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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (44917)	8/17/2010 3:03:25 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 71588

U.K., U.S., France, Germany `Well Positioned' on Aaa Ratings, Moody's Says By Gabi Thesing and Sonali Pathirana - bloomberg.com The U.S., Britain, France and Germany are likely to keep top credit ratings as they respond to investors’ pressure to cut budget deficits in the aftermath of the European debt crisis, Moody’s Investors Service said. “They are all very strongly Aaa rated but now those four countries are a bit more pressured than they were previously,” Alexander Kockerbeck, one of the co-authors of the report, said in an interview today. While their “distance to downgrade” has been reduced as cuts threaten global growth, they still “remain within the Aaa zone.” Greece’s near-default in the second quarter sparked a debt crisis that threatened to destroy the euro and reignite the global financial turmoil that started three years ago. Europe’s most indebted countries have since then started to force through austerity programs to convince investors that they can get their budgets under control. This may cause “a prolonged period of uneven but on the whole below-trend growth,” as export demand from emerging economy is not sufficient to fuel faster growth, said Moody’s. China’s industrial output grew the least in 11 months in July and a report today showed orders and sales at New York manufacturers fell in August for the first time this year. The U.K. is taking the lead in budget cuts. The government is pushing through the biggest spending cuts since World War II and the yield on the country’s 10-year government bond has dropped 80 basis points to 3.053 percent since David Cameron’s government came to power in May. Osborne Plan “We set out the plan in the budget and we will follow that plan,” Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. “People should be in no doubt about that.” Moody’s said that the U.S. “possesses very high finance- ability and a significant adjustment capacity to reverse debt dynamics over time.” The credit rating company pinpointed Spain as a “case apart” from the other nations. Moody’s on June 30 put its Aaa rating on review for possible downgrade and today said the government needs to prove its committed to the biggest spending cuts in 30 years. “The change in the government’s policy direction is very recent and we continue to have concerns about implementation risks,” Moody’s said. To contact the reporter on this story: Gabi Thesing at gthesing@bloomberg.net; Sonali Pathirana in New York at spathirana@bloomberg.net

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (44917)	8/17/2010 6:23:20 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Republicans are seen as the party most trusted to reduce the deficit by 32%, compared to 24% for Democrats, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. But a plurality of 40% see no difference between the two parties on the issue. I'm about with the country as a whole on this. Overall I trust the Republicans more than the Democrats, but I don't really trust either party on the issue. But then long-term demographic problems kick in, which in some ways dwarf the short-term deficit spike. With the baby boom generation retiring, the deficit will begin rising again because of rising Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending. The accumulated debt held by the public will exceed 77% of the economy within a decade, not including the debt the government owes itself for raiding Social Security taxes for decades. As "debt to itself" it isn't really debt, but entitlements are a huge demand on future spending, and we don't really have the resources to cover them. But the leadership of both parties have steadfastly resisted offering solutions. That's pretty much true. Every now and then their may be an exception (for example Gingrich) but usually those who are serious about the issue never make it in to the leadership of either party.