Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Skinny,

I think the tea party and other barking mad parties (BNP, UKIP, Neo Fascists, Right wing partiesetc.) are -perfectly correct.

There should be no taxation, or at least reduce to as close to zero, as is possible.

A perfect society, without police, lanes instead of roads, sewerage in the gutters, education for only those who can pay. No emergency service, who needs them anyway. (At the moment.)

The comparison of the Tea Party an the organisers of the American Revolution doesn't stand examination. The taxes being paid by "Americans" to "England" were disproportionate and seen as payment to a distant elite by those who saw themselves as disenfranchised.

What could US President Barack Obama do if debt talks fail?

tweet0Print..Topics:USUpgrades & Downgrades.Reuters, 21:11, Thursday 28 July 2011

If the impasse over the US debt limit is not broken soon, President Barack Obama will be forced to decide how he will manage the crisis.

The US is drifting closer to a credit rating downgrade and default as Obama's Democrats and their Republican rivals work on competing plans to cut spending and raise the debt ceiling.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and a small team of his aides have worked on contingency plans should Congress fail to raise the US borrowing limit by an August 2 deadline.

Officials said on Wednesday the Treasury will lay out a plan in the next few days about how the government will operate if it appears Congress may miss the deadline.

The administration has said little in public about its plans and there is disagreement among private sector experts on the feasibility of some of the options. A number of them are complicated and could provoke a political backlash.

Even if the administration were to implement some of the options, the debt crisis could still trigger turmoil in financial markets, sending the dollar lower, US interest rates higher and putting the economy at risk.

Here is a look at the steps Obama could consider.

= Sale of assets =

Treasury could consider selling off some of the government's assets, including holdings of gold and mortgage-backed securities.

US officials say this option has major drawbacks because it would show the world the US is having difficulty honoring its obligations. These officials say the government might also have to accept firesale prices for the assets and that the sales likely would not buy much time.

= 14th Amendment =

Some legal scholars see a possible trump card for Obama in a provision of the Constitution that says the US's public debt "shall not be questioned".

Those scholars contend the 14th Amendment clause would give Obama the right to bypass Congress and raise the debt limit on his own.

Other legal experts believe Obama does not have the authority to ignore the cap on borrowing set by Congress. Obama administration officials have said they do not see the 14th Amendment clause as a solution to the impasse.

"I have talked to my lawyers," Obama said when asked about the option at a town hall forum. "They are not persuaded that that is a winning argument."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that bypassing Congress was "not a workable option" to avoid a default crisis.

Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, has issued the strongest denial so far that it could be used. "The Constitution makes clear that Congress has the authority, not the President, to borrow money and only Congress can increase the statutory debt ceiling," he said.

= Prioritising payments =

If the Treasury decides that neither an asset sale nor the use of the 14th Amendment are workable, it could look at delaying some payments to recipients of government benefits, government employees, outside contractors or other parties to ensure it has enough cash on hand to keep paying interest on its debts.

The Treasury will collect $172bn in revenue in August. Without fresh borrowing, that would cover only 45pc of the $306bn in payments the government is scheduled to make next month, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank.

Some conservative Republicans have suggested Treasury could manage a default by shutting down many government services and putting a priority on debt payments. Geithner has dismissed this as unworkable.

If talks with congressional leaders on the debt ceiling fail, one big decision Obama would face would be what to do about a $49bn Social Security payment scheduled to go out on August 3.

Obama has warned that Social Security payments could be at risk without an increase in the debt limit.

Changing the dates of the 80m payments the government makes every month would also be complicated because the payments are automated so computers would need to be reprogrammed.

= Enlisting the help of the Federal Reserve =

In a sign that financial authorities were coordinating closely on the unfolding debt drama, Geithner has met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley.

Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser told Reuters the US central bank, which acts as the Treasury's broker in financial markets, could not step in and borrow money on the Treasury's behalf. He said that would amount to conducting fiscal policy, which is not part of the Fed's mandate.

But the Fed might need to become involved in some operational issues since it clears checks for the government for everyone from Social Security recipients to federal workers.

Plosser said issues that would need to be looked at include: "How the Fed is going to go about clearing government checks? Which ones are going to be good? Which ones are not going to be good?"

