Obama slams Republicans for threat to blow up entire economy

[JimC]

A trillion here, a trillion there, and soon you're talking real money...

[cronus]

A trillion here, a trillion there, and soon you're talking real money...

You don't know what a trillion is until it's gone and no longer there.

[cronus]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... fears.html

World should 'de-Americanise', says China following default fears

The looming prospect of a US default on debt prompted China to call for the world to “de-Americanise”, amid warnings of a new global recession.
In China, Xinhua, the official government news agency, said that as American politicians continued to flounder over a deal to break the impasse, “it is perhaps a good time for the befuddled world to start considering building a de-Americanised world”.

The jibe came as Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund chief, raised the spectre of a repeat of the 2008 financial crash as hopes dwindled for a resolution of the crisis over the debt ceiling and partial government shutdown.

Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrat-controlled Senate and Mitch McConnell, who heads the Republican minority, met on Sunday for “preliminary” talks following the acrimonious collapse of negotiations between the White House and Republicans in the lower chamber.

Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary, has said that the US will run out of money to pay its bills on Thursday if Congress does not authorise an increase in federal borrowing limits.

Ms Lagarde repeated her warning about the impact of failing to raise the debt ceiling following the fund’s annual meeting of finance ministers in Washington.
“If there is that degree of disruption, that lack of certainty, that lack of trust in the US signature, it would mean massive disruption the world over,” she told NBC’s Meet the Press programme. “And we would be at risk of tipping, yet again, into recession.”

Xinhua attacked America’s pre-eminent position in the world, adding that “such alarming days when the destinies of others are in the hands of a hypocritical nation have to be terminated”.

State-run newspapers nonetheless have also noted the inseparable economic ties which bind China and the US together. China is the biggest foreign holder of US Treasury bonds, worth a total of $1.28 trillion according to American government data.

(continued)

[pErvinalia]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

Theoretically it could go on for quite a while. But running a government with so many workers being furloughed is like running your engine with the Check Oil light on. It'll keep going a ways, but things will start to wear down and there could be some very bad damage resulting from it.

But so far, the worst result may be damage to the Republican Party. The civil war within it is becoming more obvious by the day, and their public approval is in the toilet: yesterday Gallup had the party's approval rating at 28%, a record low for that polling company. And a new NBC/WSJ poll today has even worse results:

Americans blamed Republicans over President Barack Obama for the shutdown by a margin of 22 percentage points, with 53 percent saying the GOP deserved more blame, and 31 percent saying Obama did. Approval ratings for the Republican Party and the tea party were at 24 percent and 21 percent respectively -- both record lows as measured by NBC/WSJ. Obama's approval rating is a marginally positive 47 percent.
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013 ... s-gop?lite

Good! Not that I particularly like the Democratic party, but I really hope this leads to either the implosion of the Republican party, or forces them to start being a party of governance, not silly games and endless butthurt.

[pErvinalia]

How long can this go on? Isn't there some sort of constitutional tie breaker that can force government to resume being a government? Or could this theoretically go on without an end in sight?

There's a tie-breaker. It's called the mid-term 2014 congressional elections. It's only a year and a bit away. No time at all. Be over before you know it.

The Chinese invasion of your paralysed country is due a few months before that...

Quick!

To the bat bunker!

[Coito ergo sum]

From Zilla. I think you can add it in facebook

That bitch! How dare she question the propriety of welfare recipients with digital cable television, $100 per month cell phone bills, and central air conditioning running all day....I mean, if there are things that ought to be provided to the needy, those are they....

[Clinton Huxley]

Can't the USA hang a sign on the Statue of Liberty, "Will bomb for cash"? Or maybe speak to Wonga?

[Coito ergo sum]

Moody's: Calm down, not raising the debt ceiling doesn't mean default: http://www.caintv.com/moodys-calm-down-not-raising-t

"We believe the government would continue to pay interest and principal on its debt even in the event that the debt limit is not raised, leaving its creditworthiness intact,” the memo says. “The debt limit restricts government expenditures to the amount of its incoming revenues; it does not prohibit the government from servicing its debt. There is no direct connection between the debt limit (actually the exhaustion of the Treasury’s extraordinary measures to raise funds) and a default.

[Clinton Huxley]

They'll be privatising CES next......

[pErvinalia]

Just print more money. Fucktonnes of it!

(and send some my way).

[Coito ergo sum]

The Incredibly Simple Reason Why The Debt Ceiling Just Doesn't Matter
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall ... nt-matter/

[Clinton Huxley]

Everyone, remember to check your monthly bank statement, If you find a debit for $25 million for a SpaceX launch to the ISS, the NSA has hacked your bank account and stolen your identity.....

[klr]

Can't the USA hang a sign on the Statue of Liberty, "Will bomb for cash" ?

"I will gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger drone strike today."

Or maybe speak to Wonga?

[Coito ergo sum]

They'll be privatising CES next......

That's impossible. I'm a national treasure.

[Clinton Huxley]

They'll be privatising CES next......

That's impossible. I'm a national treasure.

Times are hard. I hear Indonesia has bought your left elbow.