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Obamatax Apologists
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March 28, 2012 | 34 comments
Another Perspective
S&P’s Regulatory Politics
It should be easier now for advocates of limited government to keep the focus on restoring economic growth.
Within 24 hours, the Obama administration went from attacking Standard & Poor’s first-ever downgrade of U.S. debt to almost embracing it.
On the Friday night after it was issued, a Treasury department official made public a dispute about an error in which S&P had overstated U.S. liabilities. S&P acknowledged the error, but said it didn’t matter in the overall analysis.
Despite the administration’s earlier dismay, S&P’s statement contained a lot of bones for Democrats to chew on. While not recommending specific tax hikes, S&P griped that “the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues.” The report also bemoaned “the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling” and echoed media complaints about the supposed problem of partisan gridlock and divided government.
No wonder that when the White House took over PR from Treasury Department wonks, the government reactions became political. “On Saturday,” the Associated Press noted, “the administration appeared to soften its tone.” White House press secretary Jay Carney said President Barack Obama believes Washington “must do better” and set aside “our political and ideological differences” in tackling the deficit. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gloated that the downgrade “reaffirmed the need for a balanced approach,” meaning tax hikes. Then on Sunday, former Obama adviser David Axelrod charged that “this is essentially a tea party downgrade”
While there were some gripes on the Left that noted (correctly) S&P’s dismal record at rating mortgage securities, most progressive bloggers and pundits joined Axelrod in sticking to their tried-and-true pastime of blaming the GOP and conservatives. In the coming days, coming weeks, and probably the coming years, look for liberal politicos and the media to use the downgrade and threat of a further one as a bludgeon for higher taxes.
Advocates of limited government, while making the obvious point that the downgrade is in large part a result of uncontrolled federal spending that accelerated massively under the Obama administration, must be careful to keep the focus on restoring economic growth, rather than maintaining a subjective measure of the nation’s credit rating. For S&P and the other big rating agencies, long beneficiaries and enablers of big government policies, are experiencing somewhat of a market downgrade themselves.
Given the alternative of Eurozone debt, the doom and gloom scenarios of a U.S. downgrade may be vastly overstated. And even if a lower rating does lower demand for U.S. Treasuries, this may have with the benefit of more investment in the private, as opposed to the government, sector.
Indeed, come Monday, we may find that the markets had already factored in a potential S&P downgrade. S&P was actually a Johnny-come-lately at marking down U.S. debt, as two upstart credit rating agencies, Egan-Jones Rating Co. and Weiss Ratings, had already done so.
Unlike S&P, these firms made clear that their ratings were about long-term prospects, rather than the debt ceiling fight, and emphasized spending over taxes. When Egan-Jones, widely respected for its early downgrades of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers , changed its rating of U.S debt from AAA to AA+ on July 16, it explained: “The major factor driving credit quality is the relatively high level of debt and the difficulty in significantly cutting spending. We are taking a negative action not based on the delay in raising the debt ceiling but rather our concern about the high level of debt to GDP.”
Similarly, Weiss, which lowered its rating in April from C to C-, offered this explanation: “Our downgrade today is not contingent on the outcome of the debt-ceiling debate.”
By contrast, a closer look at the S&P downgrade shows that the firm may have been motivated by its desire to remain a political player. Fox Business correspondent Charlie Gasparino argued on-air Saturday that the firm “boxed itself in” by demanding $4 trillion in cuts and encouraging tax hikes. When Congress passed cuts of less than this amount in a package that contained no tax hikes, S&P likely felt that it had to make good on its threat but do so in a way that curried some favor with the administration in power.
The ratings cartel of S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch was created by decades of government regulation blocking meaningful competition. In 1975, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) created the designation of “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (NRSRO) for credit rating firms. Regulatory agencies soon began requiring that banks, brokerage firms, pensions, and insurance companies carry mandated levels of securities rated AAA from an SEC-approved NRSRO.
From the 1990s until 2003, only the “Big 3” had been approved by the SEC to be NRSROs. And when these firms would rate a new security as AAA, financial firms would rush to buy it to satisfy their regulatory capital requirements. This is what helped created the bubble in AAA-rated mortgage-backed securities.
But slowly and surely, the state-backed financial ratings cartel began to crack. Prodded to increase competition by the bipartisan Credit Rating Agency Reform Act of 2006, there are now ten firms approved by the SEC to be NRSROs, including Egan-Jones. And over the weekend, financial regulators prudently waived the NRSRO requirement so that financial firms holding U.S Treasuries would not have to substitute “safer” bonds of AAA-rated countries such as France to satisfy their regulatory capital requirements.
These developments augur less disastrous results from the downgrade than predicted, and even some positive effects. Interest rates probably won’t rise much more than they did when Treasuries were downgraded by Weiss and Egan-Jones. The main reason is that, given events in the European Union, there isn’t a safer Treasury bond than the American one to which a “flight to safety” would occur.
About the Author
John Berlau is Senior Fellow for Finance and Access to Capital at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and blogs at OpenMarket.org.
About the Author
Matthew Melchiorre is the Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Mimi| 8.8.11 @ 6:54AM
There will be TWO things that would...SAVE this country...The MACK PENNY-PLAN and THE FAIR-TAX ! If this CREW in power won't do it... We Conservatives can sure fix it...4 months of this year and 12 months next year....Just "HANG-ON America, help is on it's way!!!
Alan Brooks| 8.8.11 @ 10:10AM
"It should be easier now for advocates of limited government to keep the focus on restoring economic growth."
Until you elect (or re-elect) another GOP mediocrity in 2016?
Alan Brooks| 8.8.11 @ 11:33AM
... IMO the eventual outcome is America will dissolve into its component parts, as the Soviet Union did 20 years ago, Devolution doesn't cut the mustard because America has become too unwieldy- not to mention unruly.
You will have to lose your nostalgia for 1776, things aren't going along as Ben Franklin would have wanted. Ben wouldn't have been able to comprehend a state such as California way back when, or Texas. Only the very small states.
So you will have to kick over the traces whether you want to or not because the writing is on the wall.
DaveD| 8.8.11 @ 4:41PM
I love your continued use of the term "devolution" as applying to the dismantling of government. From a63-year-old's perspective, the United States has been in a process of devolution for most if not all of the past 40 years. It's not that we are about to devolve, it's that some of us hope to be able to reverse the trend.
shipley130| 8.8.11 @ 3:09PM
Do you think the current political set up, 2/3 Democrats is a raging success? Democrats, the party of Downgrade.
