COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, July 18, 2011

Treas Sec Geithner Has No Back-Up Plan if Congress Does Not Cave to Obama's Demands

Live interview on CNBC, Little Timothy Geithner says there is no plausible way to run the country without debt expansion. The only plan is for Congress to act.

55 comments:

  1. Egan-Jones is always the first, and most accurate ratings agency. They were calling BS in 2008, I think, when S&P, and Moody's were pumping out the AAA's.

    Egan-Jones Downgraded U.S. Debt over the weekend.

    Don't confuse "Downgrade" with "Negative Watch." They put U.S. Debt on "Negative Watch" quite some time ago.

    This weekend was a Downgrade.

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  2. I think Geithner actually answered the question in a circumspect way. He emphasized that we had a $90 Billion Bond Redemption due on the 4th.

    He was telling us that Soc Sec Definitely Would NOT be paid, and that the Bond Redemption "might" be in jeopardy.

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  3. Obama caught a lot of grief for "scaring the seniors" when he, truthfully, said that paying the Soc Sec checks may not be possible.

    I think Geithner was just trying to avoid the same criticism.

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  4. Today's the 18th. Treasury will have to quit sending out checks before the 1st, I believe, if no deal is reached this week.

    He's Got to have the money in the bank for the Bond Redemption on the 4th.

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  5. .

    Time has run out. There is no choice but to up the debt ceiling preferably today but as soon as possible.

    The debt ceiling issue is independant of future debt issues; it is to pay for past sins by many of these same people in Congress. It should be handled as such.

    However, that being said, this whole debate illustrates why Congress and the president have such poor approval ratings. They ignore the will of the American people in order to pursue their own political agendas.

    What is the number one thing on most Americans minds? Is it our debt or our lack of jobs? I would say it is jobs. Yet for the past three years both parties indicate that everything they do is tied to creating jobs when in fact jobs is the last thing they are interested in.

    The GOP doesn't want any jobs created until after 2012, and the Dems while they would love to have jobs have kicked them to the curve in pursuit of their long-term wish list with things like healthcare.

    .

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  6. The politicians/elites either do not understand how bad things are in the "real" world, or they don't care. Take your pick.

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  7. Geither will not play the 14th Amendment card. It is not his card to play, but the President's.

    Whether the President plays it, or not, a political decision. Based upon the polling that boob mentioned yesterday, well, Obama is seen as the "reasonable" participant in the debate, by those polled.

    The GOP turning down $4 trillion in reductions, to gain, nothing.
    Then they propose to allow the President to raise the debt limit, on his own.

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  8. .

    In any adult negotiations, both parties try to achieve a compromise where both parties feel they have won, the so-called 'win-win'.

    In D.C., the term adult does not apply. It is a zero-sum world where if you don't win you lose, the so-called 'gotcha'.

    Two months ago, the GOP had Obama on the ropes in terms of the debt negotiations, yet in pursuit of their strict philosophy on taxes, they decided to 'snatch defeat from the jaws of victory'. Now, with that strategy going down in flames, their offer is to back off and let Obama take the blame for raising the debt ceiling. Once again, cynically choosing to not do the job they were elected to do.

    The Dems are just as bad. It's just that in this case they haven't been so blatantly stupid in the comments they make or in flip-flopping on their positions as the GOP has done.

    Despite what Obama has said, neither party has been acting like adults.

    .

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  9. They do not care, rufus.

    My own Representative, the young Mr Quayle, has very limited life experiences. The son of a Vice President is just not exposed to "real" life.

    He claimed to be an agent of change.
    A real "Partier".

    He does not get much ink, at a recent public meeting, in Carefree, AZ, no one showed up to listen to him. His only headline since his election:

    Quayle says Congress has abdicated its responsibilities

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  10. .

    Neither party is willing to negotiate from their initial stances. That is not negotiations.

    It is a missed opportunity. They could have achieved something big in the way of debt reduction is either party had been willing to compromise or if that concept had even occurred to them.

    For instance, both parties state their positions are driven by the desire to create jobs. Pure B.S., but let's take them at their word. What would one logical approach be?

