US's credit rating downgraded. First time in History.

[Shooter]

The blame Bush polls must not be going well for Barry and his crew. Now they are trying to discredit S&P. This is amateur hour.

It's been amateur hour ever since Obama was elected. This is what happens when you put a "community organizer" in charge of the United States government.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Listening to various radio shows this morning the thing that stood out to me, mainly because I'm in this group, is this debacle will most affect the age group 30 and below the most long-term.

 

[maxiep]

Come on guys, stop ratcheting shit up.

I'll ratchet shit up whenever I want!

[video=youtube;Fs7dfpH6ePw]

 

[maxiep]

Listening to various radio shows this morning the thing that stood out to me, mainly because I'm in this group, is this debacle will most affect the age group 30 and below the most long-term.

You bring up an excellent point. Young people should be the angriest. These policies represent a massive wealth transfer from Gen X and below to the Baby Boomers. And the problem is only going to get worse. That's why I've been willing to make real sacrifices in services--as well as accepting a tax increase that went solely to paying down our debt--to whack down our debt to GDP ratio. I have a boy, and I can't look at him and say, "You pay for my lifestyle".

I'd rep you, but I got this message:

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Fez Hammersticks again.

 

[maxiep]

Here's a good thumbnail sketch on the issues surrounding the downgrade: http://dmarron.com/2011/08/05/five-things-you-should-know-about-the-sp-downgrade/

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

You're one of the 50% of Americans that don't pay any federal income tax, aren't you?

grad school hollah

 

[PapaG]

grad school hollah

If you took out student loans, the debt bill just passed is going to fuck you over on your "grace" period.

 

[MARIS61]

Like Carter, Obama inherited a no-win situation created by Republicans determined to reward the idle rich and ignore regulation of commerce, a recession that will take decades to overcome.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Here's a good thumbnail sketch on the issues surrounding the downgrade: http://dmarron.com/2011/08/05/five-things-you-should-know-about-the-sp-downgrade/

Good link. I especially agree with the part that both sides are not taking a realistic look at compromise and working together for real solutions. I was watching news this morning and a dem congressman (I think from KY) was making his case that we have to "tax and spend" our way out of this mess. I didn't catch his full argument, but I did hear him say that "a lot more government spending is the answer".

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Like Carter, Obama inherited a no-win situation created by Republicans determined to reward the idle rich and ignore regulation of commerce, a recession that will take decades to overcome.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........................................................................................

Would someone turn the record player off, it keeps repeating itself over and over.

 

[Klinky]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........................................................................................

Would someone turn the record player off, it keeps repeating itself over and over.

*turns off Blazer Prophet*

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

*turns off Blazer Prophet*

Ouch.

I guess I set myself up for that one.

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

If you took out student loans, the debt bill just passed is going to fuck you over on your "grace" period.

Yeah, I actually read that article a couple hours after posting above. So, I guess I would change my reply from "whooptie fuck" to "fuck those assholes"

 

[Klinky]

You bring up an excellent point. Young people should be the angriest. These policies represent a massive wealth transfer from Gen X and below to the Baby Boomers. And the problem is only going to get worse.

Some how I doubt that the young generation is going to get angry at their grandparents who have paid into the system for 3 - 4 decades, rather more anger is directed at the hoarders of wealth, oh wait, "Job Creators", my bad.

 

[Shooter]

Like Carter, Obama inherited a no-win situation created by Republicans determined to reward the idle rich and ignore regulation of commerce, a recession that will take decades to overcome.

Nobody on the left said anything like this when Obama was running for president. We were assured that Obama was going to turn the country around and that it was a NEW DAY for America!

It was only after Obama's policies started failing that liberals began to blame it all on Bush--and that's the refrain they've been using every since.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Some how I doubt that the young generation is going to get angry at their grandparents who have paid into the system for 3 - 4 decades, rather more anger is directed at the hoarders of wealth, oh wait, "Job Creators", my bad.

I'm not certain what you meant by the last half of your post, but why would the younger generation be upset with their elders over this? We just voted people in who said one thing and did another. They'll see plenty of that as they age as well. There were solutions to these issues, but the duly elected officials played politics with it all and didn't really care about the people. I think their ire will be towards socialism, socialists and those who promote it. I think people will always wonder why we can't get "public servants" to serve the public.

 

[ABM]

Middle East markets are tumbling on the news.

 

[jlprk]

The U.S. economy is about as strong as that of Estonia.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/2011/04/28/united-states-gets-sovereign-rating-c/?intcmp=obnetwork

 

[Denny Crane]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/08/05/the-u-s-is-downgraded-and-obama-will-be-too/

The U.S. Is Downgraded, and Obama Will Be Too
John Podhoretz

This is a terrible day. For the first time, the creditworthiness of the United States has been called into question by an independent entity, Standard and Poor’s, which has downgraded the country’s credit rating from AAA to AA+. Its statement features this terrifying phrase: “The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.” S&P assigns blame to all players, and by seeing a “negative outlook” down the road, is saying it expects to downgrade to a simple AA within two years.

