China... The the biggest creditor of the United States, has spoken: 'Solve the impasse over the debt ceiling without further delay.' http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-concern-for-13tn-of-investments-8864935.html My read? Obama overplayed his hand just like Syria... I firmly believe he believed this 'shut down' would be over by now, like the others....and finds himself, as he has before like in Syria, without a plan "B"... If China is speaking publicly, you KNOW there's been some face time among the diplomats. Come to think of it, I wonder if any other president has found himself in the very enviable position of being "Warned" by communist China. I doubt Nixon, Reagan or even Carter would have whimpered and run to the media...
What, Obama's fault? No, it's Congress' job to get the money. Actually, with China's 3.5 trillion in treasuries, it occurs to me that if China pulls it's debt out now, or in the near future, that would easily trigger the problem where costs exceed revenue. You can't prioritize those payments can you? Not without emergency taxes.
Oh, but Congress is doing just that by shutting down the government and not negotiating on the debt ceiling. We have, what , 8 days left and this after Congress has repeatedly shown they can't make things happen before deadlines anymore when they go into drama mode.
Sure... leave it to right-wingers to believe a conspiracy theory as opposed to the simple fact that Boehner was on air twice today, so naturally the President wants to keep his message about how the House Republicans are attempting to drag the US over a cliff once again.
..and you can't see that it is both sides are ripping us off while the majority remain firmly entrenched in right v left blame game ?
China can make threatening noises all it wants, but a real collapse in borrowing from China would cause almost as much economic damage to China as it would to the USA. This nonsense is threatening China in a big way and that is what prompted the warning; the Chinese will not actually act on that warning unless matters become so dire that they have less to lose than they do to gain.
No, I understand perfectly. For decades there were projections that the social programs like Social Security, Medicare/aid, and government assistance were unsustainable and wouldn't be available for future generations after the baby boomers, but no one quite knew what form it would take. Well, the great recession moved that expiration date closer and now this is it. This is the form that such a tear down will take.
Considering he won a signifcant diplomatic victory in Syria, and it is the House Leadership that's keeping this debt ceiling and shutdown going, I fail to see how. When the Syrian crisis started, Assad had used chemical weapons, and his Russian sponsors were busy trying to claim that the rebel did it. Obama announced a deadline and airstrikes. Then, he made a show of punting to Congress while he was off at the G-20 conference. When he got back, the Syrians and the Russians caved in 48 hours, and weapons inspectors are now in Syria, destroying chemical weapons Assad said didn't exist a month ago. Iran is now talking too. Obama always knew that Boehner would be trapped by the tea party caucus into a government shutdown. The best thing he can do is nothing. This is the GOP's crisis. They manufactured it. Using the routine functions of government as negotiating leverage is political hostage taking. It has been the signature GOP tactic since the dawn of the Obama adminstration. The GOP owns the outcome, no matter what it is. There is no reason for Obama to give in to their brinksmanship at all. If he doesn't, the GOP owns the consequences. Obama knows that. So does Boehner. So do Roger Ailes and Karl Rove. And boy oh boy, you know Gingrich knows it!!!!! No one whimpered and "ran" to the media. Obama made a strong appearance and answered questions for quite some time. The same day, Boehner answered two questions and scurried away. The Chinese have no doubt expressed their anxiety over what's going on in Washington. As has a growing number of poeple all over the world. Those people blamed Congress the last time the GOP played this game. The only difference now is that Obama does not have to run for re election.
Buying a lie while allowing the corporatists in government and industry to enrich themselves from the fruits of your labor never ends well.
Its not just China that is speaking out. The IMF, the EU, hell even the US chamber of commerce and countless wall street types are also speaking out about the insanity of the republican position and the threat of default. Its already costing the US more than double for short term borrowing, meaning the republicans are generating even more debt by being stupidly intransigent. Idiot tea partiers simply have no clue. they are like kids with real guns and ammo deciding to play "war".
