Axelrod on CBS

It won't say in the history books it was Bush's fault.

What did I say the other day about directing the blame elsewhere? This has become SOP with this administration. Yesterday the market was down about 350 when the soothsayer decided we needed a "pep talk". After the thrilling oration, which had all the sincerity of a Mel Gibson apology, dodging any responsibility, the market closed 635 in the hole. The sixth worse close of all time. Not to be deterred by these trivialities he was able to accommodate two more fund raisers into his tight schedule. 

One f------ moron.

Of course he was on CBS when he said this so consequently his remark went mostly unchallenged.

Strangely in the S&P report there was no mention of the Tea Party. Probably because they never spent one red cent of the $14.6 trillion we owe. Essentially the downgrade occurred because the spending cuts were not deep enough. Who more then anyone is against government spending? Take a wild guess. Obama wanted a "clean" bill before him for a debt ceiling increase with no strings attached. He would have gotten it if the House didn't go Republican in 2010.

Tea Party Trashing: Dems Blame Tea Party For Credit Downgrade

If your going to dream up a lie at least make it plausible instead of diametrically opposed to the facts.

The true story 

☟

S&P Blames Inept Congress for Downgrade

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Standard & Poor's rating analysts placed the blame for the U.S. sovereign credit rating downgrade -- to AA+ plus from its highest rating, AAA + squarely at the feet of the nation's political leaders, with the nation's slowing economic growth and spiraling debt also playing a role, in a conference call this morning.

"The primary focus remained on the current level of debt, the trajectory of debt as a share of the economy and the lack of apparent willingness of elected officials as a group to deal with the U.S. medium term fiscal outlook," formed the basis for S&P's action, the firm said in a statement Friday, a standpoint that was reiterated on the call by S&P analysts.

"The downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges," a weakening that has accelerated since S&P telegraphed its concerns about the nation's fiscal health when it assigned a negative outlook to the nation's then AAA rating on April 18.

John Chambers, head of S&P's sovereign ratings committee, in New York, and David Beers, global head of S&P's sovereign and international public finance ratings, in London hosted the conference call Monday morning.


Put in simple terms on a tip from Ed Kilbane



If you want to understand the magnitude of the recent debt and budget reduction actions agreed to by Congress and the President, this non-partisan example really puts it in perspective.

U.S. income: $2,170,000,000,000

Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000

New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)

It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Therefore, let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family:

Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700

Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200

Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500

Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

Amount cut from the budget: $385






Sounds like a foreboding prophecy straight out of the bible.


The Obama Principle (election)

We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know because they have never deceived us. - Samuel Johnson

Axelrod on CBS