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27 Jul 2011 10:41

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Politics: Fed Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke stays out of debt ceiling debate

  • If you’re the Fed chairman, you’ve got to be above politics.
  • Sen. Jon Kyl • Offering a bit of unsolicited advice to our boy Ben Bernanke in the whole debt ceiling mess: Stay out of it, be above it, let the children fight over it. Which, let’s face it, is pretty much his only good option at this point. For what it’s worth, he’s done a good job of this so far: While he’s warned that the debt ceiling needs to go up, he’s stopped short of favoring any one way to do it, a response Barney Frank calls “appropriate.” Not that he’s above actions that raise the ire of the GOP — the Fed’s recent spate of bond purchases, $600 billion in all, have ticked off Republicans. But he hasn’t pissed ’em off too much lately. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 23:09

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Politics: A little perspective on this whole deficit mess

  • This graph, courtesy of the New York Times, has been making the rounds today, and it’s worth examining. Note that health care reform, much-maligned by the right as deficit-killer, cost less than even the most inexpensive of George W. Bush’s policies (that policy being Medicare Part D). Note also that the Bush tax cuts alone added more to the deficit than all of President Obama’s new policies combined — and that’s including projected spending over the course of a theoretical second term.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 22:02

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Politics: Obama speech light on policy, heavy on politics

  • We were planning on live-blogging the President’s primetime speech on the debt ceiling, but there wasn’t much to live-blog about. He didn’t support or reject any new policies, or endorse a specific strategy for raising the debt limit. Rather, the President doubled-down on the importance of avoiding default, reinforced hard distinctions between him and House Republicans, and make slight adjustments to his political positioning. He warned, in his most explicit language yet, of the consequences default would have for average Americans. He came out hard for progressive taxation, hammering the Republicans for refusing to consider raising taxes on the rich, and explicitly asked constituents to call their representatives in Congress and voice support for the White House’s “balanced.” In general, as was the case in his press conference last Friday, the President ended up sounding a whole lot more partisan than normal, but didn’t deliver any game-changers. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2011 10:42

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Politics: The long and short of it: Debt ceiling talks get complicated, stay complicated

  • long The Democrats are pushing for a longer-term debt ceiling increase in a deal that includes some revenue increases. House Speaker John Boehner has suggested that he favors a long-term plan that goes through 2012, but is having trouble selling it to his own party.
  • short Republicans, on the other hand, have suggested increasing the debt ceiling for a period less than a year in length, in part for political leverage so they can push for later long-term spending cuts during an election year. Obama suggests this is akin to playing with fire. source
  • » So, who’s the loser in all of this? The consumer and taxpayer. The uncertainty on this issue has affected the markets in some ways already (see the price of gold for example), and could endanger your ability to get a loan at a reasonable rate if the talks fail to straighten course. You may see some possible instability this week, as a deal perilously hangs in the balance.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2011 13:57

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Politics: Obama and Boehner near deal? Not if you ask their press folks about it

  • claim The New York Times has an article up saying that Obama and Boehner are nearing a deal on the whole debt ceiling mess that’s gripped DC for the past few weeks. Oh God, let’s hope so guys.
  • denial However, Boehner’s folks denied this. “While we are keeping the lines of communication open,” said spokesperson Kevin Smith, “there is no ‘deal’ and no progress to report.” O RLY?
  • denial Likewise, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney (who recently called Mitch McConnell “Mitch Mitchell,” then dropped a Guided by Voices reference) flatly denied the claim. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jul 2011 01:50

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Politics: The Best Two Sentences of the Night

  • Responsibility without conviction is weak, but it is sane. Conviction without responsibility, in the current incarnation of the Republican Party, is raving mad.
  • George Packer • On how each party is handling the (possible) debt ceiling increase. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jul 2011 23:38

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Politics: Cantankerous Corker Criticizes Colleagues

  • Basically, most Senators in this body are nothing but two-bit pawns…to lay out the groundwork, if you will, for 2012 election.
  • GOP Senator Bob Corker • Saying what everyone knows but rarely acknowledges: If a presidential election wasn’t lurking around the corner, this whole debt ceiling debate would be playing out much differently. This is really harsh language for a senator, especially when used in reference to his colleagues. Last week, Corker accepted blame, on behalf of the Republican party, for bringing our country to the brink of another economic collapse. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Jul 2011 23:23

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World: The US Treasury is running low on cash

  • 29 companies have more money than the United States Treasury
  • 7 of those companies are based in America source
  • » The American companies include: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Freddie Mac. Two of the top three companies on the list are Chinese. On the upside, the Treasury has as much money as Google, so that’s kind of a nice consolation prize.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jul 2011 11:02

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Politics: Debt ceiling poll: Everyone looks bad, but Obama looks least bad

  • 71% disapprove of the way Republicans have handled the debt ceiling crisis — just 21 percent approve
  • 48% disapprove of the way Obama has handled the situation; by contrast, 43 percent approve source
  • » Obama’s the best in a bad bunch: According to a CBS News poll, while nobody’s doing particularly hot in the current debt crisis negotiations, Obama can at least say that he’s doing better than everyone else. Democrats in Congress have a meager 31 percent approval rating. But let’s face it — this has always been a fight between Republicans and Obama, with congressional Democrats off to the side. So the result is nothing but notable. Let’s raise the question: If the government defaults, is this 1995 all over again for the GOP?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jul 2011 21:53

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Politics: Republicans Senator: “We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves”

  • Maybe the debt ceiling was the wrong place to pick a fight, as it related to trying to get our country’s house in order…maybe that was the wrong place to do it.
  • GOP Senator Bob Corker • In a shockingly frank admission that the Republicans overplayed their obstructionist hand. The phrase “pick a fight” implies antagonism for antagonism’s sake which, if one reflects on the Republican party’s behavior over the last three years, would seem an appropriate implication. Another Senate Republican, Lindsey Graham, had a similar confession: “Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months…we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.” Yes, indeed. These confessions bode well for the prospects of a deal passing the Senate, but the House remains another question entirely. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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