I will put my animosity aside to address your point about the debt ceiling talks. First and foremost, this country is in deep trouble and it is not because of Bernanke floating money to banks, it is because of years of stupid overspending by gov and the bloat of gov.
The liberal view is to do what they have always done which is push this debt way out in front and years down the road, making it someone else's problem. That is not what we need and that's too bad for bernanke if he is concerned that immediate cuts would slow the economy even further. That is backward thinking. I also do not think taxpayers should bear the brunt of reckless politicians and their spending.
Conservatives do not like engaging in foreign wars. Reagan resisted this and had the sense to withdraw in the face of losses in Beirut. Bush was a moron so we ended up with two massive wars at the hands of Bush I and II which did little but trigger recessions. Wars are expensive.
What about the liberals and the nanny state. The entitlements have grown out of control. Gov has botched them all especially medicare and social security.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCdgv7n9xCY&feature=related
Government needs to suffer the burden of their spending. Of all the recession, only one group has been spared unemployment. That is the gov worker, the very entity that has caused this overhang needs to now pay. They need to pay on several levels. 1) with job losses like everyone else. 2) with pension systems that are a total abuse of the taxpayer 3) salary reductions and cutbacks of all their special gov perks and exemptions.
The fist must come down hard. It must come down on the hear and now and in the future. Obama is a thick skulled mongrel. None of this sinks in.
Liberals have said that shutting down gov is bad because we will still have to pay for everyone that was sent home and the restart costs. That is the gun to our heads. But we need relief now from this huge gov bloat and overhead. Because this insane growth from both parties is the root cause of these tragic economic recessions.
It is not the private sector or businesses that are flush with cash that owe something to the gov. Its not the tired taxpayer or small business owner that should suffer the brunt of irresponsible politicians.
Obama went completely berserk with spending. The liberals tore this country to pieces. Tarp was bad enough but the liberals went crazy. Bush spent like a drunken sailor and Obama to the level of alcohol toxicity. These two back to back azzholes have done huge damage to this nation.
So now it is time for Gov to pay the price, not the citizens. Citizens have already paid enough.
What congress should be doing is eliminating workers and trimming back the military. But with all the talk about debt ceiling, there hasn't been one dime of cut backs. A business heading into a recession would cut heads, fast and furious. But gov workers are unionized so they think they are entitled to jobs for life, big perks for life.
Gov workers need to be laid off, pensions cut, retirement ages raised substantially. We need relief now and in the future. Obama wants to have 4 trillion in cuts 12 years down the road. That isn't even enough to keep up with the interest. Republicans was more cuts at 28 years down the road. Again we need the relief now.
Under bush gov expanded 33% in 8 years, under obama it expanded 33% in two years. Obama is bush on steroids.
I think most agree that US bonds are garbage. I am short bonds and some here are playing with goldman and precious metals. Nevertheless, a nice default would trigger a bond collapse and sell off. The only rescue would be the Fed to float the losses. So it would make the Fed totally insolvent. But, a default would hang on the neck of exactly who should bear the brunt, the gov itself and the Fed.
As I have said, the only group that has not suffered this recession is the gov employee. Their numbers have expanded as if it was good times at a booming business. How many businesses do you know that increase their labor forces by 33% in two years. Business would have to be incredibly good. But with gov, they don't care. They don't care how deep they send the nation into debt as long as life is comfortable for them. You have lifeguards in California getting paid an average of $250K a year, and some at over $300K.
The insanity deserves a major wakeup call which has not happened since these professional politicians took control. So It may very well be time to shut the whole mess down. But th cuts being talked about are not good enough. Citizens may lose parts of medicare and social security which is the same as blaming them for the reckless politicians that caused this and the politicians have their own plush retirement plan and medical care. So this all needs to come down around obama's alfred E newman ears. That pryk deserves the wrath of this nation. He wanted to campaign in the middle of a recession. Even LBJ knew enough to quit when things got bad.
Some here maybe right, it is a publicity scare but I am telling you that the gov worker and gov needs to bear the brunt. I would push for an immediate cut back of 25% of gov workers both federal state and local. I would cut salaries by 20% with a complete review going forward. Long term cuts are not enough. We need both a massive reduction in gov, including the military presence over the globe, but every worthless program and then we need future cuts.
Bernanke can worry about it but gov contribution to GDP is negligible. It stands as overhead and creates a sinking fund. Taxpayers should not be paying a dime for the reckless conduct of politicians. Let the bond holders eat it. They were stupid enough to believe that treasury bonds were safe while politicians spent like they had lost their minds. Well like good bond holders, sometimes you hold the bag. Gov has lots of land it can sell to pay down its debt. If it were you, that's what you would have to do.
regards
doug
