Rep. Mark Kirk
 

...goes to China and proceeds to tell them not to trust our budget. Now why on earth would a JUNIOR congressman tell our biggest debt holder something like that when we are in the middle of a recovery from the worst recession since WWII? Good grief! :headshake

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...budget-numbers
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sle...d=sec-politics


So if China decides all of sudden not to buy any more bonds and our economy goes back into a tailspin, we can blame that guy.

*shakes head* beggars belief.

Perhaps because based upon his information he believes it to be the truth?

He should not have done it. He is risking a lot by those actions. He is risking the safety and economic health of this country.

But honestly, the way so many republicans have come out and said they want Obama to fail, it really isn't surprising. I mean anything to help that cause along...

It does seem very irresponsible.

Make a list of all those "so many republicans" please.

When Rush Limbaugh made his speech at CPAC saying he wanted Obama to fail, he got a standing ovation. And no one in the party has stood up to him and told him he shouldn't say that. In fact, everyone who tried has ended up apologizing to him. Bobby Jindal also said it's OK for republicans to want Obama to fail.

Fist few pages of a Google search:
Rush Limbaugh
Bobby Jindal
Michael Steele
Fred Thompson
Anyone with one of these.

Whoopdee fuckin dooo thats real credible.

Thats pretty weak. I expect a lot more from you too.

Seems pretty credible to me classic.

Should I be surprised at that. ya commie tart.

*grins* sticks and stones may break my bones, but come the revolution you're first against the wall mate :P

Actually, what is credible? That 1/2 of those listed were false or that one of his examples is a radio talk show blowhard who'd say anything for ratings?

Anyway....

Perhaps we should be more worried about the truth in what he said.

Oh that surely is a worry. But I still think talking your own country's finances down to China is a bit of an own goal.

on the other hand, one could call that honesty and transparency too (sarc)

Yes...one could. But one could also suggest that there are appropriate and sensible audiences for that honesty and transparancy....and telling your main creditors that you are in the bin might not be sensible if you don't want them to withdraw credit.

Thats ok - Its Bush's fault.

Maybe.

We'd also have to think that the Chinese are smart enough to have thought may--be the investment here isn't quite what it was in the past all on their own.

They know BS when they hear it. Even when it's the Treasury Secretary himself trying to deny reality.

"Chinese assets are very safe," Geithner said in response to a question after a speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student in the 1980s.

His answer drew loud laughter from his student audience

So, while I do admire the complete disregard of financial reality within the O supporters, it appears to many Chinese and Americans that what this admin is spinning is complete bullshit AND that we are in serious trouble.

This would be the case whether a D or an R is in office though, to be fair. This entire problem with debt, future obligations and non-stop printing presses put us in a very tight spot.

Well, I am really not fond of all this spending either, and I am worried about the deficit, but I honestly believe that had we not spent all that money, we would be now where we were in the 30s, in another great depression. There have been a few people in the financial sector on TV lately who said people don't realize how close we actually came to complete collapse. Like, serious financial collapse, and everything that goes along with that. And, we still are not out of it yet. It could very well turn back around and go south again. NOT SPENDING really wasn't an option. If we had done that, we would be in a very different situation now. I believe that.

I believe UT posted a graph that you may want to look at. There are some who disagree. Some are even predicting a severe drop again when the money that the Gov't has spent runs out and the states are forced to keep spending to account for it. That's the main reason some Governors didn't want to take the money in the first place. Of course they were probably all R's so that can't be right.

I think MOST economists disagree and believe we had to spend. Of course there were a few who disagreed. But most of them said we needed to spend.

The people I'm referring to, I'm trying to remember, I think one of them was Donnie Deutsch, and I believe the other one was Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America. It was some bank CEO anyway. I'm trying to remember who else. I watch CNBC sometimes, and I watch Morning Joe, and sometimes they have financial people on there, so it was one of those two places where I heard it, by more than one person. I wish I had written it down so I could remember. I've never had anyone question my sources the way you do.

I learned the hard way to back up what you say - especially something that inflammatory.

By the way - did you see the interview on Morning Joe this am regarding how the oversight of the financial district is going to be structured? It was a guest host (cannot remember his name) bt he hammered the woman who was spouting the party line and he kept cutting her off asking very specific questions to which she had very few replies. It was very good.

I have missed Morning Joe the past few days because my cats have been wreaking havok with my sleep cycle, waking me numerous times in the middle of the night. I love that show though. I especially like Mika (big surprise huh?). I have a huge amount of respect for her, considering the little boy antics she puts up with from Joe and "the boys" on the show. :D

OK, now I've got a question. Why is it wrong to want Obama to fail? I hope he fails at his attempt for a national health plan. I hope he fails at his attempts to raise taxes. I believe he is failing in his handling of the auto and finance industries.

Wanting policies you wholeheartedly disagree with to fail seems logical to me. Is it only wrong because we're all supposed to love Obama?

The final price, is what's wrong. What he's paying for, is what's wrong.

The demise of your, and my, country...that's what's wrong.

To be clear I don't feel Obama's failure = US failure. I believe Obama success = US long term failure.

That's where we differ: I really felt that continuing along the old path would equal long term failure.

Only years from now will history tell us who was right. :)

Because. It's saying you want the country to go down in a ball of flames.

It's ridiculous to not raise taxes. Bush handed out tax cuts that weren't paid for. Well, now we need that money. Taxes under Reagan were higher than they are today, and he was the darling of the republican party. Why do people think they should just not have to pay any taxes? It's ludicrous.

So you want health care to continue the way it has been? Great. We'll be #67th in the world before long, instead of #37th. Regardless of what people think, and like to chant like a mantra, we do not have anywhere NEAR the best health care in the world.

Mark Kirk is the least of our worries SP

This is surely just a misunderstanding of some type. Nothing to it. Completely innocent. Not_a_thing to be concerned with.

None of the mainstream media are covering it so that means...it's not a problem. Or better yet, it's a fake story dreamed up by Fox News.

Well we all know how well thought of those Fox news guys are. So it must just be a figment of your imagination slang.

That story appeared in the wierd news thread recently, with a different source, but Slang's link gives more analysis.
Who the hell has $134 billion to smuggle? Even Bill Gates doesn't have that much. A government? Then why didn't they use a diplomatic bag, and go risk free? A corporation? who the hell has that kind of moolah? And why are they moving it? Tax evasion? Crime proceeds? Hiding assets before the bankruptcy case?
Or are the bonds forgeries? If passable fakes in the billion dollar range are circulating, goodbye confidence in the dollar. Even if they are real, the idea that huge sums are sloshing about undeclared to regulators undermines confidence.

If they are forgeries they may be a big problem for the US. If they are not forgeries they may be a big problem for the US.

Why do we not know more about this case? Are the details previously reported accurate? Are there no reporters or investigators available to follow up on the report?

This was from Faux news? ahh. OK. That sort of changes everything lol.

Not a good sign. They weren't making them just for fun. Even though
Didn't hear about this one at all ....

Really? He's 513th on my list.;)

I putting Bruce as #1. Not because I have anything against him politically. I just want to steal his women.:D

BTW, for Cheney, Kirk, and many of the dispossessed Republicans, it all about the schadenfreude.