[Vision2020] CNN Breaking News

Sat Aug 6 09:45:42 PDT 2011

The US debt is in part the result of tax cuts during the W. Bush
years, while fighting two expensive wars.   W. Bush trickle down
economics was more like trickle up, and led to a failure to regulate
Wall Street and banking partly causing a credit market collapse, which
added to the debt with a lowering of revenue from a recession.

Note these comments from economic conservative free market promoter
former Federal Reserve Chair Greenspan, admiting that under his reign
in the W. Bush years, securities should have been more regulated, and
his comment from 2011, that the W. Bush tax cuts should expire:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/10/23/us-financial-greenspan-idUSTRE49M58W20081023
 Greenspan "shocked" at credit system breakdown
 (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told
Congress on Thursday he is "shocked" at the breakdown in U.S. credit
markets and said he was "partially" wrong to resist regulation of some
securities.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/17/greenspan-steps-up-call-to-end-bush-era-tax-cuts/
“This crisis is so imminent and so difficult that I think we have to
allow the so-called Bush tax cuts all to expire. That is a very big
number,” he said, referring to how much the U.S. government could save
from letting income taxes go back up to levels last seen under former
President Bill Clinton

-----------------
Standard and Poor mentioned of course lowering spending, but also
emphasized ending the Bush-era tax cuts as an option that they were
not confident the US government could achieve.  This ideological
intransigence regarding taxation from the W. Bush years now into the
Tea Party era is clearly part of the reason for the US credit
downgrade:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-06/u-s-credit-rating-cut-by-s-p-for-first-time-on-deficit-reduction-accord.html

U.S. Loses AAA Rating on Concern About Debt Cuts
QBy John Detrixhe - Aug 6, 20

"S&P lowered the U.S. one level to AA+ while keeping the outlook at
“negative” as it becomes less confident Congress will end Bush-era tax
cuts..."
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 8/6/11, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Wrong, g.
>
> The rating is based on the country's ability to cover (pronounced "pay for")
> expenditures.
>
> Drastic spending cuts, at a time when the country is sliding back into
> recession, does not bode well for our ability to pay our bills.
>
> I can understand addressing future expenditures and the limits that must be
> applied to them.  But, to tell current creditors (owed by our country) that
> we may not be able to pay our bills is poor financial management.
> Bankruptcy courts are full of debtors that claim the same thing.
>
> As such people lose faith in our economy, as reflected in a 800-point drop
> in the market SINCE TUESDAY!
>
> It really is that simple, g.
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>
> - Unknown
>
>
> On Aug 6, 2011, at 7:18, "Gary Crabtree" <jampot at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>
>> From today's Washington Post
>>
>> "...the bipartisan agreement reached this week to find at least $2.1
>> trillion in budget savings “fell short” of what was necessary to tame the
>> nation’s debt over time and predicted that leaders would not be likely to
>> achieve more savings in the future."
>>
>> Was it the Tea Party that was fighting tooth nail in favor of raising the
>> debt limit to an absolute all time high with no spending reductions what
>> so ever? Was it the Tea party that would have no part of the cut, cap, and
>> balance plan or the Mack penny plan that would have put the country on a
>> path to solvency? Can you point to a single democrat/progressive plan that
>> might have had as a result even a slight reduction in the countries debt
>> burden? Heck, with two years of total government control they couldn't
>> even pass a budget.
>>
>> The bond rating agencies want to see spending and the debt required to
>> perpetuate it brought under control, a goal that is at the very heart of
>> the "Tea Party stench."
>>
>> g
>>
>> From: Tom Hansen
>> Sent: Friday, August 05, 2011 7:13 PM
>> To: Donovan Arnold
>> Cc: Moscow Vision 2020
>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] CNN Breaking News
>>
>> This downgrading, if adopted by the other two rating firms, has more of an
>> adverse impact than you suggest, Mr. Arnold.
>>
>> Do you realize that most, if not all, 301Ks are committed to investments
>> with AAA ratings ONLY?
>>
>> The result could be catastrophic
>>
>> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>>
>> Tom Hansen
>> Moscow, Idaho
>>
>> "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
>> and the Realist adjusts his sails."
>>
>> - Unknown
>>
>>
>> On Aug 5, 2011, at 18:57, Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The good thing about a democracy is you get what you voted for. And the
>>> bad thing about democracy is you get what you voted for. Unfortunately,
>>> it is going to take much more than a downgrade of AAA to AA+ from S&P to
>>> make the American people respond to this economic crisis. I heard on NPR
>>> today that only 58% of the adult US population is employed. Scary!
>>>
>>> Donovan Arnold
>>>
>>> From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
>>> To: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>>> Sent: Friday, August 5, 2011 7:17 PM
>>> Subject: [Vision2020] CNN Breaking News
>>>
>>> Read on, V-Peeps.
>>>
>>> More "good" news to pass on to the Tea Party stench, the cause behind
>>> this
>>> downgrade.
>>>
>>> http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/05/news/economy/downgrade_rumors/index.htm
>>>
>>> The downfall of the market this week may foreshadow things to come.
>>>
>>> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>>>
>>> Tom Hansen
>>> Moscow, Idaho
>>>
>>> "Believe we're gliding down the highway
>>> When in fact we're slip slidin' away."
>>>
>>> - Paul Simon
>>>
>>>
>>> ---------------------------- Original Message
>>> ----------------------------
>>> Subject: CNN Breaking News
>>> From:    "CNN Breaking News" <BreakingNews at mail.cnn.com>
>>> Date:    Fri, August 5, 2011 5:31 pm
>>> To:      textbreakingnews at EMA3LSV06.TURNER.COM
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>> Rating agency Standard & Poor's says it has downgraded the U.S. credit
>>> rating to AA+ from its top rank of AAA.
>>>
>>> Rating agencies analyze risk and give debt a "grade" that reflects the
>>> borrower's ability to pay the underlying loans.
>>>
>>> The safest bets are stamped AAA. That's where U.S. debt stood for years.
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>