Saturday, May 14, 2011

Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., May 14 & 15, 2011


Me, too, Garth... me too...!
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1 comment:

William R. Barker said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703864204576317612323790964.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

A financial crisis is surely going to happen as big or bigger than the one we had in 2008 if we continue to behave the way we're behaving," says Stanley Druckenmiller, the legendary investor and onetime fund manager for George Soros.

* GEORGE SOROS...??? (YES, FOLKS... YOU ARE AT THE "REAL" USUALLY RIGHT WEBSITE - BARKER'S NEWSBITES!)

Is this another warning from Wall Street that Congress must immediately raise the federal debt limit to prevent the end of civilization?

(*PURSED LIPS*) (WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...)

No.

Mr. Druckenmiller has heard enough of such "clamor and hyperbole."

The grave danger he sees is that politicians might give the government authority to borrow beyond the current limit of $14.3 trillion without any conditions to control spending.

(*STANDING UP TO CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

One of the world's most successful money managers, the lanky, sandy-haired Mr. Druckenmiller is so concerned about the government's ability to pay for its future obligations that he's willing to accept a temporary delay in the interest payments he's owed on his U.S. Treasury bonds - if the result is a Washington deal to restrain runaway entitlement costs.

"I think technical default would be horrible," he says from the 24th floor of his midtown Manhattan office, "but I don't think it's going to be the end of the world. It's not going to be catastrophic. What's going to be catastrophic is if we don't solve the real problem," meaning Washington's spending addiction.

(*PATTING DRUCKENMILLER ON THE BACK WHILE NODDING APPROVINGLY*)

It's hard to think of someone with more expertise in the currency and government-debt markets, but Mr. Druckenmiller's view on the debt limit bumps up against virtually the entire Wall Street-Washington financial establishment.

* THE THIEVES, LIARS, AND CHARLATANS!

As usual, the most aggressive predictor of doom in the absence of increased government spending has been Treasury Secretary Timothy ["the Tax Cheat"] Geithner. In a May 2 letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Mr. Geithner warned of "a catastrophic economic impact" and said, "Default would cause a financial crisis potentially more severe than the crisis from which we are only now starting to recover."

* DUMB BASTARD... (*SMIRK*)

On Thursday Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised the specter of a market crisis similar to the one that followed the 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

In a Monday speech at the New York Economic Club, Mr. Boehner fired back, saying that "It's true that allowing America to default would be irresponsible. But it would be more irresponsible to raise the debt ceiling without simultaneously taking dramatic steps to reduce spending and reform the budget process."

(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

* FOLKS... I URGE YOU TO READ THE FULL PIECE. IF THE LINK DOESN'T WORK, JUST GOOGLE "WSJ DRUCKENMILLER".

May 14, 2011 at 11:28 AM

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