Comments on: Did S&P make an error (redux)? https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/ A blog about political change, among other things Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:30:26 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 By: rickl https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259465 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:30:26 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259465 I agree with GaryP. I also believe the U.S. should have been downgraded before now.

If the downgrade causes more Americans to wake up and pay attention to the suicidal path the government is on, it will have done some good.

A trillion here; a trillion there. Pretty soon you’re talking about serious money.

]]> By: Tom https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259421 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:33:20 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259421 Gary… DEAD nuts ON!

]]> By: Parker https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259418 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:22:32 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259418 I couldn’t careless about why S&P finally decided to downgrade our debt. If it manages to sober up a few of the prima donnas in DC it is a good thing no matter what rationale is used to justify the decision. However, I don’t see much evidence (yet) that the players in DC are taking this seriously. Its just another ‘crisis’ used as an excuse to blame your opponents for a problem you helped create.

IMO the real benefit from the downgrade is that it may cause people who normally pay little attention to the details of important economic issues to wake up and understand what is being done to our children and grandchildren.

]]> By: neo-neocon https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259412 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:36:51 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259412 JJ: These two writers are not Democrats, and they are not blaming the Tea Party.

Although Democrats are blaming the Tea Party, of course. S&P was careful to phrase its explanation for its action in such a way that each side could use it to blame the other.

]]> By: J.J. formerly Jimmy J. https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259411 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:29:36 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259411 Blame S&P and the TEA Party. The dem big lie is that this is a “TEA Party downgrade.” Never let a crisis go to waste.

The TEA Party, which is not a party but an amorphopus group of people with an idea – that government is too big and spends too much money – is to blame for the downgrade? Give me a break!! The TEA party is playing the role of Paul Revere and trying to warn the citizens about the irresponsibility of the government. The dems have no shame.

]]> By: Stark https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259402 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:46:41 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259402 Good post GaryP. With the amount of acknowledged debt that is growing, the interest payments alone will swamp the budget when interest rates return to more normal levels. It is amazing that the other rating outfits have not made the same downgrade call.

]]> By: GaryP https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259395 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:55:50 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259395 Obviously, shooting the messenger is always more pleasant than listening to the message. Especially when the messenger is so obviously tainted by previous mistakes.
However, I fault S&P more for NOT downgrading the US many years ago more than for downgrading the US now.
It has been obvious for 30 years that the US was on the road to fiscal and economic collapse.
We have finally run out of pavement and are on the bumpy dirt road down to the cliff. Do we have any brakes? Does the steering wheel even work? I fear not.
However, if it distracts your mind from the impending crash to argue about whether we will go broke because we can’t pay back $22T or $24T, maybe you should just focus on the “math error” and not on the essential fact: the US is (almost certainly) going to default either explicitly or implicitly (via inflation).
Despite S&P’s crimes during the sub-prime years, their insider trading, their math errors (all excellent distractions for the real issue), the central fact is that the debt ceiling debate demonstrated conclusively that we cannot, or will not, change course from fiscal ruin.
Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then. Let us not debate if S&P is blind but whether the acorn is real.

]]> By: Artfldgr https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259393 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:55:12 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259393 August 8 U.S. President Richard Nixon delivers his resignation speech on national television following his involvement in covering up the Watergate scandal

will Obama tell us about his birth cert, and other interesting details… which technically, invalidate any and all treaties and laws he has signed… so if foreign bodies decide to play the game on it, then what?

1936 Jesse Owens wins 4th gold medal at Berlin Olympics

1942 Mahatma Gandhi and 50 others arrested in Bombay after passing of a “quit India” campaign by the All-India Congress

1942 200 Jews escape Mir Ghetto in Poland

1945 U.S. drops 2nd atomic bomb “Fat Man” on Japan destroys part of Nagasaki

1969 Manson family commits Tate-LaBianca murders

1974 Richard Nixon resigns presidency, Vice President Gerald Ford becomes 38th president

]]> By: Artfldgr https://thenewneo.com/2011/08/09/did-sp-make-an-error-redux/#comment-259390 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:47:32 +0000 http://neoneocon.com/?p=8651#comment-259390 no error, they just want you to think it was an error, as that will change your personal behavior in terms of your actions in investments, and other things

on another note…

Today in history, Lieutenant Valentina Tereshkova, becomes the first woman to go into space.

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