Posts tagged debt ceiling
Cognitive Dissonance
"Democracy! Bah! When I hear that I reach for my feather boa!" -- Allen Ginsberg
U.S. Can't Afford to Pay to Print More Money
There are serious fears for the U.S economy today after it was revealed that there was not enough money to pay for paper to print more money for the economy.
“We’re asking congress to raise the debt ceiling so we can buy ink and paper to print more dollars so we can then pay for the ink and paper we just printed,” Dan Fenster, a U.S. Federal Reserve worker told the Washington Times.
Emailed to me by a conservative with the subject line: “TOLD YOU SO!” I haven’t got the heart to tell him the truth after counting the 102 email addresses he sent this to yesterday.
Poll: 62 percent say debt ceiling deal benefits the rich and hurts the poor
Sixty-two percent of Americans think the bill that raises the federal’s debt ceiling through the year 2013 and makes major cuts in government spending benefits the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class, according to a CNN/ORC poll released on Monday.
Only 27 percent say that the debt ceiling deal treats all classes fairly and 11 percent have no opinion.
The poll (PDF) also found that 47 percent of Americans rate the economy “pretty badly” and 28 percent rate it “very badly.” Only 23 percent think the economy is going “fairly well” and a meager 1 percent say it is going “very well.”
In other words, 62 percent of Americans are starting to realize something in the milk ain’t clean.
Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues…
The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently.
Standard & Poor, explaining their decision to downgrade the credit rating of the US for the first time in history.
So let’s revisit this:
“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.” - Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnnell, on his party’s handling of the debt ceiling.
Was it worth it? You incorrigible bastards still wounded the hostage. And now, for acting like deadbeats, you all tarnished the full faith and credit others have in the US to make good on its obligations.
Bravo.
(Source: The Wall Street Journal)
Former Sen. Alan Simpson told Lawrence O’Donnell it’s time to “peel all the layers of the onion” and figure out just why people seem to listen intently to Grover Norquist.
In an interview on The Last Word tonight, Simpson noted that Norquist had challenged Republican Sen. Tom Coburn on a $6 billion cut on ethanol subsidies he had called “tax increases,” which incensed Simpson greatly. “Grover and his happy band of warriors are trying to call that a tax increase– that’s a damn lie and he knows it,” he told O’Donnell. “And if he can get away with that, elect him President.”
Simpson continued to question Norquist’s power throughout the segment, arguing that “he can’t kill you, he can’t burn your house, he can defeat you in reelection,” and if a public servant thought the latter was enough to obey him, they didn’t deserve the spot.
He also told O’Donnell several times that “if Grover Norquist is more powerful than the President of the United States and the Congress, he should run for President” … On that note, Simpson called for an investigation. “Grover Norquist should be examined into– where does he get his money?” In times where people amass so much power, he argues, it becomes necessary to “peel all the layers of the onion.” “Anytime anyone gets this powerful,” he argued, “you want to dig in… who is he slave to?”
He clarified that he did not mean “salacious stuff and his personal life,” but how Americans for Tax Reform operated and why so many people in Congress feared him, because based only on his status as leader of an anti-tax group, “you must be chicken if you fall for that crap.”
I have a soft spot for former Sen. Alan Simpson. He’s part of the Reagan era, yes, and that’s where the accelerated sell-out of my generation began. However, he also has a streak of common-sense conservatism sorely lacking in the Republican Party. He’s pro-gay rights (including marriage) and pro-choice, which puts him to the left of nearly every Republican out there.
I agree with Simpson. Let’s find out where Grover’s getting his bucks.
I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting. Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnnell, on his party’s handling of the debt ceiling. (via officialssay)
Goddammit. Is every single session of Congress going to be like this? One day, we’ll say, “No, Mitch McConnell, you bitter, turtle-esque asshole. We know you won’t shoot the hostage.” And then one day, those batshit bastards are going to shoot.
I’m glad you learned a lesson. By flat-out stating the economy, plus the full faith and credit of the US are worth taking hostage for ransom, you have officially revoked your right to bitch when someone calls you terrorists. Who takes hostages again? Riiiiight… criminals and terrorists.
Things I learned from the debt ceiling debate
- It IS possible to experience exponential, chain-smoking rage with no dissipation for days on end.
- If you really, really want something, threaten to crash the US economy in the name of responsibility. When people suggest you won’t follow through, just stick your fingers in your ears and insist in sing-song, “Nuh-uh! La, La, La, La, I can’t hear you!”
- Most importantly, I really boned “Negotiation 101” as a child. When my parents said I had to eat my veggies, clean my room, etc. instead of just throwing a temper tantrum, I should have held their mortgage payment hostage too.
Sums it up nicely. (via The Economist)
THIS
(via jcg1013)
