Friday, March 31, 2017

$20 Trillion and Counting

Here’s how the U.S. got to $20 trillion in debt




The U.S. is approaching $20 trillion in national debt — the nation is a cool $19.8 trillion in the red as of Thursday — and when it crosses that mark, get ready for some finger pointing over who’s to blame. 
If history shows anything, it’s that both parties share responsibility for boosting the debt. Fighting wars, big tax cuts and economic stimulus packages have all added to the burden over the years. 
Here, we’ll take a look at some key moments in the debt’s trajectory until now, and also where it is going. 



In August 1981, with the U.S. at the beginning of a recession, President Ronald Reagan signed major tax cuts into law. While Reagan’s supporters credit the cuts in tax rates with juicing the stock market and the U.S. economy, the downside was obvious: less money flowing into the government’s coffers. A U.S. Treasury paper shows the 1981 act reduced federal revenue by an average of $118 billion a year (in today’s dollars) during the first four years. 



President George W. Bush also signed tax-cut packages into law in 2001 and 2003. Individual-income tax rates were cut, as were taxes on capital gains and dividends. This table shows where the Bush tax cuts fall in size compared to other major bills. President Barack Obama extended the cuts for two years in 2010, and made most of them permanent in 2012. Kathy Ruffing, a consultant to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, estimates that the cuts originally enacted during the Bush years will account for $5 trillion of debt outstanding through fiscal 2017. That includes interest. 



The U.S. spent heavily on the wars in Afghanistan — which the U.S. invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — and Iraq. According to consultant Kathy Ruffing, the two wars account for about $2 trillion of the debt, including interest. 



The year-and-a-half long Great Recession began in December 2007, brought on by the collapse of the U.S. housing market. The downturn spanned the Bush and Obama presidencies, and heralded the ballooning of budget deficits as the government responded with huge bank bailout and stimulus programs. In fiscal years 2009-2012, deficits exceeded $1 trillion. 



With the U.S. still reeling from the Great Recession, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009. In addition to tax cuts, Obama’s stimulus bill spent billions of dollars on unemployment benefits and infrastructure projects. Obama said the plan would be “a major milestone on our road to recovery,” but Republicans trashed the measure as a waste of government money. Originally scored at $787 billion, the Congressional Budget Office in 2015 put its price tag higher, at $836 billion. Including interest payments, it added $1 trillion to the debt through fiscal 2016, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 


CBO

The debt is projected to keep growing as the U.S. spends more on programs for its aging population. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if current laws remain the same — that is, if President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress were to do nothing — debt held by the public would rise to 150% of the total economy in 2047 from the 77% it’s at now. Trump has vowed a few polices that could have a big impact on the debt, including major tax cuts and a military buildup. What’s more, he pledged to leave programs including Medicare and Social Security unchanged. A tax plan Trump proposed during the campaign would add about $7.2 trillion to the debt over a decade, the Tax Policy Center estimated
More from MarketWatch
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How Is the Fed Monetizing the U.S. Debt?


Why the Nation's Central Bank Is Making the Government Debt Worse


The Federal Reserve monetizes debt any time it buys U.S. Treasuries. When the Federal Reserve purchases these Treasuries, it doesn't have to print money to do so. It issues credit and puts the Treasuries on its balance sheet. Everyone treats the credit just like money, even though the Fed doesn't print cold hard cash.
The Fed doesn't buy Treasuries directly at auction. Instead, it purchases them from its member banks.

 It does this through an office at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

How does this monetize the debt? The U.S. government borrows when it auctions Treasuries. It's taking a loan from all buyers, including individuals, corporations, and foreign governments. The Fed turns this debt into money by removing those Treasuries from circulation. That decreases the supply of Treasuries, making the remaining Treasuries more valuable.

Treasuries that are more valuable don't have to pay as much in interest to get buyers. This lower yield drives down interest rates on the U.S. debt. Lower interest rates mean the government doesn't have to spend as much to pay off its loans. That's money it can use for other programs.

The net effect is that it is as if the Treasuries bought by the Fed didn't exist. But they do exist on the Fed's balance sheet. Technically, the Treasury must pay the Fed back one day. Until then, the Fed has given the Federal government more money to spend.

That increases the money supply. That's called monetizing the debt.

Exactly How the Fed Monetizes Debt

The Fed monetizes the debt whenever it engages in its open market operations.The Fed has always used this tool to raise and lower interest rates. It lowers interest rates when it buys Treasuries from its member banks.
The Fed issues credit to the banks. They now have more reserves than they need to meet the Fed's reserve requirement.

Banks will lend these excess reserves, known as Fed funds, to other banks to meet the requirement. The interest rate they charge each other is the Fed funds rate. Banks will lower this rate to unload these excess reserves. 

Most people didn't worry about the Fed monetizing the debt until the recession. That's because prior open market operations weren't large purchases. The Fed bought $600 billion of longer-term Treasuries between November 2010 and June 2011. That was the first phase of Quantitative Easing, known as QE1.

Why Does the Fed Buy Bonds?

