So, we're fucked, right?

[kramwest1]

not to worry, folks.

Unemployment Falls: Recession Fears Ease After Jobs Report - ABC News

But in July, businesses added 154,000 jobs across many industries, the Labor Department said. Governments cut 37,000 jobs last month, though 23,000 of those losses were almost entirely because of the shutdown of Minnesota's state government.

You're welcome rest of the country.

 

[INDY500]

This econ data was coming whether there was a debt ceiling agreement or not, you're not really making any sense whatsoever, Indie.

Debt deal sought to head off stock plunge - Chicago Sun-Times

Debt deal sought to head off stock plunge

WASHINGTON — Precariously short of time, congressional leaders struggled in urgent, weekend-long talks to avert an unprecedented government default, desperate to show enough progress to head off a plunge in stock prices when Asian markets open ahead of the U.S. workweek.

Pretty sure all I said was we were told this would happen in the absence of a debt deal. Take up your beef with them.

Thanks for playing, though, we have a lovely parting gift bag for you and yours on the way out.

If it includes this book:

I already have it, give it a read yourself.

 

[Irvine511]

Govt officials: US expecting S&P downgrade

August 05, 2011 4:51 PM

A government official tells ABC News that the federal government is expecting and preparing for bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s to downgrade the rating of US debt from its current AAA value.

Official reasons given, he official says, will be the political confusion surrounding the process of raising the debt ceiling, and lack of confidence that the political system will be able to agree to more deficit reduction. A source says Republicans saying that they refuse to accept any tax increases as part of a larger deal will be part of the reason cited.

The official was unsure if the bond rating would be AA+ or AA.

Another government official confirms the Obama administration is preparing for the downgrade but is not 100% positive it’s going to happen, and if it does happen officials are not sure when it will happen.

Before ratings agencies issue a downgrade, there is often some back and forth that goes on behind the scenes. Treasury Department officials have been making the case for months that S&P should not downgrade US debt.

Govt officials: US expecting S&P downgrade - Political Punch

way to go, GOP.

 

[Vincent Vega]

Debt deal sought to head off stock plunge - Chicago Sun-Times



Pretty sure all I said was we were told this would happen in the absence of a debt deal. Take up your beef with them.



If it includes this book:

I already have it, give it a read yourself.

To know the reason for this thread title?

 

[INDY500]

S&P downgrades U.S. credit rating for first time

Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the sterling U.S. credit rating for the first time.

Odd, isn't this is what we were told would happen if the debt deal WASN'T passed?

 

[maycocksean]

Odd, isn't this is what we were told would happen if the debt deal WASN'T passed?

You're just pretending you don't get this, right?

 

[PhilsFan]

Odd, isn't this is what we were told would happen if the debt deal WASN'T passed?

Could we even call what was passed a debt deal?

We need to raise some people's taxes. Period. Until that enters the conversation, all we're talking about are bandages on a bursting dam.

 

[solemole]

Enough of this Republican nonsense.

The stimulus failed because it was not big enough for the solid liberals.

The deficit ceiling deal passed because the Democrats conceded to "98%" of Republican demands (quote from Cantor).

Sen. McConnell has explicitly stated they're doing this to ruin Pres. Obama's re-election. With the deficit ceiling deal, the Republicans intended to hand a "total bomb" over to the President and hold him responsible like a hot potato. So whatever goes wrong, it's the President's fault.

And so for the past week, we have deficit deal, dismal unemployment report, stock market plunge, and a couple hours after Friday's market closing-- US credit rating is downgraded.

So what can we expect next week?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Odd, isn't this is what we were told would happen if the debt deal WASN'T passed?

Have you read the S&P report? The blame is laid out pretty clearly.

 

[BEAL]

Exactly. Are the dems guilt free on this? Not a chance, but it's been extremely obvious to anyone who isn't completely bias that the GOP has made this their goal all along.

And to imply that doing nothing with the debt "deal" would have been just fine is dangerous and stupid. Having our nation default on it's bills would have put all of us on a fast track to global meltdown.....not that it may not happen anyway, but at least with no default, we have a little time to try and correct it.

Not sure we will since raising taxes has to be on the table, and the GOP won't do it....hence our downgraded rating.

