John Shaw — US Budget Week:Hill Seeks Tsy/Fed Debt Limit Contingency Plans

Get ready for another debt ceiling rematch. The GOP seems determined to kneecap Uncle Sam and send the US into Third World status with "expansionary fiscal austerity." The Chinese must be rolling on the floor laughing.

MNI
US Budget Week:Hill Seeks Tsy/Fed Debt Limit Contingency Plans

John Shaw

ht Kevin Fathi

Zn — Ian Brzezinski Reveals How to End the Economy of Russia

US economic warfare against Russia continues. Some advocate stepping up the assault. The usual suspects involved. Ian is a chip off the old block.

Fort Russ
Ian Brzezinski Reveals How to End the Economy of Russia
Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ
Zn (Ukrainian media)

Obama's top finance guy praises the Greek deal

You want to know how Obama feels about the Greece situation? I bet lots of people have no idea where Obama stood on Greece and Europe because he barely mentioned anything about it the whole time it was going on.

All you have to do is listen to Obama's top financial guy, Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew. He praised the Greek deal. Check it out:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is welcoming the agreement between Greece and its European creditors as "an important step forward."

In a statement Monday, Lew said: "The agreement provides a basis for restoring trust among the parties and creates the conditions for a path forward for Greece within the eurozone."

Keeping Greece among the nations using the euro, Lew said, was in the best interests of Greece, Europe and the global economy.

He noted Greece's "commitment to make deep and difficult fiscal and structural reforms" and a commitment by its creditors to "create a path for Greece to return to growth" and make Greece's debt burden more manageable.

This shows you where Obama really stands. (Like it had to be clarified any further?)

Obama is for the banksters

He is for the financial predators

He is for the oligarchs who will now come in an loot Greece blind

He is for crony capitalism

He is for the neocons and the military industrial complex

That's where Obama stands.

Saying Greece got the best deal it could get is easy if you're among the looting class or one of their enablers.

And so it begins...Treasury tapping Federal worker retirement funds in order to pay bills

So here it begins once again. The Treasury is raiding money from Federal employees' retirement funds so that the gov't can pay its bills because these assholes in Congress still want to play around with the debt ceiling.

(Read it and weep here.)

The president has a few easy ways around this, i.e. the 14th amendment and the platinum coin, but he's shown himself to be too timid or, preferring spending cuts that hurt the economy and especially, the middle class and poor.

The debt ceiling is relic of the gold standard that is inapplicable under today's monetary system of free floating non-convertible currency. But it remains in place out of ignorance and political expeiency.

Monday: the Debt Ceiling is back on.

Well, the time is here. We've finally arrived. I've been talking about this since the midterm elections last November. Congress has to do something aobut the debt ceiling because as of Monday, the government is operating under this hard constraint.

Jack Lew at Treasury can jiggle things for a while, but the debt ceiling will have to be raised or kept in a state of suspension or else the government goes to "balance budget" mode of operation. And if that happens the economy and stock market (and possibly the dollar) will take a nosedive.

Are you prepared for this? Are your investments prepared? Are you ready to trade the currency markets and make some money off of this?

One day left to sign up for my course. It's all next week, March 16-20.

Click below to enroll.

Breaking: U.S. tells China their currency is not rising fast enough

Jack Lew at Treasury has apparently been given orders from the White House to do something to create "manufacturing jobs," so now he's telling China that their currency is not rising fast enough.

This policy is not only incredibly ignorant, as it reduces America's real terms of trade, but it is spiteful, vindictive and shows the Obama Administration's utter contempt for working class and poor Americans.

The reason being, it is functionally a tax that hits middle and low income people the worst as it makes the cost of Chinese made goods--which were once highly affordable--more expensive.

And the cruel lie behind this policy is that it will not create any jobs.

Obama Administration = DUMB!!!

AFP— U.S. Treasury warns of catastrophic effects if debt ceiling isn’t raised

“In the event that a debt limit impasse were to lead to a default, it could have a catastrophic effect on not just financial markets but also on job creation, consumer spending and economic growth,” the Treasury said in a report.

