I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on.
Important: United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To 'AA+' Due To Political Risks, Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative
As Joe Biden might say, this is a big F-ing deal! And very bad news for taxpayers, however expected. ~Bob. Excerpt: We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to 'AA+' from 'AAA' and affirmed the 'A-1+' short-term rating. We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative. The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics. More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011. (The U.S. US
Comment on the downgrade
Revenge has a sweet and sour taste, as you can infer from the FedUpUSA article below. The few pundits willing to tell the truth the last 2 decades or so -- voices crying in the wilderness -- have been ignored. You said "ah, it can't be that bad," and went on thinking our most important job was to get Republicans elected, even though they kept the borders open and spent so much that drunken sailors were offended at the comparison. (The GOP told you debt didn't matter as long as there was economic growth. The "conservative" media went along with the lie). Part of this vindication -- the sovereign debt downgrade, absolute proof that these lone pundits were right on target -- has to taste good. But on the other hand, knowing that your fellow Americans are about to get deathly sick from an overdose of stupid pills isn't quite what anyone wanted either. Pundits are teachers and when the student doesn't learn the lesson despite all your efforts, teachers tend to blame themselves. We were hoping that somehow, somewhere along the way -- like when simple math showed our debt plus unfunded liabilities could never be paid for because it would take significantly more money than exists on the planet or ever will exist to do so -- people would finally wake up. Like when Saddam Hussein had to go into hiding and finally admit to himself that he hadn't won the war. But even that was futile. Simple math doesn't appeal to rocket scientists who graduated from the most expensive institutions of Marxist higher indoctrination. I am in fact wondering whether actually literally drowning in a sea of debt is proof enough that people need to live within their means or perish. Could these people actually go under the waves one last time and think: NOW is when they rescue me? I don't know, and I can't believe I am saying that....Are we in a Kafka novel? --Don Hank
And so it begins...
More on the downgrade
I know it isn't good to admit it, but I am relieved. Along with pundits who know a lot more about finance than I do, I have been warning of this impending downgrade and its implications and people were ignoring all of us, calling us alarmists. Well, you were wrong and we were right, and I don’t mind telling you so. Americans don't know much about finance and even the most aware need to be reminded. Here is a brief schematic showing why a downgrade is HORRIBLE news: 1--A major rating agency downgraded US US Grand Canyon and hoping to grow wings before splattering against the ground. This proves there are no longer 2 parties in the US America US Soviet Union and Mao's debacle. But we didn't learn a single thing from these object lessons. We kept reading about "global warming" and "social justice." 100 million people died in vain. Now we will learn it, one way or the other. Don’t cry. You did it to yourselves, America
Must read: Brokest Nation In History On Edge Of Armageddon
Excerpt: On Thursday, in honor of Barack Obama's 50th birthday, the Dow dropped 10 points for every year he has walked among us. It was the ninth-largest drop in history. We should be relieved he wasn't turning 80. The markets are apparently concerned that the entire global economy might be "stalling." You don't say? Observant fellows, these market chappies. And yet, in a certain sense, these are still the good times. At the end of the week, U.S. Treasury yields plunged to Eisenhower-era rates. America Washington is, Europe is perceived to be crazier. In confirmation of the point, over in Italy Italy U.S.
World leaders confer on debt crises this weekend
Excerpt: Global leaders on Saturday arranged a round of emergency calls to discuss the twin debt crises in Europe and the United States that are causing turmoil in financial markets. After a week that saw $2.5 trillion wiped off global stock markets, they are under pressure to show political leadership and reassure markets that Western governments have both the will and ability to reduce their huge and growing public debt loads. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who chairs the G7/G20 group of leading economies, conferred with Britain U.S.
AP sources: Crash kills members of SEAL Team 6
Excerpt: U.S. officials tell The Associated Press that they believe that none of the Navy SEALs who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan Afghanistan
Did Biden’s Loose Lips Sink a Team 6 Airship?