But I"m sure we'll see plenty of ads coming up next year about how the USA was downgraded with a black man as president

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Not sure we will since raising taxes has to be on the table, and the GOP won't do it....hence our downgraded rating.

And the key thing is - obviously - that this rating isn't just about the past, it's mostly about predicting the future. So they wanted to see larger cuts and more revenue, but why didn't that happen? They see the dangerous political bullshit continuing and the Bush tax cuts staying beyond 2012. So, down you go.

But I"m sure we'll see plenty of ads coming up next year about how the USA was downgraded with a black man as president

I would be more looking forward to them trying to paint S&P as socialist communist liberal anti-capitalist jihad cheese eating monkeys or something, but I'm guessing Fox News, Limbaugh etc know all too well that their audience won't actually read a word of the fucking thing, let alone understand it if they did. So yeah, it's all Obama's fault.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

So incredibly depressing

 

[BVS]

Odd, isn't this is what we were told would happen if the debt deal WASN'T passed?

Is this the way conservatism works now?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Not sure we will since raising taxes has to be on the table, and the GOP won't do it....hence our downgraded rating.

i do not understand their obsession with paying as little (or no) taxes at all. i really don't. sure none of us like paying taxes. let's say you pay $100 a month in taxes - i'm sure we'd all rather have that $100 in our pockets. but it's a part of life. it's what helps a country run. and those of us fortunate enough to make enough to where we don't get all our taxes back have an obligation to help out those less fortunate. the rich have a social obligation to pay for a 90 year old granny's stay in a nursing home. the rich have a social obligation to pay for the groceries for a single mom of three who can barely afford to pay for their one bedroom apartment. to help pay for schools that millions of kids can attend to get an education. to pay to pave roads so we don't have to drive on dirt and gravel. or what about paying soldiers' salaries? to refuse to raise taxes to pay for this stuff means to see someone fall down, look them in the eye, spit on them, and kick them.

sure it would be nice if we could pick and choose what our tax dollars went to - i for one would make sure it didn't go anywhere near funding wars, weapons research, or picking up the slack of churches. but it doesn't work like that, just like i can't walk into a store, buy something, and request those profits go to pay the cashier who helped me and not some overpaid person at corporate.

what the gop are trying to do is to just stop paying their bills. what's more, they don't even want to go out and get a job to try to pay them. kinda makes them look like the welfare cheats, huh?

 

[Irvine511]

just so we're clear:

Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act.

 

[U2DMfan]

The saddest thing of all, apart from those heinous Republican tactics, is that the cuts from the 'Debt Ceiling Deal' were all cuts into projected growth spending. It didn't address the real spending problem at all.

So yeah...still fucked.

Democrats are almost as silly as their counterparts. I think more and more people are starting to learn this. They could have proposed some real reforms but Obama sat on his hands and said "that's your job" to Congress. And Congressional Dems are as effective as wet toilet paper. So in the end, it was all a big stunt.

 

[kramwest1]

So yeah...still fucked.

Ugh. No doubt.



Precious metals FTW on Monday?

 

[yolland]

^ I'm still wondering what the point of Bowles-Simpson was if it was just going to get dropped like a hot potato...


On a related f*up,

Daily Beast, Aug. 6

A whopping $26 million was raised in the first half of this year by independent groups known as "super" political-action committees [PACs], according to Federal Elections Commission filings...Though 91 super PACs reported receipts at the end of July, just five groups accounted for $22 million of that haul, according to the Sunlight Foundation:

•Restore Our Future [conservative] $12.2 million
•American Crossroads [conservative] $3.9 million
•Priorities USA Action [liberal] $3.1 million
•American Bridge 21st Century [liberal] $1.5 million
•Majority PAC [liberal] $1.1 million

Super PACs may raise unlimited funds from individuals, corporations, or unions to advocate for or against political candidates. They may also spend unlimited funds, though they may not coordinate with or contribute directly to a candidate's campaign. And they...can avoid disclosing donors by contributing funds raised to 501(c)4 organizations; these nonprofit "social welfare" organizations are not required by law to reveal their donors. During the midterm elections, five super PACs attributed all or nearly all of their contributions to nonprofit organizations.

