Ohio 2029: Utopia Has Never Been So Wrong

By D.A. Winstead

Those with open eyes knew the inevitable would happen one day…that economic implosion would put an end to our small world. But when the United States learned that the Black Crash of 2015 was planned and carried out by Washington insiders, people simply stopped wondering why, rose above the fray, and learned how to move on…with some conditions. What happened in 2015 was not just an attempt to bring on a financial apocalypse; it was an attack on our way of life carried out by progressive ideologues…insiders…and it left a poor and angry nation seeking revenge, and a conservative nation determined never to let it happen again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781938686665

D.A. Winstead

Award-winning conservative author D.A. (Dennis) Winstead was born and raised in Franklin County, North Carolina. Graduating with an Economics degree from North Carolina State University and a Masters in Public Policy from George Washington University, he began working for the United States Department of State soon after. As a senior government official for over twenty-three years, Dennis focused n economic and security development policy and traveled extensively during his years of civil service–mostly in post-conflict countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Currently enjoying a slower life in Atlanta, Georgia, he writes historical/literary fiction based on his travels and embellished by his experiences and cultures, old world folklore, superstitions, religious fervor and politics.In 2013 Dennis launched Color Him Father Foundation, a non-profit that seeks ways to inspire and motivate working fathers in Africa to create a nurturing home environment for their children.

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PROLOGUE

WASHINGTON, DC—SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tom Donnelly’s weekend ended slowly, and he expected an even slower Monday in the office. His two Sunday briefings at his Falls Church Home–conference calls with weekend duty officers at one o’clock and six–went off without a hitch. He had dinner at home with his wife and, miraculously, made it to bed by midnight. But his uneventful night ended just twenty minutes later.

"It’s after midnight people," Secretary Donnelly said to the person on the other end of the call. He picked up after the second ring, expecting the caller was a staffer at the Treasury Department’s Central Desk. He knew the types who staffed the after-hours and weekend operations. He could talk to them any way he pleased; that came with the entitlement of being a cabinet secretary in the world’s most powerful city.

This better be good, he said first, with a stuffy huff to exaggerate his aggravation. I have a very early day tomorrow. And this time you also woke up Mrs. Donnelly.

Mr. Secretary, I’m sorry to bother you, and please give my apologies to your wife, the shy young man responded, his confidence shrinking by the second. He was alone and, up to an hour ago, had been bored silly. Now he was downright scared.

Okay…what can I do for you?

Sir, I thought you might want to know the latest news from Tokyo.

It would have been nice to get my work calls earlier in the evening…maybe next time before midnight. But go ahead and be careful what you say. This is my private line. Do I need to talk with you on my office phone?

My apologies for not being able to call you sooner, Mr. Secretary, and no, what I have to say is not classified. I suspect it will be in the news tomorrow morning.

Please continue. What is it? The man’s last comment definitely caught Secretary Donnelly’s attention.

Yes, sir, Mr. Secretary. We’ve been informed that the Tokyo Stock Exchange was reopened at 1:30 in the afternoon, their time, and it closed again immediately…because of the selling frenzy. It is almost 2:30 in the afternoon in Tokyo. This was about an hour ago. They have decided not to reopen the market today, and….

The secretary feared this U.S. Treasury front office wannabe was like most of them, and those who had to work the off hours alone all weekend liked to talk when someone was listening on the other end, and they all liked to talk the fragile details of the world’s financial markets. The secretary did too, but he didn’t want to hear it tonight, lying in bed, half asleep. I don’t need to know all the details, son; just tell me how far it dropped.

Yes, sir, Mr. Secretary. Preliminary numbers are indicating the TPX lost another 8 percent after it reopened. Adding the 15 percent loss after the morning opening…Japanese numbers are down by more than a quarter.

I know how to add…eight plus fifteen makes a quarter; is that why you woke me up? the secretary shot back indignantly.

Yes, sir. And, no…not exactly, Mr. Secretary. The young man stammered for a few seconds, collected his thoughts, and then started talking again. This is a serious drop for Asia, bigger than we’ve seen since 2008. For our markets…our own opening indicators are showing this may be much worse than we’ve seen….

