Are the USA broke , at financial mayhem? looks like Ibill

[directfiesta]

This is a scary article about borrowing and depleeting various funds ...

Treasury Dept. Moves to Avoid Debt Limit


Monday March 6, 2006 4:31 PM

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary John Snow notified Congress on Monday that the administration has now taken ``all prudent and legal actions,'' including tapping certain government retirement funds, to keep from hitting the $8.2 trillion national debt limit.

In a letter to Congress, Snow urged lawmakers to pass a new debt ceiling immediately to avoid the nation's first-ever default on its obligations.

``I know that you share the president's and my commitment to maintaining the full faith and credit of the U.S. government,'' Snow said in his letter to leaders in the House and Senate.

Treasury officials, briefing congressional aides last week, said that the government will run out of maneuvering room to keep from exceeding the current limit sometime during the week of March 20.

Snow in his letter notified lawmakers that Treasury would begin tapping the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, which Treasury officials said would provide a ``few billion'' dollars in extra borrowing ability.

Treasury officials also announced that on Friday they had used the $15 billion in the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a reserve that the Treasury secretary has that is normally used to smooth out volatile movements in the value of the dollar in currency markets.

Treasury has also been taking investments out of a $65.3 billion government pension fund known as the G-fund.

Officials have said that once the debt limit is raised, the investments taken out of the pension funds would be replaced and any lost interest payments would be made up. The formal title for the G-fund is the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees Retirement System.

Democrats hope to use the upcoming congressional debate over raising the debt limit to highlight what they see as the failings of the administration's economic program with its emphasis on sweeping tax cuts.

An actual default on the debt, a situation when the government misses making payments to current bondholders, is a doomsday scenario considered highly unlikely given what it would do to the government's credit rating.

It is expected that after intense debate, Congress will approve an increase in the current $8.18 trillion debt limit by perhaps $781 billion.

The administration has sent Congress a budget that on paper would cut the deficit in half by 2009, the year President Bush leaves office.

But Democrats contend the administration met its deficit-reduction goal only by leaving out major spending items such as the full costs of the Iraq war. They say the deficit will not improve unless Bush abandons his effort to make his first-term tax cuts permanent.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said last week that under President Bush the total of the deficits has increased by $3 trillion, a 40 percent increase from where the national debt - the total of previous deficits - stood when Bush took office in January 2001.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/s...666459,00.html

[SmokeyTheBear]

30% increase in debt in 4 years , thats pretty serious stuff

[nofx]

God Bless Amerikkka!!!!!!!!! Land Of The Free!!!!!!!!!!

[ContentSHOOTER]

Originally Posted by SmokeyTheBear

30% increase in debt in 4 years , thats pretty serious stuff

That's George W Bush

[Booger]

Fuck Ibill...bump

[pornguy]

Time for some of the officials to take a pay cut.

[CDSmith]

Let's see,... how to fix this situation. Hmmm....

Well, the USA could declare bankruptcy. Bingo, problem solved. :D

[Webby]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

This is a scary article about borrowing and depleeting various funds ...

Depleting???

Doubt there is any money to deplete in reality - it's already owed to other nations.

Only my but have little doubts the economy of the US is fucked already and seriously doubt much chance of recovery - there is little foundation to have any reason it will recover to it's former glory.


PS You ever checked out the Treasury Secretary John Snow?? He may be a nice guy, but sure is the most absurb unqualified person to hold that post - clueless. And.. wait for it, - if shit hits the fan - Snow is an ideal patsy, but suspect he'll escape before that time.

[Doctor Dre]

Bankrupting the country only to take over could be a good plan ;)

[69pornlinks]

nothing to see here move along ...the us is in sound financial standing.....

[KRL]

As long as we have the nukes, it'll be ok.



On a serious note, the Republicans basically, financed the past 4 years growth, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the Iraq war using trillions of borrowed funds.

Bush was all about less taxes and smaller government. What he didn't mention was a smaller government spending more money than ever seen in the history of the country in such a short period of time. He opened the spending throttle full blast basically.

That's the reality.

Because of the immense wealth of the US, it'll be ok, but this is not the best way to manage the country's finances in my opinion and many others clearly.

[Webby]

Originally Posted by Doctor Dre

Bankrupting the country only to take over could be a good plan ;)

It ain't gonna go bankrupt - tho may well be in real life

Other countries will just clear some of their debts by buying US assets - it has started already.

Next on the table, tho that has been rejected so far, but still an option - is for oil to be based on Euros rather than dollar value. (Can't remember but one country has already got this in the pipeline)

If OPEC did agree to price oil in Euros - the damage to the US is something nobody wants to think about. In that event, the US would end up with an economy matching that of Argentina on a bad day.

[Webby]

Originally Posted by KRL

Because of the immense wealth of the US, it'll be ok, but this is not the best way to manage the country's finances in my opinion and many others clearly.

Would sure like to see some of this "wealth" KRL - doubt it actually exists.

There are natural resources as yet untapped. There is nothing to talk about in manufacturing industries. The only two items which have a trading surplus are ams and wheat. Where exactly is the wealth creation?

Living from shuffling paperwork but consuming at a rate dispropotionate to the population and using credit cards to do it does not have much in the way of sustainability.

[Trax]

the us no longer published M3 data
this makes the dollar become worthless
they are now printing bills like stupid without any backing of the currency