Greenspan worried about deficit

[dhinojosa]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told France's Finance Minister Thierry Breton the United States has "lost control" of its budget deficit, the French minister said Saturday.

"'We have lost control,' that was his expression," Breton told reporters after a bilateral meeting with Greenspan.

"The United States has lost control of their budget at a time when racking up deficits has been authorized without any control (from Congress)," Breton said.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/24/news/international/greenspan_france.reut/index.htm

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Maybe he shouldn't have supported wasteful tax cuts.

[SharonAnn]

9. I hold him personally responsible for it. His support of *'s tax cuts

is what sold the plan. Many in congress were very uneasy about the plan, but when the "Maestro" came out in strong support of it, they gave in and supported it too.

So, it may be Greenspan's lasting legacy. The "Maestro" caused the bankruptcy of the United States of America.

[AndyTiedye]

20. Some of the Budget Cuts to Pay for the Tax Cuts Were the Levee Repairs

Levee repairs were cut from the budget to pay for their bloody tax cuts. :cry:

[Cha]

34. What is he, senile?

Doesn't he remember how he supported all those big fat hefty tax cuts for the top 1%? Doesn't he go to the grover norquist school of non-existent government, anymore?

[Theres-a]

2. Wow.Just wow.

[Lindacooks]

3. It's a little late for worry, you dufus.

Geez, Greenspan is such a tool.

[conflictgirl]

4. Gee, he sure catches on fast!

[Skink]

5. Andrea Mitchell's been pullin the strings for quite some time.

[MarsThe Cat]

41. the strings?

is that all that's left of alan's withered genitalia?

[susu369]

26. LOL - thanks I needed a good laugh

Of course, the reality is far from funny.

[barb162]

36. since Bush came in 5 yrs ago, he totally switched his tune about

deficits, tax cuts, etc. I think Bush has him on the "personal" payroll (on the take)

[shimbo]

6. The general public is worried, too.

Greenspan is not the only one worried....

[doublethink]

7. Maybe he came to DU tonight and saw the ...

graphic in this thread here ... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4875724
:shrug:

[DenaliDemocrat]

8. BullShit

He is not afraid of deficits when it means cutting taxes for rich people, but when it's time to help out poor black people suddenly deficits matter.

Fuck him

[WCGreen]

10. You are exactly right on this one...

That fucking bastard ruined this country and I hope there is a special place in Hell, if there is such a place, for this fuck face....

[UpInArms]

15. the best this washed-up has-been partisan hack can

hope for is an unmarked grave.

If any thinking person can find where he is buried, I think the line to piss on it will always be at least a mile long.

[WCGreen]

16. I'd start drinkin beer again just to let go a yellow stream on that

pissantes head.....

[MADem]

27. Well, he suffers from EXCRUCIATING and continuous back pain

He soaks in the bathtub for hours every day to try to relieve the pain. So he has a bit of hell on earth already....

[MarsThe Cat]

42. There is no heaven or hell, and these fucks know it-

get what you can, while you can, because this is the only ride you get.

[cyr330]

11. Fuck Him

He certainly wasn't worried about the deficit when he was supporting those goddamned tax cuts.

[tularetom]

12. Bush isn't smart enough to figure out for himself

the impact of his dumbass tax cuts but if greenspan would have stood up in 2002 and said this is a bad idea it'll lead to deficits, congress would have thought twice before approving them. Now greenspan decides it was a bad idea but he doesn't have the balls to tell bush, congress or the american people. Fuck him its time for him to get the hell out the shriveled up asswipe.

[TexasLawyer]

13. As if!

"Treasury Secretary John Snow said the U.S. administration was still committed to halving its budget deficit by 2009. "

[Lindsay]

14. Well, I'm all for the idea of having some of those fools

committed. Or rather, imprisoned.

[Toots]

46. Why???

Cheney said "Reagan proved deficits don't matter"
Is Sec. Snow in disagreement with his Leader?

[ProfessorGAC]

48. And Snow Knows What About Economics?

Answer: Absolutely Nothing. Neither did O'Neill. These crony appointments are nothing new. They've been doing it since day one.
The Professor

[NYC]

17. Oh, now he's worried.

Now.

Has he been asleep the past few years?

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

18. cool

one more nail in the coffin

[BootinUp]

19. what an enabling asshole. n/t

[dbt]

21. BIG turnaround from the Clinton Era, no?

Every time one turned on the TV circa 2000, there was Grimspawn announcing another rate hike to "put the brakes on an overheated economy."

Then, the sorry son of a BITCH gives bu$hler a rate CUT before the WLF* even takes office!

:wtf:

Remember New Orleans


* Worthless Little Fuck

[pinniped]

22. Last year the assclown said deficits didn't matter right before the...

(s)elections. Things were already out of control and the monkey covered for the POS*.

[louis-t]

31. I thought it was chain-gang cheney that said that.

[Quakerfriend]

23. What a bum! - Speaks the truth just before he retires in 1/06!

[teryang]

24. What hypocrisy!

He has supported this administration in every possible way. He could have raised interest rates much, much earlier and foreclosed the possibility of such deficit spending increasing but he knew very well the outcome would have been loss of power for the corporate plutocracy party.

Greenspan as the chief plutocrat has more power than anyone in the white house or executive branch. This is the problem with our form of government at the present time. For him to blame the problem on Congress is laughable. He was probably the only person who could have driven those elected officials out of power simply by raising the ludicrously low interest rates.

The truth is that American bankers want to inflate out of all deficit obligations.

[cassiepriam]

25. Duh. nt

[jbnow]

43. HEY! I wanted to say duh

because that's all there really is to say.

[cassiepriam]

51. sorry. You can say it next time there is a duh moment ;))

There are so many of them.

