And The Survey Says……… I Think That You Screwed Up Mr President ………
As an impartial observer on the outside looking in . I can’t help but wonder if Barack Obama as President, had it all to do-over once again . Would he have sought to have surrounded himself with such a bunch of misfits ? His cabinet thus far has been about as useful as piece of fecal matter on the floor of an operating theater in a hospital. I know that when it comes to House and Senate majority leaders there’s little that he can do to the likes of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Utah) or for that matter Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca). To my mind both of these individuals are self serving and condescending when it comes to addressing the needs of the nation as a whole. That’s not to say that the Republicans themselves are without fault. As they’re as much to blame for this turmoil but they’d rather act oblivious to that very fact. And in terms of them coming up with solutions. Well that’s like asking Paris Hilton to explain the difference between a ‘balance sheet’ and a ‘baking sheet’. She’s as clueless as the Republicans on the matter.
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with members of the Cabinet in the Cabinet Room on September 10, 2009 at the White House in Washington. During the meeting President Obama said he accepts the apology of Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) for yelling out “You Lie” during Obama’s speech on healthcare reform to a joint session of Congress last night . photo appears courtesy of UPI/ Olivier Douliery …….
The President’s cabinet thus far, has proven to me that whilst a great many of them are obviously highly intelligent. When it comes to being forthright and communicative orally , they become tongue tied and about as comprehensible as alien life form that has suddenly landed on planet earth but is unable to communicate with anyone in any particular verbal format. If I’m not the only one of this opinion then I may well have misjudged the situation altogether. But somehow I think not !
The troubling fact now is , as the country gets mired in an economic meltdown that neither the economists or the Presidents own Council of Economic of Advisers have answer for as to when we may begin to start the climb out of the current recession. We have the asinine statements being made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and that of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner , all throwing their hat into the ring, as to what they view as a certainty that the tides of change are suddenly beginning to foment and that the economy is about to take a turn for the better. Those are the sort of statements that are speculative in nature and which drive the greed that we tend to see on Wall St. But then again where were the members of ‘Congress’ and the ‘Senate’ , when these charlatans were bringing the economy to its very knees ?
Courtesy of CBS Moneywatch
Why Geithner Can’t Treasury Bonds
By Eric Schurenberg
Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner defended the Treasury bond’s AAA rating yesterday on television. But what else could he do? Last Wednesday, credit rating agency Moody’s warned that the T-bond’s rating was in danger of a downgrade, which would be a disaster for Geithner and the Treasury. A downgrade would raise the cost of the nation’s borrowing addiction, potentially hamstring the economic recovery and look really, really bad for Tim. So he did what he could to talk the spectre of a downgrade back into the closet. But it won’t do any good. It’s not his call.
Moody’s was pretty clear about what had to happen to prevent a downgrade:
Unless further measures are taken to reduce the budget deficit further or the economy rebounds more vigorously than expected, the federal financial picture as presented in the projections for the next decade will at some point put pressure on the triple A government bond rating.
In other words, the Treasury bond’s rating is up to Congress, the strength of the recovery, and the analysts at Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. How likely is it that Congress will get behind meaningful deficit reduction? Four days before Moody’s fired its shot, Douglas Elmendorf of the Congressional Budget Office offered some dismal testimony about how much Congress would have to change. (Thanks to Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Associates for pointing out the testimony):
…. accumulating deficits will push federal debt held by the public to significantly higher levels. At the end of 2009, debt held by the public was $7.5 trillion, or 53 percent of GDP; by the end of 2020, debt is projected to climb to $15 trillion, or 67 percent of GDP
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And though the venerable Sarah Palin and her Tea Pot coterie are trying to sound anew . Haven’t we all heard this same sort of bulls_it once before with J. Ross Perot ? Only in the case of Perot, he wasn’t ‘suckering the masses’ the way Palin is now intent on doing. Her most recent public engagement where she addressed a hall of thousands concerning the present administration. Where as the noted speaker, she had little of interest to say , other than a few mocking anecdotes. What I for one would like to know, were any of those in attendance aware that Palin was in receipt of $100,000 , merely to attend and address those congregated there to hear her speak ? And the masses are to believe that “she” of all people, is intent on seeing change up on Capitol Hill ? If she’s painting herself as an individual of a different mindset from those she’s now intent on criticizing. Then why all this false bravado and the money she’s accepting just to make these asinine and moribund statements, that at present have little or no sense to them at all ? For her it’s not about change but just the same old insipid tactic that all politicians tend to use just to ingratiate themselves amongst the electorate. And those gullible enough, tend to follow her lead rather than looking intensely and listening as to whether or not she’s making sense or has anything at all that insightful to begin with.
But for me at present , my biggest concern are the inane statements that are now being made by Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary. Either this guy is a habitual liar or he’s plainly someone who happens to be amoral. Anyone who happened to have heard Geithner’s most recent public statement concerning US Treasury bonds ought to know that when those are indeed downgraded , it shows that the ratings’ agencies believes that there’s cause for concern over the government’s handling of the nation’s finances as well as the economy at large. For him to make the claim that there’s nothing at present , is very much akin to the boy who persistently cries wolf when there’s nothing there. But when the wolf just happens to be at his very door he’ll act as if the wolf had been invited in for supper and to devour anything within its sight. This is more or less Geithner’s view not just only on the economy but also on the financial crisis now within our midst.
There seems to be a belief that there’s a neverending abundance of money here that federal government has at its beck and call. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. For inasmuch as the Treasury continues to print money and issue US Treasury Bonds. The inflationary minutiae that’s created , once opened up like can worms is extremely hard to gather up and placed back into the can. And having the Federal Reserve then enact a somewhat draconian fiscal monetary policy tends to exacerbate the matter further , instead of allaying the fears that are already out there.
The fact of the matter is, Tim Geithner is now kidding not only himself but now he’s trying to pull the wool over the eyes of 300 million inhabitants of the nation. I wonder which sock puppet he really is at this juncture ? And who indeed has their fingers up his ass controlling his thought process and speech at present ? Because clearly for a so called intelligent and knowledgeable individual ,something is very awry , askew with his view on the world and that of the US economy at present.
Alan Parkins
Tophatal's Blog 