Because the New York Fed is regularly in close contact with financial market participants, the central bank would also play a crucial role in monitoring the market reaction if a default or US credit downgrade were to spark a panic among investors. The central bank played a similar role during the 2008 financial meltdown following the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Do not laugh but the international monetary Fund has warned france it faces a down grade
of its triple AAA rating unless it gets its spending under control. HAHAHAHa

..US Politicians Delay Crucial Debt Deal Again

Sky News 55 minutes ago
US Politicians Delay Crucial Debt Deal Again
....US politicians have hit another stumbling block as they urgently try to avoid an unprecedented debt default.

Republicans refused to back a budget deficit plan proposed by their own congressional leaders on Thursday night, further delaying a compromise with Democrats.

The party now says it will meet on Friday to assess their options - but leaders have so far been unable to convince some of their members that the plan is their best option to win deep spending cuts and avoid a default on August 2.

The delay resulted from House Speaker John Boehner's need for more time to try to overcome objections from conservative rebels in his own party.

It was not immediately clear what Mr Boehner intended to do regarding the legislation or when a vote might be held.


He has been grappling with Republican lawmakers such as Mick Mulvaney, a supporter of the Tea Party movement, that wants deeper spending cuts than Boehner has proposed.

Politicians are under pressure to lift the government's borrowing limit by Tuesday or risk a default and downgrade of the top credit rating that helps makes US debt a pillar of the global financial system.

However, even if a deal to raise the debt limit is struck, a downgrade of the US credit rating is likely unless a dent is made in the country's deficit.

A downgrade would raise US borrowing costs, hurt the already weak economy and would worry global investors.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has warned of the risks of Congress failing to raise the debt ceiling.

"One of the consequences could be a decline of the dollar as a reserve currency and a dent in people's confidence in the dollar," Ms Lagarde said.
...

I have a cunning plan.

I think that the USA and the EU could solve all it's financial problems if the USA joined the EU taking the Euro as its currency.
This would help the USA by taking the peg away from the dollar, which has been a false link for years.
As we all know the largest financial member of the EU is Germany, and they have benefited far more than any other country from membership.
If the USA became a member, they would obviously take over from Germany as the main hub of the European system.
They would not need to raise their monetary ceiling as they would never be allowed to go bust as that would be the end of the EU, so they would be allowed to print more money but backed by the new proposed Euro Bond.
The EU would of course benefit due to expanding its marketing/trading borders far more than ever envisaged, with the dollar going also opening the flexibility of the Euro.

China would of course then be forced to cut their inflationary policies or be left peddling their goods to none EU countries due to the Renminbi no longer being tied to the dollar.

The UK of course would the be in the driving seat, as their power of veto (which as we all know is sacrosanct) could be used to far more effect than ever due to the extra effect it would have on the enlarged EU area.

Its such a brilliant plan, I can't believe no one else has thought about it.

I propose to forward my idea to both the EU monetary commission, the US president and our prime minister

And why stop there, we could have a full world monetary union. I see one world wide currency, resulting in no monetary differential in the future.
If this was allowed to happen then no separate country would ever be allowed to default as due to the aforementioned single currency, it would effect all equally.

There would be fully open trade with no borders, as due to a single currency, trade barriers would be pointless.

World peace would of course follow.

I of course would go on to become financial adviser to all governments, earning vast amounts of money in the process, with at least a Knighthood of course.

What could go wrong.

I must say, that is an utterly brilliant plan, Greekman.

The only thing wrong with it, is that a handful of rebellious Republicans, who just need a mere 'winning over' to sensibility and it's 'job done'.

IMHO, all we need to sort all these debt problems out, is a tadge of rampant inflation.

Also, IMHO, that is what we are undoubtedly sooner or later, going to get.

What a stroke of luck that we have a government that is making the cuts before we get downgraded.

The effect being that the economy is shrinking and the UK is attempting to pay its debts with a falling GDP.

If I had an employee owing me money, I don't think I would take his tools of employment off him. I may help him to reorganise his financial problems.

If he had a reasonable business plan and he struck me as "honest", I may even lend him some more cash, to increase his profit margins by upgrading the tools.

Good god I am becoming a capitalist!

Mind Cameron experience of business was as a RR agent and it is showing.

Good to see the effects of this governments actions within the NHS is raising minimum waiting time to 15 weeks.

Brilliant efficiency move.

