US Stocks Down 15% in 2 Weeks

[rwoy]

Well done Congress ... well done.

[rwoy]

John Boehner said he got 98% of what he wanted with the Debt Ceiling Deal.  Long story short, the Republican plans brought us to the blood letting of the last 2 weeks.

Obama was an idiot for trusting that the Republicans wouldn't trash the economy in an attempt to benefit themselves politically.  He should have linked the renewal of the Bush tax cuts back in December to raising the Debt Ceiling.

Long story short, Obama is a trusting fool who doesn't "get it".  Boehner and the Republicans are borderline traitors who were willing to drive us to a point where, during a time of war, we would be unable to pay our soldiers.

[rwoy]

Our downgrade has everything to do with Obama massively increasing spending while cutting taxes.
 

Seriously?  Obama was responsible for about $1.44 trillion vs Bush's $5.07 trillion.  Heck, the Bush tax cuts alone cost us $1.8 trillion.

[rwoy]

Our downgrade has everything to do with Obama massively increasing spending while cutting taxes.
 

Seriously?  Obama was responsible for about $1.44 trillion vs Bush's $5.07 trillion.  Heck, the Bush tax cuts alone cost us $1.8 trillion.

Multiply that  $1.44 trillion by four.  Bush had eight fiscal years, Obama's had two.  S & P also pointed that out.

You have to increase revenue and cut spending (I'd say cut more of the latter, as that obviously didn't work).

To be fair, it has been 2 1/2 years of Obama so it should be multiplied by 3.2 (bringing it to $4.6 trillion).  Waaaaay too much but still less than Bush.

I agree that you have to increase revenue and cut spending.  Unfortunately the Republicans in Congress said they wouldn't let him increase revenues.

So yeah, the leadership from both parties are to blame.  The Democrats I blame for their stupidity and the Republicans I blame for, well, for lack of a better term, their treason.

[rwoy]

Our downgrade has everything to do with Obama massively increasing spending while cutting taxes.
 

Seriously?  Obama was responsible for about $1.44 trillion vs Bush's $5.07 trillion.  Heck, the Bush tax cuts alone cost us $1.8 trillion.

1)  Obama wasted a nearly a trillion dollars on a failed "stimulus" program, alone. That, and other spending increases, and tax cuts, caused the downgrade. No matter how much you claim Bush was the one that loaded up the camel, the fact remains that it was Obama that placed the straw that broke the camel's back [the trillion dollar stimulus,tax cuts,etc.] He should have reasonably known that the debt and deficit levels was too high, and acted to hold the line. Instead, he went on a spending orgy that cost this nation its AAA credit rating.

It isn't a matter of "claiming" that Bush loaded the camel ... it is fact.  I think we disagree about what broke the camel's back though.

All the credit rating does is measure the probability that the creditor will pay.  Historically there has been nothing safer in the world than US treasuries.  However, when with the latest fiasco Congress showed that they have some members who just may be crazy and stupid enough to actually default.  THAT is what broke the camel's back ... the shaken trust.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

True, but it is reasonable to make assumptions based on historical performance.

[rwoy]

Oh BigSkyBob,

No doubt Bush place one-time loads on the camel to fight wars in the Middle-East, and he placed a ongoing burden to fund the medicare prescription benefit, "No child left behind," and, the ongoing costs for wounded soldiers. 

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were "one-time loads"?  So they are over?  Oh wait ... nope, those quagmires are still going.  And while the Afghan was unavoidable, the Iraq war was totally unnecessary.  The medicare was $180 billion.  Bush had $608 billion in spending on non-defense discretionary spending.  There was another $224 billion in the TARP bailouts. 

You must be logged in to read this quote.

What?  You've gotta go back to the 1960s?  Heck, why not blame FDR for the New Deal?  Or the Founding Fathers for breaking with Britain?  Bush's policies directly impact the current economy.


Obama's tax subsidy scheme is going to be another financial blackhole like medicare and medicaid. Employers are going to look at the subsidy and say, "Why should I provide subsidized health insurance [for low-wage workers] if the government would do it for me if I dropped my plan?" And, this is not to mention the trillion for the failed "stimulus" bill, and the costs of "surging" the war in Afghanistan, bombing Libya, nation-building in Iraq, and the ongoing costs for soldiers wounded in his wars.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

True, but it is reasonable to make assumptions based on historical performance.
[/quote]

True, but, that score is not based on reasonable assumptions. 
[/quote]

Just because you don't like the #'s doesn't make them any less valid.  But don't take my word for it.  Google "cost of bush tax cuts" and read article after article after article.