IT dawned on me during my drive home today that Obama is still pushing every single agenda he put forth. That is unlike any recent history President who is gearing up for re-election. They tend do as Bill Clinton did and move more center to get elected again.
As Obama has admitted he may be a one term President, it dawned on me the real change he has been pushing (his or his handlers) does not require a re-election. That is just gravy. By pushing ahead at full speed with disastrous policy we are surely headed for change most did not expect and before the next election.
What clicked for me today was a recent statement by Obama. He said taxes are the lowest they have been in years. What he was citing was tax receipts and they are indeed lower, but not because taxes are low, but because so many are not contributing either due to entitlement, lower paying job than before, or no job at all.
So of course taxes receipts are lower, but he merely said taxes are.
Last edited by Phil Fiord; July 11th, 2011 at 02:08.
Reason: grammar fix
By Eric Scheiner
President Barack Obama talks about the debt-limit negotiations, Monday, July 11, 2011. (AP
Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(CNSNews.com) - At a White House press conference today, President Barack Obama said that "professional politicians" understand the debt crisis better than "the public."
Obama was responding to a question from CBS News Reporter Chip Reid.
“The latest CBS News poll showed that only 24 percent of Americans said that you should raise the debt limit to avoid an economic catastrophe," said Reid. "There’s still 69 percent who oppose raising the debt limit. So, is it the problem that you and others have failed to convince the American people that we have a crisis here and how are you going to change that?”
Obama responded: “Let me distinguish between professional politicians and the public at large. You know, the public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury auction goes. They shouldn’t. They’re worrying about their family, they’re worrying about their jobs. They’re worrying about their neighborhood. They have got a lot of other things on their plate. We’re paid to worry about it.”
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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President Barack Obama speaks at a July 11, 2011, White House press conference. (AP photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
(CNSNews.com) - Three days after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate had ticked up from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June, President Barack Obama said that the loss of jobs in the public sector is “evidence” that his $830-billion economic stimulus legislation worked.
“Now, without relitigating the past, I’m absolutely convinced, and the vast majority of economists are convinced, that the steps we took in the Recovery Act saved millions of people their jobs or created a whole bunch of jobs,” Obama said at his Monday press conference.
“And part of the evidence of that is as you see what happens with the Recovery Act phasing out,” he said. “When I came into office and budgets were hemorrhaging at the state level, part of the Recovery Act was giving states help so they wouldn’t have to lay off teachers, police officers, firefighters. As we’ve seen that federal support for states diminish, you’ve seen the biggest job losses in the public sector--teachers, police officers, firefighters losing their jobs.”
President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Feb. 17 2009. His top economic adviser, Christina Romer, had reported that the act would prevent the national unemployment rate from reaching 8 percent. Initially, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the act would cost $787 billion. CBO now estimates it cost $830 billion.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service put Uncle Sam’s credit rating on downgrade watch Wednesday, given the lack of progress in the negotiations to extend the U.S. debt ceiling ahead of an August 2 deadline.
With Republican lawmakers and President Obama butting heads over tax increases and spending cuts, Moody’s said the possibility that limit will not be raised soon enough to prevent a missed payment is posing a real risk of a short-lived default. The ratings agency telegraphed the move in early June, when it said it would revisit its view on U.S. debt if no deal was reached by mid-July. (See “Moody’s Wags Finger At U.S.”)
From the report:Moody’s considers the probability of a default on interest payments to be low but no longer to be de minimis. An actual default, regardless of duration, would fundamentally alter Moody’s assessment of the timeliness of future payments, and a Aaa rating would likely no longer be appropriate. However, because this type of default is expected to be short-lived, and the expected loss to holders of Treasury bonds would be minimal or non-existent, the rating would most likely be downgraded to somewhere in the Aa range.
The specific rating that would be assigned at the conclusion of the review once such a default is cured would depend on (1) the speed with which the default is cured; (2) an assessment of the likely effect on future borrowing costs; and (3) whether there is a change in process for raising the debt limit that would preclude another default. A return to a Aaa rating would be unlikely in the near term, particularly if there were no progress on the third consideration.
Part of the complication to any downgrade of U.S. debt is the fact that a number of companies and agencies have implied government support. As such, Moody’s said it is also reviewing the Aaa ratings of such institutions, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Federal Farm Credit Banks.
Securities guaranteed, backed, issued or linked to the government or those institutions are also under review, as are a number of other bonds including certain issues from the governments of Egypt and Israel that are guaranteed by the U.S.