Hear there is a suggestion to reduce more Accident and Emergency Units and charge for road accidents.

Having bigger units covering larger areas, but unfortunately greater travelling distances. Costs should be less as many casualties will be DOA.

But it is hoped that Private Enterprise will step in and run new units more efficiently.

.

Could be the expedition of birth to death.

Always thought it and inefficient journey.















8-)

Don't for goodness' sake let Fred read this:

Torygraph article - "I'm starting to think that the Left might actually be right"

We all jumped unanimously to our 'guilty as hell conclusion' on 'weirdo' Christopher Jefferies, the landlord of Jo Yeates, feeling 'He's the one! He did it!'

But it was all based on what we'd read in the press and Jefferies' offbeat/slightly peculiar mannerisms and appearance.



BUT HE WASN'T GUILTY! It was someone else!

So how nice to find out Christopher Jefferies is a nice man after all and just a tadge 'eccentric'.

Jefferies has just won his libel case against the EIGHT newspapers who fed us all with their biased and bigoted crap.

I do hope he got an absolutely stonklingly massive payout from them. However, we shall probably never know, because it was 'settled out of court'.

By way of comparison, against the NOTW, Max Mosley got a mere 60,000 for damages. The NOTW also had to pay an additional bill of around 850,000 after the judge ordered it to pay Mr Mosley's legal fees, estimated at 450,000, on top of its own costs of 400,000.

More at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14339807

I can only show evidence of how Hull Primary Care Trust has wasted millions of pounds.

In 2008 Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust was behind a scheme designed to help improve the long-term health prospects of teenagers.

It aims to remove 150 jobless people, initially those aged 17 to 19, from the unemployment register each year and engage them in training.

Ten week programmes would include two weeks at sea on the yacht, like those used in the round-the-world Clipper race, operated by a new organization called the Wilberforce Sailing Academy.

The 400,000-a-year running costs would also be met from public funds.

One Hull, a body involving public, private and voluntary bodies, has already earmarked 1.345 million pounds to cover running the yacht until March 2011.

Also they spent a huge amount of cash on paintings to decorate the walls of all their buildings, both admin and medical. Often these paintings were a splash of paint but because they were known artists the price was many thousands of pounds.

A local hotel displays paintings of local artists. These paintings are often of very high quality, and they are for sale. This enables the hotel to display paintings for free as well as helping local artists. Not rocket science is it.

The same hospital trust had for many months posters on display all over Hull. These posters had people with very large blown up ears, with the caption similar to 'your health trust is listening'.

The thing is, they were not listening as if they were they would have found that most people thought the posters were a waste of money.

No doubt Hull are not the only Health Care Trust that wastes colossal amounts of money.

When my wife started nursing in 1970 there were approx 1 admin to every 5 medical staff. Now I believe it is almost 1 to 1.

I am certain that most trusts could save many millions of pounds, if they drastically cut all the jobs worthies, and that goes for just amount every other government controlled organization/department.

I could go on but it annoys me so.

Greek.

Dwarf commits small sex act and gets short sentence

By Andrew Couts.

Heres a frightening statistic: Apple Inc. now has more cash on hand than the entire United States federal government. As of Wednesday, July 27, the balance sheet for the US Treasury dipped down to $73.768 billion. That compares to the $76.156 billion Apple has in its deep coffers a difference of $2.388 billion.

My comment..........How can it possibly be that a single company, no matter how big and successful, has more cash in hand than the biggest country in the western world.

What a pathetic way to run any country.
Mind you before our Gordon Brown (nee prudence) started flashing money around like there was no tomorrow, the UK was more like Apple than the USA. Now though we are more like the USA than Apple.

Our Gordon reminds me of Vivian Nicholson. Remember her, in 1961 she was the Football Pools winner who vowed to spend, spend, spend.
Five husbands later, she's a Jehovah's Witness living on 87 a week...
Two weeks after her 71st birthday, Vivian Nicholson is looking for a job.

I wonder if our Gordon will see the light and become a Jehovah's Witness. Mind you if he ever knocks on my door, I will invite him in for a nice little chat.

Just had a thought. Perhaps Apple should buy out the USA.

Greek.

Post 11849

I think Aids should like to retract earlier statements he made about C Jefferies.

If I recall correctly, something similar to "pervert" was mentioned.

Greek.

An interesting question for me is, in whose hands is all the cash of the state now resting?

