Fuck the Credit Agencies

If US debt is downgraded you will see a mass exodus from the US Treasury market. Most large pension funds/Insurance funds are restricted to ONLY AAA rated debt instruments in their investment pools. They will sell all they have due to that mandate alone.

How about instead of blaming the credit rating agencies, we examine whether or not we actually deserve a AAA rating. If any of us were carrying revolving debt equal to or greater than our annual income with another 6-8 times that in the equivalent of unfunded liabilities, would you bitch that you didn't have an 840 beacon score? Especially if you were opening more revolving accounts to stay current on your existing payments. Face it dude, the social programs the progressives have championed for the last 80 years have written checks our asses can't afford.

Plus the fact that the downgrade of our rating was one of the central "strong arm" tactics that the Democrats and specifically Obama used to pass this EMERGENCY debt increase. Now that the bullshit is exposed, they're backing off the importance and/or condemning the agencies. You fucking guys must think the American public has a 48 hour memory. You can't have it both ways.

Originally Posted by MuyLocoNC

How about instead of blaming the credit rating agencies, we examine whether or not we actually deserve a AAA rating. If any of us were carrying revolving debt equal to or greater than our annual income with another 6-8 times that in the equivalent of unfunded liabilities, would you bitch that you didn't have an 840 beacon score? Especially if you were opening more revolving accounts to stay current on your existing payments. Face it dude, the social programs the progressives have championed for the last 80 years have written checks our asses can't afford.

Plus the fact that the downgrade of our rating was one of the central "strong arm" tactics that the Democrats and specifically Obama used to pass this EMERGENCY debt increase. Now that the bullshit is exposed, they're backing off the importance and/or condemning the agencies. You fucking guys must think the American public has a 48 hour memory. You can't have it both ways.

Uhm, the entire world economy is dependant on our AAA rating... We're the reserve currency, our bonds are the safest investment in the bond market, etc etc. NO ONE wants to see the US credit rating drop; Whether or not we deserve a AAA rating has a lot more to do with our disfuctional government than anything... Our social programs are workable, they can be reformed ,so can our tax code, Education system, etc... The problem is that none of that can happen as long as congress is unable to ever come to a consensus or at the very least compromise for the good of the nation.

If the debt ceiling was raised on a clean bill, or with a responsible debt deal done on a bipartisan basis that didn't involve bitter partisan brinkmanship we could have averted any issues with the credit agencies in the first place.. The mere fact that House Republicans were willing to risk default for political points doesn't make us look like a very good borrower does it? I mean, neither does running perpetual deificits, but I'm not advocating for that. Real fiscal responsibility begins with responsible governing; and yes, that means compromise in divided government. Republicans have a responsibility too, you know... And they have done everything they can to dodge responsibility while at the same time they are the primary cause of governments paralysis.

The republicans didn't risk default. Everyone and their mother knew they would come to an agreement at the very last minute, hell I predicted EXACTLY what would happen. We all know it.

Originally Posted by mame

Uhm, the entire world economy is dependant on our AAA rating... We're the reserve currency, our bonds are the safest investment in the bond market, etc etc. NO ONE wants to see the US credit rating drop; Whether or not we deserve a AAA rating has a lot more to do with our disfuctional government than anything... Our social programs are workable, they can be reformed ,so can our tax code, Education system, etc... The problem is that none of that can happen as long as congress is unable to ever come to a consensus or at the very least compromise for the good of the nation.

If the debt ceiling was raised on a clean bill, or with a responsible debt deal done on a bipartisan basis that didn't involve bitter partisan brinkmanship we could have averted any issues with the credit agencies in the first place.. The mere fact that House Republicans were willing to risk default for political points doesn't make us look like a very good borrower does it? I mean, neither does running perpetual deificits, but I'm not advocating for that. Real fiscal responsibility begins with responsible governing; and yes, that means compromise in divided government. Republicans have a responsibility too, you know... And they have done everything they can to dodge responsibility while at the same time they are the primary cause of governments paralysis.

