To My American Friends

[dexfarkin]

Today, the U.S. government hits its $14.292 trillion debt limit. The Treasury Department has said it can use a series of maneuvers to delay the country from defaulting on its debt — an unprecedented event — until August 2, allowing 11 weeks to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling. The administration and leading economists have warned that a default would plunge the U.S. into another financial crisis.

This is what you've been barreling towards since 2008. The Republican party, taking the Tea Party tiger by the tail, has been dragged along into a no-win position. Either vote to raise the debt ceiling and ignite open war with the Tea Party grassroots, or push for a default and watch the long knives (and much larger wallets) come out against them from Wall Street. Their only option is to link any debt ceiling talks with entitlement cuts that are on the feudal side of draconian and hope to hell the public believes the narrative that the President is responsible for all the problems when he vetos it. But after taking an absolute shellacking over the last three weeks supporting Ryan's call to end Medicare budget, as well as Obama's recent dismantling of a really good joke in Family Guy's 'It's a Trap!', it's a crapshoot whether the narrative will hold.

There's actually a sick part of me that wants to see the US default, just to watch the chain reaction that follows it.

Comments

[redhawk.livejournal.com]

If the US defaults it will lose its de facto role as the world's investment. The US has _never_ defaulted on its obligations and to do so now would be ... catastrophic.

World Financial Meltdown II: Electroc Boogaloo.

Be interesting to see who, if anyone, would take that role if the US loses it. I can't see any strong contender who has the stability and worldwide reach to pull it off.

[pebblin.livejournal.com]

There's actually a sick part of me that wants to see the US default, just to watch the chain reaction that follows it.

Thanks, bro! >:\

[pathology-doc.livejournal.com]

The US needs to start making and selling stuff overseas like crazy, even if this consists exclusively of affordable and desirable weapons (e.g. the F-22).

Unfortunately its major competitor in the undeclared war of Manufacture and Trade (the winner of which will always have the bigger empire) has a population which will always be able to undercut it for labour costs. Unless terrible decisions are made about just how much to pay people, and when to start taxing that income.

First into the asteroid belt is first to bring back essentially inexhaustible resources and have a licence to print money. Start building spaceships, Barack - start right now and don't stop until you have bases and refineries from Luna to Ganymede.