Cosmo| 8.9.11 @ 2:35AM
Well, so much for your predictions...
Stock Market down over 600 points
Ken (Old Texican)| 8.8.11 @ 6:55AM
At best, we will wallow along until Obama and Reid are gone.
At worst?
Clint| 8.8.11 @ 7:09AM
Uh Oh !
"Stock index futures fell sharply on Monday, pointing to further declines in equities, as Standard & Poor's decision to cut the country's top-tier AAA credit rating rattled already jittery investors."
Occam's Tool| 8.8.11 @ 1:40PM
Clint and Barney Frank Agree!
Clint: (From TAS)
"'Clint| 12.10.10 @ 4:55AM
Ronald Reagan Agreed With Air Force Veteran Dr. Ron Paul:
Republican Texas Congressman Dr.Ron Paul:
"Many of us can agree on one thing, however. Our military spending in general has grown way out of control. This is largely because fiscal accountability in military budgeting is seen, by many, as weak on defense.
This is absolutely wrong and a dangerous way to think.
It is certainly possible for the military to waste money, or to spend money counter-productively, and indeed it has. But out of political correctness, the military has been getting blank checks from the administrations and Congress for far too long.
It is important to defend our soil, but let us defend our own soil instead of defending Europe's soil.
Our willingness to defend Europe enables their lavish social spending at our expense, while they criticize our model of capitalism. It is time they allocated the money for their own defense. The same goes for Korea, Japan and other countries like Egypt and Israel.
It is also important that while our troops are in combat, our soldiers have what they need to do the best they can, even if we disagree with why they are there. It is an embarrassment that some soldiers and families have had to buy body armor at their own expense when billions are awarded to politically well-connected defense contractors for weapon systems that don't work, are over-budget, past deadline. This is the kind of waste that needs to end. I firmly believe that there is enough waste in the military budget that we can both save money overall and at the same time be safer."'
[Israel, incidentally, pays beaucoup for its own defense. Only a moron would equate it with Egypt. OT]
Barney Frank, from Weasel Zippers:
"WASHINGTON (AP) — The senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee says the biggest reason the United States is seeing its credit downgraded is that it spends too much money being “the military policemen of the world.”
Rep. Barney Frank tells CBS’s “The Early Show” that reining in defense spending is “going to be my mantra” for the next few months.
The liberal Massachusetts Democrat says $200 billion could be saved “without in any way endangering our security” by dialing back U.S. military involvement in the world, including operations in Western Europe. Frank says the military establishment has always had this “great momentum” in politics, but says the credit reversal “could change our thinking.” Frank calls the military a logical target “if we’re looking for something that breaks the mold” on spending."
(WZ: 8/8/11)
Good to see Ron Paul and Barney and Clint are working on something other than legalizing ganja.
irish19| 8.8.11 @ 2:51PM
Actually, I think pulling out of most or all of Western Europe might not be such a bad idea. Asia-no; not with the rise of China.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 5:31PM
Ah, so you think Russia is our friend now? Think again.
irish19| 8.8.11 @ 7:10PM
Russia is not our friend. Russia will do what is best for Russia. However, forcing Europe to take up a bit more of its own defense costs may not be such a bad thing.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 12:58AM
Agree with that, as the President has tried to do with the Libya operation. Japan and South Korea could do the same.
irish19| 8.9.11 @ 12:42PM
Not with China as the 800 lb. gorilla in that room. Although I think Japan is already looking to shore up its military, and South Korea already has a pretty good one IIRC.
Clint| 8.8.11 @ 3:03PM
Now, Screwball Israel Firster Neo-Chickenhawk Fanatic Tool Job Attempt To Smear & Marginalize Ronald Reagan, Bloviating , "This is absolutely wrong and a dangerous way to think."
Ronald Reagan On Defense Waste:
" During my 1980 campaign, I called federal waste and fraud a national scandal. We knew we could never rebuild America's strength without first controlling the exploding cost of defense programs, and we're doing it. When we took office in 1981, costs had been escalating at an annual rate of 14 percent. Then we began our reforms. And in the last two years, cost increases have fallen to less than 1 percent. We've made huge savings. Each F-18 fighter costs nearly $4 million less today than in 1981. One of our air-to-air missiles costs barely half as much.
Getting control of the defense bureaucracy is no small task. Each year the Defense Department signs hundreds of thousands of contracts. So yes, a horror story will sometimes turn up despite our best efforts. That's why we appointed the first Inspector General in the history of the Defense Department. And virtually every case of fraud or abuse has been uncovered by our Defense Department, our Inspector General. Secretary Weinberger should be praised, not pilloried, for cleaning the skeletons out of the closet. As for those few who have cheated taxpayers or have swindled our Armed Forces with faulty equipment, they are thieves stealing from the arsenal of democracy, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
The Tea Party Rebellion Ramps Up For The 2012 Elections.
Carpe Diem.
Now, Tell Us All About Your Boy Allen West Voting For Raising The Debt Ceiling & Badmouthing We Tea Party Patriots.
You're Up Israel Firster Screwball, Tool Job.
Nancy| 8.8.11 @ 6:17PM
Barney Frank is making good sense to me. We all know about MILITARY WASTE, don't we.
Thanks, Barney, for using your brain when others have shut theirs off.
Stormzeye| 8.8.11 @ 7:21AM
Great article. Informative, factual and it exposes Standard and Poor's for the big government cheerleaders they are. Their AAA rating of the mortgage-backed securities leading up the the last financial collapse of the banking sector should have ended their power but then what would Dodd and Frank do without them? Meanwhile Moody's, Fitch and all of the other rating agencies haven't downgraded US debt. What a House of Mirrors!
Timothy L. Pennell| 8.8.11 @ 7:38AM
"Sooner or later you run out of OTHER PEOPLE'S Monet."
It's no more complex than that.
Even a Mulatto Boy, raised by Communists and Marxists, in the Muslim Schools and Mosques, of Indonesia, knows that.
He just doesn't care.
Timothy L. Pennell| 8.8.11 @ 7:48AM
"Sooner or later you run out of OTHER PEOPLE'S Money."
It's no more complex than that.
Even a Mulatto Boy, raised by Communists and Marxists, in the Muslim Schools and Mosques, of Indonesia, knows that.
He just DOESN'T CARE.
*(They don't run out of Monets. They still have their Monets.)*
John Navratil| 8.8.11 @ 8:58AM
When ask why he stole the paintings the thief replied he needed the Monet to buy Degas to make his Van Gogh.