The Fed's primary purpose in all phases of QE was to keep the Fed funds rate, and all interest rates, low. That helps companies create jobs as they expand. Low interest rates also help people afford expensive homes. Therefore, the Fed was trying to revive the housing market. Low-interest rates also reduce returns on bonds. In time, investors look for stocks and other higher-yielding investments. For all these reasons, low-interest rates help boost economic growth.

However, part of the Fed's intention probably was to monetize the debt.
That helped the Treasury increase government spending and boost growth. It didn't have to raise interest rates, which would depress the economy. Eventually, it will reverse the transaction and get the Treasuries off of its balance sheet. At that time, it will remove the credit from the Federal government's operating budget.

The St. Louis Fed Disagrees

In February 2013, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis issued a report that denies the Fed is monetizing debt. The central bank can only monetize debt if its intention is to keep the Treasuries on its balance sheet indefinitely. In other words, it would be using its power to create money out of thin air to permanently subsidize Federal government spending.

Instead, former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke explicitly said that the Fed would sell Treasuries when Quantitative Easing ended. Although the Fed ended QE in October 2014, it hasn't begun selling its Treasuries. When it does, interest rates will rise. The Federal government will find financing its spending will become more expensive. (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Is the Fed Monetizing Government Debt?, February 1, 2013.) 

92 comments:

  1. When I graduated from High school, the national debt was $304 billion

    When Reagan came to office it was $1.1 Trillion

    When I bought my first Apple Computer, we were $4 Trillion in debt

    It was $5.8 Trillion on 911

    Two presidents, George W Bush and Barack Hussein Obama took it $19.5 Trillion

    ReplyDelete
  2. .

    Last year, Trump promised to eliminate the national debt in about 8 years.

    The next month, he said it would probably take longer than that because of the infrastructure spending he had promised and that he needed to juice the economy.

    Now there is no talk of him eliminating the debt.

    However, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is now saying that they plan to eliminate the budget deficit in Washington's magic number, 10 years.

    Of course, no one believed Trump's first claims and very few believe Mnuchin's current ones.

    Trump says one thing but his budget says another. It's more likely the national debt will be much higher rather than lower when Trump leaves office.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  3. .

    Trump World: Alt- right Reality in an Alt-right Dimension

    Part 1: Donald Trump a Fascist? Oh yeah!

    Characteristic 12 of 14: Machismo and Weaponry

    Since both permanent war and heroism are difficult games to play, the Ur-Fascist transfers his will to power to sexual matters. This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons—doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.

    - Umberto Eco

    As George Bush might say, “War is hard”. [Of course, on leaving Trump’s inauguration speech, he was also heard to say, “That was some weird shit.”] But I digress. Since continual war and heroism are often hard things to maintain since reality tends to intervene, the Fascist leader usually tends to substitutes machismo and then eventually weapons, a choice Freud would have a lot to say about.

    Trump wants to be seen as the alpha-dog. His machismo and misogyny was on display from the beginning; his disdain for women, the crude jokes, veiled reference to his penis size on national TV, insulting women’s appearances or bodily habits especially of opponents or those in the media, weird comments about dating his own daughter, disgusting references on how he has used his position to sexually embarrass and assault women which has led some to file lawsuits against him.

    WRT weapons, we have already seen his proposed budget and its increases for the military. A week ago he dropped his blue suit and tie in favor of a military flight jacket as he helped launch an aircraft carrier and the following day he was taking part in a photo op behind the wheel of a big rig pulling the air horn and grimacing.

    Eco’s Characteristic #12 of Fascism. Check.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  4. U.S. Federal Government Tax Revenue

    FY 2016 - $3.276 trillion.

    FY 1988 - $909 billion.
    FY 1987 - $854 billion.
    FY 1986 - $769 billion.
    FY 1985 - $734 billion.
    FY 1984 - $666 billion.
    FY 1983 - $601 billion.
    FY 1982 - $618 billion.
    FY 1981 - $599 billion.
    FY 1980 - $517 billion.
    FY 1979 - $463 billion.

    https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-federal-government-tax-revenue-3305762

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "In August 1981, with the U.S. at the beginning of a recession, President Ronald Reagan signed major tax cuts into law. While Reagan’s supporters credit the cuts in tax rates with juicing the stock market and the U.S. economy, the downside was obvious: less money flowing into the government’s coffers. A U.S. Treasury paper shows the 1981 act reduced federal revenue by an average of $118 billion a year (in today’s dollars) during the first four years. "

      Robert Schroeder has his head up his ass.

      Delete
  5. A top aide to President Donald Trump is leaving his administration to join a pro-Trump group.

    Deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh said she decided to make the move to the America First Policies group after the Trump-backed health care bill failed last week to amass enough support to clear the House.

    White House officials said legislators were being pressured by outside groups that opposed the bill, through voter phone calls and television advertisements, with no pushback from several existing Trump organisations.

    ReplyDelete
  6. More than five million men, women and children have now fled the Syrian civil war but the world’s will to give refugees a safe home is waning, the United Nations has warned.