Worse than we’ve seen…since when? the secretary interrupted.

Ever…this may be the worst we’ve ever seen, sir.

That’s absolute hogwash. Didn’t we go over all of this at six? I was told then that the indicators were predicting a rocky trade day in Asia…at the opening, but the trading should level out. The whole region has gone crazy, for crying out loud—Young Kim has a chokehold on Seoul and the rest of the North Pacific region. Indonesia has postponed national elections; Russia is cutting off gas exports to half of Europe; and Beijing’s stunt yesterday at the World Telecommunication Policy Forum didn’t help matters. Young Kim…I can understand, but the Chinese have lost their minds. It’s economic suicide to tell global leaders that the world’s largest trade nation is curtailing e-trade. And they’re crazy not to expect us to react. Why wouldn’t there be a ripple when our markets open? That’s what happens when dictators run amuck. But, that’s all it is. Our markets are resilient enough to take whatever comes our way. We’re not talking about a terrorist attack or something…the market will settle down. We just have to ride it out.

The officer let the secretary finish his know-it-all spiel without interrupting. He knew the front office number one rule: never interrupt the secretary and his senior advisors. And in any case, he figured he’d be back on the firing line eventually. The big honchos always came back to reality, and this time it came fairly quickly. I was briefed twice today…one o’clock and at six. So, tell me, what has changed since six?

"The Asian markets are one thing; our ability to ride this out is another. We believe the advisory you were given earlier needs to be revised, sir. Serious actions need to be taken to preempt a major slide here."

"Revised? Serious actions need to be taken? You’re calling me on Sunday after midnight, to tell me my chief of staff and my key advisors are all wrong? And who is we? Why can’t this wait until the morning?"

Sir, I believe the Asian situation needs to be addressed urgently, and the President’s National Economic Advisor needs to be advised so he can inform the others.

"We always ride out bumps like this…and we’re due one. You know that, and I know that. We all know that. The stock market is valued too high and rose too fast; it needs to come back down a little…to the correct prices. Let’s see what happens with the DAX. The markets open in Germany in less than two hours."

With all due respect, if we wait until after the German market opens, we may be too late. The young man waited for the threatening yell, but it never came. There was only silence, so he asked the key question again. And the National Economic Advisor…?

So what do you want me to do? It’s after midnight for crying out loud. The secretary paused for a few seconds before speaking again. "And why are you calling me? If this is so urgent, one of my staffers needs to call me, not a career numbers cruncher. I cannot alert the National Security Advisor or anyone else at the White House unless I talk with my advisors first."

Sir, I am the senior duty officer in charge this weekend. It’s my responsibility to make these calls, and I could not reach your chief of staff or anyone else in his office. That’s why I am calling you directly. I would not call you if it weren’t urgent, sir.

So…what do you need from me? This time Secretary Donnelly yelled loud enough to rattle his wife, who was trying to fall back to sleep. Her mean eyes gave him more reason to nip this conversation in the bud. Listen, son…I know you’re trying to do your job, and I appreciate that, but no one is contacting anyone tonight. It is too late. It can wait until the morning…after I talk with my advisors.

It will be too late, sir.

No! the secretary shot back. The President has enough on his plate right now. And he’s already asleep. You get someone over there waking him up with this kind of nonsense…he will not be so kind and understanding. Both of us will be out of a job. Is that understood?

This is serious, Mr. Secretary, the officer responded, intentionally not answering his boss’ demand. They don’t believe the Asian markets will stabilize when they open back up tomorrow, either. If news like this comes out of Asia and the market in Germany dives too, just hours before our markets open, our inability to adjust could be disastrous.

It will stabilize for us; we’ve closed the markets down before. If the DOW dives at opening, we’ll close it and let investors calm down. It’s all part of the bigger picture. Wall Street has stuck with us so far; it won’t abandon us just because Japan and Germany get jumpy. The next day will stabilize.