(groan)
irish19| 8.8.11 @ 2:50PM
OOOOWWWW!!! How could you?!
Denounce yourself, sir!
shipley130| 8.8.11 @ 3:11PM
LOL
Frekki| 8.8.11 @ 3:41PM
ow ow ow ow. So good it hurt.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 5:32PM
That "mulatto boy" is the President of the United States, you sick little racist.
John Navratil| 8.8.11 @ 7:08PM
RCV,
It seems you see more racism that is evident from the words. Suppose Pennell has used the word "black". Would this have triggered this response? The word "mulatto" is actually more accurate. Would he have needed to remove the race of the President completely to avoid your comment? It is, in fact, unnecessary. His Muslim upbringing is also incidental to the fact that his policies are profoundly left-wing. It does not appear to me that Mr. Pennell's comments either attribute Obama's views to the fact that he is mixed-race (is that better?) or that he hates blacks.
Before you damn Mr. Pennell for including Obama's race you might recall Obama's own words in his autobiographies associating himself with blacks rather than whites.
Your PC seems evident to me.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 12:59AM
I stand by my comment, which has nothing to with PC.
John Navratil| 8.9.11 @ 10:01AM
RCV,
It's a cheap shot and becoming more and more trite. It seems everyone who disagrees with Obama is a racist today.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 11:32AM
It's not a "cheap shot" to call someone who refers to the President of the United States a "Mulatto boy" a racist.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.9.11 @ 12:45PM
I don't bother with silly sanctimonious espousals of what, exactly, constitutes a cheap shot, when posting about other individuals - (by the way, I did bother, in posts about individuals associated with the Tea Party, to espouse about them that 'I abhor sanctimonious conservatism of the tea party brand, an ideology wholly lacking in intelligence or a shred of real Christian love and compassion - It espouses policies dangerous, damaging, and detrimental to our country and it's future - It will have a lifespan much like its intellectual forebearer, know-nothingism', but that is irrelevant of course) - when I once posted, about 54 million innocent unborn Americans who were deprived of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, among other things, that 'at least I belong to the party that cares about human beings AFTER they're born', on knowing about cheap shots, so leave the 'half white and half black boy' I sanctimoniously shill for without a shred of dignity alone as he's the only adult in Washington D.C. who has made it perfectly clear he has not and he will not rest until everyone has a job matters.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:23PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz, Skippy.
John Navratil| 8.9.11 @ 1:11PM
RCV,
It is most certainly derisive. Had he written that he disliked Obama because he is black or that he dislikes blacks in general you could call it a racist comment.
This word is being overused and generally misapplied. I think you have misapplied it. It is getting trite and when Sheila Jackson-Lee starts claiming that Obama didn't get his debt ceiling increase because of his race you see it becoming ridiculous.
A friend chided me for passing on a word-play in which Buckwheat had converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem A-wheat, claiming this was racist. I'm sorry, if this is racism, then racism isn't what it used to be.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:23PM
That's just bad humor, not racism!
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.8.11 @ 7:59AM
It's really amazing that S&P can call for more taxes in light of the fact that taxes have never been the problem.
It's government regulations and spending and a failed government model called central economic planning.
If the government would move away from things they do badly, which is just about everything, and focused on the things they do well, like law enforcement and the military you would see a dramatic turnaround.
It won't happen but that's what's needed. The debt plan was just more central planning and that too will fail.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.8.11 @ 8:10AM
Here's a perfect example of idiotic government at its worst:
http://townhall.com/columnists.....illed_milk
We all understand why the Environmental Protection Agency was given the power to issue regulations to guard against oil spills, such as that of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska or the more recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But not everyone understands that any power given to any bureaucracy for any purpose can be stretched far beyond that purpose.
In a classic example of this process, the EPA has decided that, since milk contains oil, it has the authority to force farmers to comply with new regulations to file "emergency management" plans to show how they will cope with spilled milk, how farmers will train "first responders" and build "containment facilities" if there is a flood of spilled milk.
Since there is no free lunch, all of this is going to cost the farmers both money and time that could be going into farming-- and is likely to end up costing consumers higher prices for farm products.
It is going to cost the taxpayers money as well, since the EPA is going to have to hire people to inspect farms, inspect farmers' reports and prosecute farmers who don't jump through all the right hoops in the right order. All of this will be "creating jobs," even if the tax money removed from the private sector correspondingly reduces the jobs that can be created there.
Does anyone seriously believe that any farmer is going to spill enough milk to compare with the Exxon Valdez oil spill or the BP oil spill?
Do you envision people fleeing their homes, as a flood of milk comes pouring down the mountainside, threatening to wipe out the village below?
DaveD| 8.8.11 @ 8:41AM
I live across the road (about 1/4 mile) and down hill from a middle sized dairy operation and I am terrified of milk spills affecting my life. It's bad enough when the steers keep bellowing into the night and the fumes from their leavings interfere, when the wind is right, with pleasant outdoor evenings. Now I have to worry about the flood of milk pouring down the road from udders of 50 (or so) cows.
I have, of course, been prepared for disaster for a long time. I built a three foot high dike across the front of my property and have hundreds of filled sandbags stock piled against catastrophe. Other people have not had the same foresight and I fear for them.
N O T
Good grief, anything and everything of biological origin is biodegradable. There are plenty of little tiny hungry critters ready and willing to take on any milk spill that comes along and deal with it promptly and efficiently.
This is downright silly and further proof that regulators are required to have frontal lobotomies as part of the Civil Service Exam.
SpiralArchitect| 8.8.11 @ 12:21PM
Ban the bovine biological nemesis to mankind!
NYMPH| 8.8.11 @ 1:19PM
Now therer really is a reason to cry over spilt milk!
shipley130| 8.8.11 @ 3:13PM
What next? The EPA worries about a little spilled water?
axbucxdu| 8.8.11 @ 9:50PM
I've heard that they're outlawing oxygen next. They have learned that as little as 5% O2 in the atmosphere can be fatal.
shipley130| 8.8.11 @ 3:24PM
Interesting link. The EPA stupidity grows bigger and bigger.
Anthony| 8.8.11 @ 9:02AM
I could not agree more. I expected the whores in the D party and the media to turn their debacle onto the Rs, but S&P calling for more taxes??
It appears under Ds, all things are corrupted and all things are political.
Oh wait, Barney Frank blamed the military. If only that fat pig had been on that helo instead of all those brave warriors.
Unleash the private sector and kick the Ds the hell out of Washington.