“Credit markets could freeze, the value of the dollar could plummet, US interest rates could skyrocket, the negative spillovers could reverberate around the world, and there might be a financial crisis and recession that could echo the events of 2008 or worse.”

The Raw Story
U.S. Treasury warns of catastrophic effects if debt ceiling isn’t raised
Agence France-Presse

No one thinks that the US is going to default in a way that creditors won't receive full payment in a relatively short time and that any interruption would be temporary. 

The issue is basically two-fold. First liquidity. Many depend on government paying what it owes on time to meet cash flow. Would banks be able and willing to step in? Who knows.

Secondly, "confidence." Psychology plays a big part in economics and finance, and even the serious suggestion that the US would not meet its obligations, even temporarily, would likely be destabilizing.

AFP — Treasury Secretary explains: The debt ceiling only allows U.S. to pay for spending Congress has already approved

"Extending borrowing authority does not increase government spending; it simply allows the Treasury to pay for expenditures Congress has already approved,” he wrote.

“As such, I respectfully urge Congress to act immediately to meet its responsibility by extending the nation’s borrowing authority.”

The Raw Story
Treasury Secretary explains: The debt ceiling only allows U.S. to pay for spending Congress has already approved
Agence France-Presse

Setting up the President's "deadbeat" argument.

Occupy Wall Street Alternative Banking — Letter to US Senate

Dear Senators,

It is now up to you to restore the integrity of the Department of the Treasury.

As the Department’s web site states, Treasury’s job is to:

“Maintain a strong economy and create economic and job opportunities by promoting the conditions that enable growth and stability…protecting the integrity of the financial system, and manage the U.S. Government’s finances and resources effectively.”

President Obama’s nominee, Jacob Lew, does not measure up to the task.

Since the days of the Clinton Administration, the office of the Treasury Secretary has morphed into the custodian of Wall Street interests, allowing fraudulent banking practices to lead us into a recession, paying little or no heed to the concerns of Main Street about economic growth or jobs. Moreover, unlike the George W. Bush presidency where Enron executives were jailed — little has been done since the latest crisis to prosecute the people responsible for the widespread criminality and total disregard of ethics and values in finance.

The new Treasury Secretary should be an individual who looks out for the 99%, not a Timothy Geithner clone who would rather save financial players than enforce the law. We need someone who will focus on the productive economy and jobs. We need someone who will push back against Wall Street, not someone who will do their bidding.

Jacob Lew’s tenure at the original too-big-to-fail bank, Citigroup, has disqualified him. He received a $900,000 bonus from Citi in 2008, essentially paid out of the taxpayer bailout, just before he returned to government. At best this has the “appearance of impropriety”.

As HSBC’s “too big to jail’ settlement shows, the too-big-to-fail problem persists. We need a Treasury Secretary who will work to address this. Despite being near the heart of the storm, or perhaps because he was at Citigroup, Jack Lew shows no recognition that the current structure of the banking system is the heart of the problem. We must block his appointment.

Criminality and greed are embedded in the culture of the financial system and only major reform will get rid of it. Please join us in our efforts to reject Jacob Lew and ask President Obama to nominate someone who can truly live up to the mandate of the U.S. Treasury.

Sincerely,

Members of the OWS Alternative Banking Group

Marni Halasa


Josh Snodgrass


Hannah Appel


Linda Brown


Nicholas Levis


Cathy O’Neil


Anchard Scott


Yves Smith


Akshat Tewary

Occupy Wall Street Alternative Banking

Zach Carter — James Galbraith, Top Progressive Economist, Defends Treasury Pick Jack Lew

Department of Whaat?

The Huffington Post
James Galbraith, Top Progressive Economist, Defends Treasury Pick Jack Lew
Zach Carter

Bernie Sanders oppose Jack Lew

Bernie Sanders — U. S. Senator from Vermont

Sanders Opposes Lew for Treasury Secretary
January 10, 2013

MONTPELIER, Vt., Jan. 10 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today on President Barack Obama’s nomination of Jacob Lew to be treasury secretary:

“Jack Lew is clearly an extremely intelligent person and I applaud his many years of public service to our country. I believe that he will be confirmed by the Senate. Unfortunately, he will be confirmed without my vote. At a time when the middle class is collapsing and millions of workers are unemployed, I do not believe he is the right person at the right time to serve in this important position.