This is not just about jumpy markets. You have to know that we’re dangerously overextended; we’ve printed too much money. Investors will cut and run if they see this kind of turmoil in Asia and Europe.

If that’s the way it has to go, then...let it go that way. From now on out, we have to let the markets run on their own. They will level out. Values are too high anyway.

But it’s more serious than that, sir. The Japanese lost 25 percent of their wealth in less than 35 minutes of trading. We are in a deep recession, and this kind of bump coming out of Asia will result in more than just another soft patch for our markets.

What is your point?

My point is…we should all be prepared to answer some tough questions. The Federal Reserve will be calling if the DAX also goes down early. They are very nervous about this one. They will be asking why we waited to react.

If someone at the Federal Reserve needs to call your boss…then let him call. And Reserve Chairman Middleton knows he can always call me, if he needs more clarity. But it will have to be in the morning. Right now, I’m going back to bed, and I don’t want to be disturbed again. Is that understood?

And what should I do, sir?

I command you to stand down.

Yes, sir, the staffer replied, and then heard the secretary hang up.

The next morning, front office staffers at the Treasury Department watched closely as European markets opened and then closed abruptly, Germany’s DAX suffering a 15 percent drop in value. The London Stock Exchange fared even worse, losing a quarter in just over an hour.

You need to decide now, Mr. Secretary, the secretary’s most senior advisor pressed as soon as the secretary entered his soundproof conference room. Usually at these daily 7:30 meetings, it would be quiet and orderly, most times with the secretary doing most of the talking. But this Monday meeting was chaotic; people were coming and going in every direction, some whom the secretary didn’t even recognize.

We have two hours before the bell rings. Do we tell Wall Street not to open? The wrong decision…could be catastrophic for the economy.

Secretary Donnelly looked around again, at all the strange faces, with ears taking in every word that was said. I want everyone out except my senior advisors. Now!

When there were only seven left in the conference room, Secretary Donnelly’s chief of staff restated the earlier question. Tom, we have two hours before the bell rings. Do we tell Wall Street not to open?

No. I stand by my earlier decision, Secretary Donnelly replied.

Then you must say it, sir. I need the orders to be stated in full, in front of all the advisors. Do we, or do we not, tell Wall Street not to open? We have legal procedures in place, and all the parameters have been met. I need you to tell me…‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ Mr. Secretary?

No. We do not need to keep our markets from opening this morning, Secretary Donnelly answered.

And the President…does he concur?

If the market fails us, it fails. It will be the investors’ fault, not ours. I can only do so much to protect these people.

Forget about whose fault it will be; it won’t matter, the advisor shot back. If the economy crashes and people find out we sat on it and did nothing, then the press will not be able to protect the President this time.

If the market fails us, it fails. How many times do I have to say this?

Mr. Secretary, I need to hear you say it. Does the President concur?

Yes. The President has been briefed.

Does he concur, Mr. Secretary?

All eyes around the table were on the secretary, and there was complete silence when Secretary Donnelly answered confidently.

Yes, the President concurs.

December 21, 2015—AP News Flash

Treasury Secretary Admits to Black Crash Involvement in Widespread Conspiracy; Expected to Name Others

Former Treasury Secretary Donnelly is expected to do time for his involvement in the cover-up following the Black Crash. With other conspirators expecting to be indicted within the week, including senior-ranking government officials and major Wall Street players, Washington insiders are speculating this one may be too big for the mainstream media to bury. In other news…President Obama’s absence has raised already high expectations that 2016 will be a devastating blow to the Democrat Party. Even though the Black Crash conspiracy has not yet reached the President’s desk, the fallout is expected to devastate the party’s Congressional and gubernatorial leadership. The emperor may still have his dynasty, but he has no clothes.

