Free Republic

Borrowing looms large in American life from homes to cars. But the explosion of student debt in the last decade is a pernicious trend that the colleges themselves are encouraging. How do colleges manage it? Kenyon has erected $70 million sports palace featuring a 20-lane olympic pool. Stanford's professors now get paid sabbaticals every fourth year, handing them $115,000 for not teaching. Vanderbilt pays its president $2.4 million. Alumni gifts and endowment earnings help with the costs. But a major source is tuition payments, which at private schools are breaking the $40,000 barrier, more than many families earn. Sadly, there's...

highlights of Harrington's story below. Here are some key points: Moody's ratings often do not reflect its analysts' private conclusions. Instead, rating committees privately conclude that certain securities deserve certain ratings--but then vote with management to give the securities the higher ratings that issuer clients want. Moody's management and "compliance" officers do everything possible to make issuer clients happy--and they view analysts who do not do the same as "troublesome." Management employs a variety of tactics to transform these troublesome analysts into "pliant corporate citizens" who have Moody's best interests at heart. Moody's product managers participate in--and vote on--ratings decisions....

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-candidate Hilary Clinton ridiculed Barack Obama's inexperience with the famous ad asking who you wanted to answer the phone during a crisis at 3AM. Today, it is apparent that our nation desperately needs someone with experience, decisiveness, and leadership to navigate these troubled economic waters. .... Blame at 3AM is not the issue. The issue in time of crisis is the response and only the response. Thus far, our nation's response has been to increase the debt ceiling and provide a tepid response to critical spending issues. It's now 3AM and the world is wondering...

While I was doing research for another blog post, I happened upon a lamestream media (LA Times) story from 2008 about the massive budget surplus that accumulated under Sarah Palin’s bountiful watch as governor of Alaska. Try to imagine waking up one morning and reading a newspaper article in which the experts quoted had something like this to say about our nation’s federal budget:...

Liberals outline stimulus agenda in 'Contract for the American Dream' By Erik Wasson - 08/09/11 10:57 AM ET Liberal organizations and unions are frustrated that President Obama has not aggressively pushed a new jobs stimulus agenda and they are offering up a consolidated fall agenda for Democrats to embrace as an alternative to austerity. Representatives of MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream and the Center for Economic Policy and Research will join Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Tuesday to launch a progressive “Contract for the American Dream” to urge the administration and Congress to turn away from budget cutting and focus on...

Conquering the Storm by Sarah Palin on Monday, August 8, 2011 at 3:53pm In the coming days we’ll sort through the repercussions of S&P’s downgrade of our credit rating, including concerns about the impact a potential interest rate increase would have on our ability to service our suffocating $14.5 trillion debt. I’m surprised that so many people seem surprised by S&P’s decision. Weren’t people paying attention over the last year or so when we were getting warning after warning from various credit rating agencies that this was coming? I’ve been writing and speaking about it myself for quite some time....

The American Dream can be restored to reality. I have never been as optimistic about the future of our great nation as I am today despite significant leadership shortfalls in our elected leaders. The solutions to our crisis are so apparent and so easy to enact once our Congress either gets in the fight or gets out of the way. The sheer unwillingness of Congress to stand firm on a national program of controlling spending is mindboggling. It can only be explained by recognizing that entitlements are and stimulus funding is how politicians get reelected. Many legislators are only about...

The markets are "finally just revolting against all this insanity" and forcing us to come to grips with the reality of our debt crisis, Social Security, health care and all the problems with the European countries, Mark Fisher, oil and natural gas trader and CEO of MBF Clearing, told CNBC Friday. The anxiety level is at such a high that people, it doesn't matter whether we are or not [going into a recession], it's the perception of where we are,"

August 5, 2011 Euro Builder Ends His Career on a Bitter Note By JACK EWING FRANKFURT — Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, has spent much of his career building and defending the euro. But now, in a bitter twist, it looks as if his career may well end with the common currency in shambles. Mr. Trichet, 68, will retire at the end of October after an eight-year term. Yet markets are crashing, bond investors have turned on Italy and Spain, and it appears certain that when Mr. Trichet returns to civilian life on Nov. 1, the...

A government official tells ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the rating of US debt from its current AAA value. Officials reasons given will be the political confusion surrounding the process of raising the debt ceiling, and lack of confidence that the political system will be able to agree to more deficit reduction.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi confirmed that they would be moving toward a balance budget amendment on Friday, after rampant speculation that the European Central Bank would intervene bond markets and purchase Italian and Spanish debt in exchange for structural reforms.

China said Friday that debt deals in the United States and in Europe would not be enough to save their economies and "concrete steps" must be taken to rebalance the global economy. "The only way the Americans have come up with to improve economic growth has been to take on new loans to repay the old ones," a blistering commentary published on the official Xinhua news agency said. "To eat May's grain in April, however, will never be a permanent solution to a problem," the report said. China warned on Wednesday that Washington's efforts to raise the US limit on...

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords returned to Washington, D.C. Monday, seven months after her tragic attack to cast her vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling. Her timing couldn't be better to unveil the absolutely relentless hypocrisy of left-wing media and politics. The vicious attack on Giffords sparked a whirlwind of criticism over the violent rhetoric of the right in which the media castigated the tea party for its tone. Sarah Palin was criticized relentlessly over a map depicting crosshairs over vulnerable democrats, similar to the DNC's use of targets on Republicans. Most heinously, Giffords' attacker, Jared Loughner, was assumed by...

"We, the Senate Majority Leader, The President, and myself, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of the debt ceiling and possible default is of the first importance for both houses of Congress, the President, and for our country. "We regard the Bill passed by the House and the companion Bill in the Senate and the President's promise to sign the reconciled bill as symbolic of the desire of both Parties never to put politics above country again. "We are resolved that the method of consultation...

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you know, I think -- it will be interesting to see what happens. The Tea Party, I think, had an enormous victory, because they did change the discussion here in Washington. It's a little bit like trying to change the direction of an aircraft carrier. It's not easy. So they certainly, I mean, that's huge. And I'm sort of curious whether the American people will now sort of take a bow, those who are Tea Party activists, and go back to their lives, which are very busy and very full, and they're worried about their own lives,...

Let’s begin with a brief quiz. It’s the middle of the night and you awaken to the sound of your dog barking. You open your eyes and notice smoke drifting in beneath your door. The room is noticeably warm, and you can make out a faint, flickering, orange glow through the smoky haze. Your house is on fire. What’s your first response? Should you (a), go online to take advantage of that terrific offer you received for a “his and her” burial plot; or (b), get everyone safely out of the house and phone the fire department? Call me psychic,...

Much is going on in Washington, DC …the debt ceiling vote and debate…and the harsh words for the Tea Party movement and caucus. Governor Sarah Palin joins us to discuss these issues…10pm eastern, ON THE RECORD !

The American government is at risk of defaulting on their debt. To remedy it, they want to go into even more debt. This cannot go on forever. It has to stop.

@BarackObama you're wrong, threatening to throw seniors under the bus because you refuse to prioritize govt spending.Time to #womanup & lead @BarackObama wants us to support a "balanced deficit solution." Great idea! How about a balanced budget amendment?

“The White House immediately dismissed the new version, with spokesman Jay Carney calling it "moot and irrelevant" and certain to fail in the Senate.” This is a quote from an AP story by the following: Charles Babington and Donna Cassata, Associated Press, On Friday July 29, 2011, 1:47 pm EDT It is about the changes to the “Boehner plan” that are causing the Tea Party conservatives to agree to vote for it. This version will only increase a second time if the congress sends a Balance Budget Amendment to the States. So the White House is arrogant enough to believe...