<div dir="ltr">The way to deal with the debt is to reduce it over time, through a combination of decreased spending and increased taxes, not by default or repudiation. The Tea Party is concerned about the debt like an abortionist is concerned about a fetus. Don't let those people anywhere near my baby!<div>
<br></div><div>Seriously, the Tea Party is the problem here. Many months ago, Boehner and Obama reached an agreement for dealing with the debt that included just what I said above: decreased spending and increased taxes over the long term. The Tea Party faction (which is the tail that wags the Republican dog these days) would have none of it. For them, taxes must only move in one direction: toward zero. Their mindless absolutism scuttled what could have been the solution. The Tea Party is intransigent and, frankly, not too bright. Their rigidity combined with their stupidity just could be the thing that sinks their ship...and ours.</div>
<div><br></div><div>And by ours, I don't mean only the American ship of state, or the nation. I mean the global economy. If America gets the flu, the rest of the world gets cancer. The dollar is the international reserve currency. US government bonds and other Treasury securities are the investment of choice for sovereign wealth funds and individual investors of means who seek to preserve the portion of their capital that they choose not to risk on dicier propositions.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Those financial instruments are paying very low interest rates right now; below the rate of inflation even. But they are still considered to be the best bet for safety because payment is guaranteed by the "full faith and credit of the United States." That means something in an uncertain world. But it will mean nothing if the Tea Party fanatics don't get a f*@king clue!</div>
<div><br></div><div>Sign me disgusted.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 10:27 AM, spike <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:spike66@att.net" target="_blank">spike66@att.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org" target="_blank">extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>John Clark<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, October 16, 2013 9:04 AM<br><b>To:</b> ExI chat list<br><b>Subject:</b> [ExI] Warren Buffett is worried too and thinks Republicans are "asinine"<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<u></u> <u></u></p><div><p class="MsoNormal">For those living in a fools paradise and think the failure to extend the debt ceiling is no big deal this is what Warren Buffett, a man who knows a thing or two about money, has to say on the subject: <span style="color:#1f497d">…</span> John K Clark<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br><span style="color:#1f497d">John everyone, even the Tea Party, agrees default is bad. The argument is really about who is doing it and why we keep hitting the debt limit with mind-numbing regularity, as well as how to stop hitting it it and what to do if the lenders stop lending, which is looking like a more distinct possibility very day.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><u></u><u></u></font></span></span></p>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="color:#1f497d">spike<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></font></span></div></div></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>