Mimi| 8.8.11 @ 8:28AM
The EPA has to be the FIRST TO GO !
SpiralArchitect| 8.8.11 @ 12:22PM
Amen.
VitaminP| 8.9.11 @ 2:23AM
And Amen.
JP| 8.8.11 @ 8:50AM
Twenty minutes to opening bell and the DJIA futures are still down about 200 or so. I wonder how many of the sell orders went out Friday and Saturday? I agree with the author(s); the Dow will open down sharply before rebounding later this afternoon. Profit numbers are up sharply for a number of firms. Berkshire Hathaway postedvery strong quarterly numbers. There's still money to made in equities for those with the capital to risk.
Concerning the ratings agencies: the rating agencies are nothing but financial editorials. What makes them so powerful is Congress. Congress forces the "players" to be rated by these firms if they want to take part in the game. Firms like S&P rack up nifty fees as a result. Quite a few GOP politicians have complained for years of the ratings game, and how it can be rigged to the detriment of investors. And Dems like Al Franken refuse to change it. Now, the federal government has to a degree gotten a taste of its own medicine.
And no, we cannot grow ourselves out of this mess. There is just too much spending and borrowing. The federal government is essientially soaking up all future credit by its massive defecits. So the problem is really spending. There will have to be much pain before this thing is through.
And if you want growth like we had circa 1983-2006 have more children. Aging societies do not propser; they just consume.
SpiralArchitect| 8.8.11 @ 12:48PM
Well said JP. Annoying how so few people understand that reductions alone will solve the near insolvency of our nation.
Futher income to the Gov will only be spent - nothing incomming, no matter the label, will be used to reduce spending aside from a reduction in spending.
Revenues will never reduce spending!
Dai Alanye | 8.8.11 @ 10:51AM
The downgrade made no real difference except to the easily frightened, the ones who take a bath whenever bad news arrives. Those, in other words, who make a practice of selling low and buying high.
It was easy to see that S&P had been summoning the courage to make this move for some time.
The irony is that if S&P and Moody and the rest had downgraded bundled mortgages we might not be in this fix. But no, their approach then was that a hundred weak mortgage contracts were somehow safer than one. Excellent logic, and one of the finest economic decisions since the South Seas Bubble or Tulip Mania.
Al Adab| 8.8.11 @ 11:15AM
As you note. What of course happens is that we have to lay out more to pay interest on the bonds. That money has to come from somewhere and selling more bonds to cover it won't do. Maybe some of the posters are on the right track when they suggest eliminating several of the regulatory agencies that do no more than add to the cost of doing business while maintaining the mulit-billion dollar budgets.
This will be a long journey back to fiscal responsibility. But every journey begins with a first step.
Oldefarte| 8.8.11 @ 11:11AM
IT'S THE DEMOCRATS, STUPIDS! See the following from the Daily Caller:
'......Teabaggers reply: Downgrade this -- The Tea Party is downgrading Axelrod and Kerry right back. TheDC's Matthew Boyle reports: "FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe told The Daily Caller that liberals are using the ['Tea Party downgrade'] slogan to distract Americans from the bad economic numbers he says President Obama's policies have caused. 'Well of course they want to say that,' Kibbe said of how the Obama administration is attempting to blame the tea party movement for the credit downgrade. 'They don't want to talk about how Obama's fiscal policy led to this and 9.1 percent unemployment.' Kibbe noted that Obama never provided his own debt plan and added that he believes it was Democrats and liberal Republicans who perpetuated the 'out-of-control spending' that led Standard & Poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook for the first time in the nation's history." But no, see, it's the people who want to control spending who are the problem. As Instapundit puts it, "Everyone knows that when you're using your MasterCard to pay your Visa bill, it's the person who doesn't want the limit raised who's the real source of the problem." Remember when the Tea Party was just an ineffectual bunch of rednecks? Now, apparently, they're responsible for everything. But that's what happens when you move the cookie jar out of the Democrats' reach. You're going to hear a lot of crying and screaming and pleading....'
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 11:23AM
The debt ceiling debacle is the death-knell for the Tea Party. Even before the S&P downgrade -- which pinned the blame squarely on the disfunctionality in Congress -- the House and Senate leadership on both sides of the aisle put together the Supercommittee to make sure they won't have to deal with the tea party types next round. We will get a more balanced approach soon -- the end of the Bush tax cuts at the high end, coupled with more long-term cuts to bring down the deficit. And in November 2012, the American people will turn out these one-term wonders who have done enough damage to our economy already. Good riddance to them!
Truth to Power| 8.8.11 @ 12:39PM
Dream on. Your ideas are failing everywhere. Your Mecca, Europe is a disaster. This will be more obvious by the election. The Tea Party will be the voice of reason in 2012 and you will be on the ash heap of history.
JP| 8.8.11 @ 1:09PM
If it were only true - The Tea Party, as a group, didn't sign on to the "deal". And it was only the Tea Party that demanded that Congress enact real cuts for FY 2012. The Super Committee is just eye candy, and a toothless one at that. If anything, it is the "Centrist Republicans" who lost out - including the current Speaker. The American people instinctively know what's wrong.
BTW, my predictions for an afternoon market rally looks off. As of 1300 hours, the DJIA is down just over 300 points. That's about a half a trillion dollars in lost market capitalization. And it's only Monday.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 1:38PM
The polls show that 72% of the American people believe the Democrats were right on the debt ceiling. People correctly blame the Luddites in the Tea Party and will remember their irresponsible behavior that resulted in real damage to the economy.
George True| 8.8.11 @ 3:43PM
The markets, which IS people, obviously do not approve of the debt ceiling having been raised without first having a realistic plan on reining in the massive spending.
John II| 8.8.11 @ 4:29PM
And another thing, Roberto. All the S&P has been consistently specific about, for some time now, is the now-not-so-long-term imperative for entitlement reform.
From the horse's mouth:
“Standard & Poor’s takes no position on the mix of spending and revenue measures that Congress and the Administration might conclude is appropriate for putting the U.S.’s finances on a sustainable footing.”
But again:
“The plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability.”
Whether or not the S&P folks are "independent" is surely a matter of debate. But even if they are rooting for the Democrats in their private huddles, they have a strange way of showing it publicly--unless of course they've got their fingers crossed behind their backs when their ONLY specific pronouncement turns on entitlement reform.
Now then, can you name a single Tea Party dude who's against entitlement reform?
And can you name a single lefty Democrat who's in favor of ANY entitlement reform outside of the continued expansion of entitlements?
