shutdown: FOX News' Brit Hume calls Wall Street Journal "balanced"

[Procrustes Stretched]

FOX News' Brit Hume calls Wall Street Journal "balanced" on Gov Shutdown

btw, who owns the WSJ, and didn't their editorial page push the Vince Foster murder myth(s)? Didnt John Fund, the WSJ editor introduce the 'fair and balanced' Rush Limbaugh to the East. Coast elites way back when?

Come on, like most all major media the wsj has great reporters and their 'news' stories are well worth digesting, but as an instuitution the WSJ is. a right wing mouth piece..just as the NYT Editorial page (institution) is a liberal mouthpiece

 

[waltky]

Granny says it's default o' dem lousy politicians...

What Would a US Default Look Like?
October 04, 2013 WASHINGTON — Nobody knows exactly when America would default on its bills if Congress fails to raise a cap on government borrowing. But the recent past gives a pretty good idea of how a default could unfold.

Even the Treasury Department can't know how much tax revenue will come in each day after Oct.17, when it expects to hit its $16.7 trillion debt ceiling. Nor can officials anticipate exact costs, such as how many people will apply for jobless benefits that week. Yet we can infer how quickly the government might run out of cash by looking at the equivalent of the Treasury's daily bank statements from that same period a year ago. What follows is a timeline that shows what a default might look like, based on daily Treasury statements from October and November of 2012.

October 17

The Treasury Department exhausts all available tools to stay under the cap on borrowing and can no longer add to the national debt. Treasury expects it would still have about $30 billion cash on hand to cover its bills. Among the many inflows and outflows that day, it takes in $6.75 billion in taxes but pays out $10.9 billion in Social Security retirement checks. By the end of the day, its cushion has eroded to $27.5 billion.

October 18 - October 29

Treasury's cash reserve quickly dwindles. Washington only takes in about 70 cents for every dollar it spends and is now unable to issue new debt to cover the difference. The tide turns briefly on Oct. 22, when the government takes in $3.5 billion more than it spends. But that temporary gain is soon erased. Oct. 24 is an especially rough day: Treasury pays $1.8 billion to defense contractors, $2.2 billion to doctors and hospitals that treat elderly patients through the Medicare program, and $11.1 billion in Social Security, while taking in only $9.6 billion in taxes and other income. One possible wild card: Treasury could lose the trust of the bond market.

Even though the government cannot add to the national debt at this point, it can legally roll over expiring debt. Investors have the opportunity to cash out about $100 billion worth of U.S. debt every week but choose to reinvest it. If fear of default causes investors to steer clear of new debt offerings, Treasury's finances could unravel almost overnight. “It's very hard to predict,” said Brian Collins, an analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center, which helped Reuters with this analysis. “It's the same thing that causes (bank) runs or credit markets to freeze.”

October 30

See also:

Kerry: Prolonged Political Crisis Could Weaken US
October 05, 2013 ~ The top U.S. diplomat warned Saturday a prolonged political crisis in Washington could weaken the U.S. globally.

However, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he does not think that will happen. Kerry said if the shutdown "were prolonged or repeated," people would begin to question the country's ability to "stay the course." Kerry, speaking at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum at Nusa Dua on the island of Bali in Indonesia, said the U.S. government shutdown is a "momentary episode." Meanwhile, the U.S. political stalemate over a partial government shutdown enters its fifth day Saturday.

President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents in Congress remain deadlocked on the shutdown that has furloughed more than 800,000 government workers - about a third of the federal work force - and halted numerous government services. Obama tried to highlight the impact on furloughed workers by visiting a local sandwich shop that was offering discounts to government employees. Before ordering lunch for himself and Vice President Joe Biden Friday, Obama urged Speaker John Boehner, leader of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, to allow a vote on a bill to reopen the government without conditions.

Until now, Republicans have been unwilling to approve a budget unless it amends or delays Obama's signature health care law, commonly known in the United States as Obamacare. "This shutdown could be over today," said the president. "We know there are the votes for it in the House of Representatives, and as I said yesterday, if Speaker Boehner will simply allow that vote to take place, we can end this shutdown." Earlier, Boehner and other House Republicans demanded that Democrats negotiate changes in the law, which is now taking full effect.

Boehner said, "This isn't some damn game. The American people don't want their government shut down, and neither do I. All we're asking for is to sit down and have a discussion and to bring fairness, reopen the government, and bring fairness to the American people under Obamacare." Democrats in the House said they will use a parliamentary maneuver to try to force a vote on a funding bill to end the shutdown, but would need some Republican support to carry out the plan. Such a vote could not occur before October 14, just days before the U.S. must increase its $16.7 trillion borrowing limit or run out of money to pay its bills.

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