A dose of reality for Rick Perry’s Texas in reference to unemployment. Kevin Drum posts this chart at Mother Jones, and it shows the present unemployment rate of Texas, as it relates to the unemployment rate of the 11 states immediately surrounding Texas. Drum points out that Texas only beat 4 states, while the other 7 have better employment rates.
Seems Rick Perry’s policies aren’t so special after all!
The Standard & Poors rating agency has, for the first time in America’s history, downgraded America’s Credit ratings, from a Triple A rating to AA+ ratings. The agency cites the political system in Washington as one of the reasons why the credit downgrade happened.
“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, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the general government debt burden by the middle of the decade.
Our lowering of the rating was prompted by our view on the rising public debt burden and our perception of greater policymaking uncertainty, consistent with our criteria (see “Sovereign Government Rating Methodology and Assumptions,” June 30, 2011, especially Paragraphs 36-41). Nevertheless, we view the U.S. federal government’s other economic, external, and monetary credit attributes, which form the basis for the sovereign rating, as broadly unchanged.”
A credit downgrade is serious business. It means that interest rates on the government, banks and ultimately the American people can rise. Borrowing money at a higher interest rate means we all pay back more towards our debt, whether it’s the government borrowing from China, or a middle class American borrowing to buy a home, a higher interest rate is never a good thing.
This is the work of Republicans and their effort to bring this economy to its knees. This decision by Standard & Poors is a loss for America, but another win for Republicans.
After eight years of the Bush Administration living way beyond its means and charging up a debt that has now put the country on the brink of disaster, NOW the GOP wants to introduce “cap, cuts and balancing” in their never-ending quest to pin this insurmountable mess on President Obama.
The offer from Harry Reid and the Democrats to cut $2.7 trillion from our spending budget with no tax increase to the rich and no additional revenue is a travesty. Who’s going to suffer from those cuts? The poor and the soon to be devastated middle-class that’s who!
The pressure is on President Obama in this no-real-win situation. He can either allow the bills to go unpaid and be the first United States (Black) President in history to default on the country’s debt repayment schedule – but still illuminate the despicable, uncooperative stance of the GOP and thus hopefully proving to the skeptical and undecided that any faction of the Republican Party is incapable of running anything, let alone the governing challenges of the US.
Or, he can drop his losing bi-partisan stance, take control, raise the debt ceiling as he knows – and reputable non-partisan economists have advised him – must be done, eliminate tax loopholes for the super wealthy who live like kings on the backs of the labor force and steer Boehner and his bunch clear of the Big 3.
Mr. President, you may have to deal with this bullsh**t again in 2012 when you’re re-elected, but because of the sacrifices you would make for us today, with hope and good sense the People will stand by you, especially in lieu of the odds we’ve witnessed you up against for the last 7 months with Republicans and the Tea Party.
What would I want you to do? I’d want you to save us first, Mr. President! And come what may in 2012! You have more than proven that you are up for the challenge!
How important is it for America to pay its bills? It is so important, that the United States Constitution demands it.
Well former President Bill Clinton is voicing his opinion, and according to what he Joe Conason, he would invoke the 14th Amendment – “without hesitation, and force the courts to stop me.”
“I think the Constitution is clear and I think this idea that the Congress gets to vote twice on whether to pay for [expenditures] it has appropriated is crazy,” Clinton said in an interview with journalist Joe Conason.
Clinton said he would turn to the Constitution “if it came to that,” but doesn’t think that Obama will need to. “It looks to me like they’re going to make an agreement, and that’s smart,” he said.
President Obama has not directly mention the 14th amendment as an option for getting the debt ceiling raised, and is presently negotiating with Republicans to get it done through Congress.
In his weekly address to the nation, President Obama continued his push for a balanced approach to the nation’s debt problem, and called for Republicans to agree to raising revenues along with spending cuts.
“The truth is, you can’t solve our deficit without cutting spending. But you also can’t solve it without asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share – or without taking on loopholes that give special interests and big corporations tax breaks that middle-class Americans don’t get.
It’s pretty simple. I don’t think oil companies should keep getting special tax breaks when they’re making tens of billions in profits. I don’t think hedge fund managers should pay taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries. And I don’t think it’s fair to ask nothing of someone like me when the average family has seen their income decline over the past decade – and when many of you are just trying to stretch every dollar as far as it will go.
We shouldn’t put the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of folks who’ve already borne the brunt of the recession. It’s not reasonable and it’s not right. If we’re going to ask seniors, or students, or middle-class Americans to sacrifice, then we have to ask corporations and the wealthiest Americans to share in that sacrifice.”
The President:
Scott Walker and his Republican goons instituted some of the most radical right winged policies Wisconsin has ever seen, but what caused the Republican governor to admit he made a mistake was not the policies themselves – policies that caused hundreds of thousands to protests on a daily basis and to takeover the assembly house for weeks – Walker admitted to being sorry about the method in which he implemented his agenda.
“Aside from criticism by those who thought Walker was unfairly undercutting state worker rights, he and his fellow Republicans came under fire for tactics seen by some as bullying and not allowing for sufficient debate or possible compromise.
“The mistake I made early on is, I looked at it almost like the head of a small business: identify a problem, identify a solution and go out and do it,” Walker told Reuters at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Salt Lake City.
“I don’t think we built enough of a political case, so we let … the national organizations come in and define the debate while we were busy just getting the job done,” he said.
It’s not how you forced your policies on the people of Wisconsin that have you polling among the lowest governors in America Mr. Walker, its your policies themselves.
Six Republicans who helped Walker push his union busting policy on Wisconsin’s middle class are facing recalls in August. Walker himself must serve one year before he is eligible for recall, that happens in January of 2012.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has a message for his Republican friends in Congress. Don’t blame the President or even the Democrats. Don’t blame anyone else for the mess over raising the debt ceiling, blame yourself.
“Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months. How many Republicans have been on TV saying, ‘I’m not going to raise the debt limit.’ You know, Mitch [McConnell] says, ‘I’m not going to raise the debt limit unless we talk about Medicare.’ And I’ve said I’m not going to raise the debt limit until we do something about spending and entitlements.’ So we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.
“We shouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it.”
The Republicans are beginning to break.
With the President holding his ground in the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, and with Americans looking at the Republicans as obstructionists whose only goal is protecting the rich while the rest of the country slides into default, Republicans are beginning to wonder out loud why they intentionally mislead the American people over a very routine matter – raising the debt ceiling. On Tuesday, Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell proposed a feeble detour to get the debt ceiling raised, and now this from Lindsey Graham.
The American people are keeping track of what’s going on, and the Republicans are beginning to see the writing on the wall… in the form of a political suicide note that is.
And so it begins. The triple A(Aaa) ratings that America has enjoyed since 1917 was put on notice for a downgrade today by Moody’s Investors Service.
Bloomberg reports that Moody’s took this initial move to lower America’s credit ratings over “concern(s) the debt threshold will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds and notes even though the risk remains low”. Additionally, the report stated that Moody’s “…rating would likely be reduced to the Aa range…” and that ” …that there is no assurance that Moody’s would return its top rating even if a default is quickly cured.”
Meanwhile, Republicans continue protecting the tax loopholes for the rich.
For the 3 people in the entire world, who think Mitch McConnell is sincerely trying to work with the President to set America on solid economic ground, this one’s for you. Today, the Republican Senate minority leader clearly stated his reasoning for coming up with a “solution” to the debt ceiling, saying, ” I refuse to help Barack Obama get reelected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy.”
“We knew shutting down the government in 1995 was not going to work for us. It helped Bill Clinton get reelected. I refuse to help Barack Obama get reelected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy. It didn’t work in 1995. What will happen is the administration will send out to 80 million Social Security recipients and to military families and they will all start attacking members of Congress. That is not a useful place to take us. And the president will have the bully pulpit to blame Republicans for all this disruption.
“If we go into default he will say Republicans are making the economy worse. And all of a sudden we have co-ownership of a bad economy. That is a very bad position going into an election. My first choice was to do something important for the country. But my second obligation is to my party and my conference to prevent them from being sucked into a horrible position politically that would allow the president, probably, to get reelected because we didn’t handle this difficult situation correctly.”
Meanwhile, America’s economy moves closer to the brink of a second Great Depression. But no surprise here. This is the same Republican leader who said his number one priority was making sure the President is a one-term president.
We all remember Bachmann’s recent signing of a pledge which claimed that children born under slavery were better off than those born after President Obama became President! Well, Steven Colbert picked up on another very interesting piece of info about her and Rick Santorum – the other Republican Presidential candidate who immediately signed the document.
For Santorum, Colbert explains that he signed the pledge, even after being “taken aback” by the strong language it contained. Colbert’s re-enactment of Santorum reading the pledge is right on the mark.
And for Bachmann, Colbert picks on the many instances where she saw the need to equate something to slavery, you know, where her expertise lies…
It is simple math, really! The primary incentive for any Corporation is to make money, to make a profit. But in order for these companies to achieve their goal, their products or services must be in demand and then purchased. When the demand is there and consumers are able to purchase these products or services, companies make a profit then produce more to satisfy consumer demand, thus more profits.
The problem with this economy is not a matter of supply and demand. Records show that Corporations are sitting on a collective financial nest egg of about $2 trillion in cash, so the ability to produce is there. And the problem is not a lack of demand either, for as long as there are consumers, there will always be a demand. The problem with this economy is the ability of consumers to purchase. It’s a vicious cycle – take away consumer’s ability to purchase, and the company’s profit incentive is no longer achievable. If the company can’t see a way to be profitable, they lay off workers and sit on their nest-egg. These laid off workers then join a population of non-consumers who don’t have the ability to purchase and the cycle continues.
What then, is the answer? As far as I can see, the answer is simple – give consumers the ability to purchase.
The best, most ideal way to do this is with jobs. If consumers are working, they get a paycheck and thus, are able to purchase. But in this economy, jobs are becoming scarce because Corporations are trying to hold on to their profits and are laying off. If we can’t attack the problem by making Corporations hire, then we must attack it from the other end – creating the ability for consumers to buy, thus, increasing demand. When this demand is increased, the profit margin is realized by these Corporations, and hiring is increased to meet the demand of the consumers.
How do you empower the consumers? There are two ways:
So if a simple person like myself can figure this out, why can’t the elected elites in Washington do the same?
President Obama called the Republicans’ bluff today, when he stated clearly that he will not sign any short-term deal on the debt ceiling. When asked whether he would veto such a deal, the President replied, “I will not sign a 30-day, or 60-day, or 90-day extension.”
He then accused the Republicans of having a “my way or the highway” stance on the debt ceiling. He also gave this warning – “I don’t see a path to a deal if they don’t budge. Period!”
The President and Democratic leaders have proposed a deal to Republicans totaling $4 trillion in spending cuts over a period of 10 years, in exchange for a few hundred billion in tax revenue. Republicans however, called this a “non-starter,” because taxes would be imposed on millionaires and billionaires. Led by House Speaker John Boehner, Republicans are demanding a smaller, short-term increase in the debt ceiling of about $2 trillion.
The President did not budge, saying “this is the United States of America. And, you know, we don’t manage our affairs in three-month increments.” And referring to those Republicans who have already said they would not support raising the debt ceiling, the President said, “It’s irresponsible. They know better.”
Of course, Boehner continued his call for the middle class to bear the weight, while the rich skates through for free!
