The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
The Tea Party Republicans have had quite a week. By refusing compromise and forcing the federal government to default on its debt obligations so-called fiscal conservatives have unleashed a reign of terror on the US economy. As predicted by the president and congressional Democrats, the stock market is in free fall, the US has lost its AAA credit rating for the first time ever, job creation is weak and a double-dip recession appears likely. If only we had raised the debt ceiling before the current crisis.
Um, but I thought we did raise the debt limit on Tuesday.
Of course, the media are left to argue--and they are trying--that just having the debate about the debt-ceiling is the trigger for this latest calamitous interruption of our ongoing Keynesian dream. But, as Fred Thompson might say, that dog won't hunt.
Imagine the reporting of these same events but for the debt ceiling increase, then cast your mind on the present reality: Economic turmoil ensues after being awarded the debt ceiling increase he demanded but there are no Republican tax hikes to use as a cudgel in the 2012 election campaign. Happy Birthday, Mr. President, you just earned yourself an early retirement.
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Jun '10
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
If only we were allowed to develop our own oil, coal, and natural gas, to its full potential, we could spend our energy dollars energizing our own economy. We'd be a lot more secure as well.
Jun '10
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
As the fish rots from the head, when you elect an incompetent fool to office you get incompetent rotting government. And for those who might think fool too harsh a description of this president, what else would anyone call an ideologue who thinks Americans are only one campaign speech away from enlightenment.
Nov '10
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
"..early retirement."
44% of Americans think Bush is to blame for our economic woes; alternatively, just 15% assign blame to Obama.
Add to this the implacable, intransigent, visceral opposition of the mainstream press to the very idea of America's first black president being voted out of office after just one term, and I think it's going to be very, very hard to vote this man out of office.
They are going to go to the ends of the earth to save this man. This is a fact I don't think most conservatives have sufficiently reckoned with.
Apr '11
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
Robert Lux: "..early retirement."
44% of Americans think Bush is to blame for our economic woes; alternatively, just 15% assign blame to Obama.
Add to this the implacable, intransigent, visceral opposition of the mainstream press to the very idea of America's first black president being voted out of office after just one term, and I think it's going to be very, very hard to vote this man out of office.
They are going to go to the ends of the earth to save this man. This is a fact I don't think most conservatives have sufficiently reckoned with. · Aug 6 at 8:31am
"I inherited this mess" and "we're going to pivot to jobs" - 2 themes we'll still be hearing circa Aug 2015. How Krugman and the press spin this will be the real fun.
Dec '10
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
Indeed: http://swampland.time.com/2011/08/06/sp-downgrades-itself/
One of the more depressing comments: More confirmation that The GOP and their rich buddies are doing anything to TRY and ruin America's first person of color's presidency.
Jan '11
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
Instead of the debt ceiling leading to downgrade, where one is the cause and the other is a symptom ... aren't these both symptoms? After all, the need to raise the debt ceiling is a result of an over-spending economy, and the downgrade is a result of the same over-spending economy.
Our liberal friends might suggest that debt comes from two directions: too much spending and not enough income. So, the Left argues that we also need more income. But the gaping hole in our economy comes from entitlements, which work on a funding model that (at this point) will implode, no matter how many taxes we confiscate. The spending has to change. The model has to change. No amount of taxes will fix the entitlements.
The debt ceiling didn't cause anything. It's just another road-sign on the avenue downhill.
Dec '10
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
Alfredo Delgado
Indeed: http://swampland.time.com/2011/08/06/sp-downgrades-itself/
· Aug 6 at 8:38am
Furthermore, the columnist performs political hackwork, as usual.
From the article: “Moreover, ratings agencies’ credibility stinks thanks to their shoddy assessments of mortgage backed securities that contributed to the 2008 crash.” Followed by: “Which means S&P’s credibility in downgrading the U.S. was already going to be fairly low.”
Presumably, the shoddy assessments of mortgage securities in 2008 betrayed their insouciance to the dangers of dilapidated debt while S&P’s shoddy assessment of US Treasury debt in 2011 reveals its overwrought wariness to our government’s stellar financial management.
This displays the typical political mode: assign blame and take credit for purely political advantage, notwithstanding the internal contradictions of the argument.
Also disconcerting in this debt ceiling debacle is the absence of recognition of off balance sheet unfunded liabilities which will soon require cash funding thus furthering the automatic issuance of US Treasury debt in the tens of trillions of dollars.
Dec '10
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
Some voters are convinced that Obama is doing a fine job. Ditto those that see differently.
The leftist elite knows that it is in trouble and needs a lever to move the middle. That lever, as they see it, is disruption and violence. They are convinced that they are so close to victory that one more, big, push, will get them over the top.
We can see it everywhere and even at home. The rowdy union demonstrations are just the surface. The racial attacks in Wisconsin are only the beginning.
None of these will stop and, indeed, they will only get worse going forward.
We have to react as conservatives, determinedly. We have to be polite. We have to work harder. We have to stand in the blast of negative reaction with a sweaty brow and a hand out. This is very hard to do.
I have had one of my closest friends of over 20 years, a man I have been to Hell and back with, accuse me of being a racist, a man that has had me bouncing his half-black grand daughter on my knee, many times.
Put your boots on and go fix your neighbors' fence..
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
CJRun: ...
Put your boots on and go fix your neighbors' fence.. · Aug 6 at 5:21pm
Great advice. Let's do it.
Jun '11
Re: The Debt Ceiling Near Escape
CJ Run what a great comment.
I would like to add something that must be done to save the country in addition to the good works you described:
We must deconstruct the language to the wider audience and explain the truth. Not what sounds good, but what is true and works. Explain what works.