[against all enemies]

28. What an asshole. He helped.

[Cocoa]

29. this story is worthless since it doesn't mention the tax cuts

and especially Greenspan's support for them.

This glaring omission makes this an ad for Greenspan instead of a news story.

[Arugula Latte]

30. Fuck you very much, Mr. Greenspan.

You knew this would be the result. Yet you went along with it.

Fuck you very much.

[robre]

32. Please stop acting like you know more than Mr. Greenspan.

Mr. Greenspan has been worried about the current account balance for a long time. Reducing Government deficits are only one way to increase the current account balance. Also, having a negative current account balance isn't that bad, as long as we can attract enough foreign investors to support it, however the levels the account balance is growing today we need to attract something like 1 billion dollars in foreign investment to maintain this level of a trade gap, and its growing; however, the net income from foriegn investments is decreasing. When combined this sets us up for major corrections in the U.S. dollar value and in U.S. domestic markets.

[GeorgeGist]

45. Capitalism 101 for dummies

The rich profit off the poor. Here, there, anywhere.

[robre]

55. Capitalism 101 for people that aren't dumb

Mutual voluntary agreements between a consumer and a producer are not abusive, but are infact the foundation of modern civilization.

[ProfessorGAC]

49. Please Stop Acting Like You Know Anything About Economics. . .

. . .beyond Econ 101 or 102. I've published more papers in the field of econometric modeling since 1988, than Greenspan has in his entire career on any subject. Greenspan is a political hack who has had little positive effect on the macroeconomy during his entire tenure.

In fact, his tendencies to overcontrol interest rates in some quixotic attempt to hold down inflation (when interest rates follow price inflation not precede it), has done more damage than good.

So, perhaps it might be best to know your audience before one starts singing the praises of Greenspan and castigating others for what they don't know.
The Professor

[robre]

54. Partisan derision of an politically independent expert doesn't help.

Perhaps you could explain what you would do better in his situation? Greenspan's done a damn good job, and it always seems that partisan hacks from both sides criticize them because he isn't predicting enough gloom and doom for their tastes, I distinctly remember Republicans doing in the middle of Clinton's last term, but guess what? Greenspan usually gets it right. Why? Because, fundamentally, he doesn't even believe in paper money, and this fundamental distrust is what makes his analysis so careful.

You are correct, my field is not economics, but electrical engineering. Business mathematics is based on some very, very simple partial derivatives and differential equations. I actually understand how the mathematics are derived rather than simply how to punch it into a calculator. My background allowed me to completely understand Comparative Statics Analysis in about five minutes. You probably spent the majority of your graduate studies learning the mathematical concepts I learned the first two years of my undergraduate degree.

The market is headed for a major correction. If you will notice that the balance of investment earnings has turned negative this last quarter, and foreign investors have displaced their stock purchases with bond purchases. Greenspan is doing his best to fight the correction this is going to cause.

[Rainscents]

33. BULLSHIT Greenspan! You help created this Deficit!

When Clinton first took the office, you told Clinton, he must get the deficits down and YOU, Mr. Greenspan, started to raise interest rate right off the bat and once Clinton got the Deficits down and had huge surplus, You, Mr. Greenspan, told Clinton you were worry that, We had too much surplus and econemy was going too great! Here's now, for the past 5 years, you have done NOTHING about rasing interest rate and sky rocketing deficits. Mr. Greenspan, you're nothing but right wing whore!

[robre]

35. Greenspan is the one raising the interest rates.

Note that the interest rates he raises do not affect you directly. He's raising them to slow down the economy because there is a major correction coming that he is trying to blunt and to try to keep major inflation from happening.

This is exactly what he did before the previous recession that he predicted and pretty much no one else did. Greenspan has warned against Bush's deficits in the past when he talks about the "current account balance" or as alarmists call it the "trade deficit." One of the primary ways the government can manipulate the trade deficit is by government spending.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

40. Total bs

Greenspan has been the big enabler of these deficits by keeping interest rates artificially low. This has depressed the savings rates of Americans and fueled an unsustainable real estate boom/bubble. I personally knew Greenspan was totally in the tank when he recommended ARMs and interest only loans when only a lunatic would take those out at a time of historically low fixed rates. He then later refuted his own advice about these loans. The man is a hack and history will treat him very harshly. His successor will have to clean up his mess.

[sandnsea]

44. Get a new Econ professor

There's so much smoke being blown up your ass that it's gonna start coming out your ears any day now.

[ignatius 2]

37. Fuck that old toad frog. All we heard when Clinton was president

was we have to balance the budget. When he left, we had $238 Billion in surplus.

Then all we heard from Greenspan was how much better to give the money in tax cuts than to have the government spend it.

Not only were there tax cuts but this administration has spent 35% more in domestic spending over and above the military and homeland security. War,bread,butter and cake, the repigs have spent money like drunken sailors and nary a peep from the toadie.

What's a matter you old fuck, worried about your legacy?

Sleep with dogs,wake up with fleas and you have slept with the mangiest of the pack.

[aion]

38. I am not sure, but if his answers come from that constant hair-scratching

...we may be doomed. They've broken the piggy bank in the past, and at the rate they're going, it's reasonable to assume they're trying to do it again.

[populistdriven]

39. Greenspan is another mouthpiece for the Ultra Rich

[bluedog]

47. he should have seen that coming

why'd he wait so long to say something........hes a coward.

[goforit]

50. For some one who kissed Bush's ass for five years, he's now worried?

[WhiteTara]

52. F*ck that piece of Sh*t

He set this nasty mess up and NOW he says that we are in trouble? Fuck HIM!

[Chicago Democrat]

53. sHOVe it ALAN

JERK