Posted on 08/08/2011 6:17:39 PM PDT by Kaslin
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 & Poor's downgrade from AAA to AA+, claiming that credit, like deficits, doesn't matter.
"No matter what some agency may say, we always have been and always will be a AAA country," the president declared Monday.
It was as strong a statement as any about the politics-first climate over government spending that brought on the S&P downgrade in the first place.
For Obama to say credit ratings don't matter at a time when he's made it clear that his re-election does matter pretty well sums up why this happened. But it was beside the point.
S&P's downgrade from AAA to AA+ wasn't about America's ability to pay its debt, which remains intact. The rating agency specifically said the problem was the U.S.' willingness to pay its bills.
That puts the U.S. in the same category as — we kid you not — Ecuador, which like the U.S. had plenty of money to pay its bills in 2009, but defaulted anyway because its president saw defaulting as a populist means of amassing more political power.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Correction:
For an untold number of times 0bama and all his little Commie syncophants have once again been downgraded.
Should have dropped the rating to a ‘B’.
michelle bachman just said on bor that if she were president
she would immediately work on regaining our triple a rating.
whatta contrast to comrade obama’s speech today!
*screams with frustration*
The prez is such a narcissist that I believe he is interpreting the downgrade as a personal slight so he’s telling them ‘No matter what some agency says about ME, I am still the best.”
This drives me nuts. We're in the midst of a global economic crisis. The eyes of the world are upon us. All of our economic numbers are bad. Congress is stalemated. In short, things couldn't get a whole lot worse.
And what does Obama do? He gives us bravado. He hikes himself up and says, "Well, I think we're still AAA."
SO?? Who cares??? That's not a solution. Your feel-good little bromide might go over well on some campaign trails in a few blue states, but they fall short of the kind of leadership the country needs.
He cannot govern. All he can do is play political games.
Note: In truth, I think he is intentionally destroying the country and doing and saying the wrong things on purpose. But, if he is not pure evil, then he is remarkably shallow and stupid. No matter how you look at it, he is a terrible, terrible president.
S&P's downgrade from AAA to AA+ wasn't about America's ability to pay its debt, which remains intact. The rating agency specifically said the problem was the U.S.' willingness to pay its bills.
That puts the U.S. in the same category as — we kid you not — Ecuador, which like the U.S. had plenty of money to pay its bills in 2009, but defaulted anyway because its president saw defaulting as a populist means of amassing more political power.
This is an important point, one I haven't yet seen made anywhere, that bridges the void between "Obama is working to destroy America and American capitalism" and "Obama is playing at populist politics". This shows the keystone of the arch, the marriage of apparent purpose with credible motive.
From the lips of J.R. Ewing, himself, "Are you gonna believe me, Sue Ellen, or your lying eyes?"
...There are pieces to the Obama puzzle, the structure and covert support behind the scenes in this smoky back room administration. Who is the puppet master? Obama has been portrayed to be quite intelligent, but without prompting he is clueless. Will it be executive orders, State of Emergency, Martial Law for a made-up crisis, Posse Comitatus.
...These tactics have already been executed, panic, uncertainty, fear, a total lack of leadership of both partys in two Branches. It's been going on a long time, slowly, back and forth with moderate ups and downs. But, for the first time in my observation, things are slipping out of control rapidly, without a rescue rope.
...Every two years the talking pundits scream out the same refrain. "This is the most important election of our lifetime" I used to dismiss it as hyperbole; sensationalist stagecraft. Now, I'm begining to think this myself. Barak Obama at his core is truly frightening in his rehtoric and mannerisms. It is hard to fathom what demonic temperament goes on in Our House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...
8:}
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