billion dollars to flood the economy as part of his so-called “Quantitative Easing-2” program. Readers will recall the alarm I sounded last November in my column “OE-2 is not a solution,” when I wrote, “In my view, the best thing would be for Bernanke to short-circuit QE-2 immediately. If he doesn’t, QE-2 creates $600 billion out of thin air. That means the value of every dollar already in circulation drops. It also means the price you pay for everything will increase.”

That is what has been happening and continues to happen.

It is also why – at best – a bleak future lies dead ahead.

Of course, if you know where to find a crystal ball, let me know.

Together, the American people will summon the courage to use it to face down the future.

This week’s poll question

Should Congress install transparency at the Federal Reserve?

Vote at: www.KeySurveys.us

Richard Olivastro is president of Olivastro Communications and founder of Citizens for Change. A professional member of the National Speakers Association, he is available pro bono for charitable fundraisers and public forums and can be reached via e-mail at RichOlivastro@gmail.com or by phone at 1-877-RichSpeaks.