March 2, 2016—AP News Flash

Conspiracy Fallout Disaster for Left

With a growing number of House and Senate Democrats pulling back their unwavering alliance with Democratic leadership, inside pundits are already predicting that Congress will refocus efforts to pass hardline economic recovery laws to pass Article V Consent of the Governed powers back to the states. Regardless of what legislation is passed on Capitol Hill, President Obama is not expected just to roll over. However, having already abandoned his prize law, the Affordable Health Care Act, because of dwindling political support, the President has said he will veto all economic recovery bills coming out of both houses of Congress written to pass federal powers to the states. With Congress vowing to cut funding for key Administrative programs if the President invokes his veto powers, there is little hope for progress on the economic recovery out of the still politically-entrenched Washington, D.C.

September 28, 2016—AP News Flash

Feds Blame Press Too

More than sixteen months after the Black Crash, a bipartisan federal special prosecutor concluded in its report to Congress that major media networks failed to report accurate economic and political news before and after the catastrophic June 22, 2015 economic collapse. The review concluded that ties between major news networks and the White House were at levels of gross professional negligence. As major networks rein in rogue journalists loosely tied to the Black Crash Conspiracy, the report calls for Congress to implement stricter laws. As the White House stays mum and a growing number of Americans feel duped by major news networks and lied to by the White House, many outside of Washington are asking: If the media won’t ask the tough questions, then who will? America may not be able to move on until after the November 8 votes are counted.

October 31, 2016—AP News Flash

Right Puts Recovery Message on the Road

Small children dressed in hobo outfits only exemplified what economists expected today as the last economic indicators before next week’s national election are rolled out. Thirty-two percent unemployment, $20 a gallon gas, and negative growth is expected to be disastrous for the Democrats. The final Republican campaign roadshow to showcase stronger-than-expected economic growth in the South will make its way through the central belt heartland to leave voters to decide: stay on the same path of no progress, no change, or follow the South to economic prosperity. With only a handful of blue states still a shoo-in for the Democrats, and all other races expected to go red, a major political transformation, unlike anything Congress has seen before, is expected. In addition to the White House and Senate and House seats, the Republicans are expected to pick up eleven new governors.

November 9, 2016—AP News Flash

Republicans Take Back White House in Landslide Victory

Red State candidate Stokes Smith received 82 percent of the popular vote, proving the mandate that the new Red State Party is for real. With the Red State Party now in charge of the White House and both sides of Congress, a majority of Americans are speculating that now may be the start of real recovery. Congress has showed it will not wait much longer to get a national recovery underway, creating a new oversight committee for recovery. With a Democrat filibuster not in the cards, the newly formed Joint Economic Recovery Leadership Committee will begin meeting with governors of key Red States to begin planning for a conservative takeover.

September 27, 2017—AP News Flash

President Expected to Sign Radicalized

Recovery Stabilization Act

The Senate voted 58-42 in favor of implementing a beefed-up Recovery Stabilization Act, using a clause of the Fifth Amendment to take over private property. Under an eminent domain takeover, residents of these districts will have limited constitutional rights, including restricted movement, work, and commerce. Under the Act, 15 political reform zones, or what the White House refers to as National Reform Zones, will be opened as communes for U.S. citizens suspected of undermining the nation’s economic security and recovery progress. The largest zones are planned for Cincinnati, Baltimore-Fells Point, Miami-South Beach, Providence-Upper South, and Colorado Springs-Track 61.

November 22, 2018—AP News Flash

Riots Spread Quickly

The Thanksgiving Day Riots that began in the Cincinnati National Reform Zone, but spread quickly to the other zones and perimeter communities, have been recorded as the worst intercity violence since the 1992 King Riots in Los Angeles.

March 27, 2019—AP News Flash

President Smith: No More Riots!

Riots erupted again inside the Cincinnati National Reform Zone, but early reports indicate the fallout, especially outside the zone perimeter, will be less damaging than the Thanksgiving Riots just months earlier. In contrast to the early riots, all other zones remained peaceful, spotlighting Cincinnati as still the most volatile of the fifteen national reform zones. The spillover of violence in non-zone areas, especially along the Kentucky-Ohio border, may be enough for Red State leadership in Washington and North Atlanta finally to take stronger military action. Majority leadership on the House and Senate sides are expected to begin discussions on possible militarization of the zones next week.

