Points Of Puzzlement

So if I am a liberal or conservative Congressperson who hates the new debt ceiling deal and the stock market is puking anyway (Dow -87 as I type, which is off the lows), just why do I vote for it?

OK, the obvious answer is that things could always get worse, such as by Congress failing to raise the debt ceiling.  But how confident should we be in the linearity of Congressional thinking?

This absence of a clear stock market may be used to rationalize a Congressional revolt.  Yike.

Comments

[narciso]

Well it's what we know to be true, Jane, but i have little confidence, that anyone on their
side, would admit to that.

Meanwhile, Richard Cohen, no punchline needed.

[centralcal]

Jane: Yesterday, early morning, I remarked on our local talk radio person saying he had inside sources that Obama had a shit fit over the upcoming debt deal. Supposedly Reid and Biden told him to "get over it." I guessed that the source might have been a Republican, Devin Nunes.

Well, it wasn't Devin, but Devin put the talk radio host in touch with a Democrat who was present and who wishes to remain anonymous. The Democrat relayed the events that took place.

So, Ulsterman might not be as absurd as he sounds on some of his "insight."

[MayBee]

I want to marry Jonah's rant.

[narciso]

If one considers that a sniper's roll, is often to 'decapitate' an organization, then one can consider Spitzer a sniper: (h/t; BizzyBlog)

Those were among the problems cited Monday by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals when it tossed out the convictions of four former executives of General Reinsurance and one former executive from AIG. The collapse of this case renders even more appalling the way that prosecutors used it to force both companies to fire their CEOs—Joseph Brandon at Gen Re and Hank Greenberg at AIG. In the latter case, the resulting loss of shareholder wealth—and creation of taxpayer risk—has been staggering.

[Melinda Romanoff]

narciso-

Hank Greenberg had no idea what the Securities Lending Group was getting into, especially, contrary to public perceptions, since they were the ones who actually sank AIG.

Not Cassano.

[narciso]

Yes, who was in charge, at the time, not really Willemstadt,

[Ben Franklin]

He has, what seems to be, a photographic memory. Pity; out of focus.

[cathyf]

Why is the Balanced Budget Amendment a bad idea?

Because a budget is a PLAN, for the future, which hasn't happened yet. The government's accounting practices would already get any private company's management thrown in jail for fraud. A constitutional amendment that the government's guess about next year's spending and receipts have a certain relationship just means that their "guess" will be even more obviously lies.

I think what we've seen today is that the true measure of the nation's finances is simply the debt. Forget the balanced-budget amendment -- I'm looking for an amendment that says that it takes 2/3 of each house to raise the debt limit, but only a simple majority to lower it. I'm looking for politicians to run on the platform of not only balancing the budget (the PLAN for the finances) but actually balancing the finances themselves. That we not only have to spend no more than we take in, but we have to spend LESS than we take in so that we can pay down a bit of debt and get some headroom on the debt ceiling in case tax receipts come in lower than we planned.

I'm thinking more and more that the one "czar" we really need is Dave Ramsey. He would get on TV and radio every single freaking day and shout at us, "WE CAN'T AFFORD IT!!!" and "Stop talking about how nice this and that would be, and how you neeeeeeeedddd this, and you neeeeeeeedddd that! Whether or not we neeeeeeeedddd it, we aren't getting it because we are broke!"

[Captain Hate]

TK is again on a roll. Well done limerick guy

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I think we should call for Biden to step down. He has referred to 41% of the country as terrorists. That is completely unacceptable.

I called for both Biden and Doyle's resignation last night in a Facebook posting. As far as I'm concerned, when you call your fellow countrymen terrorists for nothing more than disagreeing with you on fiscal policy, you need to go.

I certainly know the ramifications, but I just don't know how we can have a VP that thinks decent American citizens terrorists. It is unacceptable.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

BTW, did anyone else see the "Are You Kidding Me?" video guy on Fox and Friends this morning? He is an older man, a business owner, and seemed quite well-spoken and knowledgeable. He is a cool guy and much more distinguished looking than in the video.

[Ignatz]

--I wonder why the Chinese are wasting so much time and resources on Ponzicratic Green?--

Because they're communists?

[Ignatz]

OMG, TK. That 12:04 was hi-larious.