    World leaders pledged to resettle 10 per cent of all Syrian refugees by 2018 at a meeting Geneva in March last year, but only half of the needed places have been made available.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Obama and Clinton must be pleased.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Since the first “no boots on the ground” pledges of President Obama, the Pentagon has systematically and repeatedly lied about the number of US ground troops they have in Iraq, deliberately omitting large numbers of troops from the official count by labeling them “temporary.”

    Today, Centcom announced that they are going to end the lying about the number of US troops in those countries. They’re not going to start telling the truth, of course, but rather have decided to stop providing any numbers at all on the matter.

    Centcom spokesman Col. John Thomas argued that people don’t need to know the number of US troops that are deployed in the countries, and that the important metric is “capabilities, not numbers.” Of course, the figures the Pentagon was giving were never particularly useful in the first place for reporters, since they were always clearly false.

    Officially, per the last figure the Pentagon provided was that exactly 5,262 US troops were in Iraq. This was the formal “cap” on the number of troops that could be in the country, though in practice well over 6,000 US troops are actually there, with more being deployed regularly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. No numbers, no troops, no casualties.

    War is peace.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Trump's early moves presage a radical fascist Presidency -

    March 31, 2017
    The Fall of Donald Trump (and Why It Ain’t Happening)
    By J. Robert Smith

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/03/the_fall_of_donald_trump_and_why_it_aint_happening.html


    Especially this:

    The president is designating his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a smart-as-a-whip business mind, to fundamentally reform the federal government. Trump wants smaller, leaner, and less intrusive government. As an entrepreneur, Trump’s had to grapple with miles of red tape and meddlesome bureaucrats. A major government overhaul isn’t sexy, but matters greatly to the economy and liberty.

    We all know how all true fascists hate government intrusion into the lives of the citizens.

    Ain't that right, Quirk ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ain't that what Umberto said ?

      Delete
    2. Characteristic 15: Fascism and Small Government

      Oh yeah !

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  11. "“When you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime,” Flynn said ..."



    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-politics/flynn-in-talks-with-congress-trump-says-he-should-request-immunity/article34515191/

    ReplyDelete
  12. .

    "“When you are given immunity, that means that you have probably committed a crime,” Flynn said ..." [2016]


    Immunity! [booing] And if you’re not guilty of a crime, what do you need immunity for, right? Have you ever seen anything so corrupt in your life? Have you ever seen a greater embarrassment to our country?, said Trump. [2016]


    Today's Trump Tweet:

    Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media and Dems, of historic proportions!

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/847766558520856578

    Witch hunt?

    The GOP is the majority and controls the process on the Congressional Intelligence Committees.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, no immunity. He has been nothing but trouble for a long time.

      Delete
  13. "The pro-choice memoir we all need right now
    Denise Balkissoon

    The Globe and Mail
    Published Friday, Mar. 31, 2017 5:00AM EDT

    A pregnant teenager learns that the fetus she is carrying will be born without a functioning circulatory system. At no point will it be able to breathe for itself – there is no way that it can live. The teenager decides not to terminate the pregnancy, telling her obstetrician that she is “praying for a miracle.”

    Twenty weeks later, the teenager gives birth. In a new memoir, the doctor, Willie Parker, writes of his “horror” watching the newborn’s immediate, inevitable death. “Born at term, the baby could feel pain … ” Dr. Parker writes. “She must have felt all the anxiety and panic that would accompany suffocating to death.

    “In this case, an absolute reverence for life led to a situation that, to my eyes, consisted of nothing less than pure cruelty.”

    This is just one of the unflinching passages in Dr. Parker’s Life’s Work. There are many from the story of his life, which is that of a black boy raised by a poor single mother in Alabama who became a Harvard-educated obstetrician-gynecologist. And there are many from his time as an abortion provider, a career choice he made in midlife after deciding that his Christianity imposed a moral duty to help women choose the paths of their own lives.

    Obfuscation is not Dr. Parker’s game. He describes exactly what happens during both surgical and pharmaceutical abortions, what parts of a fetus develop when and how he decided his personal gestation cut-off for performing the procedure.

    He also discusses his patients, from a 12-year-old who didn’t understand it was wrong for her stepfather to rape her, to a scholarship athlete about to be her family’s first college student. He details his own regrets, including his first encounters with coerced abortions – he’s better now at spotting signs of physical abuse, or that a fetus is unwanted because it’s female.


    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-pro-choice-memoir-we-all-need-right-now/article34498360/
    The result is the pro-choice manifesto we need right now, ..."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ash, please. A total straw man response to the federal funding issue.

      Delete
  14. .

    Trump World: Alt- right Reality in an Alt-right Dimension

    Part 1: Donald Trump a Fascist? Oh yeah!

