US Credit Rating Downgraded (1 Viewer)

[Steve R.]

Surprise US credit rating downgrade draws White House ire

Fitch changed the country’s rating from AAA to AA+, citing fiscal deterioration and down-to-the wire debt ceiling negotiations

www.theguardian.com

Fitch downgraded the United States to AA+ from AAA, citing fiscal deterioration over the next three years and repeated down-the-wire debt ceiling negotiations that threaten the government’s ability to pay its bills. It is the second major rating agency after Standard & Poor’s to strip the US of its triple-A rating

No surprise. This downgrade should have been issued years ago. Possibly when deficit spending resumed under the Bush administration. Simply put, the House of Representatives lacks the will to be fiscally responsible.

This morning, I was watching Bloomberg Surveillance. In an unusual blatant politicization of this downgrade, the hosts at Bloomberg attempted (in the best imitation of an aimless Kamala Harris word salad) to blame this downgrade on Trump. As one detestable example (that has been endlessly used by the spending junkies), one commentator said we can't cut social security to imply that government spending can't be reduced. How the correlation that the Trump administration was responsible for the credit rating downgrade was never expressed. This is false logic akin to saying the downgrade occurred as a consequence of the sun rising! A logical absurdity.

Consider that back in 2019, Bloomberg, which is supposed to be a news source, openly proclaimed that it would only run negative stories concerning Trump and suppress negative stories concerning Democrats. Obviously an example of the media evolving to become a propaganda outlet for the Democratic Party in a presidential elections. Seems that Bloomberg still manipulates the news to denigrate Trump.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

While I hate for this to have happened, it NEEDS to happen in order to put SOME kind of fear in the House members. SOMETHING needs to bring them a step closer to reality.

 

[NauticalGent]

Two books I would recommend:

The Creature From Jekyll Island and The Secrets of the Temple.

After that read Atlas Shrugged and then TRY to keep from becoming too cynical.

 

[Pat Hartman]

SOMETHING needs to bring them a step closer to reality.

The only thing that will work is firing them.

 

[Steve R.]

@NauticalGent: Many years ago, I read Atlas Shrugged. A movie (2 parts) based on Atlas Shrugged was filmed. The movie, overall, was terrible. It seemed that the actors were simply reading from the book. Nevertheless, I thought it was pretty good.

I have not read the other books you cited.

A quick comment. Assuming that one believes in the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve; the interest rate it charges should always be above the inflation rate. Interest rates below the inflation rate constitute the issuance of "free" money. Consequently, interest rates (by the FED) below the inflation rate distort the economy. (Unfortunately, we also have a government that is aggressively dumping money into the economy, which promotes inflation.)

 

[Steve R.]

SOMETHING needs to bring them a step closer to reality.

The only thing that will work is firing them.

Firing those who lack fiscal responsibility would be the ideal solution. Unfortunately, we have too many politicians who run on a platform of giving the electorate free stuff and/or promoting the concept that the government owes the electorate a certain standard of living. So it is difficult getting rid of them. On this issue @Isaac and I had a short discussion in December 2022.

The quote below, has often been attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville. Evidently, according to CheckYourFact, that's not true. Nevertheless it perfectly sums up what Congress is doing. Bribing many through the promise of welfare. Needless to say, those craving welfare would vote for those politicians thereby exacerbating limitless deficit spending. As you point out, they should not have the privilege of voting.
"The American Republic Will Endure Until The Day Congress Discovers That It Can Bribe The Public With The Public’s Money’."

Our discussion also raised interesting points that may bring Congress closer to reality.

• Raise the voting age to 25.
• Anyone on federal government welfare should not be allowed to vote in federal elections. "If you have no "skin in the game", you should not be allowed to vote."
• Repeal the 17th Amendment.

Theoretically, if Congress can't bribe the electorate, they have less incentive to offer free stuff to get elected. Also a more mature electorate will have the experience to see-through disingenuous offers of free stuff and reject politicians offering free stuff.

Since posting, I had an additional thought to add. Repeal the 17th Amendment to restore the appointment of senators by the state legislatures. I'm not sure how this would make senators more responsible, but it would at least reduce their ability to promise the electorate free stuff since they would be subject to the whims of the state legislature.