S&P Downgrades US Credit - Page 19

On August 06 2011 10:01 DKR wrote:


This.

"S&P cut the long-term U.S. credit rating by one notch to AA-plus on concerns about growing budget deficits."

On August 08 2011 04:34 yema1 wrote:
You guys must be delusional to think that it was the Tea Party's fault that US credit was downgraded.



Woopsy. Is that the Tea Party's fault? Perhaps Americans should slash down on their deficit instead of trying to enlarge it through social welfare programs and wars.

We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the
prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related
fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the
growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an
agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and
will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal
consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week
falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the
general government debt burden by the middle of the decade.

On August 08 2011 04:05 EnderSword wrote:


Uh...why?

If I hold American debt, to be paid in American Dollars...I need to be confident not only that you'll pay me back, but that the thing you pay me with with be worth something.

Also, if you think those Tea Party people were even going to let the thing default, you're on crack. I know everyone was acting like they had 'hours to go' but they had about 6 days left.

Higher spending is just as responsible for this rating cut as a lower debt ceiling is.

On August 07 2011 17:54 EnderSword wrote:


Ya...but isn't that just kinda something dumb guys think its funny to say?

If your Senators were good at their jobs...wouldn't they be worth Millions?

If a Good Senator could pass a plan making the military 1% more efficient...he's saved you Billions of dollars.

If a Good Congressman pushes for one more little thing to be covered in a Healthcare bill, he could help 10,000 people.

If a really good President chose the advice of General A over General B...he could save you Billions, save lives and shorten a war by months or years.

You're used to bad politicians because you don't Pay them hardly anything, and you elect ones that lie to you the best.

If the President got $1 Billion a year, was allowed to have a Harem of women and he got to keep Air Force One at the end, you'd have the smartest god damn man in the country as President and you wouldn't even know who George Bush or Barack Obama were.

On August 07 2011 17:54 EnderSword wrote:


Ya...but isn't that just kinda something dumb guys think its funny to say?

If your Senators were good at their jobs...wouldn't they be worth Millions?

If a Good Senator could pass a plan making the military 1% more efficient...he's saved you Billions of dollars.

If a Good Congressman pushes for one more little thing to be covered in a Healthcare bill, he could help 10,000 people.

If a really good President chose the advice of General A over General B...he could save you Billions, save lives and shorten a war by months or years.

You're used to bad politicians because you don't Pay them hardly anything, and you elect ones that lie to you the best.

If the President got $1 Billion a year, was allowed to have a Harem of women and he got to keep Air Force One at the end, you'd have the smartest god damn man in the country as President and you wouldn't even know who George Bush or Barack Obama were.

On August 08 2011 09:02 Dapper_Cad wrote:
Salaries are an issue only in so far as it allows a flourishing private sector to corrupt a poorer public sector. I'm not sure a Billion a year is sensible, but payment which is comparable with a CEOs wage might be appropriate, though it's possible CEOs wages are overinflated.

What would work is a total mandated stripping of privacy from the lives of politicians during their times in office. If every word spoken by politicians was recorded and available for everyone to examine I think you'd end up getting people with more integrity in office. Other problems would arrise of course but I think it's an interesting approach to a solution.

On August 08 2011 09:16 shinosai wrote:


I kind of doubt that. We already know that they lie to us, but that doesn't stop them from doing it. I'm not sure having more evidence of something we already know would help. You can suggest as many solutions as you want to how to get better politicians, but there's only one way: Vote good ones in.

On August 08 2011 09:07 BordZ wrote:


Riiiiiight, so you personally attack me for stating the truth and FYI i'm an Engineer. I wasn't talking about politics either you completely missed the point there. I was talking about the wages and salaries that are given to the financial services sector.

On August 08 2011 09:07 BordZ wrote:

Riiiiiight, so you personally attack me for stating the truth and FYI i'm an Engineer. I wasn't talking about politics either you completely missed the point there. I was talking about the wages and salaries that are given to the financial services sector.

On August 07 2011 14:59 BordZ wrote:

being paid more the 150k for not contributing anything productive to society is a travesty in itself to be completely honest.

On August 08 2011 13:57 yandere991 wrote:


Wait so people in the financial sector do nothing productive? Then by the same logic architects are useless because all they do is draw stuff while the construction workers do the actual building and economists too because who needs a plan for the economy when people in the "real market" (farmers, miners, builders) can allocate resources amongst themselves.

People in the financial sector are people who structure funds, and firms to ensure that they can actually buffer themselves and run at optimal levels with the aim of reducing risks for a given level of return. I'm guessing like the vast majority of the population whenever you think of financial sector workers you think of speculators in the stock market right? Well Joe the plumber can actually open up a portfolio but that doesn't make him a financial worker.

On August 08 2011 17:08 aksfjh wrote:


It's true that the financial sector is the oil that helps keep the engine running, but we can always ask if we have too much of that oil or if it's too rich of oil for the task.

There are financial firms that literally make money by hosting computers that automatically buy/sell stocks based on trends, without any human input. There are people in the system that do little more than invest client money into the S&P, then skim a fraction of the earnings. In essence, there are even firms/people who simply resort to "penny shaving" (like in Office Space or Superman III) in order to pay their bills.

I'm not saying these firms are bad guys who deserve to be gutted, but rather we should always scrutinize the practices of people who handle our money.

On August 08 2011 15:13 Deja Thoris wrote:


Calling something you said wrong when it was wrong isn't a personal attack. I quoted what you said below. Care to tell me how it relates to facts in the real world?



How does a sector that allows private individuals to finance stuff like houses and small businesses "not contribute anything" to society? A person with the education level that you profess to have should frankly know better.

If the President got $1 Billion a year, was allowed to have a Harem of women and he got to keep Air Force One at the end, you'd have the smartest god damn man in the country as President and you wouldn't even know who George Bush or Barack Obama were.

On August 08 2011 21:31 Tzeval wrote:

I disagree. You would get the one who can act as if he was the best man for the job and when you look at just the act before the election Obama did a very good job. And i think that is the real problem, that is most extrem in the US but it happens in every country. The value of truth is declining and people don't vote for the best man they vote for the best act. If the public does not start to inform itself about what the guys they vote really do they will get screwed over and over again.

Just take the Teaparty for example they made clear before they were voted in that they will not cooperate with the democrats. They were really honest but know their voters are angry with them because they did what they said they will do. Don't blame the Teaparty for this mess. Blame the public.
In the end it's them who have the power to change things and if they fall for cheap acts than all they get is cheap acts. Every State gets the politics it deserves in the long run. So please stop bashing your congress and start bashing your neighbours for this ! :>

For the effects of the Downgrade :
I think the Washington just got another campaign topic and not much more, because for now the markets haven't lost confidence in us bonds. But for local goverments this could go badly.
Article to the local goverment topic

Edit : To the money printing thing : China and Europe will not accept a very weak Dollar as world currency and then we just may create a new crisis because there is not really another currency atm that is fit for the job. I think everybody knows the state of the euro and the us and europe can't except the chinesse currency because they allready think the chinesse goverment manipulates it's value to its advatage.