America bankrupt?

Does anybody understand how the US congress can let the country slip into the possibly most dangerous crisis since the Great Depression? We watch in disbelief. I do not pretend to understand all the details but reports are mostly pointing the finger to the Tea Party. How can it be that so-called "patriots" risk the country's reputation, wealth and future for a short time political gain?

Compared to these people Gaddhafi looks sane...

What's even more sad is that the Apple company has more cash on hand than the US government does, at this time.

They've been bankrupt since the great depression lawls.

Deep Cuts isn't just for Queen!!   We'll be living that here soon.

Earlier this month, we watched Atlantis (the final space shuttle mission) climb
away to the stars and with it our entire space program for a long, long time to come.

With so many serious obligations to be met - tough challenges/times are ahead for many
years, no doubt.   I'm hoping enough money can be raised to send our Olympic team to
London next year.

YourValentine wrote: Does anybody understand how the US congress can let the country slip into the possibly most dangerous crisis since the Great Depression? We watch in disbelief. I do not pretend to understand all the details but reports are mostly pointing the finger to the Tea Party. How can it be that so-called "patriots" risk the country's reputation, wealth and future for a short time political gain?

Compared to these people Gaddhafi looks sane...
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Tea Party freshmen are doing exactly what they said they'd do - changing the way Washington thinks. If that means shutting down the country while they hold their collective breath and turn blue, then that's what they'll do.

They're extremists who want "small" government - as in a government that doesn't spend money on things like welfare, medicare, medicaid or unemployment insurance, which are all programs to help those most in need. They don't want tax rates to return to pre-Bush amounts despite the fact that since he lowered them, the country's revenue has diminished considerably - of course two wars had nothing to do with that. They don't want any type of government intervention in their lives... yet they believe in constitutional amendments such as defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, such as defining an embryo as a human being whose rights are valued as much as any other so if they are harmed in any way someone will be tried for neglect or murder, such as tying a raise of the debt ceiling to a budget "agreement" that they can’t even reach because they refuse to compromise with anyone including those within their own party.

Bottom line, they campaigned on a promise to "take our country back" by making Barack Obama a one-term president. They will meet that goal even if it means sabotaging democracy itself, and then in the end, they'll do what they did before and place the blame squarely on the Democrats and President Obama.

The Tea Party wants what they want with no regard for the good of the country or the world. Or worse, they truly believe their actions ARE for the good of the country and the world.

how anyone living on mainland Europe can laugh at America's debt whilst their economy is in even more of a mess is in fact quite beyond me...

still bailing out Greece,Ireland and Portugal are you?

and that is why the UK will NEVER be a part of the Eurozone and with its toilet paper currency

I do not think anybody is laughing here, Jon. When the US economy crashes it won't take long for the European economies to crash. Somehow I do not believe that the pound will save the British economy. England is much more a money market than many other industry-oriented Eurpean countries.  As a member of the eurozone I can tell you that not many people here understand why we do not have the money for good streets and good schools anymore but are able to pay billions to bail out banks and whole countries who did not play by the rules - but that is another story.

I heard that Bill Clinton advised Obama to lift that debt ceiling with an executive order and leave it to the American people to vote about that in 2012. Apparently, there are people you just cannot compromise with.

YourValentine wrote: I heard that Bill Clinton advised Obama to lift that debt ceiling with an executive order and leave it to the American people to vote about that in 2012. Apparently, there are people you just cannot compromise with.
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The Obama Administration is concerned about the constitutionality of this. Though there was partisan hatred with Clinton in the Whitehouse, there's hatred like we've never seen before with Obama there. (And Clinton had a thicker skin and more productive ego than Obama) The concern of the Administration's legal team is that Obama will use powers from the 14th amendment to raise the debt ceiling Executively, and then the Republicans will sue - which will cost the country more money and might end with a strike against the Administration. That would be awful for Obama's reelection campaign, but also awful for the country because the entire process of lifting the debt ceiling, and the congressional sideshow included with that, would start again - with tempers higher and egos more bruised than they are now.

The Republicans have already gotten what they wanted in this debate - no "new" taxes, extremely low revenue and cuts to programs Democrats consider the blood of the country. It's still not enough for them.

Americans have their fellow citizens to thank for this predicament since a small group of ultra-right wingers voted these naysayers in. Worse? They're not seeing the error of their ways but rather cheering these representatives on with slogans like "shut it down!" since they'd rather see a government shutdown than a compromise.

Having said all that, I should add Democrats are not free from blame here. They had the Presidency, the House and the Senate for two years before the Tea Party was voted in. They could have easily balanced the budget their way - which would have included what most Americans want and that's a return to pre-Bush tax rates. If they had done that, this 'crisis' never would have occurred.

