We’ve all heard that China owns a large share of our national debt. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office recently reported that China owns about 9.8% of our $13.5 trillion debt. The good news is that Chinese bankers have shown more confidence in the United States than the economic turncoats in the Republican Party have.
Republican leaders have been exaggerating the impact of the national debt on the economy ever since Barack Obama moved into the White House. (They didn’t care much as long as George W. Bush was piling up the debt, of course.) In a recent talk with National Journal’s Major Barrett about his plans to tackle the debt, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised the conclusions of President Obama’s fiscal commission and chastised the president for not endorsing them, especially as they related to proposed cuts to Social Security. But Jamelle Bouie noted at Prospect.org that Ryan also opposed the controversial Bowles-Simpson plan (which failed to get the required majority to send it to Congress). “Not only did he sit on the commission, but he voted against the final report, and called it a step ‘backwards.’
“In short,” Bouie concluded, “when offered a big opportunity to endorse a solution for Social Security, Ryan refused. Between this, and his willingness to mislead the public, I’m continually stunned by the Beltway’s willingness to take him seriously.”
Steve Benen at WashingtonMonthly.com noted that one of House Speaker John Boehner’s favorite phrases is “We’re broke.” That’s the justification for brutal cuts in areas like education, medical research, infrastructure, job training, and national security, all of which would cost the economy hundreds of thousands of jobs. And it’s a lie.
“The US government is not broke,” Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York, told David J. Lynch of Bloomberg News (March 6). “There’s no evidence that the market is treating the US government like it’s broke.”
4 comments:
Leftist propaganda.
If you think being $14.2 TRILLION in debt isn't 'broke', maybe you could borrow some big bucks and start supporting me.
It isn't how 'the market' treats you, it's what you have in the bank.
The liberals don't believe we are broke because the taxpayers still get to keep about half of what they earn. Until they have complete control of the money and they have blown it all they will not be happy. Then after that they will blame the republicans. The repuclican party needs to get some guts and start ramming these cuts down their throats like the dems did with healthcare. Once the budget gets in line and the markets can see some strength in the dollar. The American people will reward the repulicans with votes.
Keep drinking that Kool-aid
Actually, a lot of conservatives chided Bush on his spending. It just didn't get any press.
Truth is, we're overspending by leaps and bounds. Total Federal revenues(collected taxes) are roughly 2 trillion; we're spending 1.6 trillion more per year than we take in. It's a system that's simply unsustainable.
China has been a net seller of US treasuries the past 3 months, and last month sold roughly 1% of all it's treasuries. The gov't has so far been able to finance our wild spending quite cheaply, but that will be coming to an end. When you can no longer find buyers, yield rates go up. China has been a net seller in 2011, Japan(3rd largest holder of US treasuries) is in a world of hurt right now, so it's fair to say they won't continue investing until they get their own problems in order. Add to that the debt ceiling debate...And that could mean a huge jump in treasury yields. I can easily see the 30 year going from 4.6(roughly) today, to 6% within the next couple of months. Going to get hard to swallow those interest payments sooner or later.
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