Category Archives: Debt

May 21, 2013

CBO: Obama Budget Adds $5.2 Trillion to Deficit, $1 Trillion in New Taxes

Posted on May 21, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget would add $5.2 trillion in deficits over the next ten years and contains nearly $1 trillion in new taxes.

The Obama budget, which was delivered two months after the legally-required deadline, is larded with accounting gimmicks that count as savings war and disaster contingency funds that were never going to be spent. Obama’s budget also assumes sequester-related cuts will all be restored.

But Obama claims his budget is devoid of budgeting tricks.

“The numbers work,” says Obama. “There’s not a lot of smoke and mirrors in here.”

Congressional Republicans are not buying it.

“This new [CBO] report shows that the President’s budget doesn’t come close to solving the problem,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). “The federal government will take in a record haul over the next ten years. And the President wants yet another massive tax hike. But under his plan, we’ll keep adding to the debt—at an alarming rate.”

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) defending the Obama budget and said the plan offers taxpayers a “big and balanced approach.”

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Posted in Debt, Democrats/Progressives, Obama, Radicals, Tax

March 23, 2013

Sessions: We Need To Help Those On Welfare Find Jobs, Not Import Labor To Replace Them (Video)

Posted on March 23, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

Speaking on the Senate floor last night, Sen. Sessions derided those who reject any reforms whatsoever to the massive federal bureaucracy, pointing out that it is failing to effectively help those in need. He also warned that the nation has drifted away from the principles of the bipartisan 1996 welfare reform, and that we should focus on helping people in need find jobs rather than importing cheap labor to replace them.


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Posted in Debt, Entitlements, Government

March 19, 2013

As America’s Debt Nears $17 Trillion, Top Republicans Say the Debt Crisis Is Not ‘Immediate’

Posted on March 19, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

Current Republican leaders who either can’t or won’t make the case that the Obama-Democrat spending addiction is a massive threat to our country need to step aside.

If John Boehner and Paul Ryan were to play chess against Barack Obama, both would find a way to give away the queen on the opening move.

The nation does not have an “immediate” debt crisis, but a “looming” one which requires attention from lawmakers right now, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

“We do not have an immediate debt crisis,” Boehner said on ABC News’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” “But we all know that we have one looming. And we have — one looming — because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They’re gonna go bankrupt.”

Boehner wasn’t alone. Paul Ryan disappoints just as much.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, echoed Boehner’s position on the nation’s debt on Sunday.

“We do not have a debt crisis right now, but we see it coming,” Ryan said on CBS News’s “Face The Nation.”

Our credit has been downgraded once already, and may be downgraded again.

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Posted in Debt, Democrats/Progressives, Economy and Debt, Obama, Radicals, Republicans/Neo-Cons

February 28, 2013

Fitch warns U.S. risks losing AAA debt rating

Posted on February 28, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

“Fitch wants to see progress on a long-term deficit deal and wants to see it this year,” said Anthony Valeri, investment strategist at LPL Financial. “This is probably another brick in the wall of a downgrade of the U.S.”

U.S. lawmakers must make credible progress this year on a long-term deficit-reduction strategy or risk losing Fitch Ratings’ top AAA grade on U.S. government debt, Fitch warned Wednesday.

Fitch said it would not immediately cut its rating if Congress fails to stop $85 billion in automatic spending cuts from taking effect Friday, or even if there’s a partial government shutdown later.

But a repeat of the 2011 crisis over raising the debt ceiling also could provoke a downgrade, Fitch said. The U.S. is scheduled to reach the current debt ceiling in mid-May, but the Treasury Department could take measures to extend its borrowing authority for another two or three months.

A downgrade by Fitch would make two out of three major credit rating agencies to knock U.S. off the top rung of the most credit-worthy nations. Standard & Poor’s cut its AAA rating on U.S. debt during Washington’s 2011 battle over raising the debt ceiling. Moody’s, the third agency, has its top Aaa rating for the U.S. under review.

Debt ratings are used by Wall Street to help set bond prices and interest rates. A credit downgrade by all three agencies could lead to higher borrowing costs for the U.S. over time.

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Posted in Debt, Economy and Debt

February 27, 2013

How Radical Congressman Raul Ruiz Fulfilled His American Dream: Debt

Posted on February 27, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

His annual congressional salary is $174,000. In disclosure forms filed before the June 2012 Democratic primary, Ruiz listed assets of $273,000 to $795,000, including cash, retirement accounts and stock in Apple, Microsoft, Visa and Coca-Cola.

Earning four degrees from UCLA and Harvard helped Rep. Raul Ruiz become an American success story as he escaped the poverty of his youth, became a respected doctor and ascended to the halls of Congress.

But that elite education also came with a hefty price tag, and Ruiz is years away from paying off his college loans.

The Palm Desert Democrat owes $150,000-$200,000 on debt he incurred to earn a bachelor’s degree at UCLA and a medical degree from Harvard University. His debt load would’ve been higher if not for scholarships, which paid for graduate degrees in public policy and public health he picked up while at Harvard, he told The Desert Sun.

The freshman lawmaker elected Nov. 6 is one of 41 House members and five senators who haven’t fully repaid loans they took out for themselves or their children, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That finding comes from the group’s analysis of financial disclosure documents filed by incumbents and challengers last year. Those documents cover 2011.

The next round of disclosures, covering 2012, are due in the spring. That will be the first time Ruiz reveals information about his personal finances as a member of Congress.

Like millions of Americans, the 40-year-old Ruiz said he’s been making monthly payments, which will continue for many more years until the debt is cleared. He said he couldn’t recall exactly how much he pays, but estimated it’s about $1,000 a month, electronically transferred from his account to his creditors.

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Posted in Debt, Democrats/Progressives, Education, Entitlements, Radicals

February 7, 2013

‘Path to Citizenship’ would be Path to More Deficits, Chain Migration, Unemployment & Illegal Immigration

Posted on February 7, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

Combined with current laws, the legalization would be a pathway to massive new welfare expenditures, job competition, chain migration and more illegal immigration.


Roy Beck

Very slowly, more and more Members of Congress are starting to look at the practical consequences of the Senate Gang of Eight’s broad proposals for a “path to citizenship” for some 11 million illegal aliens. Elected officials have to be forced to consider that a better phrase would be that they are being asked to provide the 11 million immigration lawbreakers a “path to welfare, chain migration and U.S. jobs,” all to the detriment of American workers and taxpayers.

Almost nobody in the news media has yet raised the question of why it is not absurd to be talking about massive amnesty and increase in green cards for mostly lower-skilled foreign workers during a time of budget deficit crisis and high unemployment.

Thousands of voters today began sending petition faxes through NumbersUSA to their elected officials opposing the Gang of Eight’s amnesty ideas.

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Posted in Amnesty, Debt, Entitlements, Immigration

'Path to Citizenship' would be Path to More Deficits, Chain Migration, Unemployment & Illegal Immigration

Posted on February 7, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

Combined with current laws, the legalization would be a pathway to massive new welfare expenditures, job competition, chain migration and more illegal immigration.


Roy Beck

Very slowly, more and more Members of Congress are starting to look at the practical consequences of the Senate Gang of Eight’s broad proposals for a “path to citizenship” for some 11 million illegal aliens. Elected officials have to be forced to consider that a better phrase would be that they are being asked to provide the 11 million immigration lawbreakers a “path to welfare, chain migration and U.S. jobs,” all to the detriment of American workers and taxpayers.

Almost nobody in the news media has yet raised the question of why it is not absurd to be talking about massive amnesty and increase in green cards for mostly lower-skilled foreign workers during a time of budget deficit crisis and high unemployment.

Thousands of voters today began sending petition faxes through NumbersUSA to their elected officials opposing the Gang of Eight’s amnesty ideas.

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Posted in Amnesty, Debt, Entitlements, Immigration

February 5, 2013

U.S. Accuses S.&P. of Fraud in Suit on Loan Bundles

Posted on February 5, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

The case against S.& P. focuses on about 40 collateralized debt obligations, or C.D.O.’s, an exotic type of security made up of bundles of mortgage bonds, which in turn were composed of individual home loans. The securities were created at the height of the housing boom. S.& P. was paid fees of about $13 million for rating them.

The Justice Department late Monday filed civil fraud charges against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck.

The suit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is the first significant federal action against the ratings industry, which during the boom years reaped record profits as it bestowed gilt-edged ratings on complex bundles of home loans that quickly went sour. The high ratings made many investments appear safer than they actually were, and are now seen as having contributed to a crisis that brought the financial system and the broader economy to its knees.

More than a dozen state prosecutors are expected to join the federal suit, and the New York attorney general is preparing a separate action. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating possible wrongdoing at S.& P.

From September 2004 through October 2007, S.&P. “knowingly and with the intent to defraud, devised, participated in, and executed a scheme to defraud investors” in certain mortgage-related securities, according to the suit filed against the agency and its parent company, McGraw-Hill Companies. S.&P. also falsely represented that its ratings “were objective, independent, uninfluenced by any conflicts of interest,” the suit said.

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Posted in Debt, Housing, Law & Courts

U.S. Accuses S.&P. of Fraud in Suit on Loan Bundles

Posted on February 5, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

The case against S.& P. focuses on about 40 collateralized debt obligations, or C.D.O.’s, an exotic type of security made up of bundles of mortgage bonds, which in turn were composed of individual home loans. The securities were created at the height of the housing boom. S.& P. was paid fees of about $13 million for rating them.

The Justice Department late Monday filed civil fraud charges against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, accusing the firm of inflating the ratings of mortgage investments and setting them up for a crash when the financial crisis struck.

The suit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is the first significant federal action against the ratings industry, which during the boom years reaped record profits as it bestowed gilt-edged ratings on complex bundles of home loans that quickly went sour. The high ratings made many investments appear safer than they actually were, and are now seen as having contributed to a crisis that brought the financial system and the broader economy to its knees.

More than a dozen state prosecutors are expected to join the federal suit, and the New York attorney general is preparing a separate action. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating possible wrongdoing at S.& P.

From September 2004 through October 2007, S.&P. “knowingly and with the intent to defraud, devised, participated in, and executed a scheme to defraud investors” in certain mortgage-related securities, according to the suit filed against the agency and its parent company, McGraw-Hill Companies. S.&P. also falsely represented that its ratings “were objective, independent, uninfluenced by any conflicts of interest,” the suit said.

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Posted in Debt, Housing, Law & Courts

February 2, 2013

California Tax Hike Sparks Millionaire Migration

Posted on February 2, 2013 by ifnm| Leave a comment

In a desperate attempt to get California’s budgetary nightmares under control, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown pushed for a tax hike plan last November to increase the state’s overall tax rate on millionaires to the highest in the nation at 13.3%. But now, experts say Brown’s actions may be sparking a tax migration for the high income earners whom the state relies on to pay its bills.

“You’d be a fool not to leave California,” says Ed Botowsky of Chapwood Investments who manages the finances of several professional athletes and high income Californians. Botowsky says some of his clients have already made the decision to flee the state to avoid the tax crunch.

Seven states including Florida, Texas, and Nevada do not have a state income tax. That can mean big savings for millionaires willing to make the move. Tiger Woods’s move from California to Florida will save him an estimated $7.5 million in taxes this year alone. His golf rival, Phil Mickelson, who recently expressed concern over California’s tax squeeze, could save $8 million this year by following Tiger’s lead.
An estimated 62.7% of California’s general revenue fund comes from personal income taxes. With roughly 41% of the state’s entire revenue coming from the top 1% of California income earners, the state is especially vulnerable to even modest fluctuations in the migration of its millionaires.

“The higher reliance on personal income tax is a double-edged sword,” said Fitch Ratings Senior Director Douglas Offerman.

Michael Genest, who formerly ran California’s state finance department, says he worries what will happen if the millionaire migration dries up the revenues Gov. Jerry Brown is banking on.

“What happens if revenues fall through the floor? He’s going to be right back where we were in 2008,” Genest said.

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Posted in California Story, Debt, Democrats/Progressives, Government, Radicals, Tax