And can you tell me which of the two sides in the recent congressional circus shot down all serious efforts at entitlement reform?
And then can you tell me what dignity you can possibly scrounge from serving as a smug shill for the Professor and his degenerate acolytes?
Back now to "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), in which that great precursor to the Tea Party, Jimmy Stewart, confronts the precursors to the deceitful Obamanation--and wins.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 5:41PM
John Paul. You must have had a bad summer, because the intellectual quality of your posts has deteriorated rapidly. I'm no "smug shill" for anyone. The President worked hard to interest Republicans in addressing long term entitlement reform as part of the debt ceiling debate, but they would have none of it. They knew they were going to approve a debt ceiling raise, but had to engage in the little charade of appeasing the new kids from the Tea Party before doing so, oblivious of what they were doing to the markets in the meantime. Then they signed onto the supercommittee idea so they won't have to deal with those annoying little kids next time round.
I guarantee you that in light of what's happened, the next round in the budget battle will include the phase out of the high-end Bush tax cuts, tax reform that includes the end of subsidies for the gluttonous oil companies, farming conglomerates and the never satiated defense contractors if there is any trimming back of social security or medicare.
John II| 8.8.11 @ 7:02PM
"The President worked hard to interest Republicans in addressing long term entitlement reform as part of the debt ceiling debate, but they would have none of it."
Well, whether or not he "worked hard" (why do liberal Democrats always use that expression?), the Professor did submit a 2011 budget. It contained zero, zip, nada, rien, nichts, ouden (that's Classical Greek, Roberto), nihil, NOTHING toward entitlement reform. Perhaps after working hard some more, he disavowed his own budget proposal.
Then he gave a speech--which, we shall perhaps never know for sure, may have involved a lot of hard work and even some eye strain. In the speech, he said he’d like to see $4 trillion in deficit-reduction. But then, maybe because he was exhausted from all the hard work, he submitted no budget or other legislation to accompany his usual cliche-ridden rhetoric. (He DOES need to work harder at eliminating the helium from his cheesy rhetoric, but then what would remain?)
At which point, as the Professor rested, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, a Democrat, vouchsafed an aptly if oddly dry response to the effect that his agency “does not score speeches.”
Roberto, what are you drinking? Can I have some too? Don't be selfish, now.
And who's "John Paul"?
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:01AM
Sorry, when I see John and II together, the Paul addition is reflexive.
John II| 8.9.11 @ 2:15PM
Oh. Well, I wouldn't mind the saintly namesake--one of my grandsons now has it.
But as I believe I may have explained before, I regard myself as a descendant of Don John of Austria, who stopped the infidels at Lepanto while the northern European Protestants were studying their navels.
I am John II, standing firm against the Islamic renegades and their chic-Left western enablers.
And now back to "El Cid" (1962), a flick made when men were still men, and the Professor's generation was still merely incipient.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 5:52PM
Now that's the John II I've come to know and admire. Lepanto, indeed! Ali Pasha didn't know what hit him. But it shows what you can accomplish when you turn to Mary for intercession.
W| 8.8.11 @ 8:11PM
. Obama's budget was voted down 97 to 0.He never presented any specific plan on the debt ceiling, except the usual tax the rich and tax corporate jet owners. His man, Harry Reid's proposal did not include tax increases. The Dems talked taxes but never presented a specific plan to raise taxes because they are afraid to raise taxes. They would rather talk taxes than raise them at this time.
Do you believe Obama acted responsibly during this debt ceiling issue, and what did he do that was responsible. All of Obama's problems were caused by Bush, and now the TEA party. Is Obama responsible for anything?
simon templar| 8.8.11 @ 8:50PM
RCV, at it again with the magical made up polls from the land of make believe liberal la la land?
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:29PM
I took that figure from Mr. Pennell, one of your own, lamenting the death of the American republic as we know it. But here's a squib from today's newswire for you to chew on, Simon:
"A lot of that anger seems directed toward the GOP. According to the survey, favorable views of the Republican party dropped eight points over the past month, to 33 percent. Fifty-nine percent say they have an unfavorable view of the Republican party, an all-time high dating back to 1992 when the question was first asked.
The poll indicates that views of the Democratic party, by contrast, have remained fairly steady, with 47 percent saying they have a favorable view of the Democrats and an equal amount saying they hold an unfavorable view.
'The Democratic party, which had a favorable rating just a couple of points higher than the GOP in July, now has a 14-point advantage over the Republican party,' adds Holland."
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 2:04PM
I don't bother with silly reality, as sanctimonious delusion is all that I have left to sanctimoniously cling to, as liberalism implodes around me, and my sanctimonious 64 years of sanctimoniously defying both Christianity and the Constitution, through among other things, my sanctimoniously ignoring 'honor thy father and mother' by sanctimoniously supporting homosexuality, my sanctimoniously ignoring 'thou shall not kill' by sanctimoniously supporting abortion, and my sanctimoniously ignoring both 'thou shall not steal' and 'thou shall not covet' by sanctimoniously supporting redistribution of wealth, even as I still not only sanctimoniously cling to the notion the 'one', henceforth forever known as the downgrade president, who I still sanctimoniously espouse is the only adult in Washington D.C., who I still sanctimoniously espouse will still be reelected, now even more delusionally, go on to sanctimoniously place all blame for the rampant liberal spending on the tea party itself, who I sanctimoniously abhor for their conservatism, who I sanctimoniously abhor for wholly lacking any intelligence, who I sanctimoniously abhor for lacking a shred of both real Christian love and compassion, who I sanctimoniously abhor for espousing policies dangerous to the nation, who I sanctimoniously abhor for being from uneducated areas of the nation, who I sanctimoniously abhor for being from poor areas of the nation, who I sanctimoniously abhor for believing nonsense, and who I now sanctimoniously render obsolete, for not supporting job crushing tax increases to fund the rampant liberal spending, by my announcement of the tea party's death-knell, effective immediately, and I will continue to delusionally yet sanctimoniously post pathetically, and to delusionally yet sanctimoniously post despicably, to continue to sanctimoniously justify my initials, on these matters of delusional sanctimonious reality matters.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 2:47PM
This boy needs help badly.
Truth to Power| 8.8.11 @ 2:55PM
You need the help, boy. You made a mess of your state and your country and want to blame others who are noticing. We won't be your tax collector. You will need to boy up and make your intentions clear. No more leading from behind.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 4:35PM
I don't bother with silly hypocrites needing help badly wh-
Shrink:
Please! Let's stay focused shall we? Moving on. Please respond with the first thing that pops into your head. Ready? 54 million abortions.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Real Christian Love. And Compassion.