Excerpt: After Bin Laden was killed, Robert Gates was insistent that nothing be revealed about the unit that accomplished the deed. But one man could not keep his mouth shut: Joe Biden, who credited the SEALs in a speech: Let me briefly acknowledge tonight’s distinguished honorees. Admiral James Stavridis is a, is the real deal. He can tell you more about and understands the incredible, the phenomenal, the just almost unbelievable capacity of his Navy SEALs and what they did last Sunday. Further irresponsible leaks from the Obama administration revealed the unit involved, causing the unit members to fear for their safety and that of their families: The Department of Defense is looking into ways to “pump up the security” for the team of Navy SEALs who helped kill Osama bin Laden after the commandos expressed concern for their safety and the safety of their families, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. Gates made the comment in response to a question at a town hall meeting at Camp Lejeune , North Carolina Afghanistan
Michael Yon on the loss of the Seals
Taliban chief Abdul Rahman killed by U.S.
http://www.examiner.com/public-safety-in-national/taliban-chief-abdul-rahman-killed-by-u-s-led-force#ixzz1UHwIazvT
http://www.examiner.com/public-safety-in-national/taliban-chief-abdul-rahman-killed-by-u-s-led-force#ixzz1UHwIazvT
Excerpt: A U.S. Iran Nimruz Province
Great column: No surprise: Disappoint-mints strike liberals as bad taste
Excerpt: Corrections and clarifications: In a Page 2 column on Wednesday, John Kass incorrectly asserted that by raising the federal debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion, President Barack Obama had grabbed "reality by the hair" and kicked it repeatedly "in the behind." But Thursday's stock-market plunge of more than 500 points proves that reality remains immune to the president's charms. The Tribune regrets the error. So what do you give a beleaguered president who just ate a mess of birthday barbecue with his friends from Chicago
Worth Watching: Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Rich Man, Poor Man
Who is poor. Good short video. ~Bob.
Syrian Protests: Hama
Excerpt: Although there has been a near-total communications blackout in Hama Syria Syria Damascus , to the southern province of Daraa , the central city of Homs
Government Gone Wild
And now for the real economic crisis
Excerpt: In ending the immediate debt-ceiling crisis this week, Congress did nothing to address the United States
Ezra Klein Learns a Lesson on How Economics Work
We Just Lost Another Junkie
Excerpt: Heroin addiction isn’t a disease, as Russell Brand so despondently put it. It’s an indulgence—like obesity, but in reverse. Russell says we need to stop treating junkies like criminals and treat them “as sick people in need of care.” But England Scotland
IRS: Not enough rich to cover the deficit
Excerpt: They do not have the money. A report from the Internal Revenue Service found that the rich — 8,274 people with incomes of $10 million per year or more — earned a total of $240 billion in 2009. Even of you confiscated every dime they earned, you would barely have enough money to cover government spending for 24 days. Of course, about a quarter of that money already goes to the federal government for federal income. So make that 18 days. Another 227,000 people earned $1 million or more in 2009. Millionaires averaged taxes of 24.4% of their income — up from 23.1% in 2008. They, too, did not earn enough money to come anywhere close to covering the annual deficits that are $1.5 trillion a year….Individual tax collections totaled $1,175,422,000,000 in 2009 — or 15.4% of all income. Doubling federal income taxes for everyone would still leave us $400 billion or so shy of balancing the budget.
Dear Members of Congress,
From a joke e-mail: The last decade I mismanaged my funds, and this year my family and I cannot decide on a budget. Until we have come to a unified decision that fits all our needs and interests, we will have to shut down our checkbook and will no longer be able to pay our taxes. I'm sure you will understand. Thank you very much for setting an example we can all follow.
The Regulatory Recession
Excerpt: …[T]axing and spending tell only part of the story. Much of the growth of government occurs off-budget, through regulations that often go largely unnoticed. As Wayne Crews, Vice President for Policy here at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, notes in his annual report, “Ten Thousand Commandments,” hidden regulatory costs approach $1.7 trillion this year. Those costs slow innovation, hampering the economy and job growth.
Where Have All the Liberals Gone?