“As a supporter of the president, I remain extremely concerned that virtually all of his key economic advisers have come from Wall Street. In my view, we need a treasury secretary who is prepared to stand up to corporate America and their powerful lobbyists and fight for policies that protect the working families in our country. I do not believe Mr. Lew is that person. 

 
“We don't need a treasury secretary who thinks that Wall Street deregulation was not responsible for the financial crisis. We need a treasury secretary who will work hard to break up too-big-to-fail financial institutions so that Wall Street cannot cause another massive financial crisis.

“We don’t need another treasury secretary who believes in ‘deficit neutral’ corporate tax reform. We need a treasury secretary willing to fight to make sure that large, profitable corporations pay their fair share in taxes to reduce the deficit and create jobs.

“We don't need a treasury secretary who will advise the president that he should negotiate with the Republicans to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits. We need someone who is going to strengthen these programs.

“We don’t need another treasury secretary who believes that NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China have been good for the American economy. We need someone in the White House who works to fundamentally re-write our trade policy to make sure that we are exporting American goods, not American jobs."

John Carney — Here's Obama's Message to GOP by Appointing Lew Treasury Secretary

If Obama wanted to appoint a man who could personify his no negotiation pledge, there would be no better pick than Lew.

CNBC NetNet
Here's Obama's Message to GOP by Appointing Lew Treasury Secretary
John Carney | Senior Editor

Obama to nominate Jack Lew for Treasury, avowed deficit hawk

Tomorrow Obama will announce that he is nominating Jack Lew for the post of Treasury Secretary. Lew is currently White House Chief of Staff and before that, he was Director of OMB. Lew was Clinton's OMB director from 1998 to 2001, a period that saw the Federal Government run budget surpluses, which resulted in a major collapse of private sector savings, a collapse in the stock market and a recession. (It's a sectoral balances thing.) Lew is an avowed deficit hawk and has been very vocal about reducing the government's deficit and supporting the president's push for a "Grand Bargain." This means that Lew will almost certainly be pushing for more austerity.

So once again Obama spits in the face of the millions of people who voted for him thinking he was was going to stand up for their interests. Austerity will create more unempolyment and sustain the current trend of funneling more and more of our national income and wealth to the top 1%.

Geithner out at the end of the month, Jack Lew in at Treasury

Geithner doesn't want to go through the debt ceiling lunacy again, so he's leaving before the shit hits the fan. And replacing him will probably be Jack Lew, who is currently serving as White House Chief of Staff.

Lew ran Citigroup's Alternative Asset Unit from 2002 to 2006, basically overseeing a hedge fund type operation that was betting against the housing market even as Citi was making billions in new subprime loans and mortgages.

Conflict of interest? Unethical? Illegal? Ya think?

Say hello to our 76th Treasury Secretary.

Only on Wall Street, kids...only on Wall Street.

Robert Rubin, the Puppeteer, still running economic policy.

Geithner, Summers, Orzag, Daly, Jack Lew...the list goes on and on. Robert Rubin puppets, all.

No single individual has had an imprint on American economic policy over the past 20 years more than Robert Rubin. And the man put together an unblemished record of blowing up everything he touched: From Citigroup to the US economy with his late 1990s surpluses (which we're still trying to recover from) and as an encore, the entire global economy with his single minded pursuit of financial deregulation and derivatives.

Rubin is still with us, behind the scenes perhaps, but very active nonetheless by way of his puppets who continue to press for deregulation and "fiscal responsibility."

I recently saw the Puppeteer himself at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, having lunch with none other than Pete Peterson (another financial robber barron who's been gunning for an end to Social Security for decades and is likely to get it) and--you guessed it--Timmy Geithner, who looked like he was obediently taking orders from his two masters.

But it's the President who has become Rubin's main act. The Puppeteer has taken Obama's message of change and deftly crafted it to Wall Street's interests.