Shrink:
That's two things. Barack Obama.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Sixty four times smarter than me. Plus, he's honest.
Shrink:
That's two things. Osama Bin Laden.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Strangled personally by Obama. With his bare hands. Hand, really. The other one was simultaneously wiping out both Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Osama made the mistake of shooting two uzis at him. A fatal mistake. That just mad Obama mad. Plus, he eats his peas. It's like spinach to him. He was using his feets to establish World Peace. That took both foots though. That reminds me of the time Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. It was long overdue, really. Now he can win the Nobel Peas Prize. Why I-
Shrink:
Please! Let's...just...continue. Redistribution of wealth.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Not allowing the half of the people who pay no taxes to bear the burden of the other half who aren't paying their fair share of taxes. And equality under the law.
Shrink:
That's two things. The Constitution.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Democracy. Adults in the room. Government functionality. Don't forget Justice.
Shrink:
That's four things. Thomas Jefferson.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
My life's passion. To study his words. For sixty four and three quarter years. I started in Mommy's womb. That counts.
Shrink:
Please keep it to the first two things that pop into your mind.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Mind?
Shrink:
Let's......just............continue.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Okey Dokey. Wait, is that more than two things?
Shrink:
.........The Tree Of Liberty.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
That's just dumb.
Shrink:
....................................Debt ceiling.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Tea Party irresponsibility. Tea Party disfunctionality of Congress. Tea Party real damage to the Economy. Tea Party Ludditism. Tea Par-
Shrink:
Please! U.S. credit downgrade.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus:
Tea Party wholly lacking in intelligence. Tea Party wholly lacking a shred of real Christian love. Tea Party wholly lacking a shred of compassion. Tea Party policies damaging the nation. Tea Party policies dangerous to the nation. Tea Party policies detrimental to the nation. Tea Party inhabiting economically poor areas of the nation. Tea Party inhabiting educationally low areas of the nation. Tea Party believing only nonsense. Tea Par-
Shrink:
Please! Put this on please.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus: Ooh! Do you have one in another color other than white? Are the sleeves like that so you can hug yourself for being such a devout churchgoing Christian and smart Constitutionalist? What's that? It looks just like a muzzle. What's it for?
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 5:42PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 6:06PM
I don't bother with silly delusions, such as the delusion the petulant dithering idiot liar in chief can win reelection on 'downgrade you can believe in', on steadfastly continuing to sanctimoniously espouse pathetic posts, steadfastly continuing to sanctimoniously espouse despicable posts, steadfastly continuing to sanctimoniously espouse stupid posts, steadfastly continuing to espouse the sanctimonious posts of a liar, steadfastly continuing to espouse the sanctimonious posts of an idiot, steadfastly continuing to espouse the sanctimonious posts of a smug degenerate shill, and steadfastly continuing to espouse sanctimonious nonsense while lacking any dignity matters.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 6:52PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 7:31PM
Shrinks attendant:
What's that? You like the muzzle? No? What? Oh, you like your muzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzle. Got it. Will you be needing a spitoon for all that drool?
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:30PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Skippy.
simon templar| 8.8.11 @ 8:52PM
RCV, it like you are holding up a mirror to yourself.
shipley130| 8.8.11 @ 3:29PM
The Tea Party is just getting started. We are going to rid DC of the democrat rats in 2012 and 2016. Trust me, I won't relent. But you just keep buzzing around in your zombie state of Obamaland.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 5:43PM
Nor will we. After we recall the tea party nuts in Wisconsin, the new crew in Washington will be on our list for 2012.
DaveD| 8.8.11 @ 4:55PM
Wanna bet?
Nick| 8.8.11 @ 5:56PM
RCV,
Sorry, it doesn't work that way.
The people, whoever they are, cannot punish an amorphous and abstract group such as the T.E.A. Party. There is no one to point their fingers at and say, "He's the one to blame for this mess!"
Most of the people who give Congress a 70% - 80% job disapproval also say that their own representative is doing a good job, and, that they will vote for him again. Incumbency has its privileges, don't ya' know?
The only person on which they can focus their anger, is the president. President Ditherer just became President Downgrade, right before our eyes. O'Bama is in big trouble.
Anything can happen between now and next year's election, as I have been telling you, but, if the economy keeps going the way it has been (get ready for the double-dip recession) O'Bama will need to find out that Hitler is still alive, and then kill him, in order to win!
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 6:53PM
We're workin' on it, Nick.
Nick| 8.8.11 @ 6:58PM
RCV,
You know where Hitler is?
Ha-ha!
Keep workin', but, you will fail.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 5:53PM
I think we all know where Hitler is, Nick.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.9.11 @ 9:06PM
I don't bother with silly knowing where Hitler is, who is 4th alltime (Naziism 20 million 1933-1945) in the category of killing one's own citizens, the modern era, when for supporting 'legal' brutal murders of the defenseless innocent, as a devout churchgoing Christian liberal, I reside in 3rd alltime (Liberalism 54 million 1973-2011), with the potential for 2nd alltime (Stalinism 62 million 1917-1987) and 1st alltime (Maoism 76 million 1949-1987), on sanctimoniously espousing eternal matters.
RCV| 8.10.11 @ 5:05PM
Skippy, Skippy, Skippy.....have the courage to use your own name so people know who's posting this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... stuff.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.10.11 @ 5:51PM
I don't bother with silly people knowing who's pozting ztuff, when all anyone needs to do is zcroll up about zeven poztz, to see my rezent zanctimoniouz ezpouzal that the recall of the Wisconsin Tea Party nutz are recalled, right now, even as I pozt, just as I rezently zanctimoniouzly ezpouzed would happen, just like I rezently zanctimoniouzly ezpouzed the Tea Party is dead, right now, even as I pozt, just as I rezently zanctimoniouzly ezpouzed was because the Tea Party is to blame for the out of control liberal spending, just as I rezently zanctimoniously ezpouzed was because the Tea Party is to blame for the credit downgrade, just as I rezently zanctimoniouzly ezpouzed the downgrader in chief is the only adult in Wazhington D.Z., just as I rezently zanctimoniouzly ezpouzed the downgrader in chief will be reelected, on rezent zanctimoniouz ezpouzal credibility matterz.
TheRightIsAnythingBut| 8.8.11 @ 12:37PM
Awe-inspiring and not in a good way: Tea Partiers Cheer the Downgrade of America's Credit Rating:
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/video-tea-partiers-cheer-downgrade-americas-credit-rating
Ground Control| 8.8.11 @ 3:06PM
Mother Jones? Are you serious?
TheRightIsAnythingBut| 8.8.11 @ 3:44PM
Fox News Channel? Are you serious?
W| 8.8.11 @ 8:03PM
How many readers, besides you, does Mother Jones have? Seriously, we read that in college, laughed, and moved on.
How many viewers does Fox have compared to Mother Jones?
Truth to Power| 8.8.11 @ 3:48PM
No he is not. He is a shill in a con.
W| 8.8.11 @ 5:50PM
Don't beleive anything posted by Right/David, the Wisconsin SEIU rent a mob member. He posted a "quote" about Justice Scalia, and deliberately eliminated words to make it appear Scalia said the constitution is dead.
hyluard| 8.8.11 @ 12:47PM
S&P is starting to act less like an evaluation agency and more like a fourth arm of the republic minus the bothersome issues of amending the constitution to incorporate their role. S&P needs to get off the airways, stop the media interviews and stay out of the countries' policy process. S&P generate your evaluations and shut the hell up.
George True| 8.8.11 @ 12:54PM
What color is the sky in your world, RCV? Everything you just said is the polar opposite of reality here in the real world that the rest of us inhabit.
First of all, S&P said specifically, both before and during the debt ceiling Kabuki theater debate, that it would downgrade US bonds if they (S&P) saw no sign that the US government was willing to rein in the runaway spending and subsequent borrowing. This is exactly the tea party position. So how can it be called the 'tea party downgrade' for failing to do what the tea party advocated?
Regarding the Bush tax cuts, you do realize, don't you, that 85% of those cuts, both on a percentage basis and on an actual dollar amount basis, went to the middle class? You do further realize, don't you, that as a result of the Bush tax cuts the so-called "rich" saw only a 10% reduction in their rate of taxation?
The deliberate mis-characterization of the Bush tax cuts as a "tax cut for the rich" was always an outrageous lie. And useful idiots like you, RCV, who refuse to do their own homework, but instead parrot leftist talking points, are the ones who helped bring about the current ruined economy.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 5:46PM
The world that you and most TAS commentators inhabit, George, is not "the real world." If it was, Michelle Bachmann would be President instead of behind Obama by about 20 points in every poll taken, including Fox News.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 6:24PM
I don't bother with silly delusions, when, in the real world, reality is the U.S. credit was downgraded because of the debt racked up by the tea party, which has undermined all the brilliant successes of the genius Obama, which will not tarnish the brilliant genius Obama enough to adversely affect his reelection, as Obama's presidential achievements mesh nicely with his previous achievements, including as the most liberal U.S. senator of 2007, including as the state senator with an impressive 130 votes of 'present', including all the papers published over 12 years as university law professor consisting entirely of a dubious 'autobiography', and including all the business experience over 32 years of 'adulthood' consisting entirely of none, which I will continually sanctimoniously shill for both pathetically and despicably, as a sanctimonious idiot matters.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 6:53PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..................
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 7:24PM
I don't bother with silly doubts of the 'one', and 'downgrade you can believe in', and past achievements, when today, August 8th, 6 days AFTER signing into law the new debt ceiling deal, stating in a nationally broadcast speech to the nation, in speech number 3,836 - oops, 3836 is not his speech number but the number of 'legal' abortions per day every day since early 1973 - in speech number 13,836, that he, Obama, WILL, at some point in the future, present a plan for tackling the national debt, already, it being, already, day number 3,836 - oops again - day number 930 of his presidency, on already thinking about, maybe, presenting a plan for almost certain, sometime soon, possibly, in the near future, sort of, eventually, probably before spending another trillion, in all likelihood, plausibly, perhaps, as long as it doesn't interfere with reelection fund raising that is, you can believe in that matters.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:03AM
Zzzzzzzzzzz ......
JP| 8.8.11 @ 1:12PM
Congress could change the laws today concerning the importance of the rating agencies. After the Housing fiasco, they pretty much lost all credability. In a way, they are a Fourth Arm of Government. Whatever Congress touches, turns to stone. In light of Congress's prolifigacy, it seems hypocritical that the can mandate who can judge whom.
Let the private sector create thier own rating agencies.
Brian Kornberg| 8.8.11 @ 2:10PM
Prediction: Defying all conventional "wisdom," the U.S. stock market will be up for the day on Monday. Maybe by 10 points, or maybe 100, but it will end the day in positive territory.
With less than two hours of trading time, the dow is already down more than 400 points.
shipley130| 8.8.11 @ 3:07PM
If nobody has figured out just how bad Obama is by now, the last three days should have rung their bell.
George True| 8.8.11 @ 3:47PM
Not if the Enemedia have anything to say about it. The DNC and their MSM propagandists are desperately trying to falsely portray this as a "tea party downgrade". At least 40% of the population will buy into their disinformation.
LiveFreeOrDie| 8.8.11 @ 4:05PM
"Prediction: Defying all conventional "wisdom," the U.S. stock market will be up for the day on Monday. Maybe by 10 points, or maybe 100, but it will end the day in positive territory."
Wow, not even close!
Pete| 8.8.11 @ 4:13PM
Don't beat yourself up about that prediction...you weren't off by much..
Pecos Pete| 8.8.11 @ 4:16PM
DJIA at the close = down 633 or 5.54%.
Howard| 8.8.11 @ 4:29PM
Prediction: Defying all conventional "wisdom," the U.S. stock market will be up for the day on Monday. Maybe by 10 points, or maybe 100, but it will end the day in positive territory. OOPS!!!
Otherwise a good article.
Pat| 8.8.11 @ 4:29PM
If only it would be permissible, and perfectly legal, to shoot the messenger – and, in this case, S&P is the rating firm which should be taken out behind the barn and … well you know the rest. Up and down Wall St., in the bars, the tanning salons, the Bentley dealers, the word on everyone’s lips is: “why, for goshsakes, did those idiots at S&P bad mouth the U. S. Treasury?”. And the Wall St. boys’ criticism isn’t rooted in some misguided patriotic notion that it’s wrong to doubt our wonderful country, rather it resides within a different root, the root of all evil – basically, money.
This unprecedented downgrade in America’s credit rating caused widespread panic, the stock market is down 600 today following a massive downturn last week and all due to fears among investors that maybe the United States isn’t so solvent after all. That could result in Wall St. firms losing major commissions as Americans abandon the stock market to deposit their hard earned dough in that new investment firm, The Bank of the Mattress.
Moody’s, S&P’s competitor isn’t so moody though, they’ve looked at the same basic economic facts S&P reviewed and can see no reason whatsoever to question America’s solvency. China and other foreign nations have no choice but to buy our government debt, we’re the only “safe-harbor” in town after all, but “that could soon change” these upstart foreigners are warning us – so go ahead, threaten us, see if we care, we’ll keep right on going deeper and deeper into debt for as long as we want.
And our politicians aren’t worried either. Sure, we could conceivably cut way back on government spending, maybe raise taxes and responsibly manage our debt. But that would make the voters angry for various reasons; many because of the higher taxes, others because of smaller federal handouts and reduced graft. And angry voters would take their revenge on do-gooder politicians come next election. So, as we all can see, there is no reason to worry because there aren’t any responsible do-gooders left in Washington, not even one naïve elected employee determined to raise taxes, cut federal spending and manage our debt – now that’s a welcome relief, let’s all go out for a drink and maybe test drive that new Bentley.
RCV| 8.8.11 @ 6:55PM
Funny, all those selling their stock have been running to buy..........Treasury notes, you know, the ones that have been downgraded.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.8.11 @ 7:50PM
I don't bother with silly being the only poster on this thread who a week or so ago sanctimoniously, stupidly, lyingly, pathetically, despicably, idiotically espoused that the republicans were risking real, as opposed to delusional, default for the entire nation, now suddenly as casual as can be poo-pooing the stock market's activities, as today Obama, in a national speech to the nation, in speech number 3,836 - oops - in speech number 13,836 of his presidency, stated that the republicans, during the debt ceiling meetings, had risked the entire nation with default, on silly me having no dignity whatsoever as I sanctimoniously shill for possibly the only American more of a dumbass than me, even without blaming the tea party for the credit downgrade, which would be delusional, reality is the tea party is to blame, matters.
simon templar| 8.8.11 @ 8:58PM
Yeah, it is funny. Bet you do not even know why? I will tell you. many of these idiots are under the assumption, the old pre-2008 assumption that the government will always be able to just print more money even after the government collaspes the private sector from overregulation, taxes, and bad fiscal policy.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:04AM
No, it's because the know that US Treasuries are the safest investment they can make.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.9.11 @ 12:52PM
I don't bother with silly readers wondering why, then, did I just a week or so ago, perform my chicken little the sky is falling routine, when tea party republicans refused to accept a debt ceiling increase without stipulations, by sanctimoniously espousing those same republicans were risking default for every single American, presumably exempting those 54 million Americans 'legally' murdered rather early in life, on ignoring how I now know, miraculously, that U.S. treasuries are the safest investment there is matters.
RCV| 8.9.11 @ 1:24PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Skippy.
Who Knows?| 8.8.11 @ 6:58PM
Buy gold.
It's not too late. What about the future, when Obama is totally undressed, and even the densest and/or most uninformed people become as convinced about his incompetence and far left beliefs as most posters on this blog?
What about the day when only deluded fools support him?
I had a discussion with a neighbor about how his dog barking bothered me. He tried to convince me that it DIDN'T bother me!
That's the kind of people who will be left backing Obama, now that he's been exposed.
May he continue to go on TV and strut his BAD ASSED stuff!
Real reality is FINALLY unavoidable, and when the DOW JONES average goes below $10,000 and gold above $2,000, what do you think the mood will be in DC?
In all humble candor, as one who agreed with Thomas Sowell before the 2008 election, that it would be a disaster to elect Obama, it's been a great surprise that the general public hasn't seen through BHO long ago.
Just think!
We get to live through over a year longer with him as president---the big question, for me, relates back to Slick Willie.
I always thought he'd slink away in shame when his criminal behavior became widely known, but he proved to be able to ignore any inner pain about his being found out.
I may be naive, but it seems to me that BHO will be unable to weather the hopefully imminent dumping of dreck on him, by all sides of the political spectrum. Will he wimp out, and resign, when his approval rating reaches, say, 20%?
Should be a very entertaining next year!
John II| 8.8.11 @ 9:57PM
Well, hay-el. I can answer that one, and I haven't come close to finishing my advanced degree in Prophecy.
The Professor will rise above it all. In a kind of reprisal of the soon-to-be-late James Earl Carter, he will spend the last forty or so years of his preposterous life making speeches, taking public tours of permanently Third-World backwaters, and expostulating to moronic audiences yet-to-be-born on the depredations of evil America, wicked capitalism, perverse Christianity, and, withal, the denigration of such intellectual heroes as Saul Alinsky and Antonio Gramsci and Associate Professor John Maynard Keynes and Professor Karlus Marxus.
In short, the Professor will amass millions, possibly a billion or two in the mode of Professor Alphonsus Gore, declaiming against the market.
And now back to "The Creature Walks Among Us" (1956), third in a trilogy of amphibian metaphorical anticipations of Americano decline. And there are fools who say that the 50's produced no great flicks.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 8.9.11 @ 1:09PM
I don't bother with silly false assumptions, of many, many, readers, who presumed the flick, produced in my backyard after all, is about me, when, in fact, it is not about my existing on the face of the globally warming earth to sanctimoniously shill, without a shred of dignity, yet still somehow smugly, for the creature from the half white and half black lagoon, who was badly burned, not from a fire as is commonly believed, but from a credit downgrade of the greatest economic system the world has ever known, nor is the flick even about the creature from the half white and half black lagoon who was badly burned from a credit downgrade of the greatest economic system the world has ever known itself, on clarification for the edification of readers matters.
POST American| 8.8.11 @ 11:25PM
"There's absolutely NO reason
why ANY country on earth should be
borrowing money from ANYONE
--least of all the USA."
-ALAN WATT
(deadly truth online)
---Biz nihilist, INTER-national, GOD mocking,
creation hating, inbred USURY remains the ABSOLUTE CORE issue.
"Remember, sin is ALWAYS linked.
ALWAYS."
-JONATHAN EDWARDS
America's Pre-eminent Calvinist
-------------------------AMEN-------------------------
VitaminP| 8.8.11 @ 11:35PM
Can't wait for Joe Biden to call S&P "terrorists."
Dan| 8.8.11 @ 11:51PM
If the Past Few Days Have You at Least a Little Worried... http://mittromneycentral.com/2.....downgrade/ is one of the most enlightening pieces I've ever seen. The future is uncertain, but we can have real hope because the more people that read this, the more people will see the light and know what we have to do to get back on track.
Osamas Pajamas| 8.9.11 @ 1:13AM
Oops.