Excerpt: What’s happening isn’t that conservatives have all the good ideas or that they are smarter than liberals. What’s happening is that conservatives are trying to solve problems and liberals aren’t. Ironically, if liberals were equally intent on finding solutions, the two sides might agree 90% of the time! But as it is, liberal commentators have been largely on the sidelines in almost all the important public policy struggles. The school choice battle has been raging all over the country for the last two decades. But that has been mainly a battle pitting conservative reformers against special interests (the teachers unions). For the most part, liberals haven’t really been involved. Similarly, the struggle for welfare reform, the flat tax, Social Security privatization, etc., has cast conservative reformers against special interests and entrenched bureaucracies. Liberals have been mainly irrelevant. (Well, Obama was there to help the teachers unions in DC at the expense of poor black kids in the charter school fight. ~Bob.)
Left-Wing Politico Says Obama's Cooked
At first glance, I read "cooked" as "crooked." Wonder why. ~Bob. Excerpt: The politics of the debt fight were a drag for President Barack Obama, yanking his popularity to new lows. Here’s an even bigger drag: Obama emerges from the months-long fracas weaker – and facing much deeper and more durable political obstacles – than his own advisers ever imagined. The consensus has been that for all his problems, Obama is so skilled a politician – and the eventual GOP nominee so flawed or hapless — that he’d likely be re-elected. Don’t buy into it. This breezy certitude fails to reckon with how weak his fundamentals are a year out from the general election. Gallup
Obama and the Narcissism of Big Differences
Excerpt: Whatever the rhetoric that preceded this week's deal, the debt-ceiling debate was never really about the debt at all. It was about the terms on which the debate would continue. The "two different worldviews" that divide Washington America
Let’s try new ways to go bankrupt
Excerpt: Uncle Sam now owes more on his credit cards than he makes in a year. The national debt passed the total US GDP this week. Mull that over for a bit. Now mull this over: Until the budget deal this week, the federal government borrowed 40 cents for every dollar it spent. And the budget deal didn’t do very much to change that. It “cut” $2 trillion over 10 years, which means Uncle Sam will overspend slightly less. If we hold to the deal -- and who among us doubts that Congress won’t keep its word? -- spending will “only” increase by $1.8 trillion over 10 years. That’s because in the topsy-turvy, laugh-clown-laugh world of “baseline budgeting,” we’ve been talking about trimming the rate of increase. Think of Uncle Sam walking in a wind tunnel leading to insolvency. The cuts increased the headwind he has to walk into, but they don’t do anything like force him to turn around. More importantly, there are no structural reforms. It’s the difference between trimming the grass and re-landscaping the lawn. Now, the one great advantage the forces of the status quo have had in the budget debates over the last year is that they like the current system. Recall that the Democrats’ preferred position was a “clean” debt-ceiling hike (no spending cuts at all), and President Obama’s original budget called for increasing the deficit and extending the status quo until he was re-elected, if not into retirement. In May, when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was asked what her plan was to fix Medicare, she responded, “We have a plan, it’s called Medicare.”
S&P Goes Tea Party
Excerpt: Big headlines for a Friday night: “U.S. Loses Top Credit Rating!” Yes, as most now know, Standard & Poor’s went ahead with its warnings of the past weeks and downgraded the sovereign debt of the United States Washington San Diego
Excerpt: China called on the United States to "cure its addiction to debts" and "learn to live within its means" in a searing commentary published Saturday by the official New China News Agency in response to Standard & Poor's historic downgrading of the U.S. government's credit rating a day earlier. China , the largest foreign holder of U.S. federal debt, blamed "short-sighted political wrangling in Washington China , the largest creditor of the world's sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States to address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China
Bam’s surprise charisma deficit
Excerpt: One thing is clear in the aftermath of the debt-limit debate: President Obama has lost his glamour. The alluring icon of hope and change has become just another pol, derided by his supporters as well as his opponents. As one headline succinctly put it: “Obama succumbs to the ways of Washington Gallup Gallup
No Limitations-adapt, improvise and overcome
Great picture. ~Bob.
Excerpt: The Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto , Ontario Canada
Tariq Ramadan openly calls for Muslim colonization of the U.S. -- Dallas, July 27, 2011
Excerpt: French journalist Caroline Fourest has published a book-length study of Tariq Ramadan's sly duplicity, Brother Tariq. Fourest concludes that this much-lionized putative Muslim Martin Luther is actually anything but a reformer: in reality, Ramadan is "remaining scrupulously faithful to the strategy mapped out by his grandfather, a strategy of advance stage by stage" toward the imposition of Islamic law in the West.
