When our nation was founded, the assumption was that citizens would become statesmen and that the government would be of, for, and by the people. The founding fathers assumed that all Americans would be informed enough about current affairs to manage the affairs of state.
I don’t’ know how we got so far off that track, but it seems that we have people in government who know nothing about how things work, unless the thing is raising money and campaigning for office. I don’t think that the original concept of America was dependent upon a two party system, either.
After spending 40 years in the financial sector, it is impossible to give you the exact number of times I’ve heard the phrase, “the full faith and credit of the United States Treasury.” The message of that phrase was that any debt issued by the government was as sound as sound could be. The definition in the credit markets of low risk was Treasury offerings.
Once upon a time, the best interest rate that a company could get on an operating line of credit was based on a spread over the going rate for Treasuries—low risk deals had a smaller spread than high risk deals. That evolved into a spread over LIBOR—which is just a fancy way of saying U.S. dollar deposits in foreign banks that could be traded among banks in London. That rate was usually a little lower than the actual Treasury rate. Nobody ever doubted that the U.S. Government would honor its obligations. Even LIBOR was based on a belief in the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Eventually that rate evolved into something based on credit default swaps, which played a big role in the economic melt-down of 2008.
And now because of party bickering, in a two party system, that was accidental as opposed to planned, we have citizen legislators, new to the role of governing, and poorly informed about financial sectors, who are about to topple the whole notion of “full faith and credit.” If you think that 2008 was bad, wait until you see what happens to interest rates and credit if markets can no longer trust the U.S. Government in financial matters.
Stop holding the U.S. Economy hostage. Pass the debt ceiling. Get serious about the budgeting process, and actually put EVERYTHING on the table, including revenue increases, decreases in military spending, and a robust jobs program. Why do we need almost 1,000 over-seas military bases more than we need Americans working in jobs that pay enough to support a family, afford good health care, and send the kids to college?
Homework
Denver Post Story About Debt Ceiling
Everything You Never Wanted to Know About LIBOR
Something You Never Wanted to Know About Credit Default Swaps
Full Faith And Credit Defined
Useless Information About Risk Based Pricing
I don’t’ know how we got so far off that track, but it seems that we have people in government who know nothing about how things work, unless the thing is raising money and campaigning for office. I don’t think that the original concept of America was dependent upon a two party system, either.
After spending 40 years in the financial sector, it is impossible to give you the exact number of times I’ve heard the phrase, “the full faith and credit of the United States Treasury.” The message of that phrase was that any debt issued by the government was as sound as sound could be. The definition in the credit markets of low risk was Treasury offerings.
Once upon a time, the best interest rate that a company could get on an operating line of credit was based on a spread over the going rate for Treasuries—low risk deals had a smaller spread than high risk deals. That evolved into a spread over LIBOR—which is just a fancy way of saying U.S. dollar deposits in foreign banks that could be traded among banks in London. That rate was usually a little lower than the actual Treasury rate. Nobody ever doubted that the U.S. Government would honor its obligations. Even LIBOR was based on a belief in the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Eventually that rate evolved into something based on credit default swaps, which played a big role in the economic melt-down of 2008.
And now because of party bickering, in a two party system, that was accidental as opposed to planned, we have citizen legislators, new to the role of governing, and poorly informed about financial sectors, who are about to topple the whole notion of “full faith and credit.” If you think that 2008 was bad, wait until you see what happens to interest rates and credit if markets can no longer trust the U.S. Government in financial matters.
Stop holding the U.S. Economy hostage. Pass the debt ceiling. Get serious about the budgeting process, and actually put EVERYTHING on the table, including revenue increases, decreases in military spending, and a robust jobs program. Why do we need almost 1,000 over-seas military bases more than we need Americans working in jobs that pay enough to support a family, afford good health care, and send the kids to college?
Homework
Denver Post Story About Debt Ceiling
Everything You Never Wanted to Know About LIBOR
Something You Never Wanted to Know About Credit Default Swaps
Full Faith And Credit Defined
Useless Information About Risk Based Pricing
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