The dual-structure affiliation of super PACs and nonprofits is currently legal, but it's an end run around the voice of the voter, and the potential for corruption is great. Big corporations, big unions, and wealthy individuals may once again have unlimited influence on elections and officeholders. This was the reason "soft money" donations to the political parties were banned in 2002, and the ban affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2010.

The author goes on to advocate for an end-run around Congress on the issue by amending the Constitution through a national convention as per Article V. Indeed probably the only way it would ever happen.

 

[U2DMfan]

Bowles-Simpson, apparently, needed 14 of 18 members voting to approve it, in order for the members themselves to 'endorse' it. It received 11 votes.

I don't know if that's why Obama abandoned it.
But, like everything else, it was assaulted on all sides as well.

I actually like Alan Simpson. He just tells it like it is. Might not agree with him on everything but he's not playing the BS game like so many of the rest of these guys.

 

[financeguy]

Ugh. No doubt.



Precious metals FTW on Monday?

I foolishly lost a lot of money shorting gold earlier this year. Glad I closed the position out a few months' back, is all I can say.

 

[financeguy]

Gold at 1693, up 2.65 already.

 

[Irvine511]

I actually like Alan Simpson. He just tells it like it is.

‪Alan Simpson Says Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog‬‏ - YouTube

 

[INDY500]

So Glenn Beck was right all along?

 

[financeguy]

‪Alan Simpson Says Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog‬‏ - YouTube

‪Bill Maher vs Alan Simpson‬‏ - YouTube

 

[Earnie Shavers]

So Glenn Beck was right all along?

I know I shouldn't bite... but... right about what?

 

[BVS]

So Glenn Beck was right all along?

Or was this part of his design?

The tea party wanted a fall in the credit rating and now they got it... You get the uninformed to do the work for you, this has always been the plan of the Beck's in the world.

 

[cobl04]

Standard and Poor is a stupid name.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Standard and Poor is a stupid name.

more like being poor is the standard, lol

 

[Pearl]

Amidst riots in central Europe that have now spread to London and a debt downgrade that threatens to plunge the United States into a double-dip recession, Americans’ lack of confidence in their leadership is so crippled that they are now “pre-revolutionary,” according to pollster Pat Caddell.
A new Rasmussen poll shows that just 17 per cent of Americans believe that the U.S. government has the consent of the governed, an all time low. This dovetails with a record low for Congress’ approval rating, which stands at a paltry 6 per cent, while 46 per cent of Americans think most members of Congress are corrupt, with just 29% believing otherwise.
“The number of voters who feel the government has the consent of the governed – a foundational principle, contained in the Declaration of Independence – is down from 23% in early May and has fallen to its lowest level measured yet,” according to Rasmussen.
The poll was conducted before Friday’s U.S. debt downgrade, indicating that the figures could be even more dire in the aftermath of what some analysts believe is a precursor to a new great depression.
The results of this survey indicate that Americans are now “pre-revolutionary” says pollster Pat Caddell, who described the outcome of the poll as “unprecedented”.
This conclusion follows Caddell’s observation last November that “a sea of anger is churning” amongst Americans who “want to take their country back” and that the nation stood on the brink of a “pre-revolutionary moment”.
Caddell’s conclusion that Americans are on the verge of rising up against a system in which they have lost all trust cannot be easily dismissed as partisan rhetoric. Despite working for numerous Democratic presidential candidates, including Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden, Caddell has been a vociferous critic of both Democrats and Republicans on several issues.
Back in early 2008, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the start of the financial crisis, we warned that inflation and economic uncertainty would cause a massive social dislocation, which would lead to riots globally. Gerald Celente and others repeated the warning in late 2008. Over the last 18 months, we have now witnessed such scenes across the Middle East and in France, Spain, Greece, Italy and most recently London.
Indeed, the only major western country not to experience significant social unrest since the economic collapse is America, although anecdotal evidence of rising crime and thefts suggests a turning point could be just around the corner.

? Pollster: Americans Are “Pre-Revolutionary” Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

Yep. We're fucked in so many ways.

 

[Steved1998]

Dow is down 600. Not even close to where the Dow was in 2009, but this doesn't bode well.

The news: