I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes.
Remember two years ago when the so-called Tea Party Caucus brought America to the brink only to cause the US to get a credit downgrade from AAA to AA+? That led to higher interest rates to the tune of about $19 Billion which American taxpayers had to pay. Have those champions of fiscal responsibility ever said they were sorry about that?
Couldn't happen again, right? They had learned their lesson or so it was believed, because even a mangy dog learns to stay away from a skunk after that first time he gets sprayed. The damn dog sure doesn't need a second dose to confirm what happened the first time.
Well, some people aren't as smart as dogs because apparently people have opinions which allow them to rationalize their behavior when a dog, after all, doesn't have any other view of what happened before than the fact that he doesn't want a repeat performance. But stupid people? They just keep coming back for more. And you know what? I wouldn't give a damn if they only did it to themselves. But they're doing it to ALL of us!
I was already ticked off by Tuesday morning when there was no deal set to go because, as a former finance major, I knew that financial markets would not be amused by dithering on something so important. The confidence and psychology of reassuring markets is too important to play games of legislative chicken in an effort to get just a marginally better deal so these men can stroke their egos with their school yard antics like they're back on the practice squad hoping to make the varsity team and they somehow believe that they intimidated the other team regardless of the outcome of the game.
But here we are.
Over the years I've used analogy to describe things, but I've tried to stay away from hyperbole because in the last couple of decades that kind of over-the-top rhetoric has been used too often to exaggerate the importance of issues as a way of galvanizing support either for or against some issue to the point that it's lost much of its impact. But the importance of this issue can't be overemphasized.
I heard that the House is planning on voting on a bill that bears no resemblance to what's been worked on in the Senate and then they are possibly thinking of leaving town? Could this be true?
If it's true, this is the single largest abrogation of legislative responsibility it has ever been my displeasure to witness, and the people involved should be recalled, regardless of party or ideology because they are unfit to serve this country. I just hope that these idiots haven't completely lost their minds because their egos are all wrapped up in this thing like it's some kind of pissing contest because guess what? IT'S NOT ABOUT THEM!
From my vantage point as a private citizen, it looks to me like these fools have lost all perspective on what's important and who they work for.
Call your congressman or woman and tell them to stop screwing around and make a deal TONIGHT or you will vote against them in the next election because they need to get a reminder who pays their salaries!
Remember two years ago when the so-called Tea Party Caucus brought America to the brink only to cause the US to get a credit downgrade from AAA to AA+? That led to higher interest rates to the tune of about $19 Billion which American taxpayers had to pay. Have those champions of fiscal responsibility ever said they were sorry about that?
Couldn't happen again, right? They had learned their lesson or so it was believed, because even a mangy dog learns to stay away from a skunk after that first time he gets sprayed. The damn dog sure doesn't need a second dose to confirm what happened the first time.
Well, some people aren't as smart as dogs because apparently people have opinions which allow them to rationalize their behavior when a dog, after all, doesn't have any other view of what happened before than the fact that he doesn't want a repeat performance. But stupid people? They just keep coming back for more. And you know what? I wouldn't give a damn if they only did it to themselves. But they're doing it to ALL of us!
I was already ticked off by Tuesday morning when there was no deal set to go because, as a former finance major, I knew that financial markets would not be amused by dithering on something so important. The confidence and psychology of reassuring markets is too important to play games of legislative chicken in an effort to get just a marginally better deal so these men can stroke their egos with their school yard antics like they're back on the practice squad hoping to make the varsity team and they somehow believe that they intimidated the other team regardless of the outcome of the game.
But here we are.
Over the years I've used analogy to describe things, but I've tried to stay away from hyperbole because in the last couple of decades that kind of over-the-top rhetoric has been used too often to exaggerate the importance of issues as a way of galvanizing support either for or against some issue to the point that it's lost much of its impact. But the importance of this issue can't be overemphasized.
I heard that the House is planning on voting on a bill that bears no resemblance to what's been worked on in the Senate and then they are possibly thinking of leaving town? Could this be true?
If it's true, this is the single largest abrogation of legislative responsibility it has ever been my displeasure to witness, and the people involved should be recalled, regardless of party or ideology because they are unfit to serve this country. I just hope that these idiots haven't completely lost their minds because their egos are all wrapped up in this thing like it's some kind of pissing contest because guess what? IT'S NOT ABOUT THEM!
From my vantage point as a private citizen, it looks to me like these fools have lost all perspective on what's important and who they work for.
Call your congressman or woman and tell them to stop screwing around and make a deal TONIGHT or you will vote against them in the next election because they need to get a reminder who pays their salaries!
Fitch Puts U.S. On Credit Downgrade Watch
(Photo credit: thisisbossi)
Is history about to repeat itself? As the government squabbles over the debt deal and raising the debt ceiling, the U.S. creditworthiness finds itself at risk of a credit downgrade.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Fitch credit rating service announced that it put the U.S. on credit rating watch negative because of government failure to raise the debt ceiling in a “timely” manner. The ratings service affirmed the U.S. credit rating at AAA — a rating that it retained in the face of the debt ceiling debate in 2011 — but the announcement puts the U.S. credit rating at risk for a downgrade.
“The U.S. authorities have not raised the federal debt ceiling in a timely manner before the Treasury exhausts extraordinary measures,” the ratings service said in a statement. “The U.S. Treasury Secretary has said that extraordinary measures will be exhausted by 17 October, leaving cash reserves of just USD30bn. Although Fitch continues to believe that the debt ceiling will be raised soon, the political brinkmanship and reduced financing flexibility could increase the risk of a U.S. default.”
This brinksmanship also “have some detrimental effect on the U.S. economy,” Fitch said.
The last time there was a debate over the debt ceiling, in July of 2011, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time in its history, taking it from a AAA to an AA+ and throwing the markets in turmoil. At that time, Moody’s and Fitch retained a rating of AAA. Earlier in October, Moody’s said that the current debt ceiling debate is less dire than that of 2011 and said that the U.S. creditworthiness would not be at risk this time around. Fitch, however, clearly disagrees.
“The prolonged negotiations over raising the debt ceiling (following the episode in August 2011) risks undermining confidence in the role of the U.S. dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the U.S.,” Fitch said on Tuesday. “This “faith” is a key reason why the U.S. ‘AAA’ rating can tolerate a substantially higher level of public debt than other ‘AAA’ sovereigns.”
Following Fitch’s announcement, Dow futures plummeted triple digits. Futures of the S&P and Nasdaq were also in the red.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2013/10/15/fitch-puts-u-s-on-credit-downgrade-watch/
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