Looming debt limit fight rattles Wall Street

[turbinetree]

Source: The Hill

Wall Street is nervous that political deadlock in Washington and a looming debt ceiling fight could lead to the unthinkable this year: a US debt default.

“Washington has not been able to get a single thing of substance thing done since this Congress was established, so given that, there are a lot of reasons to be nervous that they won’t get it done,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.

“I think it’s important to be on high alert. I don’t think I’m on DEFCON 1 yet, but I’m on the scale,” he added.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has told Congress that if it doesn’t take action on the debt ceiling by September 29, the government will not be able to pay its bills. While most analysts believe Congress will act in time, the uncertainty weighs on the market.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/346262-looming-debt-limit-fight-rattles-wall-street

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If cuts to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid get into this legislation, its time for shut down

[Stonepounder]

1. If/When there is a gov't shutdown, there should be a law that says

that when the SecTreas can't meet all of our obligations, that the very first thing we should stop paying is Congress. Their salary, their aids salaries, their payments into SS and Medicare. Because if Congress cannot fulfill its responsibility to come up with a budget, then they obviously aren't essential.

And, it follows that the second thing that stops is the President's salary and benefits.

[Gothmog]

2. Trump has no plan for dealing with debt ceiling

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Yes he does

During the campaign he said he thought the government of the USA should repudiate its debt and pay back at about 60 cents on the dollar.

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/06/donald-trump-on-us-debt.html
May 6, 2016

In an interview Thursday on CNBC, Donald Trump broke with tired clichés about the evils of federal debt accumulation. "I am the king of debt," he said. "I love debt. I love playing with it."

But he replaced fearmongering about debt with an even more alarming notion — a bankruptcy of the United States federal government that would incinerate the world economy.

"I would borrow, knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal," Trump said. "And if the economy was good, it was good. So therefore, you can't lose."

With his statement, Trump not only revealed a dangerous ignorance about the operation of the national monetary system and the global economic order, but also offered a brilliant case study in the profound risks of attempting to apply the logic of a private business enterprise to the task of running the United States of America.

[not fooled]

5. Oh yeah,

the idiot doesn't grasp that the damage to the U.S.'s credit rating and ability to borrow in future will far outweigh whatever benefit he things would accrue from defaulting.

Not raising = the crackpot radical extremists want to blow up the U.S gov't and shatter our position as the holder of the world's reserve currency.

Also, a way to try to enact their sh*tty agenda by force because they can't do so through legitimate legislative means. America doesn't want OUR Federal Government and social programs trashed so billionaires can pay less taxes.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Didn't the GOP blame national debt increases on Obama? Maybe just my faulty memory.

Didn't the GOP blame national debt increases on Obama?

Maybe just my faulty memory.

[not fooled]

6. Yeah

usually--under puke presidunces--they have just quietly raised the debt ceiling. Under Dem Presidents: kick and scream.

Now the radicals see the chance to use the debt ceiling as leverage to force their sh*tty agenda on America.

[NobodyHere]

8. Sadly no party is innocent in regards to the debt

[LanternWaste]

9. Thankfully, no one here is making that argument.

Thankfully, no one here is making that argument.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. Kick

[Vinca]

10. The Trump business model is "don't pay your debts."

It might get worse than healthcare.