It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is for the super rich to convince the poor that both their interests are the same. I would giess most of the tea party people are normal hard working people who've been convinced by the media and certain politicians that "big govt" and taxes are "evil" whereas being obscenely rich and avoiding taxes is somehow democratic and the American way. The same thing has happened in the UK: working class and middle class people voted Conservative because the media and the Conservatives convinced everyone that paying for things like hospitals, roads and education was out of control whereas paying huge bonuses to bankers out of taxpayer money is necessary and desirable. Madness.

hope some way out is found... half the world will go down if the US does.

catqueen wrote: hope some way out is found... half the world will go down if the US does.
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The US won't go down, IMO. I may not have faith in the US government, but I have faith in the US government's desire to exist. They will not sacrifice themselves. One way or another, they'll find a way out.

magicalfreddiemercury wrote: catqueen wrote: hope some way out is found... half the world will go down if the US does.
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The US won't go down, IMO. I may not have faith in the US government, but I have faith in the US government's desire to exist. They will not sacrifice themselves. One way or another, they'll find a way out.

Thats kinda what i figured by today... they are saying that there are several ways out, blaa blaa, which i don't really believe, BUT i think too, surely they won't go down.  having said that, the Roman empire crashed spectacularly, as did most big empires...
At least thats what the conspiracy theorist people say!

The Democrats have, as usual, given the completely insane Republicans what they wanted - no one is going to touch the absurd and perverse tax-cuts for the filthy rich, no matter if the rest of the country starves.

Everyone who votes Republican is a traitor of him/herself and the American people.

The Onion never came closer to being a serious news agency: http://www.theonion.com/articles/congress-continues-debate-over-whether-or-not-nati,20977/

The far-right neo-con wave that is still strangling both the Americas and Europe is going to kill both continents if it isn't stopped soon. These Reaganomics-morons are the only party responsible for the economic crisis, and if they are allowed to keep going, along with their racist-populist allies the Tea Party (U.S.) and the Islamophobe far-right (Europe), they will destroy the economy and society.

It is greed and a total lack of morality that is destroying countries. It is neo-conservatism that keeps telling people that their greed, hate and envy are virtues rather than vices.

Obama is a good man who wants one simple thing - to have the average American live in comfort.  But the system is far bigger than him, and he has surely learned many hard lessons over the past couple years.

The simple solution to this problem would be to cut defense spending in half, but that will never, ever happen.  America is a war country.  The bankers and warlords run the entire system, and they always get what they want.  They print and control the money, and they will make sure the richest 1% keep the majority of it, and at any expense.

The US will NOT default.  There will be a miraculous last minute deal, and the middle class will shrink a little more.  And the politicians decide NONE of it.  It is a giant charade.

The republicans set this one up.  Their interests are far more in line with the elite than the democrats ever will be.  They put the unelectable Palin and McCain in there in '08 so that a democrat could get blamed for a mess that dates back to the Reagan administration, at least.  With FOX news at their beck (pun not intended) and call, the majority of the public will be convinced just in time for the next election.

Obama will be a one term president... even though he tried to bring in universal health care, wall street reform, killed bin Laden and wanted to bring Israel back to its '67 borders.  A century from now he'll be looked upon as one of the greatest presidents.. certainly the best since Kennedy.  And Obama certainly learned a thing or two from him because, well .. he's still alive.

2013 to 2020 will be a republican.  You heard it here first.

Sir GH wrote: Obama is a good man who wants one simple thing - to have the average American live in comfort.  But the system is far bigger than him, and he has surely learned many hard lessons over the past couple years.

The simple solution to this problem would be to cut defense spending in half, but that will never, ever happen.  America is a war country.  The bankers and warlords run the entire system, and they always get what they want.  They print and control the money, and they will make sure the richest 1% keep the majority of it, and at any expense.

The US will NOT default.  There will be a miraculous last minute deal, and the middle class will shrink a little more.  And the politicians decide NONE of it.  It is a giant charade.

The republicans set this one up.  Their interests are far more in line with the elite than the democrats ever will be.  They put the unelectable Palin and McCain in there in '08 so that a democrat could get blamed for a mess that dates back to the Reagan administration, at least.  With FOX news at their beck (pun not intended) and call, the majority of the public will be convinced just in time for the next election.

Obama will be a one term president... even though he tried to bring in universal health care, wall street reform, killed bin Laden and wanted to bring Israel back to its '67 borders.  A century from now he'll be looked upon as one of the greatest presidents.. certainly the best since Kennedy.  And Obama certainly learned a thing or two from him because, well .. he's still alive.

2013 to 2020 will be a republican.  You heard it here first.

yeah... i don't understand why Obama isn't that well liked in the usa.  And i dont understand how the republicans are so popular.  I mean, how can u convince SO many people that this is in their interests?! 
And republican president again is a scary thought.  :/