    First, the GOP demands that any tax "increase" (elimination of loopholes, etc.) be offest by tax cuts.

    The Dems say that we need to eliminate tax loopholes on the rich in order to gain revenue and reduce the amount we have to cut into social programs for the poor and middle class.

    One possible alternative would be to eliminate the loopholes, subsidies, and tax breaks for the rich the Dems are suggesting and offset them with subsidies and tax breaks for companies that are actually willing to create jobs in this country in areas we can use it like infrastructure.

    Both sides could in tha case declare victory. It would also likely spur the creation of jobs in construction, one of the hardest hit sectors in the economy.

    However, compromise is the furthest thing from the mind of either party ion D.C.

    .

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  11. And, it's not just the politicians, Rat.

    Look, Gasoline went to $3.97/gal. That helped bring forward multiple mortgage defaults (which were, admittedly, going to happen anyway,) and we went into a full-blown banking crisis, which damned near led to The Great Depression II.

    Meantime, various other problems "kicked in."

    The economy went into the greatest "recession" since the thirties. The auto companies started failing. We bailed them out.

    Of course, gasoline prices temporarily dropped.

    The auto companies, immediately, went right back to building all the 400 hp pick-up trucks they could build. In spite of no demand from Construction, and gas prices heading back up.

    Now, they have a 125 day supply of those trucks sitting on the dealers' lots.

    What were they thinking?

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  12. And, it's not just the politicians, and Multi-national CEOs. Ben Bernanke is still beating the "3.0% Growth in the 2nd half" drum.

    Any small businessman, right now, would tell you there's not a chance in hell of 3% growth in the second half. Unemployment has risen from 8.8 to 9.2% in three months for God's sake.

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  13. No back up plan is better than having a BAD back up plan....

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  14. In Reality, he was saying, The Back-up Plan is to

    "Spread Your Legs, Bend Over, and Kiss Your Ass, GOODBYE."

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  15. ... Senate Republican and Democratic leaders are polishing a fallback plan that would allow President Obama to win an incremental and immediate debt-ceiling increase, while effectively requiring a two-thirds majority vote in Congress to stop him. It could be accompanied by more moderate spending cuts and the creation of a new commission to target future deficit reduction.


    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/18/debt-ceiling-debate-moves-from-white-house-to-congress/#ixzz1STGLLZjc

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  16. The final version will further empower the Presidency, while limiting a Congressional veto to the creation of a "Super Majority".

    Amazing, if that is the final version, the Radical Republicans will have taken an offer of Democratic budgetary compromise, and turned it into a victory for enhancement of Executive power and privilege.

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  17. A story, but not from FOX News



    LONDON - Britain's phone hacking crisis claimed another high-profile casualty on Monday when John Yates, the deputy commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police resigned, a day after Britain's top police officer quit ...

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  18. Dear Mr Quirk

    We here at the Trust have considered your case and that of Mr Rat.


    For Mr Rat we recommend chemical castration and prostate gland removal. This should get boobs off his mind, remove the unhealthy (Buffalo Woman) urge to ogle every female that struts by and lead to a possible weight gain but much reduced stress. We also recommend immediate and intense remedial spelling classes.

    Your case Mr. Quirk is much simple. Just take a Phillips screw drive and back of the screws at the four corner of the lead brain plate over you right temporal lobe. Just back all four off about one and one half turns. You should become your old enjoyable self again.

    "Trust in us we trust in you"

    IDT

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  19. Dear Mr Quirk

    We here at the Trust have considered your case and that of Mr Rat.


    For Mr Rat we recommend chemical castration and prostate gland removal. This should get boobs off his mind, remove the unhealthy (Buffalo Woman) urge to ogle every female that struts by and lead to a possible weight gain but much reduced stress. We also recommend immediate and intense remedial spelling classes.

    Your case Mr. Quirk is much simple. Just take a Phillips screw drive and back of the screws at the four corner of the lead brain plate over your right temporal lobe. Just back all four off about one and one half turns. You should become your old enjoyable self again.

    "Trust in us we trust in you"

    IBT

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  20. We always double post to make super sure our messages are received.


    IBT

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  21. .

