Bush's treasury chief defends debt

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=342b9ad777ffddb7&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Bush's treasury chief defends debt
Snow says any debt used to fund Social Security won't hurt economyBy Jonathan Weisman

Updated: 6:32 a.m. ET Dec. 18, 2004WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security probably won't raise interest rates or adversely impact financial markets, even if the program entails borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars to finance it, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said yesterday.

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In an interview, Snow said he is consulting closely with the White House on the issue, which has dogged the president's Social Security proposal. He said any additional debt should be accounted for "openly, transparently, above board," not hidden "off budget" for political purposes. Some Congressional budget writers have suggested in recent weeks that borrowing for Social Security should be accounted for differently and essentially ignored as part of the yearly federal deficit since it would be reducing costs over the long run.

"If we have a real fix for Social Security, if we make the system financially feasible so that its revenue in-flows support its out-flows, and we eliminate this $10.4 trillion gap, the markets will applaud the political leadership that made it possible," Snow said. "The bond markets would respond positively to that."

more...

Snow is such a Yes Man!!! More Debt is OK as long as we destroy social security thats OK!!!

[RPM]

1. yeah - he would

that asshat couldnt run a damn railroad.

Kept forgetting the simple rule that the rails must be 4 feet 8 1/2 inches apart. (CSX had atrocious track conditions under his 'stewardship' - worst in the country)

And they thought he could run an economy? Guh...

[TahitiNut]

2. This is indefensible!

[mulethree]

9. Thats just the Government's share

The whole country has insane debt

[Tace]

3. The Financial Sector Would Love Private SS Accounts

All that "stupid" money pouring in would bolster stock and bond prices. The boost in bond prices would result in a corresponding inverse weight on interest rates.

It will help to delay the inevitable, maybe past the end of chimp's second term.

[mulethree]

8. Money is where the Money's at

Table 6.16D. Corporate Profits by Industry  
[Billions of dollars]
Bureau of Economic Analysis
http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=228&FirstYear=2002&LastYear=2004&Freq=Qtr
                                                              
                    
(Abbreviated)                                                 
                                                              
              
Corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital
consumption adjustments						
 	                 1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Corporate profits  	801.6	851.3	817.9	767.3	874.6	1021.1
Domestic industries	698.7	729.8	672.2	597.6	716.8	844.2
 Financial(1)      	154.5	183.5	184.7	240.4	298.4	327.8
 Nonfinancial	         544.1	546.3	487.5	357.2	418.4	516.4
  Utilities	         32.7	33.1	24.4	24.7	11.4	18.8
  Manufacturing	         157	150.6	144.3	52.6	50.7	67.3
    Durable goods	          83.4	72.3	60	-25.4	-8.3	-3.5
    Nondurable goods	 73.6	78.3	84.3	78	58.9	70.7
  Wholesale trade	          53.2	55.5	59.7	52.1	51	47.9
  Retail trade	          66.4	65.2	59.6	71	78.1	77.7
  Transport&warehousing	 21	16.1	14.9	1.3	-1.3	10.5
  Information	          20.1	10.5	-17.6	-25.6	-11.2	-0.7
  Other nonfinancial(2)	119.8	130.1	128.2	145.9	144.2	162.1

(1) Consists of finance and insurance and bank and other
holding companies.

(2) Consists of agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting;
mining; construction; realestate and rental and leasing;
professional, scientific, and technical
services;administrative and waste management services;
educational services; health care and socialassistance; arts,
entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food
services; and otherservices, except government.

[TahitiNut]

10. Yup. Finance and Heath Care are getting fatter and fatter ...

Both 'industries' use appallingly low-paid labor. Both industries prey upon human hardship. Labor (bottom 80%) in both 'industries' are getting shafted.

[gizmo1979]

4. someone explain to me

Let me see if I got this right,*is going to keep social security at the same levels it is now,not raise payroll taxes,and take 4%out of the system.How is this going to work? He's going to borrow that 4%,but it won't increase the deficit?How does this make any sense>even with rose color glasses on you have to see it just doesn't work.Or am I missing something?

[The Zanti Regent]

6. Why the PRESIDENTIAL PRAYER TEAM is going to pray the red ink away

Yes, those intrepid prayer warriors at

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com

are going to pray 24/7 for the Big J to intervene and vanquish all public debt!

Seeing that the Big J just doesn't seem to get involved in the intervention stuff anymore, I expect a SERIOUS letdown for these ignorant idiots...

[UpInArms]

5. more fuzzy math by the fuzzy headed f***twits

The estimated population of the United States is 295,093,398
so each citizen's share of this debt is $25,697.18.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$2.56 billion per day since September 30, 2004

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/20/politics/main656797.shtml

Bush Signs Debt-Limit Hike

(CBS/AP) President Bush signed legislation on Friday raising the government's debt limit by $800 billion and clearing the way for Congress to send him an overdue $388 billion spending bill to finance most federal agencies.

The new federal borrowing cap is $8.18 trillion; that's 70 percent the size of the entire U.S. economy, and more than $2.4 trillion higher than the debt Mr. Bush inherited upon taking office in 2001.

The House approved the debt-limit measure Thursday by a near party line 208-204 vote. Its passage was not in doubt because the alternative was a jarring federal default, but it was nonetheless a battlefield for partisan fingerpointing.

...more...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/11/18/senate_votes_to_let_us_borrow_up_to_818_trillion/

Senate votes to let US borrow up to $8.18 trillion

WASHINGTON -- A divided Senate approved an $800 billion increase in the federal debt limit yesterday, a major boost in borrowing that Senator John Kerry and other Democrats blamed on the fiscal policies of President Bush.

The 52-44 vote, mostly along party lines, was expected to be followed by House passage today. Enactment would raise the government's borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion -- more than eight times the total federal debt that existed when President Reagan took office in 1981.

In his first remarks on the Senate floor since Kerry's presidential bid ended in defeat two weeks ago, the Massachusetts Democrat said his former opponent had presided over ''the worst fiscal turnaround in our nation's entire history."

He was referring to the change from the $5.6 trillion in surpluses that were projected for the next 10 years when Bush took office in 2001, to the $2.3 trillion in deficits now estimated for the coming decade. Kerry and other Democrats complained that those bills will have to be paid by future generations.

''This can be called a birth tax, a birth tax that is dumped on the back of every American child unwillingly," said Kerry, who voted against the borrowing increase.

Republican senators did not join in the debate, underscoring how politically uncomfortable the measure is for them. They had refused to bring the bill to a vote before the elections.

...more...

[susanna]

7. Sheeee-oooot.

I'd love to use that excuse with all those mundane, pesky creditors I deal with. How 'bout you?