You've got to be kidding...really. First off, I couldn't give a flying rat fart about the rest of the world, they made their beds by investing in this country...they INVESTED, there's risk involved (at least there used to be).

Compromise as you lay it out, according to EVERY Democrat that opened his/her mouth over the last few months STILL INVOLVES ADDING TO THE DEBT. Let's be very clear on that, they consider only adding $7 trillion dollars over the next 10 years to be a spending cut. When the goal is to reduce the annual deficit and lower the debt, you have to work with real numbers, not that crap that Harry Reid throws out there AND you have to make significant cuts across the board.

The Repubs have a real problem with cuts in the military and they have to get their heads wrapped around that, but the Tea Party politicians are the only ones that are serious about true reform and real cuts. You want to increase taxes on the rich...fine, it doesn't amount to jack shit but say you get it, be prepared to lay waste to ALL the bullshit (yes, I really mean bullshit) social programs that never should have been instituted in the first place. There's your compromise, take it or leave it...either way the social programs are gone, either by legislation or insolvency.

What you really mean by compromise is the same thing the Libs always mean by compromise, the Conservatives need to allow moderate expansion of government and the Libs will settle for moderate expansion of government...sorry, those days are long gone. Be prepared to see the government slashed by 50 - 60% minimum. Which would only bring us back to 1999 levels, and that's still a HUGE compromise for the people that are sitting across the table from you.

Originally Posted by NoDrama

The republicans didn't risk default. Everyone and their mother knew they would come to an agreement at the very last minute, hell I predicted EXACTLY what would happen. We all know it.

Do you think that if Obama refused to cave there would've been a deal including revenue increases? I think the establishment knew they needed to avert default but those Freshman Republicans in the house sure as hell seem like they would've pulled the trigger IMO. I think we all took the brinkmanship for granted and expected a deal but at the same time I really wonder how far the house freshmen would've gone... Don't you? It just feels like it wasn't just Obama who was really brought to the edge with these negotiations - but Boehner looked just as weary... IMO Boehner clearly wanted to compromise, including revenue (he even offered $800B in revenues at one point only to rescind that offer due to tea party backlash... yay...).

IDK, I'm just disappointed; Obama caved, again. I'm still kind of in "wait and see" mode with that panel and the percieved advantage Democrats have in forcing revenue increases - but we all know how it'll happen... The Republicans will credibly threaten economic collapse and our conceder in chief will give them everything they want.

Originally Posted by MuyLocoNC

You've got to be kidding...really. First off, I couldn't give a flying rat fart about the rest of the world, they made their beds by investing in this country...they INVESTED, there's risk involved (at least there used to be).

Compromise as you lay it out, according to EVERY Democrat that opened his/her mouth over the last few months STILL INVOLVES ADDING TO THE DEBT. Let's be very clear on that, they consider only adding $7 trillion dollars over the next 10 years to be a spending cut. When the goal is to reduce the annual deficit and lower the debt, you have to work with real numbers, not that crap that Harry Reid throws out there AND you have to make significant cuts across the board.

The Repubs have a real problem with cuts in the military and they have to get their heads wrapped around that, but the Tea Party politicians are the only ones that are serious about true reform and real cuts. You want to increase taxes on the rich...fine, it doesn't amount to jack shit but say you get it, be prepared to lay waste to ALL the bullshit (yes, I really mean bullshit) social programs that never should have been instituted in the first place. There's your compromise, take it or leave it...either way the social programs are gone, either by legislation or insolvency.

What you really mean by compromise is the same thing the Libs always mean by compromise, the Conservatives need to allow moderate expansion of government and the Libs will settle for moderate expansion of government...sorry, those days are long gone. Be prepared to see the government slashed by 50 - 60% minimum. Which would only bring us back to 1999 levels, and that's still a HUGE compromise for the people that are sitting across the table from you.

No, you have an extreme agenda there is no other way to put it; What you propose is not "compromise".

You might as well admit your idea of compromise is perfectly described by the last paragraph in my last post. You know it's true.