Muslim girl, 19, ‘stoned to death after taking part in beauty contest’
Yet another Muslim victim of Allahmurder. Pretty girl, very young. ~Bob. Excerpt: A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under ‘Sharia law’ after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine Crimea region near her home.
71% Support Five-Year Lobbying Ban For Ex-Members of Congress
Excerpt: Most voters don’t think members of Congress should be allowed to lobby for several years after they step down. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters shows that 71% believe members of Congress should be banned from lobbying for five years after they leave office. Only 17% disagree, while 12% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Most voters across virtually all demographic lines agree with a five-year ban on lobbying for former congressmen.
More Obama Spending Won’t Do It. And stocks know it
Excerpt: There he goes again. Out on the campaign trail, President Obama is proposing more federal spending as his answer to sluggish growth and jobs. That won’t do it, Mr. President. He wants more infrastructure spending, undoubtedly in the form of an infrastructure bank. That’s a terrible idea. It’s borrowed from Latin America , where bloated and corrupt bureaucratic construction agencies have helped bankrupt any number of countries in the past. He wants to lengthen 99-week unemployment insurance, although numerous studies have shown that continuous unemployment benefits are associated with higher unemployment. And he wants to extend the temporary payroll tax credit, which is not a permanent reduction in marginal tax rates, has no incentive effect, has not worked so far, and is really a form of federal spending -- not real tax relief.
Group Says It Hacked U.S.
Excerpt: The group known as Anonymous says it has hacked some 70 law enforcement websites across the southern and central United States in retaliation for the arrests of its sympathizers in the U.S. and Britain. The hacking group also claims to have stolen 10 gigabytes of data, including emails, credit card details, and other information from local law enforcement bodies.
Vote early and often. ~Bob
The Fallacy of Compromise
Excerpt: Again and again, we are told that we must make a compromise between our vision of freedom and the left's vision of slavery. It is not possible to be slightly enslaved or partially shackled. Either we will emerge victorious and free or we will lose and our children and grandchildren will be born into slavery.
Barack Obama and the Betrayal of Black America
A little old, but of interest. ~Bob. Excerpt: When Barack Obama was elected as the president of the United States
Gunwalker: It Must Have Been Eric Holder... Or higher. An informed examination of the facts leaves no other answer.
Excerpt: Now that the debt ceiling debate is over and done, let’s turn our attention back to Operation Fast and Furious and its alleged sister operations. The multi-agency operation (or operations) of the U.S. government allowed thousands of guns to be supplied to Mexican drug cartels, while American federal law enforcement effectively provided the straw purchasers and smugglers with the cover to operate with impunity. Despite the tens of thousands of words of outrage written about the Obama administration’s botched Operation Fast and Furious, most of the focus has been on the horrific impact of the program as measured by the number of firearms smuggled over the border and the number of lives lost. Some attention has been consequently paid to the potential political and criminal impact of the operation and cover-up within the Department of Justice. Sadly, the media has focused very little attention on the probable origins of the plot, or why Gunwalker was created as an adjunct of the longer-running and more successful Gunrunner campaign. Of course, that may not be entirely true. The crack investigative reporters of print, network, and cable news organizations may very well have done the research and followed the various clues about the origins of Gunwalker to their logical conclusion, and then simply decided that the most probable story was one they not dare tell. The story is this: no competent federal law enforcement officer would ever have concocted an operation as obviously doomed to catastrophic failure as Operation Fast and Furious.
What? Gov’t Let Cartel Smuggle Drugs in Exchange for Intel?
Excerpt: Remember when things like this were just the realm of conspiracy theorists? A Sinaloa drug cartel member is claiming that the federal government allowed the cartel to smuggle cocaine into the United States
Sign Petition Against Unilateral Declaration of Palestinian State
Editorial: It’s not Amazon that’s greedy
Excerpt: How perverse is it when wanting to keep money that you've earned is considered being greedy? Amazon, the online retail giant, has been castigated for not collecting sales taxes in states, including California California
Semper Fi - Trace Adkins
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment