Famous Last Words

And for some bizarre, unexplained reason, Tim Geithner is still the U.S. Treasury Secretary.

Credit rating downgrade hits markets

U.S. stocks tumbled, following the biggest weekly drop in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 2008, amid concern that a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating by S&P may worsen an economic slowdown.

…

The U.S. credit rating downgrade extended a rout that wiped out $1.94 trillion in market value from the country’s stocks. S&P lowered the U.S. long-term rating one level to AA+ after markets closed on Aug. 5 while keeping the outlook at “negative” as the company becomes less confident that Congress will end Bush-era tax cuts or tackle entitlements.

See also:
The Impact Of The S&P U.S. Credit Downgrade On Small Businesses
sting Icons Weigh In On U.S. Credit Downgrade
2ND UPDATE: Goldman Sachs: S&P’s US Downgrade May Be ‘Material And Adverse’ -Filing
U.S. Credit Downgrade Leaves ‘Horrible Impact’
Wall St. panics as Washington dawdles and the wheels come of the economy
GOP candidates slam Obama on US credit downgrade
Senate panel reviewing S&P downgrade
Was S&P downgrade an act of revenge?
Rating Agencies in Spotlight Following Downgrade

Of course, the Democrats got their talking points together and tried blaming the Tea Party.

Seriously, blaming the Tea Party is about as ridiculous as blaming the fireman for starting the fire.

/the obvious problem, to any sane observer, is that Obama and the Democrats just spend too damn much money

Bogus Obama Math Busted

It’s bad enough that Obama had the gall to release a farcically irresponsible 2012 budget that kicks the fiscal sanity can down the road and shoves the United States well down the path to third world status, but then he and his clown posse minions have the further, cynical audacity to lie about it to the American public.

CBO: W. House Lowballs Debt

The president’s budget plan would double the debt over 10 years to $20.8 tril, the CBO estimated, $2.3 tril more than the White House had projected. Interest on the debt would top 18% of federal revenue in 2018, a level that Moody’s has said could trigger a downgrade of America’s AAA rating.

Read the Congressional Budget Office report:

Preliminary Analysis of the President’s Budget for 2012

See also:

Report says Obama budget underestimates deficit
CBO Claims Obama Budget Underestimates Future Deficits by $2 Trillion
CBO: Obama budget underestimates deficits by $2.3 trillion over upcoming decade
CBO: Obama understates deficits by $2.3 trillion
Obama Budget Underestimates Deficits by $2 Trillion
CBO: Obama FY12 Budget Would Result In $9.5T In Deficits Over Next Decade
CBO: Obama policies would require deficits of $9.5 trillion through 2021
CBO: Obama budget worse than projected on 10-year deficit
Congressional Budget Office projects higher Obama deficits
CBO Analysis: Obama’s 2012 Budget Increases Deficit
US budget to worsen deficits: CBO
UPDATE 2-Obama budget would worsen deficits – CBO report
Oooops! CBO says Obama’s budget understates deficits
To Bull[expletive deleted] . . . And Beyond!

Paul Ryan and the Republicans will soon unveil their 2012 budget which will address the looming entitlements disaster, make the hard choices, and put America back on the road to fiscal solvency. And, of course, Obama and the Democrats, in control of the Presidency and the Senate, will fight tooth and nail to sabotage and undermine any attempt to walk America back from the edge of the financial abyss which they seem hell bent on flinging us into.

/I can’t emphasize just how important the 2012 elections are, without a new President and Republican control of the Senate, the United States economy will continue to recklessly stagger towards economic collapse under Obama’s crushing, unsustainable debt load

,

Obama Sets Another New Record

And it’s not a good one.

U.S. posts record monthly budget deficit

The U.S. government posted a budget deficit of $222.5 billion in February, the largest monthly deficit on record, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

The government spent about $333 billion in the month and took in about $110 billion. February is typically a deficit month.

Year-to-date, the deficit is $641.2 billion, according to Treasury.

And just how bad is Obama’s out of control spending?

Big government doesn’t come cheaply. According to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) figures released Monday, the budget deficit for February hit a staggering $223 billion – meaning the Obama administration added more in debt last month than was borrowed in all of 2007.

Yep, that’s right, Obama added more to the national debt, money that we don’t have, in a single month, than George Bush added in the entire year of 2007. What’s wrong with this picture?

See also:
U.S. Runs $222.5 Billion Deficit in February; Highest for Any Month
U.S. Budget Deficit Expanded to Monthly Record $222.5 Billion in February
U.S. Posts Record Monthly Budget Deficit In February
February budget deficit highest ever for any month
Budget deficit hits record $222.5 billion in February
US budget deficit hits record in February
U.S. federal gov’t monthly budget deficit rises to record high in February
US Trade & Budget Deficits Get Worse
Deficit this month more than all of 2007
Obama Is Setting Records but Not in a Good Way

Everybody knows exactly what has to be done, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security need to be reformed back into solvency. It’s going to be painful and unpopular and the longer we wait to do what’s necessary, the more painful and unpopular the reforms are going to be. Unfortunately, no one seems to want to take the lead on this issue and get the job done, least of all Obama, who’s supposed to be leading this country. Obama is nothing more than a narcissistic political opportunist, more concerned with getting reelected than he is concerned with doing what’s right for the American people and the country.

Hopefully, when they release their 2012 budget proposal, the Republicans will step up to the plate as patriotic adults, negative political repercussions be damned, and include entitlement reform that will start to bring this country back on to the path to fiscal sanity.

/because someone has to do the right thing for America, a concept lost on Obama and the Democrats

Read It And Weep For America’s Future

Obama gets bad numbers from Congressional Budget Office

Jobs and the deficits are going to be big themes of President Obama’s big speech tomorrow — and he got some bad numbers on both topics today from the Congressional Budget Office.

Oval colleague Richard Wolf breaks it down for us:

Here’s more bad news on the budget front for President Obama: A new report by the Congressional Budget Office says the nation’s $1.4 trillion deficit is likely to stay in that range for the next two years.

The 2010 deficit should be about $1.35 trillion, and if Obama keeps President Bush’s tax cuts in place and extends other expiring tax breaks, the 2011 deficit would be about the same, the report says. Over the next decade, the nation would rack up another $12 trillion in deficits, thereby doubling the size of the $12 trillion national debt.

“Daunting” and “bleak” were just some of the adjectives used by CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf on Tuesday to describe the 10-year budget picture. Spending is projected to outpace revenue, and the debt would soon be two-thirds the size of the overall economy. By 2020, interest payments on that debt would be more than $700 billion, about four times the size of the current amount.

The report shows the unemployment rate rising slightly above 10% before declining slowly. Not until 2014 would the rate drop back to 5%.

“In sum, the outlook for the federal budget is bleak,” Elmendorf said. “U.S. fiscal policy is on an unsustainable path to an extent that cannot be solved by minor tinkering.”

But don’t worry, it’s Obama to the rescue.

Obama’s federal spending freeze

The White House has been cranking out initiatives daily in an effort to regain the public’s confidence, and on Tuesday, its target was the enormous federal deficit. Aides to President Obama disclosed that his forthcoming budget will call for a three-year freeze on “non-security discretionary funding.” That’s bureaucratese for capping everything but defense, homeland security, veterans, international affairs and entitlements (for example, Medicare and welfare), with no adjustments for inflation. That would result in $250 billion less being spent over the coming decade than currently projected, said Rob Nabors, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Although it’s merely a gesture, it’s a good one that sends the right signals to Congress and the public.

Skeptics were quick to note how little of the budget actually would be affected — about 17% — and how small the savings seem in comparison to the $6 trillion in total deficits expected over the coming decade. And presidential budgets are just proposals; Congress controls the purse strings. It’s hard to say how well received Obama’s latest offering will be, given how few details have been released. The official line is simply that the administration’s budget for fiscal 2010 (which runs from October 2010 through September 2011) will call for cutting some programs and increasing others.

So, in case you’re still confused, the National Debt is projected to double to over $20 trillion in the next ten years and Obama’s answer is to save $250 billion over the next decade. It’s like trying to put out a five alarm fire with a squirt gun, it’s a joke.

Oh, and remember that useless “stimulus” that we borrowed almost a trillion dollars for, the Democrat porkfest that had to be passed immediately to keep the unemployment rate below 8%? Well, four million jobs lost and a 10% unemployment rate later, guess what?

Officials Say Stimulus Bill to Cost $75B More

Last year’s $787 billion economic stimulus bill is going to be even more expensive — $75 billion more.

The new Congressional Budget Office estimate, released Tuesday, provides more ammunition for Republicans who say the stimulus has been long on spending and short on creating promised jobs. The additional cost also eats into the savings forecast from the budget freeze President Barack Obama is expected to propose Wednesday night during his State of the Union address.

Almost half of the additional cost, $34 billion, is because the food stamp program won’t be able to take advantage of lower-than-expected inflation rates and will instead have benefits set by the stimulus bill.

Higher unemployment insurance costs added $21 billion to the bill, and stimulus-subsidized bonds to pay for infrastructure projects have proven more popular than expected with state and local governments.

The $75 billion increase would erase one-third of the $250 billion in 10-year savings that would come from the partial domestic spending freeze being proposed by Obama. The boost in unemployment payments alone would more than erase the $10 billion to $15 billion in first-year savings from such a freeze.

And don’t forget that we borrowed the “stimulus” money so the debt service over time is going to make it cost more.

Read the whole depressing, frightening, and sobering CBO report:

The Budget and Economic Outlook:
Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020

See also:
Bleak Economic Projections as Obama Prepares for State of the Union Address
The CBO’s Economic Outlook Is Bleak
US Congressional Budget Office Chief Sees ‘Bleak’ Outlook
CBO Chief: “The Outlook For The Federal Budget Is Bleak”
Budget Office: The government’s finances on ‘unsustainable path’
CBO: Federal Deficit Projected at $1.35T
The Obama Fisc
Budget sanity
A ‘Bleak’ Budget but Slightly Better
Obama Seeks Partial Three-Year Spending Freeze
Broad range of programs targeted by proposed spending freeze
How much would Obama’s spending freeze trim US deficits? Not a lot.
The “spending freeze” in context
Tepid Reception for Obama Spending Freeze
Obama faces backlash on spending freeze
The Obama Spending Freeze is Simply Not Credible
Spending Freeze Won’t Melt Partisan Divide
Stimulus is now $75 billion more expensive
Stimulus Bill to Cost $75 Billion More Than Expected, CBO Says
Congressional Budget Office says stimulus bill to cost $75 billion more
CBO: Stimulus $75 Bln More Expensive Than Estimated
Stimulus price tag soars as jobless rate rises

/no matter what Obama sys tomorrow night, the State of the Union, is not strong