The Left will and is already blaming the Tea Party and Republicans. The Right will and is blaming the growth of the federal debt and the refusal to deal with the unsustainable path created by the entitlement programs. This is a grinding battle that will lead to an intellectual and ideological stalemate. There’s truth to the Leftist charge that the conservative Republican decision to use the debt ceiling fight as leverage to force a cut in the national debt at a particularly risky time was unsound. But that is nothing next to the liberal fantasy that the U.S. can stay on its current course—the most destructive notion in present-day politics.

But the ideological stalemate does not mean the political fallout will be evenly distributed. This is a colossal disaster for Barack Obama, and anybody who says otherwise is kidding himself or trying to spin you. We know that the election of 2012 is going to be fought on jobs, the economy, and the wisdom of health care. But now the GOP has an overarching theme that I predict will be at the core of a $500 million advertising campaign: “America needs its good name back.”

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

 

[jlprk]

13 countries have a Triple-A rating, including the 4 weakest.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...ngs-and-those-at-risk-losing-them/?test=btech

 

[Denny Crane]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/17689937/site/14081545/

 

[maxiep]

Some how I doubt that the young generation is going to get angry at their grandparents who have paid into the system for 3 - 4 decades, rather more anger is directed at the hoarders of wealth, oh wait, "Job Creators", my bad.

Then our youth are idiots.

 

[Klinky]

Then our youth are idiots.

You're the one saying that people are expecting someone else to pay for their lifestyle after paying into a system for 3 - 4 decades of their life... Seriously...

 

[Klinky]

I'm not certain what you meant by the last half of your post, but why would the younger generation be upset with their elders over this?

Ask maxiep.

We just voted people in who said one thing and did another. They'll see plenty of that as they age as well. There were solutions to these issues, but the duly elected officials played politics with it all and didn't really care about the people.

Solutions are not always simple. Politics is complicated. You have your constituents, your donors & your party to answer to. Usually your donors & your party are well above your constituents. Who makes up a lot of the donors? Private entities who want something in return & given how often we have elections there is always a need for money. The political system is corrupt, true, but political systems in any entity are corrupt including the private sector.

I think their ire will be towards socialism, socialists and those who promote it. I think people will always wonder why we can't get "public servants" to serve the public.

I am not quite sure that's the case, a lot of US citizens approve of the idea of single payer healthcare, a lot of them like Medicare & Social Security. A lot of them do not like huge corporate entities that are too big to fail or else they take the entire economy down. They do not like giant corporations who barely pay taxes, pad their executives pay & don't hire anyone. They're not happy about a pointless war that's wasted billions of dollars which a large chunk of was given directly to Halliburton, contractors who made faulty armored vests & vehicles & private mercenaries who's ability to follow the rules of war would be considered questionable. Some how I doubt people are going to run out into the streets saying "take down Medicare, take down Social Security because AIG made bad policies & Washington Mutual gave out bad loans. Destroy those dastardly socialist programs because GM fucked up their business model & Halliburton helped start a war by getting their ex-CEO into the White House, socialism is so bad, it caused all these bad things by private industry!". Not everyone is that stupid, some people can can follow the money & understand that corruption is what people should be fighting against & not lame battles about the evils of communism/socialism/marxism/capitalism...

 

[maxiep]

You're the one saying that people are expecting someone else to pay for their lifestyle after paying into a system for 3 - 4 decades of their life... Seriously...

They pay 7% of their income into a system that pays for 10-20 years of benefits after 45 years of working (if you didn't go to college). Exactly how does that make sense?

 

[Klinky]

They pay 7% of their income into a system that pays for 10-20 years of benefits after 45 years of working (if you didn't go to college). Exactly how does that make sense?

Well, I guess insurance can't work either under your logic. The idea that people contribute to a pool of money, some of whom will not receive full or any benefit from is ludicrous! Almost as ludicrous as saying that someone who's paid into something is getting it for free.

 

[blazerboy30]

Some how I doubt that the young generation is going to get angry at their grandparents who have paid into the system for 3 - 4 decades, rather more anger is directed at the hoarders of wealth, oh wait, "Job Creators", my bad.

Those of us in the younger generation that still have a work ethic and are trying to be successful in earning for ourselves are angry about the completely broken government and the ludicrous spending.

Those others in the younger generation who don't want to work and have been raised with the I-deserve-things-to-be-given-to-me attitude will direct their anger at these so-called "hoarders of wealth"... which is actually just the group I mention above who were willing to work for things instead of expecting gifts.

 

[Klinky]

Those of us in the younger generation that still have a work ethic and are trying to be successful in earning for ourselves are angry about the completely broken government and the ludicrous spending.

Yes, which Social Security has a lot to do with, a system that has been fully funded(w/ surplus) from it's own tax. Now if we want to talk about squandering that surplus, then yes there's a point to be made. If we want to talk about SS possibly needing adjustments in the future, yes that too can be discussed. But saying that those who have funded SS over the last couple decades are expecting something for free or have poor work ethic is unethical.

...which is actually just the group I mention above who were willing to work for things instead of expecting gifts.

Gifts like bailouts or wars? Isn't that part of the "ludicrous spending"?

 

[Denny Crane]

Lol. Insurance doesn't work when the company spends the pooled money on some other social program.