Thursday, July 21, 2011

Blowing-up the Economy? "Not so fast"....continued.


USA debt ceiling issue may soon get resolved.  The people say federal default?  Go to hell lunatic fringe.  

"Reporting from Washington—As the debt ceiling debate enters its final stages, House Republicans face increasing political isolation in their opposition to sweeping budget reforms that President Obama has pushed for and polls show most Americans now prefer.

Republican resistance to compromise has turned a significant bloc of voters against them, according to several new polls, and has frustrated members of their own leadership as well as establishment GOP figures.

The fear among leading Republicans is that the party may lose an opportunity to lock in budget cuts that go beyond anything Democrats
had previously been willing to consider. Five-term Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he had never seen any spending reductions attached to a debt ceiling vote."  Read more  Los Angeles Times/Nation 7/1/11.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

24 comments:

Steve Sinai said...

Thanks for helping to turn this blog into "Wing-Nut Central," Kathy.

Kathy Meeh said...

You're welcome!

Did you post the Barney Frank comment?

Anonymous said...

and yet Pres Obama approval rating is at an all time low 38%. Generic Republican will beat Obama if election were held today.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sinai

I don't think you want to mess with Meeh, when the Irish holligan in her starts to come out, it is time to run!

Steve Sinai said...

Wing-nut posts and comments beget other wing-nut posts and comments. Both you and Kathleen Rogan need to stop inciting, and being baited by each other.

Anonymous said...

"Thanks for helping to turn this blog into "Wing-Nut Central," Kathy."

You reap what you sow, Sinai.

Anonymous said...

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/public_safety/pavement/article_5ca97da6-b3d1-11e0-83b9-001cc4c03286.html

More tax payer funded fancy homes. Check out these places. Nice. I may quit working.

Kathy Meeh said...

The above article has nothing to do with Anon (KR) directly, it has to do with those elected congressional representatives who would block raising the USA debt limit. All the polls taken indicate the majority of American people basically "get it" and understand the implications of (for the first time ever) this nation potentially defaulting on its debt.

The "New York Times Business Day/Economy article, 7/20/11 indicates that Wall Street is doing what it can to make "doomsday fallback plans", thereby protecting what they can of certain investments. Treasury bonds and credit ratings in particular are at risk. Good article, 2 pages.

You may care because your investments may be at risk, and: "If lawmakers do not act before then (allegedly now or possibly as late as 8/2/11), it will be difficult for the Treasury to meet coming interest payments as well as obligations to government employees, vendors and programs like Social Security and Medicare."

So you see the above picture fits, some of our congressional representatives are playing with dynamite.

Anonymous said...

Hey Sinai

I eat pork and I am not a hooligan

But I can see you in the IR if you mess with Meeh

In fact Vegas odds say Meeh will lump you

hey sinai said...

In a country with a medical health care problem? Do you have excellent health care?

Anonymous said...

Who would ever have thought that tea party/ libertarian extremists would hold the country in a position of not paying its debt - just so a few rich people don't have to pay taxes. If the United States defaults on its debt, the cost of borrowing will be more and of course the real cost of loss of trust by other countries will reverberate for hundreds of years.

Anonymous said...

We can trust in one thing only...if a politician's lips are moving, they are lying. Count on it! Dems, Repubs, wingnuts, tin-foil wrapped whatevers, all they do is lie each up.

Kathy Meeh said...

"If the United States defaults on its debt, the cost of borrowing will be more and of course the real cost of loss of trust by other countries will reverberate..."

The threat of not automatically raising the USA debt limit is not only a waste of economic focus, illogical in a fragile economy, but also already costing all of us as financial markets attempt to protect themselves. Example, article from The Daily Journal 7/22/11: "California is moving into position to borrow $5 billion from private investors next week.."

Anonymous said...

Kathy

If you owe more debt then your assets are you not technically insolvant and in default?

Raising the debt limit is like getting a new credit card in the mail after you are totally maxed out, and you are thinking what to sell in the weekend garage sale to get grocery money.

In George Washingtons first meeting of his Congress he had a problem. They ran up too much debt fighing off the British. Wondered how to pay the bills.

Maybe a constutional admendment should have been in place to cut deficit spending.

Steve Sinai said...

I believe you are insolvent and in default when you stop paying your debts. If Congress raises the debt ceiling so that the US can pay its debts, then we won't be in default.

Everyone understands the US can't keep borrowing 40 cents for every dollar it spends.