April 2, 2019—AP News Flash

Military Police Could Guard Zone Exit Points

Last week’s violence inside the Cincinnati National Reform Zone is expected to lead Congress to make radical changes on zone enforcement. Security in surrounding communities will also be reviewed, as national polls indicate a record-breaking 87 percent approval rating for military intervention to enforce zone borders.

April 30, 2019—AP News Flash

WDC’s Loss is the South’s Gain

Despite numerous bureaucratic delays in closing redundant Washington agencies, and growing fear of more instability in reform zones, the Smith Administration has pledged to open new National Recovery hubs in Dallas, Raleigh, Nashville, and Oklahoma City by mid-summer. With the National Planning and Coordination Agency now headquartered in North Atlanta and fully functional, President Smith said yesterday that moving all fiscal, trade, agriculture, and energy functions out of the nation’s capital is his highest priority. We cannot slow our pace so others can catch up. The future of this great nation is in our hands. We’ve taken America back. Now we must succeed in bringing America back to the top, President Smith said to a cheering audience of thirty thousand in Jacksonville, Florida.

December 4, 2019—AP News Flash

Freedom an Afterthought as Defense

Departments Man Zone Transit

Getting a nod of approval from Congress and a clear mandate from the American people, the White House has issued National Civil Stability Executive Order 507, which gives the Defense Department three months to devise and implement a plan to militarize all National Reform Zones. The Order also mandates that all exit points are to be secured by U.S. Army personnel, and the tracking of all movement in and out of the zones will be expanded.

DECEMBER 23, 2026—WEDNESDAY

Chapter One

Trouble always came around after major winter storms. The skies would stay dark for days, and the nights would be so cold no one in his right mind would wander outside. This is when the roamers would always slither their way in. By the time these riffraff drifters were found and run out of town, something bad had already happened, sometimes extremely bad. But it really didn’t matter what had happened or whom it happened to; what mattered to most was running them out of town as fast as possible.

By the time the snow ended in South Dakota that late Sunday night, 27 inches had fallen upon the Great Plains. In Summerfield, three days later, it seemed this storm was just enough to dwindle down the Wednesday Night Bible Study to less than ten. The snow had been cleared from most streets, and sidewalks and families were accounted for, but this one was different. It was too early for this kind of endless snowfall, so the whole town seemed on edge.

The town of Summerfield was not large in most relative terms, and it was never busy. Interstate 90 used to run through Summerfield…a straight north-south route…but it was abandoned after the Black Crash; it was not long before most of the town’s residents picked up and moved, many of them down south. The folks who stayed were those who survived off the land or lived on the nearby reservations.

Two major landmarks anchored the town—Town Square was centered in the middle of town, and Saint Martin’s Lutheran Church was located five blocks away, toward the north end. Sheriff John Jessup, still wearing his uniform, was at the church that night to pick up his wife. Choir practice was at seven, and afterwards, the women usually huddled inside at the large glass front door.

When John drove up, he saw the mob eyeing his arrival through the glass door. His wife was in the middle, seemingly getting an earful from Shirley Jackley and Molly Winston. John’s wife, Ella, taught Sunday School with Molly and knitted quilts with Shirley on Monday nights. There wasn’t much he could get away with around those two. Ella would hear it, and then he’d hear it…ten times. The two looked like they’d been ripped right out of the 1930s, dustbowl types. They had their hair up in buns, and wore frumpy dresses, and cheap sneakers. And they were the bossy types who seemed to swarm the town sometimes. But that didn’t bother John. No one up here in these parts was a stylist, or even tried to be. Putting on airs in this part of the poor-as-hell country was not needed; it was also frowned upon. And pushiness ranked almost as low. That was true even before the Crash. Now things seemed to be set in stone around the half-empty town of Summerfield, and John Jessup could tell when a stone was out of place. That night, something was wrong.

For crying out loud, John, Shirley started in on him as soon as he walked into the church. Where on earth have you been?

What’s wrong now, Shirley?

"You know good and well what’s wrong,