Free Republic

Did you know America is going bankrupt? Most people don't. Maybe the saddest part about our country's state of affairs is that all our vitriol and dysfunction has come at a time when we aren't even addressing our biggest problems. It would be one thing if America collectively decided we have to be honest about where we are as a country and we were in the middle of a charged debate about how to fix it. Instead, we are fighting about trivial things while pretty much everyone in the country, on all sides of the political spectrum, has decided our...

WASHINGTON -- Fitch Ratings said that there would be "no fiscal honeymoon" for President Obama, warning early Wednesday that the U.S. probably would lose its AAA credit rating if the White House and Congress don't address looming tax increases, spending cuts and the fast-approaching debt ceiling. "The economic policy challenge facing the president is to put in place a credible deficit-reduction plan necessary to underpin economic recovery and confidence in the full faith and credit of the U.S.," said Fitch, one of the three major credit rating companies. The expiration of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts and the start...

Sound financial management clearly wasn’t a concern to any party involved in the recent contract negotiations in Chicago Public Schools. They were warned that new labor expenses might result in a credit downgrade for the financially-strapped school district, and they chose to ignore it. Now it has comes to pass. The credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded the school district for the second time in one quarter. Moody’s wrote: “The negative outlook reflects the school district's budgeted depletion of reserves to fund ongoing operations in fiscal 2013; the moderate additional unbudgeted salary costs of labor contract negotiations, which have not...

The Occupy movement , along with the entire liberal and MSM outlets shall reverse their position on placating banks in less than a week. Wait for it.

Markets: For the first time, America's good name has been downgraded. So far, the impact on bonds has been small. But the long-term consequences won't be pretty. Back in 1992, Bill Clinton learned that U.S. credit equaled U.S. power. After wrangling with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, his team gained such respect for treasuries as a proxy for U.S. credibility that Clinton adviser James Carville famously declared he wanted be reincarnated as the bond market "so I can intimidate everyone." Today, we have a president who shrugs off the first-ever downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt in the wake of Standard &...

What should a U.S. president say to stop stock markets from falling and reassure Americans that the country will be able to solve its debt and deficit problems? President Barack Obama's first public comment about Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt to AA-plus from the top-notch AAA was not enough to stop a market plunge of 600 points, with investors uncertain if Washington can overcome political gridlock. Here is a look at what Obama tried to achieve: * Reassurance. Obama wanted to underscore to Americans that the United States remains the economic envy of the world despite the credit...

Why is nobody asking the following question? Since when is a loosely connected bunch of (in their words) white trailer trash, soccer moms, out of work people, idiots, etc., known as the Tea Party so much more powerful than the 600+ Dims, Repugs, and Osama in TPTB in Washington? How could they cause such a crisis over the brave thinking of the EXPERTS??? in Washington.? How could they override the thinking and knowledge of those wondrous beings sitting in Congress? How could they possibly have more influence then all the think tanks, the economists, the Fed, etc., etc. And to...

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877) Home of the South Central L.A. Tea Party

In the wake of one of the US's biggest financial setbacks, president Obama did nothing to calm investors down in advance of Monday's markets opening. After the S&P credit ratings downgrade on Friday, president Obama celebrated his 50th birthday party in Chicago. We had expected the nation’s leader to hold a press conference in an effort to calm investors and assure them that the US is safe and good investment. Or at least release a statement. There is a very real concern that come Monday, August 8th ,investors will drive the financial markets down. Assurances from the US president that...

Investors don't need more bad news right now, but, even before the S&P downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt late Friday, they seemed to be cognizant it was coming. The Investors Business Daily Economic Optimism Index dropped by 13.5% from July to August, with its latest reading representing the lowest point in the index's 10-year history. The August reading of 35.8 - down from 41.4 last month - is roughly 20% below both its 12-month average and the reading from December 2007, when the economy entered recession. Not surprisingly, a reading that low suggests another recession is on the way.

• 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...