    Characteristic 13 of 14: Selective Populism

    Ur-Fascism is based upon a selective populism, a qualitative populism, one might say. In a democracy, the citizens have individual rights, but the citizens in their entirety have a political impact only from a quantitative point of view—one follows the decisions of the majority. For Ur-Fascism, however, individuals as individuals have no rights, and the People is conceived as a quality, a monolithic entity expressing the Common Will. Since no large quantity of human beings can have a common will, the Leader pretends to be their interpreter. Having lost their power of delegation, citizens do not act; they are only called on to play the role of the People. Thus the People is only a theatrical fiction. To have a good instance of qualitative populism we no longer need the Piazza Venezia in Rome or the Nuremberg Stadium. There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.

    Because of its qualitative populism Ur-Fascism must be against “rotten” parliamentary governments. One of the first sentences uttered by Mussolini in the Italian parliament was “I could have transformed this deaf and gloomy place into a bivouac for my maniples”—“maniples” being a subdivision of the traditional Roman legion. As a matter of fact, he immediately found better housing for his maniples, but a little later he liquidated the parliament. Wherever a politician casts doubt on the legitimacy of a parliament because it no longer represents the Voice of the People, we can smell Ur-Fascism.


    - Umberto Eco

    Trump is the poster boy for Characteristic #13. Does anyone even need an explanation as to how it applies to Trump?

    How many times have we heard Trump, or his surrogates, or the alt-right pundits say he/they are doing exactly what the ‘American people’ want them to do, what they demand them to do. But of course, it is not what the ‘American people’ want. It is what a part of the American people want, in fact, what a minority of the American people want. That is, if they do still want it given Trump’s falling ratings.

    Trump is a master of TV and internet populism. He states he is the best at everything, that no one understands the way that government works more than him, that no one knows the tax laws better than him, that no one knows trade or negotiating more than him, and on and on, and the credulous believe. Part of that belief is because he attacks all the institutions that this group feels have let them down in the past including the government.

    Trump claimed that he is ‘the’ expert and the ‘only’ one capable of bringing about change in the corrupt system that exists in D.C.

    Unfortunately, reality has become obvious from day one. When it comes to running the government, Trump has proven himself to be inexperienced if not incompetent. From his initial whining about the election being rigged to his setbacks in the courts to his bust on healthcare, Trump has proven himself to be less than the expert he claimed he was.

    During the debate on healthcare, he tried to browbeat the GOP moderates and was told to pound sand. Now, in scapegoating mode, he is threatening the Freedom Caucus and is being told to pound sand. Trump appears to not understand the basics of government, that it is not a bilateral negotiation with the guy across the table from you but a more complicated one with numerous constituencies.

    Trump heard the voice of a frustrated and angry class of people in this country, made it his own, and used it to gain the White House. Time will tell how long he will remain the voice of those people or if or when that same anger is turned against him.

    Eco’s Characteristic #13 of Fascism. Check.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  15. .

    Trump World: Alt- right Reality in an Alt-right Dimension

    Part 1: Donald Trump a Fascist? Oh yeah!

    Characteristic 14 of 14: Ur-Fascism Speaks Newspeak

    Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. Newspeak was invented by Orwell, in 1984, as the official language of Ingsoc, English Socialism. But elements of Ur-Fascism are common to different forms of dictatorship. All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning. But we must be ready to identify other kinds of Newspeak, even if they take the apparently innocent form of a popular talk show.

    - Umberto Eco

    Trump Has the Best Words

    Trumpspeak, Trumpisms, Trumptweets, Trump has created his own version of American English and like Newspeak it is a sparse language, repetitious, choppy, and devoid of nuance. It uses short words and simple concepts so as to limit critical reasoning. He peppers his comments with salty language and the Trumpettes call it ‘telling it like it is.’ The same people who considered Trump’s language ‘authentic’ failed to see was that what they were being fed was merely one political rant in a series of continuous loops.

    Here is a breakdown of a typical Trump response…

    Trumpspeak

    Trump also uses what is called multiple choice communication.

    Trump’s statements and answers allow the listener to hear whatever he wants to hear. It’s the reason it’s so hard to pin Trump down (calculated, annoying but genius)…

    Example:

    At a rally in San Diego Trump spoke publicly about a judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University. After calling him a "very hostile judge" and a "hater," Trump adds, "What happens is the judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine."

    http://www.nationalmemo.com/donald-trumps-doublespeak-really-works-highly-calculated/">Trump Doublespeak

    Trump’s confusing statement allows all groups to hear something different. We have to remember that the judge is actually American and was born in Indiana. Yet, the racist or white-supremacist might think Trump is calling out this ‘Mexican’ judge and say ‘Trump’s a man after my own heart’ while a Mexican immigrant or illegal may say ‘Trump is calling out Mexicans so I better lay low lest I be deported', and a moderate might say ‘Trump says the judge is Mexican and that’s great, he thinks its fine, maybe I misjudged him.’

    Initially, it is easy to read Trump’s answers as gibberish and assume the guy is confused or inarticulate, but after watching him for almost two years, you comee to think it is a calculated technique.

    Eco's Characteristic #14 of Fascism. Check

    .

    ReplyDelete
  16. .

    Trump has the 'Best' words...

    "I went to an Ivy League school. I'm highly educated. I know words. I have the best words..."


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn283OjPb1g

    .

    ReplyDelete
  17. .

    Donald Trump scores a perfect 14 on the list of characteristics Umberto Eco associates with Fascism.

    You go Donald. Not sure how many people could manage a perfect score.

    .

    ReplyDelete

  18. The upside of "Fascism"

    Scrolling through becomes automatic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I love that through this whole exercise there was no one disputing the facts I put up about Trump but merely the fact that I actually put them up.

      The intellectual range of the Trumpette on parade.

      :o)

      .

      Delete
  19. THE GENIUS:

    Lawmaker: Miscarrying women must carry dead fetuses to term

    An Iowa state representative is under fire after saying women who miscarry after 20 weeks of pregnancy should be forced to carry their dead fetuses to term.

    During a hearing Wednesday of Senate File 471, which would clear the way for a state ban on abortions after the 20-week mark, Republican Rep. Shannon Lundgren — the manager of 471 — faced a question from fellow Rep. John Forbes, a Democrat.

    Noting that he has a daughter who is 20 weeks pregnant, Forbes asked that under the bill, would his daughter have to carry her child to term even if a doctor told her there was no longer a heartbeat.

    "Is that good medicine?" Forbes wondered.
    Lundgren's response:

    "This bill wasn't written for the intent to protect or govern on the side of the woman. It was written to save babies' lives, giving the choice and being the voice of those babies...that don't have one. I understand what you're saying—this fetus, this baby, is not alive. I would concur that in that instance, if your daughter's life is not in danger, that yes, she would have to carry that baby."

    http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Lawmaker-Miscarrying-women-must-carry-dead-11041280.php

    ReplyDelete
  20. State and federal officials make Oroville Dam report secret

    http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article141963119.html#storylink=mainstage

    ReplyDelete
  21. At 2 minutes, Juan shows the pile of PVC Pipe that brought down the Freeway.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJUFAD28Kf0

    Juan's a 777/Luscombe pilot who's done the best reporting on the Oroville Dam.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. obsolete professor3 hours ago

      Fresno had a homeless camp catch fire under one of our overpasses. It was closed for a few days so it could be checked. Strange thing around here.. we have tons of empty homes and meth heads usually move in. Imagine.. having a free place to stay.. and inevitably, they always set it on fire.


      Bob Smoth
      Bob Smoth3 hours ago
      Probably when it gets cold they decide to build a fire.........in the middle of the room


      Roger Clemons3 hours ago
      There is a mid sized suburb in CALIF that was mostly crime free and home to clean streets, safe parks and mostly newer homes all priced around $300,000 -$500,000. One person from a large nearby city decided she wanted to take care of the 3 or 4 ( not a typo) homeless in the community and opened a food bank behind a church. She convinced a local motel to give vouchers for a free night in the motel for the homeless. Within 12 months, almost 500 ( not a typo) homeless arrived in the city.

      First responders are swamped with calls to this motel for drug overdoses and one police officer was nearly killed recently when a homeless man ( 6'4 and 260 pounds and all muscle ) took his baton and brutally assaulted him. There are weekly fires at the homeless encampments. And the FLAVOR of the homeless are changing, more " fighters" showing up.
      Show less

      VancouverCanucksRock2 hours ago
      Oh, a bleeding Heart, Libtard Female, being a root of issues,, when there weren't any before? Go figure.....I mean, that is so shocking....

      Delete
    2. I wonder if they could have brought in foam trucks from the airport in time if they could have put it out?

      Delete
    3. Atlanta's gonna be up shit creek.

      Delete
    4. Those were reels of HDPE - High Density Polyethylene conduit which is used underground for electric power cables, and for telephone - fiber optic telecommunications cables.

      I haul those reels each of which consists of 8,000'-ft per roll and I usually haul 6-10 per trip.

      The initial indication is a homeless camp in the area for which they set campfires to stay warm which somehow ignited the HDPE reels.

      It's kind of hard to initially set them on fire but once they are it's difficult to put out and as you can see with the bridge deck, it burns very hot.

      My main job in the State of Indiana is highway, road, bridge, and infrastructure building and construction but on the side while not in construction transportation, I haul various other construction related products such as these HDPE reels for other industries within the construction field.

      This is my first time actually seeing them on fire and the resultant destruction they can cause.

      Maybe now, other states seeing this outcome will be more vigilant as to what gets stored under these bridge decks to prevent a future occurrence like this one. Thankfully no one hurt, that is a good thing.
      Reply 9

      Delete
  22. Coming Next Week

    In 25 parts to drive you bat shit crazy -

    The Characteristics of Quirkism

    By the famous western writer Rumberto Echo, scholar of literature, farming, pickup trucks and a protective paternal figure to Quirk, of the Free State of Idawyotana.

    LOOK FOR IT !

    It will shamelessly monopolized the pages here to everyone's disgust for weeks on end.

    Your only chance will be to learn ASAP to scroll past the bullshit.

    ReplyDelete

  23. Professor tweets 'trying not to vomit' after passenger gives up seat to soldier

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/03/31/professor-tweets-trying-not-vomit-after-passenger-gives-up-seat-soldier/99861126/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fuck the professor.

      Someone really ought to take a shit in his face, please.

      He may be an Eco-ist.

      The nonsense is rife on college campii these days and has even take root among the lowest intellectual classes in places like Detroit and its surrounds.

      Delete


    2. My motto:

      "Scroll, don't vomit."

      Delete
  24. UPDATE:

    State investigators arrested three people Friday in connection with a fire that caused the collapse of a heavily traveled section of I-85.

    Jay Florence, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Insurance, which includes the fire marshal’s office, identified the three as: Basil Eleby, charged with criminal damage to property; Sophia Bruner, charged with criminal trespass; and Barry Thomas, charged with criminal trespass.

    “We believe they were together when the fire was set and Eleby is the one who set the fire,” Florence said.

    Eleby, 39, has been arrested 19 times since 2000, mostly on drug offenses, according to Fulton County jail records. He was last arrested in 2014 in Fulton County for the sale and trafficking of cocaine.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/traffic/breaking-custody-connection-with-fire-bridge-collapse/jq8EM2L0D3AIzyfYNIRS3O/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jeeze, the firefighters in those pics aren't wearing respirators.

      That stuff is deadly.

      Delete
    2. "Still, McMurry isn’t attributing the fire to the surplus construction material being stored there."

      Good work: Probly the Fire Fairy.

      Promote the guy to head the California Dept. of Water Resources.

      Delete
    3. ""But he described it as non-combustible and said it’s not uncommon for states to store materials under bridges.

      Delete
    4. But photos from Google Maps show the site was clear of any stored material in July 2011. The materials first show up in Google Maps photos in April 2012 and appear to be untouched through the most recent photo taken in November 2016.

      Delete
  25. .

    Coming Soon, Part Two Donald Trump: A Psychological Profile

    Huzzah!

    .

    ReplyDelete
  26. The Characteristics of Quirkism will of course include a deep deep psychological and theoretical criminal profile, with emphasis on blockages of information flows in this brain, and perhaps, some suggested solutions to same.

    Oh Yeah !

    ReplyDelete
  27. Sen. Rand Paul: Montenegro Joining NATO Is Against U.S. Interests

    President Donald Trump said in his inaugural address: “We’ve defended other nation’s borders, while refusing to defend our own.”

    I couldn’t agree more.

    Today, the question is: Will we add yet another commitment to defend yet another foreign country?
    For decades, NATO has been an organization where the U.S. disproportionately spends our blood and treasure. The other NATO countries have largely hitched a ride to the U.S. train that subsidizes their defenses and allows them to direct their revenues to domestic pursuits.

    Adding a country with fewer than 2,000 soldiers to NATO is not in our self-interest. There is no national security interest that an alliance with Montenegro will advance. If we invite Montenegro into NATO, it will be a one-way street with the U.S. committing to defend yet another country.

    http://time.com/4718958/montenegro-nato-rand-paul/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Black Mountain Folk are past of us now.

      They are our brothers and sisters.

      Delete
    2. And who among us would really argue that the Montenegran State is more corrupt than our own ?

      Delete
    3. The Black Mountain Folk are PART of us now.

      Delete

  28. WIKI STRIKES AGAIN: CIA computer code hides origins of its hacking...

    Disguises as Russian, Chinese....DRUDGE


    Gentlemen, I submit things have become unhinged, and bizarre.

    Trout Fishing season is nearly upon us....time to recreate ourselves....

    ReplyDelete
  29. RAND PAUL: USA at War Everywhere....DRUDGE

    O come on, Rand, don't exaggerate so damned much.

    I haven't taken Rand seriously since he advocated using missiles fired from drones to take out Liquor Store robbers in Kentucky.


    HORROR: Mother watches two sons gunned down in Chicago...
    After dozen break-ins, elderly homeowner shoots burglar....DRUDGE


    From the look of this the danger lies in the USA itself....

    ReplyDelete
  30. WATCH RAND PAUL ADVOCATE MISSILE ARMED DRONES TO KILL LIQUOR STORE ROBBERS ESCAPING WITH $50 DOLLARS here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmOGeBQzj4g

    In RandLand you don't fuck with Kentucky bourbon....

    ReplyDelete
  31. India Rethinking First Use Of Nuclear Weapons

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/31/world/asia/india-long-at-odds-with-pakistan-may-be-rethinking-nuclear-first-strikes.html

    ReplyDelete
  32. Rand Paul considering preemptive drone strikes against Liquor Store robbers....FUDGE REPORT

    ReplyDelete
  33. Told ya it's time to get the fly rod out and head for the streams -

    Simulation suggests 68% of universe may not exist...DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. On Topic - I've argued for years that at least 68% of Quirk doesn't really exist.

      Delete
    2. Other learned estimates....that of Doug, for instance....have consistently gone even higher, much higher.....one of Doug's theoretical constructs even showed that Quirk doesn't really exist at all.

      Delete
    3. His respect for truth does not exist.

      ...replaced by a desire to kick the underdog.

      Delete
    4. But why should I complain?

      I've discovered SCROLLING!

      EUREKA!

      UKIAH!

      ZENIA!

      Delete
    5. MISSOULA !

      BUTTE !!

      BOZEMAN !!!

      Delete
  34. Here's fascism:

    Ranks of Political Prisoners Grow as Democracy Ebbs in Venezuela...

    Murders soar to 60 per day....DRUDGE

    ReplyDelete
  35. For the record:

    I supported Trump after Clinton Hijacked Bernie Sanders. I had four primary reasons:

    1. His pledge to end US militarism in the Middle East

    2. His stated desire to work for a normalization with Russia in areas where cooperation was possible and desirable

    3. His intention to focus on infrastructure and economic growth

    4. He was not Hillary Clinton

    The revolt against Trump's presidency by Obama, The Democrats and the press is shocking. His response to it at this point, is bewildering, disappointing and worrisome. Time is not on his side and he had better get it together and do so quickly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Good reasons. I had hopes he might fulfill his pledges regarding keeping us out of further intervention in the ME even though I was pretty sure it wouldn't happen. And while I was less sanguine about Russian intentions under Putin and those of the MIC and neocons here, I figured a little

      http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/perestroika-and-glasnost">Perestyroika and Glasnost

      couldn't hurt. But we have seen what's happening.

      Trump's budgets disabused me of any hope he would fulfill his promises. The fact that he simply turned the healthcare battle over to Ryan and said, 'get it done' convinced that his promises were ethereal, or in crasser terms, bubblegum and bullshit.

      I've been playing with the Trumpettes over this whole Fascist thing. I don't believe Trump is a Fascist. For one, he has no core beliefs. And he really isn't interested in actually governing. He enjoys the trappings of power. His is the philosophy of 'ME'. He is more interested in his brand than he is the US. This is a subject I will explore further in Part 2: Donald Trump: A Psychological Analysis.

      I feel sorry for the people in Ohio and Kentucky who put their faith in Trump's promises and are now finding out that their last hope is no hope at all.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      Regarding the Dems, the entire party was gobsmacked in the last election. When Obama left to enjoy a life of para-sailing with his BFF Richard Branson (who knew) the Dems were left wandering in the wilderness without a leader and without a strategy.

      Trump is their last great hope. To date, he hasn't disappointed.

      .

      .

      Delete
  36. Quirk just loves to criticize.

    Part of his DNA.

    You'll never catch The Quirkster actually supporting a political party, or candidate.

    Heaven Forbid, things might not go perfectly ! (do they ever ???)

    Then he'd be forced onto the defensive, having to defend his vote, his party, his candidate.

    Think the po' old boy's got problems now ?

    He couldn't handle it.

    We would have seen nothin', yet....

    He might...he might....vaporize !

    ReplyDelete
  37. .

    What, Bob's still whining about things he didn't read?

    Part of his DID, I guess.

    Looks like one of those personalities must have read something.

    Must have got to him because he is 'unable' to defend his political party and candidate.

    Over the past few days he and his bros being unable to argue against the facts presented merely treat the bar to the looooong whine.

    As their hero might say, 'Sad'.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very very poor retort.

      The best it can get is a D- and that's a gift from generous gods

      Delete
    2. Just yesterday I pointed out to you have The Donald was trying to shrink government - hard to do - which is the very opposite behavior of fascists for whom government is everything, and outside the government, nothing.

      You have made a titanic colossal fool of yourself the last few days.

      And evidently you don't know enough to quit.

      But it does attract you some attention, which is all you're really out to get.

      Delete
    3. .

      Just yesterday I pointed out to you have The Donald was trying to shrink government - hard to do - which is the very opposite behavior of fascists for whom government is everything, and outside the government, nothing

      And you can support this this claim with evidence?

      By the way, which personality am I speaking to right now?

      Is this me-me kidding around?

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      But it does attract you some attention, which is all you're really out to get.

      True as far as it goes but I do get a few yucks out of it watching you chase your tale.

      .

      Delete
    5. Well there, then, and I'm glad you're happy, and it helps me too as I generally don't get enough exercise.

      That's human life at its best, when we form a common wall and help one another out.

      It's not what the Dedication of the blog calls for, but it is the best thing.

      Delete
  38. He's an English Major: Of course he's gonna chase his tale.

    ReplyDelete
  39. "The GOP is the majority and controls the process on the Congressional Intelligence Committees."

    The drones in intelligence voted largely for Hillary.

    The MSM is 150% for Hillary.

    All the "facts" plus 50 percent made up shit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      So what?

      Putting up a rebuttal to any specific thing they say is called argument.

      Putting up what you just put up is called whining.

      And lazy.

      .

      Delete
  40. REMEMBER NEDA

    The Death of Neda Agha-Soltan By Shahin Najafi - YouTube
    Video for Death of Neda site:youtube.com▶ 2:33
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V-y9S5EaVk
    Dec 15, 2010 - Uploaded by YakhForush
    The Death of Neda Agha-Soltan By Shahin Najafi. ... CNN June 12 'For Neda' blocked in Iran فيلمي ...