Also, what of benefit have have those who hold it, done for the state?

But, once again I am an idiot!

.

Friday 29 July 2011

Barack Obama warned that America's prized triple-A rating is in jeopardy and that the country is "almost out of time" to agree a deficit deal as GDP data showed the moribund state of the US economy.

Fears that a recovery in the world's biggest economy is running out of steam were heightened as official figures showed GDP in the US rising 1.3pc in the second quarter, against expectations of a 1.8pc rise. In a chastening statement the Commerce Department also downgraded first-quarter growth from an initial estimate of 1.9pc to just 0.4pc.

Mr Obama said the poor pace of growth further raised the pressure on Democrat and Republican politicians to come to a consensus over raising the $14.3 trillion (8.7 trillion) deficit ceiling.

"The power to solve this is in our hands on a day when we've been reminded how fragile the economy already is," he said. "If we do not come to an agreement, we could lose our country's triple-A credit rating... because we did not have a triple-A political system to match."

The extent of the uncertainty hanging over the US economy was underlined as the head of the World Bank warned that politicians were courting "calamity" by not coming to an agreement ahead of a deadline on Tuesday next week. "To be blunt, to have a debt default in the United States would not only be a financial calamity but should be an embarrassment for every American," said Robert Zoellick.

The Commerce Department also said household spending had risen at an annual rate of just 0.1pc in the second quarter, prompting fears that high unemployment and a lack of wage growth could mean any resurgence in consumer spending is unlikely to materialise at all in 2011.

"The economy is stuck in a very slow-growth scenario," said Julia Coronado (Other OTC: CRAO.PK - news) , chief economist for BNP Paribas (Other OTC: BNPQF.PK - news) in New York (Xetra: A0DKRK - news) . "Consumers are still very cautious and vulnerable. This is a very challenging report for policy makers." That view was echoed by economist Nouriel Roubini: "Stall speed in the economy. This isn't a soft patch," he said.

In a further blow to the economy officials also revised down GDP numbers going back to 2003. The new figures showed the US economy contracting 5.1pc between the final quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2009, compared with a previous reading of 4.1pc.

The GDP figures sent stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic (Stuttgart: A0J3C9 - news) lower but Mr Obama's statement that "we will solve this problem [of the deficit ceiling]" later steadied nerves.

Having dropped over 100 points, the Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI - news) was trading down 65.99 at 12174.12 in afternoon trading.

Volatility in stock markets came as figures from trade group Investment Company Institute showed that investors last week pulled more cash from money-market mutual funds than in any other week this year as fears grew over the debt situation.

US inflation figures also showed consumer prices, stripping out food and energy, climbing at 2.1pc between April and June, the fastest pace since the last quarter of 2009. "This is the worst of all worlds for investors, certainly the worst of all worlds for the Fed," John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo (Dusseldorf: NWT.DU - news) told Bloomberg. "A little too much inflation, not enough growth, that is a tough scenario."

Mr Obama was speaking after Republican politicians failed to come to an agreement on Thursday evening over a bill proposed by House Speaker John Boehner. Efforts were scuppered following a revolt by conservative politicians with a further meeting scheduled to try to break the deadlock. Democrats have said they will block the bill even if it is agreed by Republicans.

"There are plenty of ways out of this mess. But we are almost out of time. We need to reach a compromise by Tuesday so that our country will have the ability to pay its bills on time," Mr Obama said. He told Americans to write, phone or Tweet politicians to keep up the pressure, sparking an immediate response with the Capital Hill (Frankfurt: A0Q3DB - news) phone system said to be "near capacity".

"For my part, our administration will be continuing to work all weekend long until we find a solution," Mr Obama added.

The US Treasury called a meeting with banks that make markets in US bonds as it sought to gauge the likely reaction should an increase in the ceiling not be agreed. The Treasury said it held such meetings regularly but that it expected this one to be "particularly useful as we enter a period where Congress has not yet acted to raise the debt ceiling."

The Federal Reserve was reported to be preparing guidance for banks in the event that the ceiling is not lifted by the deadline.

Amid the political hiatus, increasingly hair-brained schemes were being proposed, including the printing of a $1 trillion dollar coin. Laws limit the printing of notes in the US but not coins, according to Yale Law School professor Jack Balkin, who proposed the plan.