Last week this is what a gleeful John Boehner had to say about the GOP having their ransom demands met on the debt deal:
When you look at this final agreement that we came to with the White House, I got 98 percent of what I wanted. I’m pretty happy.
And tonight, for the first time in this country’s history, “S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus,” because:
The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy … It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options.
Congratulations, Mr. Speaker.
Think S&P got it right?
so all those rich people and companies are just going to start hiring people like crazy now, right? right???
Congratulation, Barry O’Bama! Let them eat arugula, Barry was partying like it’s 1929. $38,000/plate dinner party while Rome burns.
Great Depression 2 = Owned lock, stock and barrel by Barry and his fellow regressive Dems Hairy Reed and Nancy Lugosi.
Nope, those rich people will put their money into stocks and bonds instead.
Lou Minatti: From what I remember, the Great Depression was set off by speculators making shady investments that didn’t pan out, kinda like right now. Arugula is a kind of lettuce.
Someone needs to put out a contract on Boehner while there is still something of America and it’s economy left…
Paul Ryan for Reichsschatzmeister…
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” – Barack Obama, on the campaign trail in Iowa, while trying to relate to the little people.
Thanks a lot, douche bag!
AAplus is still pretty good, as far as ratings go. And a fast recovery without industrial and commercial regrowth would probably kick off inflation. Maybe I’m too optimistic, but this might work out. Just MHO.
This is really biased reporting. I’m surprised Dvorak puts up with this on his site.
If you actually read the statement by S&P, they blame failure to address ENTITLEMENTS AND/OR REVENUE as reasons the debt ceiling deal was insufficient. Republicans aren’t even against higher revenues, they just have specific ways they’d like to increase it.
I think the big winners are still the Tea Party. They passed several bills that would have prevented this downgrade.
Considering Obama wouldn’t budge on his entitlement spending, and would have taken this country down defending it, I don’t blame them at ALL for downgrading us. Politicians care FAR FAR FAR more about keeping control than they do about actually saving our country.
Obama… Master speaker… Economic and Financial idiot.
Boehner always aims too low. No wonder he got 98%, he sandbagged his own party AND the nation.
Is this one of the same ratings agencies that scored so many banks so highly while those banks were writing and selling rotten mortgages? They don’t have anything at stake in this game, do they?
#5 – Ah, the blame game. What’s the connection with Boehner? Your statement makes no sense.
Instead, try explaining what action would NOT have caused S&P to cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch.
I’m amazed they can “measure” what he got and didn’t get.. most of the time these fucktards don’t even read the bills they argue bitch and moan about. Assuming they care.
Boehner, Boehner, Boehner,…
Read the full report and the main point is that US haven’t CUT enough. Yes, there are notes that Eideard have underlined about disfunctional Congress and lack of revenue increases. Those are secondary in the very long report. S&P main problem is stated immediately after the declaration (see WSJ) as the FIRST sentence:
“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”
And more specifically later:
“…We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements,…”
Who was eager not to touch entitlements? Boehner?
So, blame is where it belongs: in overspending Progressive Administrations of both parties. Right now in hands of Obama Administration and their unceasing will to SPEND what they do not have.
The 2% he didn’t want, but couldn’t prevent, was the downgrade. Can’t have it all.
“John Boehner got 98% of what he wanted”
Sounds like Monica is around and still not swallowing.
30 years of trickle down economics and wealth redistribution. Conservative social engineering.
Actually S&P said that the downgrade was caused by a few factors:
1.No revenue increases.
2. Debt ceiling raising had become tied to political shenanigans. More risk! Deadbeat risk up.
3. Still need more deficit reduction in medium term
There is a lot of blame spread around but they DId comment a lot on the recent political “ransom” tactic–or hostage taking–used by the GOP and Tea Baggers.
I am a bit tired of the wacko right winger saying the Govt. has to balance the budget just like people do. It is a poor analogy as anyone who ever took a civics class should know. However, people balance their budgets with debt just like governments. Ever hear of a car loan or mortgage.
Tea bagger and GOP were willing to be “Dead Beat Debtors” and not pay what they themselves had approved.
It’s good to see many on this post understand this default was created by Obama and his stooges.
On the other hand we have liberal morons like Dave who can’t do simple math.
For everyone else who can do simple math, and who can read as well, here is the answer.
From the Cato Institute.
“politicians put us on a path to make government 8 percent bigger next year and there is a proposal to instead limit spending growth to 3 percent, that 3 percent increase gets portrayed as a 5 percent cut.
This is a great scam, at least for the political class. They get to buy more votes by boosting the burden of government spending, but they get to tell voters that they’re being fiscally responsible. And they get to claim that they have no choice but to raise taxes because there’s no other way to balance the budget. In the real world, though, this translates into bigger government and puts us on a path to a Greek-style fiscal nightmare.”
http://cato-at-liberty.org/its-simple-to-balance-the-budget-without-higher-taxes/
And this is a sobering link to just how bad things are.
It’s so simple a Liberal could understand! (Well, probably not…)
http://usdebtclock.org/
Last but not least, this shows the incompetence of the Obama Administration.
“Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Tuesday there is “no risk” the U.S. will lose its top credit rating amid a new analysis that revised its outlook on American debt to “negative. … There is no chance that the U.S. will lose its top credit rating, Geithner said, forcefully disputing the notion that S&P or other ratings services might downgrade U.S. bonds from their current AAA rating.
“No risk of that, no risk,” Geithner said on the Fox Business Network.”
And of course, he didn’t loose his job.
OBAMA
One
Big
Ass
Mistake
America!
“what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed”
What that sounds like is that S&P has spent years whistling in the dark with its eyes shut, hands covering it’s ears, and generally in a state of gross denial about where the US Deficit (annual and total) has clearly been heading since the early 90’s, rather than anything specific about budget negotiations this time around.
If S&P and the rest of the Ratings ilk had been honest and actually doing their putative jobs, they would have downgraded the US and Europe at least 5 years ago on the rock solid predictability that the governments politically would not and/or could not control their spending until they went broke beyond even the slightest ability to pretend otherwise. And maybe not even then – just look at California’s state budget issues for the last decade – they’ve been cooking the books for years now every year.
Man do people have short memories! This debt crisis started during the Bush years! How direspectful to call YOUR president Barry. Maybe we need to start building things here in America and stop outsourcing everything and maybe we will make it out of this downturn. Instead we whine like children! Sad
#14–Sam==well done sir. Excellent question indeed.
#22–But Oh No: what is the bond rating system all about? I’m not a financial guy, so I had to google. Seems to me the rating is “all about” the probability of getting repaid.
In that context, is there any doubt US Bond Holders will get paid back? I don’t think so, so the rating “should be” AAA. Now, what is also guaranteed at the same level of confidence or higher is that at some point in the future, the US Dollar is going to REDUCE IN VALUE. I haven’t read anywhere (yet?) the Bond ratings being affected by long/moderate/short term inflation rates. Seems to me the rating agency involved here is “playing politics.”
I wonder what/who big money interests are postively and negatively affected by Bond Ratings? I’d think some faction of Big Money is happy, others sad, over the creeping general recognition of the death spiral the USA has been in for 30 years.
Every bubble pops. Every bubble is recognized well before the pop. Too many people think they, heck-in fact they DO, make money before the pop so they claim they thought it was going to last forever.
What is it about shipping jobs overseas that isn’t bubble like in its going to pop?
What is it about cutting taxes that isn’t bubble like in its going to pop?
Oh No==you crack me up. So partisan while Rome burns. We can read you are “against” Obama, however it is you extract him from the Republican policies he has followed, but what exactly are you “for?” What does what you are for lead to? What bubble starts to grow expressly observably so?
An excellent case of bubble: STARVE THE BEAST. Cut taxes until debts cannot be paid and then claim its the entitlements. Excellent little plan, all quite observable as all bubble plans are.
All you anti-Obamas, anti tax, liebertards are aiming for a society without MediCare or Soc Sec. You WANT old people in the streets begging for you charity. Oh, you will “say” thats not true ((again actually quite a few LIEberTARDS will actually say that private charity is preferred over government programs—its a freedom issue don’t you know?))) but thats as true as saying Ryans budget did not fundamentally change Medicare into a voucher program.
Everything is actually quite clear. Clear as a bubble. Oh, the minute small irrelevant details are not evident, hence lots of cover to say “No one could have predicted that” and so forth. But its all a lie.
All you Puke Obama Hating f*cktards are just liars. Or–so stupid to be nothing but dupes. Oh No!!!!! “I have an MBA and I understand business!”==Ha, ha. WHERE do your policies unavoidably lead? Not what “values” are you championing but what actually happens when you deficit spend yourself into inflation? Well, all you have to do is —–
Look. Just Look!
Yea, verily.
98% of nothing is still nothing..
the people got nothing but more pointless debt.
-s
In related bubble news, we have the only harmonica maker in USA moving overseas. “Too expensive to make here…..” Watching a show now called “Made in Britain” about how Britain has moved to higher added value manufacturing given it can’t competitively make harmonicas any more. Same as USA. Service industries booming–same as USA. Can’t compete with 5 dollar a day wage slaves coming in hordes off the farm for 5 times what they could make at home.
Where does this bubble lead to? Thats right==structural unemployment. What is a sane and rational COUNTRY supposed to do? USA is losing ground to European societies who are 3 steps ahead of us in actually coming to grips with these issues. And in the USA, its all anti-Obama as if Rick Perry has an answer.
Yeah, another clear bubble. Can’t tell the day or week its going to pop, but the walls are getting thinner for sure.
Does everyone know that the Mormon religion is not christian and that Rick Perry’s brand of born again hates catholics?
Ha, ha. http://chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-only-us-harmonica-company-to-close-rockford-facility-20110805,0,7889756.story
Food for thought for the Zombies: http://kpcb.com/usainc/
My favorite chuckle is listening to the government gripe about the debt rating.
They sound almost like my daughter when she found out her credit rating was so low.
“It’s not fair! They don’t know what they’re doing!”
Looks like the US is more beholden to our debt holders than the population was led to believe.