    April 1, 2017
    Iran's Elections: a Breaking Crisis?
    By Shahriar Kia

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/03/irans_elections_a_breaking_crisis.html

    This time around, if it comes to it again, the Iranians in the streets might actually get some support from the West.

    ReplyDelete
  41. OHOOOO....ooooooo

    Feminists worry 'pussy hats' marginalize men disguised as women - 4/1/17

    A feminist with three names, Phoebe Maltz Bovy (I pity Mr. Bovy), writing in the WaPo, worried that the use of "pussy hats" in anti-Trump demonstrations marginalizes men disguised as women, since men disguised as women do not have vaginas, and "pussy hats" are symbols of vaginas, as well as many feminists' secret desire to be groped by a man as wealthy as Donald Trump.

    This confuses me, because if a man believes he is a woman, even if he isn't, why can't he also believe he has a vagina, even if he doesn't? Nevertheless, feminists see this as a serious problem:....

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/04/feminists_worry_pussy_hats_marginalize_men_disguised_as_women.html

    It's wonderful to have Quirk around at moments like this....his is the type of mind that can easily put such a perplexing issue in focus for us all.

    Quirk, I invite you to have at it.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if any of these 'feminists' have ever heard of Neda.

      I'd bet not, or have forgotten.

      Delete
    2. .

      I thought you were the resident philosopher. Enlighten us on what Plato would have to say about the form of the vagina.

      I, being a realist (as well as a pragmatist), would suggest the troubled feminists take up a collection and buy the crossdressers portable Occulus Rift systems so the crossdressers can enjoy the full feminist rabble rouser experience if only virtually.

      .

      Delete
    3. .

      And within a few years, who knows, we may all be virtual.


      .

      Delete
    4. Plato said the form of the vagina was the form of a trap, a snare, and a delusion.

      Contrary to popular views then and now, a vagina is not The Good, The True, and The Beautiful.

      Some romantic (read, emotional) poetry has held that human sexual love can be an authentic path upwards and a beginning to an entry into a real experience of the proper spiritual life.

      Don't think of it as forgotten, or discarded, however.

      Think of it as subsumed.

      I think these women, and men too, walking around with cunt caps on their heads are a bunch of dumb fucks.

      Delete
    5. Do you ever wear a cunt cap, Quirk, and what do you do if it rains ?

      Delete
    6. .

      I do not wear one.

      I tried wearing one to a recent family get-together but upon arrival I was upbraided and verbally beat about the head and shoulders by my eldest daughter who is a feminist. Lest I upset her any more (she has been in a very delicate condition since last November) I have eschewed wearing them and I had my wife re-gift my pussy hat to her niece's daughter as a plush toy on her fourth birthday.

      When it rains, I wear the hat I purchased from Party Giant some years back. It is a red plastic hard hat with a beer holder on each side and plastic tubing attached for convenient no-hands drinking. Painted across the front in large white letters is the primal scream of the intelligentsia of the 70's, THIMK.

      By the way, I also wear the hat when it's not raining.

      .

      Delete
    7. Well Hell, you're just plumb pussy whipped pussy, allowing the women in your family to be dictating what you can and cannot wear.

      Like the description of the Party Giant though.

      Congrats on the newly arriving grand child. All best wishes.

      This is Spring Break week, why aren't you out on some beach making a fool out of yourself - this shouldn't be hard - and trying to score some pussy if you can't wear the cunt cap on your head ? Least you could get some in your face.

      Delete
  42. Fug Pluto.

    I'll give him a good ride and then let's see what the old fart's got to say....

    ReplyDelete
  43. Trouble In The Homeland

    Detroit: Convert to Islam plotted jihad massacre in US for the Islamic State, had AK-47s and other weapons
    By Robert Spencer on Mar 31, 2017 09:47 am

    https://www.jihadwatch.org/2017/03/detroit-convert-to-islam-plotted-jihad-massacre-in-us-for-the-islamic-state-had-ak-47s-and-other-weapons

    ReplyDelete
  44. It's getting so you can't trust anyone from Detroit.

    ReplyDelete
  45. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  46. .

    Three transients arrested in Atlanta highway bridge collapse

    Three people described as transients were in custody Friday in connection with the fiery collapse of a major interstate highway bridge running through the heart of Atlanta, as officials said it would take months to repair the damage...

    Three people were taken into custody in connection with the fire, said Glenn Allen, a spokesman for the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commission. One suspect, Basil Eleby, was charged with criminal damage to property; the others, Sophia Bruner and Barry Thomas, were each charged with criminal trespass, he said...


    Reporting on-site from Idaho, EB correspondent, Bob, reports this may quite possibly be a potentially huge "Q"Nit event. More to come.

    .

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It had crossed my mind, but I always wait for confirmation.

      I'm one of those marvelous reporters that can report on site anywhere in the world from right here from Idaho.

      Delete