Despite the concerns of the rating agencies, the bond market does not appear to be afraid of a U.S. default, no matter how short-lived. The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 2.89% Wednesday, and both auctions this week have gone off relatively smoothly with ample demand.
“People generally think a [debt ceiling] deal gets done,” says MF Global’s VP of research Nick Kalivas, who believes that will keep the equity market fairly flat absent any positive surprises out of the corporate earnings season that began this week.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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Debt limit aside, borrowing to pay off loans won't work, agency says
BEIJING - The US' sovereign credit rating is likely to be downgraded regardless of whether the US Congress reaches an agreement on raising its statutory debt limit, Chinese rating agency, Dagong Global Rating Co Ltd, said on Monday.
"If the debt limit is raised and the public debt continues to grow, it will further damage the US' debt-paying ability, which is a key factor in Dagong's evaluation, and we will consider lowering its ratings accordingly," said Guan Jianzhong, chairman and CEO of Dagong.
US President Barack Obama said on Monday that he will press Congress for "the largest possible deal" on significant deficit cuts. Chinese rating agency Dagong said it may downgrade the US sovereign credit rating, no matter whether any agreement on raising the debt limit is achieved or not. [Photo/Agencies]
"If the raised limit fails to pass and the US faces default, the rating will be immediately and substantially downgraded," he said.
According to Guan, the downgrading is really just "a matter of time and extent".
Guan spoke after the US Treasury Department warned that the nation will exhaust its borrowing authority under the $14.29 trillion debt limit on Aug 2 and urged Congress to raise the statutory debt limit "to avoid the catastrophic economic and market consequences of a default crisis".
The three major international rating agencies, Moody's Investors Service Inc, Fitch Inc and Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (S&P) each warned in June that they would downgrade the US sovereign credit rating in the event of a default.
The country's rating now stands at A+ in domestic and foreign currency on Dagong's list, with negative outlooks to its future, much lower than the result of the US rating agencies.
Dagong's rating was downgraded from AA on Nov 9 after the US government announced a second round of quantitative easing (QE2).
Dagong published its first sovereign credit ratings in July 2010 and now offers surveillance ratings of 67 countries.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission denied Dagong's application for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) status because it is not able to implement cross-border supervision to the agency.
Although Guan considers the US Congress still very likely to reach an agreement on raising the debt limit, he remains concerned about the fundamental issue the US faces.
"Raising the limit is just a legislative measure to allow the government to borrow more money, but it does not change the fact that the US lacks momentum for economic growth," Guan said, adding that if the inflation and unemployment rates remain unchanged, the US government might turn to QE3.
The fundamental problem is that the US' ability to generate wealth is far from compensating its increasing debt, and "paying debts by borrowing more is not a solution," he said.
"Neither the $2 trillion QE nor raising the debt limit is an effective measure.
And the sovereign debt crisis will continue," Guan said, explaining that the US government spent huge amounts on consumption and social security, and had limited resources left for economic development.
Yuan Gangming, a researcher at the Center for China in the World Economy (CCWE) at Tsinghua University, said the US government is currently in an abnormal post-crisis period, so increasing the scale of debt will be a long-term and regular measure before the country's economy is back on track.
So raising the debt limit would be good news for investors, but bad for China, the largest holder of US Treasury securities, he said.
"Although reducing US Treasury holdings seems like a choice, China will have to continue its investment, because, after all, we have very limited choices of investment," Yuan said.
David Dollar, the US Treasury Department's Economic and Financial Emissary to China, believed the market of the US treasury securities is still optimistic.
But the social security and military spending have to be taken into account if the government is to reduce the deficit.
The top 15 debtor nations, all of which are developed countries, account for more that 90 percent of the credit resources globally, yet only contributed 3 percent to global economic growth the year before the 2008 crisis.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Who would have thought that Ron Paul's ideological ally in his quest to take down the Chairsatan would be none other than the Russian dictator-in-waiting (or rather, in actuality), Vladimir Putin. In a speech before the of economic experts at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian prime minister had the following to say: "Thank God, or unfortunately, we do not print a reserve currency but what are they doing?
They are behaving like hooligans, switching on the printing press and tossing them around the whole world, forgetting their main obligations."
What appears to have angered the former KGB spy is the end of QE2.
According to RIAN: "Putin's comments came in the wake of the completion of the US' quantitative easing (QE) 2 program on June 30, in which the Federal Reserve bought $600 billion worth of its Treasury bonds. The Fed's first round of QE, which ended in March last year, amounted to less than half the size of QE2." We can't wait to hear what expletive Putin will usher once Bernanke launches QE3.
What are the next steps: "The Russian authorities have said they would like to see a basket of currencies including the ruble replacing the dollar as the main reserve currency, although most analysts have said a more realistic target for Russia would be if the ruble became a regional reserve currency for the CIS."
Too bad most analysts are right 9 out of -7 times. And last time we checked Russia was the largest oil producer in the world, which means it can do pretty much whatever it wants. Which, assuming Russia forms a 21st century axis with China and Germany, as many have suggested, means that while analysts can downplay the impact of what Russian ambitions in the monetary arena mean, pretty soon the only reserve currency in the world will be the one backed not with Tomahawk missiles or printing presses, but actual, hard assets.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
bama has 86 mil in cap for campaign...let's see...
$86
ad about
554 x 150 X 50=
about 554 member of congress < OR > 150, OOO SALARY PLUS 50+ STAFFERS =
$4,155,000,000
oK CUT 4 TRILLION IN HALF- 2
ADD BAMA'S CABINET/CZARS/SUPREMEDOPES ETC= +2
WOW! I DINT SOLVE THE BUDGET YET, BUT CUT THAT BS IN HALF AND ADD EDU.
THAT SHOULD MAKE 14 TRILLION.
PROBLEM SOLVED.
Personal Staff Allowances enable members to hire aides for clerical, administrative, legislative and media support. (See Congressional Deskbook, § 5.60, "Personal Staff")
Representatives' staff allowances can be used to hire up to 18 permanent and four non-permanent aides divided between the members' Washington and district offices. Up to $75,000 of a representative's staff funds can be transferred to his or her official expense account for use in other categories, such as computer and related services. The maximum salary allowed House personal staffers in 2005 was $156,848 (2001: $140,451)..
Senators' personal staff allowances vary with the size of the members' states. [COLOR="rgb(255, 0, 255)"]Senators may hire as many aides as they wish within their allowance; typically this ranges between 26 and 60, [/COLOR]depending on the size of the state and the salary levels offered to the staffers.
The maximum salary allowed to Senate personal staffers in 2003 was $150,159 (1999: $132,159); for Senate legislative staffers the maximum salary in 2005 was $153,599.
In addition to their personal staffs, senators and representatives are assisted on legislative matters by staffs of the committees and subcommittees on which they serve.
canto XXV Dante
from purgatory, the lustful... "open your breast to the truth which follows and know that as soon as the articulations in the brain are perfected in the embryo, the first Mover turns to it, happy...."
Shema Israel
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Foreign Travel by members for the conduct of government business is financed through special allowances. These funds can come from various sources.
Money is appropriated by Congress through the Mutual Security Act to pay travel and other expenses of congressional committees for routine and special investigations.
Members traveling abroad are allowed to use American-owned counterpart funds. These are foreign currencies held by U.S. embassies and credited to the United States as part of various foreign assistance programs; they can be spent only in the country of origin.
American Ambassadors overseas are allocated sums for official entertaining. These funds may be used for the same purpose by members of Congress when traveling overseas.
Members may use the funds of various government agencies when they speak on foreign policy issues at overseas posts.
Members may travel on military aircraft, including cargo planes, at no charge.
canto XXV Dante
from purgatory, the lustful... "open your breast to the truth which follows and know that as soon as the articulations in the brain are perfected in the embryo, the first Mover turns to it, happy...."
Shema Israel
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[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/480*328/Reuters+US+pres+Obama+press+conference+480.jpg[/IMG] Photo: Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama makes a point during a news conference on debt negotiations with the U.S. Congress in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, July 11, 2011.
U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a news conference at the White House Friday morning to discuss his negotiations with congressional leaders over raising the national borrowing limit and decreasing the deficit.
Decision time
At the end of a fifth day of talks Thursday, Obama told negotiators it is "decision time," and gave them until Saturday at the latest to evaluate their options in hopes of reaching some kind of an agreement.
Meanwhile, the top two leaders in the U.S. Senate are working on a proposal that will allow the president to raise the debt limit on his own without prior congressional approval. Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said talks are focused on Republican leader Mitch McConnell's plan that would give Obama the authority to raise the debt limit by $2.5 trillion in three separate installments, while imposing several trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.
Obama and congressional leaders are in contentious negotiations to raise the $14.3-trillion borrowing limit while also cutting spending. But talks have stalled over disagreements about the need to raise taxes. If the borrowing limit is not raised by August 2, the U.S. may have to stop payments on some of its obligations. Credit downgrade
The powerful credit rating agency Standards and Poors has put the United States on its credit watch list, warning there is a "substantial likelihood" it could downgrade the country's triple-A rating because of the ongoing battle over decreasing the deficit and increasing the borrowing limit.
In a statement Thursday, the rating agency said it believes there is an increasing risk of a "substantial policy stalemate" that would continue even if politicians manage to agree to raise the debt ceiling in the short term. S&P said it may lower the U.S. rating within the next three months if it finds the government has not, or is not close to, achieving "a credible solution" to the problem of the ballooning national debt.
S&P joins Moody's Investors Service, which warned Wednesday the U.S. risks losing its top credit rating if lawmakers fail to reach a deal. A downgraded U.S. bond rating would likely lead to higher interest rates for U.S. loans.
Wall Street warning
Top U.S. financial officials Thursday issued a new round of warnings about the potential catastrophe that awaits if lawmakers fail to raise the country's debt limit in time.
In this photo provided by CBS News, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talks about the debt crisis on CBS's "Face the Nation" in Washington, July 10, 2011
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Washington needs to meet its financial obligations and "it's time we move."
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a Senate committee any failure to raise the debt limit would have a "calamitous outcome." He warned excessive spending cuts could damage the fragile economic recovery.
There are also growing calls from businesses and banking firms for a solution.
The head of one of the biggest private U.S. financial firms Thursday told reporters it is "imperative that the debt ceiling be fixed."
JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said it would be irresponsible for the country to default on its debt because the result could be catastrophic.
A Chinese credit rating agency said Thursday it has placed U.S. sovereign debt on a negative watch. Dagong Global Credit Rating Company says it will downgrade U.S. credit ratings "if there is no significant change in its repayment ability within the period of observation." China is the biggest buyer of U.S. sovereign debt.
Libertatem Prius!
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WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama has declared "enough is enough," and is demanding that budget negotiators find common ground by week's end to resolve the nation's debt limit. Meanwhile, the Senate's top Republican gained followers for his own last-ditch scheme to avoid a government default.
The continuing impasse was unsettling Wall Street, and a looming Aug. 2 deadline for action was creating new tensions between the president and Republican leaders.
Moody's Investors Service says it will review the government's credit rating and a Chinese rating agency issued its own warning. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that failing to increase the nation's debt ceiling would send "shock waves through the entire financial system."
In the latest bargaining session, Obama grew frustrated with a Republican leader and brought the meeting to an abrupt end.
Libertatem Prius!
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(Darren McCollester - Getty Images) Stan Collender is a former staffer on both the House and Senate budget committees, founder of the blog “Capital Gains and Games,” and a partner at Quorvis Communications, where he works with clients in the financial sector. He was also one of the first budget experts to address the House Republicans after the 2010 election. Looking back, he says, that meeting should have told him all he needed to know about how this budget battle has played out. We spoke earlier this afternoon. Ezra Klein: How did you end up speaking to the Tea Party?
Stan Collender: You remember Snowmageddon? The next day, I was sitting at home with no power or heat and my cellphone rings. It was Michele Bachmann inviting me to be the first speaker at the first Tea Party meeting in the House. Now, you know my background. I was being considered for OMB in this administration. But where I come from, you don’t say no to a member of Congress.
The meeting finally took place on February 28th. This was the day before the vote on the first CR. So I spoke for 25 minutes, but it’s what came next that was interesting. After me were the Tea Party state chairs from Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida. And they spent the next 45 minutes screaming at these members, saying, plainly, we elected you and we can unelect you. And this was at longtime members like Joe Barton, who long predated the Tea Party. I never have seen members of Congress treated like that. Especially by their friends.
EK: And was it a list of demands? What did the Republicans have to do in order to avoid being “unelected”?
SC: The marching orders were, first, you must not vote to extend the continuing resolution [that would keep the government open through 2011] unless it, in their words, “defunds Obamacare.” Number two, you must not, under any circumstances, vote for an increase in the debt ceiling. Period. No conditions. Number three, and they said this explicitly, we don’t trust John Boehner or Eric Cantor. And the state party chair from Virginia was from Cantor’s district. And, finally, the members themselves told me afterwards that what they thought they did wrong in 1995 and 1996 was they gave in too early to Clinton.
The next day, five Tea Party Republicans voted against the first extension. The second one lost 54 Republicans. The third one lost 59 Republicans. What I took from that was, first, that the debt ceiling was going to be a lot more trouble than anyone realized. They did not want a negotiation there. There was a religious-like fervor on that point: Voting for the debt ceiling was a sin, and you can’t just sin a little. Second, Boehner and Cantor were going to have a lot more trouble than anyone thought. And then the third thing was for all those who thought they could get a deal early, it was clear to me that there was no way they could come up with a compromise or agree to a deal before the deadline. Even if it was a great deal, the presumption would be that they gave up too much by not waiting till the last second, just like with Clinton. So there’s no way they won’t blow through the 22nd of July, the date that got set up for an early deadline.
EK: What do you think the chance is we see a deal before Aug. 2?
SC: Less than 50-50.
EK: What’s the scenario for that? Is it something like the talks seem like they’re going somewhere, and then whatever the negotiators come up with unexpectedly fails on the floor after the Tea Party whips on it?
SC: Something like that. In the back of my mind I keep remembering something Peter Orszag said, which was you were going to need a combination of Democrats and Republicans in the House, and the only way that vote would be acceptable for Boehner to schedule is after negative market reaction that spooks people. It’s not unlike how TARP got through. The average member of Congress has got to be sitting there saying if I don’t vote for this, it’ll be a disaster, and if I do vote for it, it’ll be a disaster. So without the negative market effect, there’s not enough pressure. But remember Bachmann is running around saying there will be no negative effect.
EK: Which suggests to me that a market reaction could have a more significant effect on the psychology of some of these members of Congress than we give it credit for. They’re not prepared for it, and if it comes, it disproves some of the assumptions they’re working with.
SC: Right. And remember the general idea on Wall Street right now is that there will be a deal because there’s always a deal. But Wall Street works off of expectations. So if the market realizes they got this wrong, the reaction could be larger than expected.
Libertatem Prius!
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One of the possible enduring images of the debt ceiling battle is the image of President Obama storming out of Wednesday's meeting with congressional leaders.
But Obama says it didn't happen that way.
The president told WSB-TV of Atlanta that he simply ended the meeting by speaking bluntly to the lawmakers -- especially Republicans -- about the need to increase the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
"At the end of the meeting ... what I said to the group was what the American people feel, which is we have a responsibility to do the right thing," Obama said. "We shouldn't be overly partisan. We shouldn't be posturing. We should solve problems."
"I think maybe some people were surprised by how blunt I was."
CAPTION
By Charles Dharapak, AP
House Republican leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told reporters after that Wednesday meeting that Obama "got very agitated, seemingly.""He shoved back and said, 'I'll see you tomorrow' and walked out," Mr. Cantor told reporters. "I was a little taken aback."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, R-Va., and other Democrats backed Obama's version, and said Cantor had rudely interrupted Obama during parts of the meeting.
In any event, Obama told KYW-TV of Philadelphia that he has a "cordial" and "professional" relationship with Republicans and other members of Congress.
"I am willing to work with everybody -- including Eric Cantor -- to solve problems," Obama said.
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As debt ceiling scramble continues, Boehner signals options are open
John Boehner’s remarks may be a ploy to get his rank and file to accept a $4 trillion deal. | AP Photo Close
By DAVID ROGERS | 7/14/11 9:12 PM EDT Updated: 7/15/11 10:09 AM EDT
With White House debt talks at a make-or-break stage, Speaker John Boehner signaled Thursday that he’s open to new options to avert a default next month, including a novel Senate plan that would surrender much of Congress’s power over Treasury’s borrowing to the president.
It would be a remarkable shift for House Republicans — something like telling Pickett’s charge to go around Cemetery Ridge and not up it. And Boehner’s remarks may be a ploy as he keeps throwing out options to his rank and file in hopes that they come around to the merits of the $4 trillion grand bargain he attempted with President Barack Obama last week — before being pulled down by the right. Continue ReadingText Size
But time is running short, and to describe Congress as a confused, even panicky army at this stage is not an overstatement. Senate leaders in both parties already are working on some survival strategy. And Obama, who will address the debt issue at a press conference Friday morning, will be forced to do the same unless he can salvage a more meaningful deficit reduction strategy over the weekend.
The genius of the plan put forward by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is that it gives lawmakers what politicians most love: an out. But it’s so obvious in doing so that deficit hawks are dismayed at the crossroads Congress has reached.
As outlined by McConnell, Congress would temporarily surrender its power to approve any increase in the debt ceiling. Instead, lawmakers would authorize more than $2.5 trillion in new borrowing authority for the Treasury to be implemented in three increments of $700 billion this month, $900 billion in the fall and the final $900 billion next summer.
The president would be required in each case to list corresponding savings. But under the new rules of the road, Congress could only stop each increase by adopting a veto-proof resolution of disapproval.
That hands the power to one-third of each chamber, an infuriating prospect for many House Republicans. And in the Senate, McConnell candidly admits that he would have little chance then of prevailing since the GOP begins with just 47 votes.
“Mitch described his proposal as a last-ditch effort, in case we’re unable to do anything else,” Boehner told reporters Thursday. “What may look like something less than optimal today if we’re unable to reach an agreement, it might look pretty good a couple of weeks from now. … Frankly, I think it is an option that may be worthy at some point.”
McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are already looking at ways to expand on the bill, including the addition of substantial savings identified in talks with the White House. And McConnell very much wants some agreement upfront on spending caps for annual appropriations bills for fiscal 2012 as well as 2013.
With their combined muscle, the two leaders stand a good chance of winning Senate passage, but the real test will be what Boehner and his leadership must next add to get the bill through the House.
“I think we need to continue to solve our short-term and long-term debt issue. That means the big deal,' the Speaker said Thursday evening in a Fox News interview. 'This is the moment of opportunity here.'"
Obama has left open the possibility of further budget talks this weekend, but Thursday’s session, about 80 minutes, was shorter than many and appears to have ended with him tossing the ball back to the House and Senate leaders to think over what’s the next best step.
An estimated $1.7 trillion in potential savings have been identified that are acceptable to Obama, said a Democrat familiar with the talks, and Obama’s strong preference is to go with a still larger package. But “there’s a clear sense that it is time to act,” said the same official, and the understanding is the next 24-36 hours will tell what the congressional leaders believe is doable.
Speaker John Boehner on Thursday left the door open to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s last-ditch plan to raise the debt limit.
“I think it’s worth keeping on the table,” Boehner said.
POLITICO 44
McConnell’s plan would give President Barack Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling three times through 2012, unless Congress stops it with a two-thirds majority vote. Under that plan, Republicans could vote against raising the debt ceiling without risking default.
“What may look like something less of an optimal today, if we’re unable to get to an agreement, might look good a couple of weeks from now,” the Ohio Republican told reporters on Thursday.
When asked whether there are votes in the House for McConnell’s proposal, Boehner said: “I have no idea.”
His remarks came during a press conference when 10 House Republicans talked up the balanced-budget amendment that the House is scheduled to vote on July 20. During the conference, Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) also tried to downplay notions of a rift between the leaders.
“The speaker and I have consistently been on the same page,” Cantor said.
Boehner, at that point, joined Cantor at the podium, putting his arm around his No. 2 as reporters laughed.
“Let me just say, we have been in this fight together,” Boehner said. “Any suggestion that the role that Eric has played in these meetings has been anything less than helpful is just wrong. We’re in the foxhole.”
Markets Shrug After S&P Says 50% Chance of U.S. Credit-Rating Downgrade
Q
By John Glover and Anchalee Worrachate - Jul 15, 2011 6:08 AM MT
A 50 percent likelihood that the U.S. will lose its top credit rating from Standard & Poor’s even if Congress reaches agreement on raising the debt ceiling left markets little changed.
“I don’t know if anyone is taking the situation seriously at the moment,” said Marchel Alexandrovich, an economist at Jefferies International Ltd. in London. “It’s seen as a bit of a hollow threat.”
Treasuries were underpinned by demand for a safe haven as concern over Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis escalated. The 10- year yield was little changed at 2.95 percent as of 7:57 a.m. in New York after falling to 2.93 percent earlier. The yield headed for a weekly decline of eight basis points. The dollar was also little changed at $1.4160 per euro today, rising 0.7 percent from last week.
The U.S. will lose the AAA credit rating it has held since 1941 if New York-based S&P finds that a “credible solution” to the nation’s rising debt burden isn’t likely for the foreseeable future, the firm said yesterday. Borrowing will continue to rise unless a $4 trillion fiscal consolidation plan is agreed on, S&P said.
It’s the second warning to the U.S. from a rating agency this week as Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration wrangle over the terms of raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. ‘Solid Demand’
Moody’s Investors Service said July 13 it may cut its Aaa rating even if a default stemming from a failure to raise the ceiling were quickly cured. While raising the debt limit and avoiding default would allow the U.S. to retain its Aaa grade, without “a substantial and credible agreement” the outlook would probably be cut to negative, Moody’s said.
A failure by the U.S. to meet its obligations “however brief,” may prompt S&P to cut the nation’s rating to SD, for selective default, the firm said.
Even so, the Treasury attracted higher-than-average demand at a 30-year bond auction yesterday. The bid-to-cover ratio on the $13 billion in bonds, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount offered, was 2.80, versus a 2.64 average at the past 10 sales. Indirect bidders, a group that includes foreign central banks, bought 37.8 percent of the amount sold, compared with 38.4 percent in the prior auction.
“Indirect bidding for U.S. Treasuries is a good indicator,” said Henrik Gullberg, a currency strategist at Deutsche Bank AG in London. “That foreign demand remains very solid, especially after the Moody’s comments, is obviously good news for the dollar.”
President Barack Obama has given a deadline to lawmakers in advance of the ultimate default deadline on the debt — figure out what you can sell to your parties by this weekend, and let’s finish this.
It’s clear that everyone’s patience is wearing thin. Wall Street’s discomfort snapped into sharp focus when Moody’s credit rating service put the U.S. on the block for a downgrade Wednesday, and the S&P followed suit Thursday.
The negotiators, too, are fraying. The majority leaders of their respective houses, Harry Reid and Eric Cantor, spent more time Thursday trading personal barbs than policy solutions.
But convincing the wariest troops isn’t going to be easy.
Nevada’s Republican senator, Dean Heller, counts in that number. Since taking over John Ensign’s Senate seat, he’s had one of the most fiscally conservative voting records in the body. Even before that, he didn’t shy away of voting against government budgets on principle, even where there was a bipartisan compromise on the table and the alternative was government shutdown.
Heller is well aware of the stakes, he says. But he is wary of agreeing to anything that doesn’t drill to what he considers the heart of the problem — a pattern of behavior that’s screaming for a long-term solution.
“I think they’re aggressively looking at $4 trillion, and that’s OK, because that’s a good short-term start,” Heller said. A reduction of $4 trillion is the largest-size plan on the table right now, and Republican House leaders have said it’s likely an impossible deal, because they, like Heller, don’t want to raise taxes.
“Even if we accept [the most aggressive] plan and come to a deal on that, by the end of this decade, we’ve still increased the debt by six trillion dollars,” Heller said.
A persistent problem with these potential debt deals is that when the Republican leaders demand to match raises to the debt ceiling with cuts, they’re not talking about the same stretches of time.
Even Cantor admitted Monday that it will be “a challenge” to convince his caucus to approve $4 trillion worth of wiggle room in the debt ceiling that buys the country another three or four years of borrowing authority, when it takes a decade for the parallel cuts to all take effect.
“We need to figure out how we’re going to do this long term,” he said.
For Heller, “long term” equates to a balanced budget amendment. Republicans in the Senate and House have been loudly stumping for a balanced budget amendment vote as part of the debt deal, even though they acknowledge it will do little to solve spending problems in the short term. Even the Paul Ryan budget outspent the confines of a balanced budget amendment.
“It took took us 50 years to get where we are today. We know we’re not going to fix it in five years, we’re not going to fix it in ten years,” Heller said. “But at some point, let’s get this balanced budget amendment out there so this cost curve will start decreasing at some point.”
The House has already scheduled a balanced budget amendment vote for next week. Reid does not seem to be in any hurry to do the same, though a group of Democratic senators have been working to write a “more modest” alternative amendment. Even if a balanced budget amendment passes Congress, it would take referendums in 38 states for it to become law, a pretty high bar to clear.
But at this point, some carrot of a political promise to tackle long-term debt (such as that amendment) may have to be traded to bring Republicans like Heller along to help raise the debt limit, if they can be brought along at all.
Members like Heller don’t like anything that bears the whiff of being a politically expedient deal, even one coming from the ranks of their own party.
Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered up a last-ditch proposal that would change the Republicans’ bottom-line equation.
In every other deal they’ve laid out, Republicans have insisted that a rise in the debt limit by matched by an equal package of cuts. In McConnell’s proposal, Republicans would demand only political immunity in exchange to allow the debt limit to be raised by putting that authority in Obama’s hands through a three-step process. The upshot would be Republicans would never have to take a vote to raise the limit, a message they could take to the campaign trail.
Democrats have partially embraced the idea, because they say even if it’s a play not to get Republicans’ hands dirty, it’s also an acknowledgement from a top Republican that the country should be raising the debt ceiling. Even House Speaker John Boehner has said he thinks the idea “might be worthy at some point” if negotiators can’t deal on other terms.
But Heller doesn’t want to be anywhere near that sort of compromise, even if showcasing a strong stance against a sub-optimal debt limit package is part of his 2012 strategy.
“It’s very unsettling for me to think that we’re going to put together a back-up plan that does nothing but raise the debt ceiling and doesn’t make any structural changes in the way we do business here,” Heller said.
Libertatem Prius!
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posted at 12:05 pm on September 7, 2011 by Ed Morrissey printer-friendly
The RNC has a new ad out today called “Sound Familiar?”, which turns out to be good timing, to which we’ll return in a moment. The national news media got an advance look at Barack Obama’s new jobs plan, and it looks, well … very familiar:
With the economy struggling and his reelection campaign gearing up, President Barack Obama plans to propose a jobs package worth several hundred billion dollars, mostly in tax cuts, infrastructure spending, and direct aid to state and local governments, according to reports on Wednesday.
The plan’s price tag is roughly $300 billion, the Associated Press, Bloomberg News and CNN reported. The Washington Post pegged it at least $200 billion, while The New York Times said it would come in at “several hundred billion” dollars, but didn’t report a specific figure.
Earlier today, I mentioned the Making Work Pay temporary tax cut that had practically no impact on the economy. Guess what will be the core of the new jobs plan?
The two central measures in the Obama jobs package are expected to be a one-year extension of the payroll tax cut and an extension of expiring jobless benefits, according to the AP. Those two initiatives would total around $170 billion.
Hmm. The MWP, extending jobless benefits, and moving up some infrastructure spending. Gee … doesn’t that sound an awful lot like the stimulus package Obama demanded and received in 2009? Readers will recall that Obama promised that spending $800 billion that we don’t have on those projects would keep unemployment below 8%. For all but a single month since then, we’ve been at 9% unemployment or above while workers left the workforce in droves.
Let’s not forget that we just sent Congress on a mission to eliminate trillions in future deficit spending in a bill that cut spending next year by a whopping $7 billion. That’s 2.3% of the spending Obama will demand on Thursday evening. So what will Obama promise from the Mini-Me Porkulus for this reversal? We won’t get unemployment above 10% in the upcoming Obama recession?
Obama’s political strategy in delivering this plan to a joint session is clear, but absolutely idiotic. He thinks that by demanding that Congress pass Son of Porkulus, he’ll put House Republicans on the spot by blocking supposedly stimulating initiatives and that he can run against GOP intransigence in 2012. In reality, Obama will command a national stage to insist on borrowing even more money to try a set of policies that spectacularly failed the first time around in the hope that doing it again will somehow produce different results. By raising expectations of a new approach and delivering the same failure repackaged as a new policy, Obama will have made the best possible argument against his re-election.
That brings us back to the RNC’s new ad. Yes, things are sounding very, very familiar indeed:
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
(Politico) — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says that the Republican leadership’s decision to forgo a direct response to President Barack Obama’s jobs speech Thursday is “not only disrespectful to him, but to the American people.”
The California Democrat, in a Tuesday night statement, blasted the tactical decision of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) not to take to the airwaves to state what’s otherwise clear: He doesn’t agree with the bulk of Obama’s proposals.
“In nearly 250 days of being in the Majority, House Republicans have not passed a single piece of legislation to create jobs,” Pelosi said in the statement. “The Republican silence on Thursday evening will speak volumes about their lack of commitment to creating jobs.”
A GOP aide quipped: “This is just dumb. The former speaker is criticizing us for passing up an opportunity to criticize the president.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Responding to cheers of "I love you" and "we love you" at a campaign event in North Carolina, President Obama told the crowd he loves them back. However the love is conditional.
"But if you love me, you've got to help me pass this bill," Obama said.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
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John Boehner’s remarks may be a ploy to get his rank and file to accept a $4 trillion deal. | AP Photo Close
John Boehner wants to keep the Senate minority leader's plan open as an option. | AP Photo Close
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