Obama’s debt ceiling presser
Just now I happened to listen to President Obama’s press conference on the debt ceiling negotiations. He talked an unsurprising “each side must compromise” line and made himself out to be the great conciliator.
I find the entire process at this point to be so much kabuki theater. My prediction is that the debt ceiling will be raised at the last possible minute before the deadline, and that we have no idea which side will end up blinking first and most often.
In the meantime, uncertainty breeds financial jitters; note a stock market drop today.
I would say it’s a Noh play.
The fact is that the Wan cannot bring himself to believe that he has to seriously compromise.
As the WSJ notes, today, America is slated to have massive tax increases dead ahead.
He’s rigged the game such that there’s no purpose to hiring on fresh talent.
Instead, everyone is trimming labor like mad, off-shoring even more.
So Black youth unemployment is in orbit. Expect flash-riots dead ahead.
New mint college grads are not finding takers, but at least they can’t tally as unemployed.
Instead, they’re looking for work while staring at school debt that will never die.
This Greatest Depression is going to generate a tragic pool of collegiate paupers.
There are those who saaay (bla bla bla). And yes, there are those who saaay (opposite bla bla bla). But I’m the grownup in the room, the reasonable one. ^I^ saaay we should (dot dot dot), each side must compromise, I AM the Great Conciliator.
My butt.
I am so %$#@ing sick of Obama.
Same %$#@ing routine every time out.
For at least his entire adult life he was deferred to, because he was a black guy who could speak in reasonably coherent sentences. And the leftish guilt-ridden whiteys all wanted to like the guy. So they deferred to him, he was never seriously contradicted in his interactions, and here we are — the grownup in the room who is the only reasonable one around.
I am so %$#@ing sick of him.
And the whole stupid kabuki theater.
Help.
Kabuki is right…especially with his odd voices in the head gesture.
The Republicans have done a terrible job of explaining how raising taxes on the wealthy hurts job creation. Obama has been able to paint them as protecting the rich instead of helping the country. The RNC is inept.
Investors began dumping Italian government debt last week, and European banks that hold much of that debt were getting creamed when the European stock markets were open today.
I think the stock market dropping has more to do with those fresh European sovereign debt fears, which could cause consumers to recoil in paralysis and stall economic activity (or worse, cause a new recession), than U.S. sovereign debt fears.
That’s because 10-year U.S. treasurys are soaring today, attracting the “safe haven” bid as European investors dump Italian bonds and European banks. That’s also causing the dollar to rise against the euro. If investors really believed the risk of a U.S. government default was rising because the debt ceiling negotiations have not been settled, then investors would be dumping treasurys and dollars, not piling into them.
There’s definitely a kabuki dance going on, and there is some uncertainty, but I think Europe is the bigger concern.
We really should stop insulting kabuki theater, when what it is is barely a poor french rendition of punch and judy (with the electorate as judy)…
I agree with Scott, the sell off here is largely from jitters about the Euro zone. All European markets fell anywhere from 1 to 4% and all Asian markets except Shanghai posted losses. Oil is off about 1%, most Ag futures are down. Only gold is up as silver dropped about 2%. The markets are right to be jittery as there is much uncertainty all around the globe.
I think the republicans will fold at the last minute and agree to raise the debt ceiling. As Mr. Frank says, they are not explaining what is at stake nor are they explaining why there will be no default if the debt ceiling is not raised. This brouhaha will probably end with the MSM once more hailing BHO as the messiah of old ladies, snot nosed kids in rags, and green jobs.
Limbaugh is ranting (frustrated!) that we do NOT have to default on our debt. That we have more than enough revenues coming in to cover that, which is only a minority percentage of the overall government budget.
That the Republicans need to dig in their heels and insist on spending cuts to keep us from defaulting.
And if Obama uses the Republicans as an excuse to default on the country’s debt, it could be an impeachable offense.
Not that he cares: he has brazenly flouted Constitutional limitations on executive power several times already, and thanks to the lickspittle media, he gets away with it every time.
How raising taxes hurts the wealthy is that the top 10% of taxpayers already pay 40% of the taxes. They will not create jobs or make new hires if they can’t justify the hiring with a modicum of increase in their revenues. Wow you genius’s must know that’s how it works don’t you?
Mr Frank echoes the same old refrain that the GOP doesn’t explain. Tell me sir, when was the last time a Republican could command an hour of air time on most media outlets simply by demanding it? The GOP tries. They are not helped by people who continually harp at them about their failures.
Now having said that, I do have a pet peeve. The Leftists/Statists continually talk about tax rates; they never talk about the actual difference in dollars paid. It is easy for the general public, and I don’t think I underestimate their sophistication, to confuse the two concepts. An example. Obama’s concept of a rich couple filing jointly with a taxable income of $250,000= $59,995 in taxes. Middle class couple, also filing jointly, with taxable income of $50,000=tax of $6,650. The tax rate is only 18% apart at 33% and 15%, and the effective tax rate difference is 24% – 13.3% or only 10,7%. Doesn’t sound good. But, the actual $$ difference is $53,345. So the rich couple actually pays 9 times more $$ than the middle class one. Big time difference. I do believe that laying out the differences in those terms would wound the “fairness argument”. You resort ot bickering over what magnitude of differential is fair, and who should decide.
We do not need to raise the debt ceiling. We need to pay the interest on the debt, but we must cut our spending. I wonder how much President Obama wants the debt ceiling raised 1 trillion, 2 trillion, 5 trillion. He said today that he did not want to just bump it up a little. I’m guessing he wants to go as far as possible just like Obamacare.
Michael Hjort,
I agree there is no need to raise the debt ceiling and there are many reasons to not raise the debt ceiling. But, raise it they will.
The rumors are a raise of 2.4 trillion is in the pipeline. It will get them into March or April of 2013. (They hope.) Obama Care isn’t fully implemented until 2014. It is then the debt ceiling, assuming the global sovereign debt bubble does not pop around the world, will need to be raised to $20 trillion to get them through the first two years of Obama Care.
We are treading on frightfully thin ice.
“”The Republicans have done a terrible job of explaining how raising taxes on the wealthy hurts job creation.””
Mr Frank
It’s a hard thing to do. Because what you basically have to communicate is that the inequality of results in American life that is perpetually being shoved down people’s throats 24/7 is in fact a feature and not a bug to a prosperous society.
What looks like poor communication is a narcissistic people’s unwillingness to accept there are people smarter, wiser and more deserving of reward for their superior results than themselves.
I wish someone would explain to the electorate that doing things to increase inflation is essentially raising “taxes” on the poor (via price increases on food, fuel, etc.)