U.S. Credit Rating Downgraded....

[findrskeep]

Just saw this on Google news and it's breaking news on CNN right now...

[Ricochet21]

1. what a coincidence nt

[findrskeep]

2. I know, no shocker huh??

[elleng]

8. More: World Leaders Ponder Response.

In Europe, there was speculation that the European Central Bank, whose governing council was expected to hold an emergency conference call late Sunday, would buy Spanish and Italian bonds to prevent borrowing costs for those countries from becoming unsustainable.

But as the shock of the Friday’s downgrade of United States debt reverberated dangerously with anxiety about European debt, some analysts said that the European Central Bank would itself need help because of its limited charter and its internal divisions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/business/global/as-market-tension-builds-world-leaders-ponder-response.html

[FirstLight]

3. hmmm...

mars retro or merc or both...?

seems like this reminds me of the uranus /saturn/neptune/pluto stuff in rick's newsletter this month.
the old ways are done, so they are going to falter no matter how we try to prop them up...

wow,

and at the same time i am busy cleaning house and preparing for school, minding my own space you know?

[Saokymo]

4. Everything all together, pretty much.

S&P's downgrade is more of a warning than anything -- US lawmakers need to get their acts together NOW or else shit will really hit the fan.

Apparently the $2 trillion math error is based on the assumption that the Bush Tax Cuts will not be allowed to expire due to the obstructionist teajadists and Republicans. We'll just have to see how this all plays out in the next few weeks.

[NJCher]

5. serious?

Apparently the $2 trillion math error is based on the assumption that the Bush Tax Cuts will not be allowed to expire due to the obstructionist teajadists and Republicans.

If you are, that's friggin' hilarious!


Cher

[Saokymo]

6. It's what I gathered from reading up on it last night

The details are still rather fuzzy all the way around. The way I'm seeing things is this:

According to some analysis, the debt ceiling deal was reached with the baseline assumption that the tax cuts will be allowed to expire. If the teajadists want to keep their tax breaks for the wealthy then they'll have to find a way to match the loss of revenue dollar-for-dollar in other areas. BUT! The key social safety programs that they *really* want to cut -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- are more or less protected, meaning they'll have to pull the funds from other areas.

The bloated military budget is pretty much the only space to find that kind of funding to cut. The teajadists can try to sell us on massive cuts to domestic areas like education and transportation, but it's already an uphill battle. There's also an assumption included in the deal that the wars will wind down, cutting military spending even further.

So basically (at least from what I've read so far) the Bush Tax Cuts are all but guaranteed to expire by the end of next year because there is no feasible budget outside the military that can be cut to match the costs. The teajadists and Republicans are stuck between a rock and a hard place -- lose the tax cuts or slice the military-industrial complex. If Congress doesn't get together on the "super committee" then the tax cuts expire automatically anyway -- Obama will veto them at the end of the year. It's a short-term PR loss for the White House in exchange for a long-term win for the budget.



Now with the current political atmosphere, Obama and the White House can't act as though this is a win because it would tip the other side off that there's more in the details than they think. I strongly suspect neither side had ample time to read the entire bill, which is why Democrats are saying this is such a terrible loss to the progressive agenda. The teajadists are so caught up in their hatred for Obama they'll decry anything that happens anyway. At this point the White House is letting both sides bluster and fluster, waiting for the dust to settle and figure out what happens next.

But because we haven't heard much about the details of the debt ceiling deal outside independent analysis, most people aren't really aware of what's actually included. I believe S&P has fallen for the same ploy, and given the obstructionist nature of the teajadists have decided to "play it safe" by assuming the tax cuts will not be allowed to expire.


So in short...
Grab the popcorn, y'all, 'cuz this is some great political theater! :popcorn:

[NJCher]

10. that's very interesting

Thanks for sharing the results of your reading.

I love the part about republicans and the teabaggers being between a rock and a hard place.


Cher

[graceastrology]

11. Saturn in the US horoscope...

FirstLight, I wrote about this yesterday on my blog. Perhaps you will find it of interest -- it's the forecast for 8/8/2011

Cheers.
EG

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. America is seriously at risk of becoming a second-world country.

The Maharishi and others have said it, or implied it strongly. America would shift to a spiritual basis and India and others would be the top players economically/productively. Americans need to embrace spirituality, at least, the positive aspects of spirituality. It may be forced upon them from their sheer need of such. I have discussed all of this previously.

I note that gold only fell $15.00 when the stock market dropped over 500 points. :shrug:

[Ricochet21]

9. I agree completely.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. RT news are saying that China could surpass the US as the world's economic leader

in less than four years, if the stock people turn to Asian markets to avoid the situations in the US and Europe.