Posted on 08/07/2011 5:17:05 PM PDT by tobyhill
U.S. Treasury debt is as safe as it was before a Standard & Poor's rating downgrade of the United States and Congress' "damaging" debate over raising the country's debt limit, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday.
Geithner, in an interview with NBC/CNBC television, also called on European leaders to ensure that there is an "unequivocal financial backstop" for euro zone governments facing fiscal and debt problems.
He added that a double-dip recession was unlikely if governments and central banks made good decisions.
Asked whether Treasuries were as safe now as they were last week, Geithner replied: "Absolutely. And the judgment by S&P changed nothing."
Geithner continued the Treasury's attack on the credit rating agency, which cut the U.S. sovereign rating late on Friday to AA-plus from AAA citing the political gridlock in Washington and a debt deal that produced less fiscal savings than the agency had prescribed.
"I mean I think S&P has shown really terrible judgment and they've handled themselves very poorly," Geithner said. "And they've shown a stunning lack of knowledge about basic U.S. fiscal budget math. And I think they drew exactly the wrong conclusion from this budget agreement."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
It strikes me that Obama and everyone around him is like that. Sociopaths.
Hey - the debt is safe. FED Reserve can buy every nickel’s worth of the debt, and can continue to buy all the debt 0bama needs so that he can then buy all the votes he wants. No problem for at least 15 more months until the election. After the election, then Katy bar the door for a full-on government take over of everything.
“King Barry I”
Still no comment from Great Leader? This is sop - Great Leader is insulated from any major developments. He will soon give a speech about something. He still gives good speech.
I seriously believe Obama wanted the downgrade to occur.
This is one of the things he wanted to do to damage the country economically.
What Timmy should have said is that the debt is an unsafe as it was before the downgrade.
HEAD FOR THE EXITS!
Hey, they are safe! The Fed will keep buying them to keep the light on for you!
And still nobody. Not one person. Either side of the aisle.
Speaks of our gaping trade deficit.
Bring back Donald Trump!
debate is damaging? Thta is what this country was founded on. No - debate is fine. $1.5T annual deficits and an unwillingness to even slow down entitlement spending is what is damaging. Yet there isn’t even one Congressman calling for his resignation. Pathetic.
I’m about ready to start melting.
Geithner was the one who said...no problem...Just raise the ceiling....Obama needs him to kick around...He can’t leave!!
It only is going to get worse from here as no one wants to buy our debt.
+++++++++
In the long run you are right. But I’m talking about the short run. If I’m reading the charts correctly it looks to me like interest rates on U.S. Debt are falling not rising as you might expect. U.S.Treasuries are, amazingly, still the safe haven.
Geithner may be right for once, EUrope is even more screwed up than the USA.
Remember this is from the guy who couldn't figure out his taxes so he just didn't pay them.
he has more work to do! :-(
1 yr - OK
3 yr -- ?
10 yr - shaky, at best
30 year? LOL
Welcome to the world of the Yen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.