    Your case Mr. Quirk is much simple. Just take a Phillips screw drive and back of the screws at the four corner of the lead brain plate over your right temporal lobe. Just back all four off about one and one half turns. You should become your old enjoyable self again.

    Actually, not a bad suggestion; however, were you able to come up with a plan to help farmer bob, that poor benighted nitwit from Moscow, you would truly be doing society a favor.

    (Oh, before moving on to his more serious issues, see if you can teach him how to use a mouse.)

    .

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  22. Quirk my daughter is getting me a mouse today. I got out of bed and stepped on the other one and the mouse didn't seem to like it much.

    I have no idea what to do about the debt limit, but I imagine a deal will be struck and the checks will go out.

    bob

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  23. ... if Congress Does Not Cave to Obama's Demands"


    What demands are those?

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  24. Last I heard it was no spending cuts and raise the debt limit.

    Bob is mousefull again.

    Things are so much simpler

    bob

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  25. You must not be listening, boob

    Democrats want to include about $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, including military cuts, along with a payroll tax-cut extension to boost the economy and an agreement on funding levels for the coming two fiscal years to avoid further budget showdowns, aides said.

    Obama wants big spending cuts, upwards of $4 trillion was in the range he and Mr Boehner discussed.

    He agreed to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts, though whether there were specifics discussed...
    These talks are all behind closed doors, not in Congressional Committees.

    Oh well.

    Now we're down to %1.5 trillion in cuts and Obama gets more Presidential control of the debt limit issue. Congress ceding even more power to the Executive, not my idea of a grass roots "Revolution", no, not part of a real "Tea Party" mentality, at all.

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  26. Gold $1601.70

    I guess people like to have real money.

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  27. Gold $1601.70

    I guess people like to have real money.

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  28. Aww, Jeez, the jokes write themselves. :)

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  29. •If there is no deal, 56% they say an economic crisis will result. Even so, there's some skepticism about Obama's warning that Social Security and veterans' benefits might be delayed. By 49%-45%, respondents believe those checks would go out in time.


    USA Today

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  30. Obama officially threatens to veto 'cut, cap and balance'
    By Sam Youngman - 07/18/11 02:07 PM ET

    The White House on Monday warned President Obama will veto GOP legislation to “cut, cap and balance” spending and the budget.

    In a statement of administration policy, the White House Office of Management and Budget labeled the GOP bill as an “empty political statement.”

    The House Rules Committee is expected to take up the measure on Monday, and it is likely to receive a floor vote on Tuesday. The measure would cut spending in fiscal 2012 by $111 billion, cap future spending at 19.9 percent of gross domestic product and allow for the debt ceiling to be increased if a balanced-budget amendment is approved by Congress and sent to the states.

    The administration said the measure, which is not expected to move through the Senate, is unnecessary and unrealistitic.


    bob

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  31. Actually I'm not paying much attention to some of these current arguments but awaiting the next election with great expectations.

    And thinking and planning for the upcoming wolf hunting season.

    bob

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  32. The goal of the study was to understand the “real individual-level consequences of living in a penis-centered society.”


    Penis centered society.
    Honest to Goodness.

    bob

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  33. I live in a Royal Coachman centered society.

    bob

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  34. July 18, 2011
    Wilders: 'Jews shouldn't emigrate, Antisemitic Moroccans should'
    Andrew G. Bostom

    Last week Former European Union Commissioner Frits Bolkenstein, in his just-released book on Dutch Judaism, claimed that "recognizable" Jews (those who wear kippahs or payot) were unsafe in the Netherlands due to Moroccan Muslim immigrant Jew-hatred. Bolkenstein added his "recommendation" that these "recognizable" Jews emigrate to the US or Israel, reportedly stating,

    I see no future for recognizable Jews, in particular because of Antisemitism, specifically in Dutch Moroccans, who continue to grow in number.

    Noting that the many Arab television channels in the Netherlands contribute to the spread of Antisemitism, Bolkenstein maintained he also has no confidence in Dutch governmental measures proposed to combat such Muslim Jew-hatred.

    I foresee no quick solution, and Antisemitism will continue to exist. Moroccan and Turkish young people won't care about the measures.

