From an interview with the authors of the Simpson-Bowles reform plan and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein:
“…We just met with — a dozen of the largest high-tech company CEOs in the country. Not only are they hoarding cash. All their customers, all their suppliers are. They’re scared to death we’re going to go over this cliff and it could be a catastrophe….”
You can find a summary article to read there, it has briefer video links, but the best use of your time is to watch the full interview over here or read the transcript (about 42 1/2 minutes). Also, David Brook’s piece on the debt indulgence is worth a careful revisit.
The thing that amazes me is the President has literally been AWOL from his job for more that a year, and no one has called him one it. This is a prime example of dereliction of duty on his part, his absolute ignoring of the ever looming cliff. His solution, having his Labor Department instruct government contractors to break the law by failing to give the MANDATORY plant closure notices, to me in itself is an impeachable offense.
And yes, one reason I don’t believe any of the articles about the economy getting “better” is that I know virtually all my clients have frozen in their tracks. They don’t know what to do about hiring or firing because of Obamacare (if it becomes law a lot of companies are either going to start laying off a lot of their employees and replacing them with part timers, or they are going to dump their healthcare plans entirely and just pay the penalties, which are cheaper). None of them want to spend any money or invest in any new capital improvements because (1) they don’t know whether we are going to fall off the cliff (especially since we have a lot of military here, and the military has all announced that despite what may be coming out of Washington, they are already cutting back (9% spending reduction for the remainder of the year); and (2) they don’t know whether we are going to start getting hit with runaway inflation after the election. So economic activity has largely ceased here right now, you can just feel everyone trying to see if they can hold out until after the elections and then they will try to plan their futures. One fall out? Our draw checks have been cut by over 60% in the past couple of months. So all this phony economic data about things getting better just infuriates me. The military alone is warning the public to prepare for another 18% in cuts come January, which is predicted to cost at least 5,000 jobs in an already moribund economy.
I wish someone would talk about the Emperor with no clothes, which is that this economic situation was caused by government in the first place in 2007, and it goes on and on, not because of any problems with businesses, but because of continuing mismanagement of the economy by the government. Obamacare in particular is going to strangle many businesses to death.
What just boggles me is why anyone has to think more than one second about who to vote for in this next election. But I guess there is a whole big segment of the country that is now addicted to government handouts, Obamaphones and the like, who think the freebies are going to continue. But mark my words, the whole system is going to collapse if he gets re-elected.
We have an administration led by a man who idolized Frank Marshall Davis and has taken his economic policies from Karl Marx. For those that don’t know Davis, he was a black poet/activist that was a card carrying member of the Communist Party, USA and at one time was involved with their newspaper which if I am remembering correctly was in Chicago. Obama refers to him about 22 times in his book “Dreams of My Father”. That book came out in the 90’s. In 2005 after Obama started looking towards the presidency, he put out an audio version of the book and Davis is not mentioned. I believe this is where the lack of recovery has come from along with “green” energy obsession. Obama is not a leader, does not want to work with the Republicans and thinks that everything will be fine based on his opinion of himself and his self perceived likeability. He is fatally narcissistic.
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform committee reminds me of the archaic practice of bleeding; thinking one can make the patient well by bleeding them.
“Bowles identified four problem areas in the U.S.: Health-care spending that’s twice that of any other country; defense spending higher than the next 17 nations combined; a tax code that is “inefficient, ineffective, and globally anticompetitive”; and a Social Security program that has a $900 billion hole to fill over the next decade.”
Give me a break; has Bowels bother to read the data on the budget, as part of GNP we spend a mere and dangerous pittance on defense, and fallacy to compare the US to 17 nations below them. How this person can compare the United States to Germany, Japan and Saudi Arabia.? What is the solution to Heath spending, it she is not giving it over to bunch of bureaucrats like Obamacare. The the reason we are in such a hole is government is borrowing and spending from Social security, while adding more recipients beyond retired. The Social Security is just a glorified ponzi scam.
The problem is we have a president and Democratic party acting like a child dragging his feet because that can get what they want. Never mind their program will case even more harm to business, job opportunity, world security, and the economy.
I’m all for Simpson-Bowles. I’m disappointed that the President didn’t run with it. I’m also upset that Ryan helped torpedo it when he was on the commission. But I think the blame primarily lay with Congress (Senate and House). No one really cares about the deficit, they only use it as a bludgeon to attack their enemies. Then when they’re in office, they do absolutely nothing about it.