As a hard-core Decline-to-State voter (who has been called both a Rovian and a libtard,) what I'm seeing is that the Democrats look reasonable in their willingness to compromise, while the Republicans look dangeroously unreasonable because they refuse to compromise at all.

Anonymous said...

"As a hard-core Decline-to-State voter (who has been called both a Rovian and a libtard,) what I'm seeing is that the Democrats look reasonable in their willingness to compromise, while the Republicans look dangeroously unreasonable because they refuse to compromise at all."

That's because you only get your news from the likes of Olbermann and MSNBC.

Anonymous said...

"If you owe more debt then your assets are you not technically insolvant and in default?"

Is anyone who takes out a loan to buy a home instantly "insolvant and in default?" Nice try.

Kathy Meeh said...

Anon (7/23, 734pm), how lazy are you? Here's the definition for default: "failure to pay financial debts...required by duty or law".

George Washington? 13 colonies, 250 years ago, 300,000 people, fledgling nation. Swell reference. Was that when "Washington and Lincoln freed the slaves...and planet earth was only 6000 years old"?

Knowledge hint: 5 things you should know about the USA Debt Ceiling, 4/20/11: 1). debt financing tool through Treasury bonds, 2) legislation passed in 1917, used initially to finance WW1, 3) since 1962, raised 74x, 10x in 10 years, 4) failure to raise would be catastrophic, 5) given this "food fight", it seems paying debt should be automatic.

6 consequences of NOT raising the debt ceiling, 5/27/11, hence USA default: 1) Govt can't pay monthly bills, 2) Treasury Bonds collapse, 3) social security, medicare payments stopped, 4) stock market crashes, 5) massive government layoffs, 6) major inflation. And, 7) double dip recession, more likely depression, 8) USA stop paying the military, 9) USA NOT creditworthy world-wide, dead-beat nation. Wall Street Journal letter from Treasury Secretary Geithner to Senator DeMint, 6/29/11.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner interviewed this morning, 7/24/11, on CNN "State of the Union" and related video.

Anon (905), information from MSNBC, CNN, BBC, Journal, national newscasts, pundits such as Keith Olbermann (where ever he is) are generally reliable, credible, verifiable sources.

Anonymous said...

You can be in default without being insolvent. Happens all the time when people or companies choose to stop paying on an obligation for reasons other than lack of funds.

Anonymous said...

'"Is anyone who takes out a loan to buy a home instantly "insolvant and in default?" Nice try.'

No. But someone who has to take out another loan to be able to pay their original loan is in serious financial trouble and is truly circling the drain. Don't believe me, try and get such a loan from conventional lending institutions. Oh, Don Corleone might make you such a loan. Guess how many points you'll be paying and guess who will do the collecting. Good luck with that...

Solvency is the ability to pay your liabilities or obligations as they come due. If you keep having to borrow more and more money to pay those obligations, you are not solvent - even by the most self-serving definition.

Funny that some of you seem to get this at the local level but your political bias won't allow you to extrapolate to the federal level. Of course, if the republicans had the White House, you would suddenly see the light.

Anonymous said...

All this theater about raising the US debt ceiling isn't about the Republicans righteously standing up against deficit spending. It's about politically branding Obama with "America Defaults" and trying to make him a one term prez. For the Republican party to oppose raising the debt ceiling is the height of hypocrisy and dangerously foolish but after Obama got Osama they need something big. In this fragile global economy these fools are playing with fire.

Anonymous said...

insolvency n. 1) the condition of having more debts (liabilities) than total assets which might be available to pay them, even if the assets were mortgaged or sold. 2) a determination by a bankruptcy court that a person or business cannot raise the funds to pay all of his/her debts. The court will then "discharge" (forgive) some or all of the debts, leaving those creditors holding the bag and not getting what is owed them. The supposedly insolvent individual debtor, even though found to be bankrupt, is allowed certain exemptions, which permit him/her to retain a car, business equipment, personal property, and often a home as long as he/she continues to make payments on a loan secured by the property.

Anonymous said...

George Washington? 13 colonies, 250 years ago, 300,000 people, fledgling nation. Swell reference. Was that when "Washington and Lincoln freed the slaves...and planet earth was only 6000 years old"?


Kathy, they had a debt problem then, and the debt problem just got bigger and bigger

Kathy Meeh said...

"they had a debt problem then".

George Washington 260 year look back without consideration of "time value of money" Anon (7/24/11, 4:42pm), playing "Russian roulette" with our national debt ceiling, we have a bigger debt problem now-- and without any improvement.