    In response, the Netherland's lone bold and morally responsible political leader, Geert Wilders, who visited Israel last week, commented,

    Jews shouldn't emigrate, Antisemitic Moroccans should.



    Wherever they go it's just trouble for everyone around them. What are they doing in Malmo, Sweden.

    bob

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  35. Thank God, so many of them are stupid, with a poor sense of direction.

    Word is, over half of them were heading for a place called Ideehoe (which, rumor has it, has a bunch of people no smarter than they are,) when they made a wrong turn, and ended up in Malmo.

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  36. Of course, once in Malmo, they looked around, saw a bunch of Swedes, and said, "this must be de place; we're home."

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  37. :)

    Actually they were looking for MISSISSIPPI, saw the M and being poor readers of English or Swedish ended up in Malmo.


    bob

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  38. We had a Missipian move to ideehoe, once. Good deal for everyone. The Average IQ went up in both States. :)

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  39. We always respect our open borders policy often to our own detriment.

    bob

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  40. Houston, I think I've found the problem.

    Remember, it's not how much oil OPEC, and the Boyz say they produce; It's how much they, actually, Export.

    GNE is "Global Net Exports." ANE is Global Net Exports MINUS the amount that is imported by Chindia (China + India.)

    They are starting from such a low base, with such strong growth that you can pretty much figure they're going to get "first call" on any exported oil. We, the mature economies, it's pretty much assumed will divide up what's left.

    Anyways, however you look at it, This is what it is.

    Available Net Exports are down about 5 million barrels of Oil/Day since 2005, and it's going to look a lot uglier after This year.

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  41. A Canadian oil sands plant capable of producing 100,000 barrels per day costs between $10 and $20 billion dollars to build today.

    $20 Billion is just about what we spent for 900,000 bbl/day of Ethanol.

    And, That money went to Local people, using U.S. produced products.

    The Sales, Income, Property Taxes went to American Communities, for Local projects, and the Salaries went to buy from Local merchants, and vendors.

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  42. News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead

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  43. July 18, 2011 "FT" -- Egan-Jones has become the first US rating agency to downgrade the country’s sovereign credit rating from triple A to double A plus as it focuses on the rapid rise in outstanding debt over the past five years.

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  44. T, you might want to check out my first comment of the day. :)

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  45. Scariest thing I've seen in months. Definitely in the top 5, lifetime.

    60% of Fox Viewers Do NOT think there will be negative repercussions for the economy from the Debt Ceiling Not being raised.

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  46. Fox is doing a terrible disservice to its viewers. It's becoming the "Jackass" of television.

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  47. Duh, sorry Rufus.

    Dems are treat the debt like an interest only mortgage payment. How'd that work out for us?

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  48. 's cool, kid. :)

    Great minds, and all that.

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  49. Sarah Palin's Grace Under Pressure


    Yes, yes Quirk it's from American Thinker.

    But it's mostly not about Palin.

    Seems to me a good article worth mentioning.

    And Huckleberry Finn is quoted!

    bob

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  50. Just because they use the "N" word doesn't automatically make it a Huck Finn quote Bob.

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  51. ? no comprende

    Isn't that the scene where Colonel what'shisname puts the mob down?

    bob

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  52. .

    Political leaders who stand up against the media mob deserve a badge of courage. That goes especially for Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, and Herman Cain -- because in some perverse way the left reserves special abuse for the women and blacks it tries to control. It's the slavemaster's rage at liberated slaves.




    Good lord, Bob, are you nutz?

    Sarah Palin as John Wayne? Michelle Bachman who is going to outlaw pornography and is an economic illiterate? John Cain who wants to close down all the mosques? These are heroes being persecuted?

    I notice that the author also only mentions the whack-jobs on the left. He takes a theme with some merit to it but then by the vitriol he uses makes himself look like one of the agitators in "the mobs" he decries.

    You'd be better off spending your time re-reading Huck Finn instead of the American Thinker" (sic).


    .

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  53. .

    I think Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, and the other conservative candidates are the Ronald Reagans of our time.




    Come on, are we being serious here?

    .

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  54. Good grief Quirk, Reagan wasn't that great to begin with.


    bob

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