The Republicans who were supported by the Tea party are talking about not agreeing to an increase in the national debt ceiling as a way of putting a lid on more federal spending. Treasury Secretary Geithner is telling lawmakers that failing to raise the debt ceiling could "Have catastrophic economic consequences".
Not mentioned in any of the articles I've seen about this matter is the impact not raising the debt ceiling would have on interest rates being paid on short term U.S. debt. Right now U.S. treasury bills are paying less than 1% interest in trillions of debt. If we don't raise the debt ceiling, it's my understanding that the bond rating services would be obliged to downgrade our credit rating as a nation -- which would result in our having to offer higher interest rates to induce people to buy our bonds and short term paper. This is in addition to numerous other dire consequences predicted by Geithner.
Mark Thiessen in the Washington Post tells us that "The Treasury Department has many tools it can use to continue paying U.S. obligations during an impasse -- such as suspending sales of non-marketable debt, trimming or delaying auctions of marketable securities and under-investing in certain government trust funds." He also argues that if the GOP stands firm, Obama will be forced to agree to serious spending concessions in order to get the debt ceiling raised.
So it looks like a game of high stakes "chicken". Who will cave first?
Vern
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tea Party. Show all posts
Monday, January 17, 2011
Monday, August 23, 2010
Fight or Flight?
The political left try to divert the real objectives of the Tea Party movement by arguing that taxes are low for the middle class and that Obama intends to continue the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $200,000 per year. (Those on the bottom half of the economic spectrum don't pay any income taxes.)
But the Tea Party people aren't complaining about current tax levels. They see the huge amounts of deficit spending and the costly laws that the liberals are passing or trying to pass and they understand that huge deficits and enormous levels of debt will translate into either higher taxes or inflation or a combination of the two.
So the members of the Tea Party are organizing and exchanging information in order to replace the liberal members of the Congress with candidates who seem to reflect the goals of the Tea Party for a smaller government, less spending and less taxes. Of course, voting for newcomers is a lot like buying the proverbial "pig in a poke". We won't know if the new comers are just jumping on a bandwagon or are sincere in their intentions and have the fortitude to resist the siren call of power and influence.
Meanwhile, there are some of us who remember the very limited success of the "Contract with America" where a lot of newcomers went to Washington and quickly got indoctrinated with the way things are done in the "Land of Oz." (The crystal city was not in Kansas; it was in Washington.)
I currently have four clients who have retained me to help them with the paperwork to expatriate. That means they are going to give up their U.S. citizenship. For those who don't have any confidence that the Tea Party or anyone else can really change things in Washington, flight is their choice. And there are many indications that flight is becoming the choice for a lot more people.
For myself and my wife, we are at an age and have a family situation such that we are going to stay. Since we have ruled out the choice of flight, we intend to do what we can to join the fight -- even if past efforts to turn things around were not successful. At a minimum, I will continue to share what I'm learning about the issues with those who may have an interest in one more voice for freedom.
As Glenn Beck and some other have concluded, the first step is for all of us to learn about the history of the Progressive Liberal movement so that we can better understand what is happening now. The second step is for each of us to share our discoveries with others and to encourage them to become politically aware.
Just my two cents.
I invite you to visit my Liberty portal at http://www.offshorepress.com/liberty/
Vern
But the Tea Party people aren't complaining about current tax levels. They see the huge amounts of deficit spending and the costly laws that the liberals are passing or trying to pass and they understand that huge deficits and enormous levels of debt will translate into either higher taxes or inflation or a combination of the two.
So the members of the Tea Party are organizing and exchanging information in order to replace the liberal members of the Congress with candidates who seem to reflect the goals of the Tea Party for a smaller government, less spending and less taxes. Of course, voting for newcomers is a lot like buying the proverbial "pig in a poke". We won't know if the new comers are just jumping on a bandwagon or are sincere in their intentions and have the fortitude to resist the siren call of power and influence.
Meanwhile, there are some of us who remember the very limited success of the "Contract with America" where a lot of newcomers went to Washington and quickly got indoctrinated with the way things are done in the "Land of Oz." (The crystal city was not in Kansas; it was in Washington.)
I currently have four clients who have retained me to help them with the paperwork to expatriate. That means they are going to give up their U.S. citizenship. For those who don't have any confidence that the Tea Party or anyone else can really change things in Washington, flight is their choice. And there are many indications that flight is becoming the choice for a lot more people.
For myself and my wife, we are at an age and have a family situation such that we are going to stay. Since we have ruled out the choice of flight, we intend to do what we can to join the fight -- even if past efforts to turn things around were not successful. At a minimum, I will continue to share what I'm learning about the issues with those who may have an interest in one more voice for freedom.
As Glenn Beck and some other have concluded, the first step is for all of us to learn about the history of the Progressive Liberal movement so that we can better understand what is happening now. The second step is for each of us to share our discoveries with others and to encourage them to become politically aware.
Just my two cents.
I invite you to visit my Liberty portal at http://www.offshorepress.com/liberty/
Vern
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