[C38] America Held Hostage

Mon May 16 17:51:45 EDT 2011

If this Horse$#!+ keeps showing up, I am out of here.... Keep your religion and your politics to yourself !

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Common Sense is a rare gift from the Gods.

Most people have only technical training!

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The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in sailing.

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When in doubt, try the vice You haven't tried before!

--- On Mon, 5/16/11, Patrick Harpole <1derful at comcast.net> wrote:

From: Patrick Harpole <1derful at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [C38] America Held Hostage
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
Date: Monday, May 16, 2011, 2:45 PM

How did this political 
statement get on a  sailing site?
Blue 
eyes
San Francisco 
Bay

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: 
  Don 
  Strong 
  To: Catalina 38 Listserve 
  Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 1:49 PM
  Subject: Re: [C38] America Held 
  Hostage

Steve: You are a naughty boy! Don

On 5/16/11 1:39 PM, 
  Steve Smolinske wrote: 

    Can 
    we please limit political discussion on the board to only those that are 
    favorable to the Republican view point? 

    From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org 
    [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] 
    On Behalf Of Bill Haynes
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 1:32 
    PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] America 
    Held Hostage 

    Paul, you 
    need to read this column for what Paul Krugman says here is the honest to 
    God truth. 

    Bill 

    May 15, 2011 
    New York Times 
    America Held 
    Hostage 
    By PAUL KRUGMAN 
    Six months ago President Obama faced a hostage situation. Republicans 
    threatened to block an extension of middle-class tax cuts unless Mr. Obama 
    gave in and extended tax cuts for the rich too. And the president 
    essentially folded, giving the G.O.P. everything it wanted. 
    Now, predictably, the hostage-takers are back: blackmail worked well last 
    December, so why not try it again? This time House Republicans say they will 
    refuse to raise the debt ceiling — a step that could inflict major economic 
    damage — unless Mr. Obama agrees to large spending cuts, even as they rule 
    out any tax increase whatsoever. And the question becomes what, if anything, 
    will get the president to say no. 
    The debt ceiling itself is a strange feature of U.S. law: since Congress 
    must vote to authorize spending and choose tax rates, why have a second vote 
    on whether to allow the borrowing that these spending and taxation policies 
    imply? In practice, however, legislators have historically been willing to 
    raise the debt ceiling as necessary, so this quirk in our system hasn’t 
    mattered very much — until now. 
    What has changed? The answer is the radicalization of the Republican 
    Party. Normally, a party controlling neither the White House nor the Senate 
    would acknowledge that it isn’t in a position to impose its agenda on the 
    nation. But the modern G.O.P. doesn’t believe in following normal 
    rules. 
    So what will happen if the ceiling isn’t raised? It has become 
    fashionable on the right to assert that it would be no big deal. On Saturday 
    the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal ridiculed those worried about 
    the consequences of hitting the ceiling as the "Armageddon 
    lobby." 
    It’s hard to know whether the "what, us worry?" types believe what 
    they’re saying, or whether they’re just staking out a bargaining position. 
    But in any case, they’re almost surely wrong: seriously bad consequences 
    will follow if the debt ceiling isn’t raised. 
    For if we hit the debt ceiling, the government will be forced to stop 
    paying roughly a third of its bills, because that’s the share of spending 
    currently financed by borrowing. So will it stop sending out Social Security 
    checks? Will it stop paying doctors and hospitals that treat Medicare 
    patients? Will it stop paying the contractors supplying fuel and munitions 
    to our military? Or will it stop paying interest on the debt? 
    Don’t say "none of the above." As I’ve written before, the federal 
    government is basically an insurance company with an army, so I’ve just 
    described all the major components of federal spending. At least one, and 
    probably several, of these components will face payment stoppages if federal 
    borrowing is cut off. 
    And what would such payment stops do to the economy? Nothing good. 
    Consumer spending would probably crash, as nervous seniors started wondering 
    how to pay for rent and food. Businesses that depend on government purchases 
    would slash payrolls and cancel investments. 
    Furthermore, markets might well panic, especially if interest payments 
    are missed. And the consequences of undermining faith in U.S. debt might be 
    especially severe because that debt plays a crucial role in many financial 
    transactions. 
    So hitting the debt ceiling would be a very bad thing. Unfortunately, it 
    may be unavoidable. 
    Why? Because this is a hostage situation. If the president and his allies 
    operate on the principle that failure to raise the debt ceiling is an 
    unthinkable outcome, to be avoided at all cost, then they have ceded all 
    power to those willing to bring that outcome about. In effect, they will 
    have ripped up the Constitution and given control over America’s government 
    to a party that only controls one house of Congress, but claims to be 
    willing to bring down the economy unless it gets what it 
    wants. 
    Now, there are good reasons to believe that the G.O.P. isn’t nearly as 
    willing to burn the house down as it claims. Business interests have made it 
    clear that they’re horrified at the prospect of hitting the debt ceiling. 
    Even the virulently anti-Obama U.S. Chamber of Commerce has urged Congress 
    to raise the ceiling "as expeditiously as possible." And a confrontation 
    over spending would only highlight the fact that Republicans won big last 
    year largely by promising to protect Medicare, then promptly voted to 
    dismantle the program. 
    But the president can’t call the extortionists’ bluff unless he’s willing 
    to confront them, and accept the associated risks. 
    According to Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, Mr. Obama has told 
    Democrats not to draw any "line in the sand" in debt negotiations. Well, 
    count me among those who find this strategy completely baffling. At some 
    point — and sooner rather than later — the president has to draw a line. 
    Otherwise, he might as well move out of the White House, and hand the keys 
    over to the Tea Party. 

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    05/16/11
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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616

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