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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerrel Peters who wrote (499203)	11/26/2003 3:26:13 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Dollar Drops Against Euro; U.S. May Struggle to Attract Capital Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar had its biggest decline against the euro in a week on concern the U.S. won't attract enough capital to narrow its record current account deficit, even as the economy expands at the fastest pace since 1984. The dollar failed to rally after government and industry reports showed durable goods orders in the U.S. rose, jobless claims fell and an index of Chicago-area factory activity rose to the highest in almost nine years. In contrast to the U.S., the euro region's current account surplus widened in September, the European Central Bank said today. ``Traders don't feel comfortable sleeping at night with a big long dollar position,'' said Shahab Jalinoos, a currency strategist at ABN Amro Holding NV in London. In New York trading, the dollar fell to $1.1929 per euro at 2:56 p.m. from $1.l792 late yesterday. The dollar is down 14 percent versus the euro this year and today dropped against all but three of 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg News. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the dollar compared with a basket of six currencies, fell to 90.53 from 91.46. The index has shed 11 percent this year. In other trading, the yen rose against the dollar after Merrill Lynch & Co. raised its forecasts for the Japanese currency. Gold rose. The U.S. current account, the broadest measure of trade and investment, was $138.7 billion in the second quarter, the most recent figures available. By contrast, Europe's surplus widened to 7.7 billion euros in September, the ECB said today. Japan also has a surplus. Deficits ``Clearly the growth story is not motivating foreign exchange markets,'' said John McCarthy, director of foreign exchange trading at ING Financial Markets LLC in New York. ``The more broad-based macroeconomic issues of deficits here and general concern about fiscal issues here, in particular with the Middle East, are going to be with us for a while.'' Tax cuts, increases in military spending and a growing need to fund social programs associated with an aging population are widening the U.S. budget deficit. Wall Street firms including Merrill have forecast the gap will swell to a record $600 billion in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, from $374 billion in the prior year. In a move that may add to the deficit, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a $395 billion Medicare bill to help the elderly afford prescription drugs. ``The reason for the U.S. dollar-bear story is pretty clear. It's a structural situation, a burgeoning current-account deficit and a blowing out in the budgetary position,'' said Su-Lin Ong, senior economist at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney. Ong said RBC forecasts the euro will reach $1.20 by the end of the year.

To: Jerrel Peters who wrote (499203)	11/26/2003 3:50:51 PM
From: geode00	Respond to of 769670

Thank you for confirming my suspicions that those who take the immoral low road of Neocondom understand nothing of history, of politics or of economics. Shrubbery is driving us in to a record deficit: I am always open to factual correction but this is what I recall: At this point in the admin, how many spending bills had he vetoed? Reagan - 22 Shrubbery - 0 For nonessential (i.e. excluding things like defense) budgetary items, how do Presidents rate in their spending? Reagan - DOWN 13% Clinton - DOWN 1% Shrubbery - UP 22% ------------ Even if you side with Shrubbery on every other subject (remember, he was a C student but with great legacies), understand that he is the single most incompetent, spendthrift executive in modern history. His admin was mocked by Congress because of the amount it had put into the 2004 budget for Iraq --- $0. A blustering Wolfowitz said it was $0 because the admin had no idea how much would be required and they did not want to have to come back and revise an actual number upwards.