There is so much discussed in the 30-minute interview below with former Senior Counsel to the World Bank, Karen Hudes, who although reappointed, has since been barred from serving. Hudes, working within the US political system, is determined to protect American’s from the inevitable financial fallout America’s political class created and continues to enable. [Read more…]
November 2, 2013
by Valentin Katasonov
Strategic-Culture dot org
Foreign holders of American debt
As has already been noted, in recent years the share of non-American holders of US Treasury securities has been wavering around the 50 percent mark. However, there has also been a visible trend to reduce the share of non-residents (from 52.9 percent at the end of 2008 to 47.9 percent in the middle of 2013). [Read more…]
The “fiscal cliff” is another hoax designed to shift the attention of policymakers, the media, and the attentive public, if any, from huge problems to small ones. [Read more…]
(Note: click on “full story” tab below video to see full screen.)
h/t Veteran’s Today
See updates below X1
United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative
We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating.
We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative.
The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.
More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.
Since then, we have changed our view of the difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy, which makes us pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the Administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government’s debt dynamics any time soon.
The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to ‘AA’ within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case. [Read more…]
DemocracyNow! – “…The deal includes no new tax revenue from wealthy Americans, provides no additional stimulus for the lagging economy, and will cut more than $2.1 trillion in government spending over 10 years, while extending the borrowing authority of the Treasury Department. The debt deal was a victory of sorts for the Pentagon. Rather than cutting $400 billion in defense spending through 2023, as President Barack Obama had proposed in April, it trims just $350 billion through 2024, effectively giving the Pentagon $50 billion more than it had been expecting over the next decade. We speak with William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, and Michael Hudson, professor of economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.”
New report by scholars with the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies –
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Nearly 10 years after the declaration of the War on Terror, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan have killed at least 225,000 people, including men and women in uniform, contractors, and civilians. The wars will cost Americans between $3.2 and $4 trillion, including medical care and disability for current and future war veterans, according to a new report by the Eisenhower Research Project based at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies. If the wars continue, they are on track to require at least another $450 billion in Pentagon spending by 2020.
Read the entire report by clicking HERE
Joe Farrah speaks to Freedom Jamboree Tea Party in Washington DC highlights the success of his grassroots campaign to stop Republican’s from voting in favor to increase the debt ceiling from the current $14.3 trillion. He states the need to secure “218 votes to stop it cold.” He goes onto remind these newbies why they were sent to Washington last November and promises to hold them accountable if they vote in favor of increasing the debt ceiling aka QE3.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KejUTFgRBbU