The Approaching Debt Ceiling Fiscal Cliff

Well, well. Turns out the last-minute avoidance of the so-called Fiscal Cliff merely pushed it down the road 30-60 days. The government's legal authority to borrow will expire sometime between Feb. 15 and March 31, in the absence of any congressional action to raise the debt ceiling.

Debt Ceiling Deadline May Be February 15 | According to an estimate by the Bipartisan Policy Center, the deadline for Congress to raise the nation’s debt limit — which House Republicans have threatened not to do without policy concessions — could be February 15 (or March 1, at the latest). As CNN Money reported, “there likely would be less revenue coming in than has to be paid out for each of the days between Feb. 15 and March 15. On Feb. 15, for instance, Treasury will take in an estimated $9 billion in revenue but is committed to pay out $52 billion.” President Obama has said that he won’t negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit.

Approaching deadline

 And then there is this little squib about what may happen come Feb. 15:

The federal government hit its legal borrowing limit of $16.394 trillion on Dec. 31, and has begun taking "extraordinary measures" to cover shortfalls. The Bipartisan Policy Center's estimate indicates when those measures run out and the Treasury will only be able to pay bills with the daily revenue coming in.
Problem is, there likely would be less revenue coming in than has to be paid out for each of the days between Feb. 15 and March 15.
On Feb. 15, for instance, Treasury will take in an estimated $9 billion in revenue but is committed to pay out $52 billion.

Authority to borrow

**************************

Let's be honest here. What's really going on is the current House's refusal to fund debts taken on in good faith by its predecessor sessions. Did the people who voted for Republicans really intend to vote for a default on the good faith and credit of the U.S.? Did the people who voted for these Republicans intend to give terrorist\anarchist Lib-tards a chance to wreak havoc in the lives and welfare of millions of vulnerable citizens (by either forcing a government default or forcing cuts in social safety net programs)?

This debt ceiling deadline is much more of a true Fiscal Cliff than its previous namesake. And the stakes could not be higher for the republic. If you live in a district represented by a Republican, time to contact your rep to tell him or her not to hold the debt ceiling hostage to policy disputes. The stakes are simply too high.

Weekly unemployment claims rise 4,000

So yesterday the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that weekly new claims for unemployment compensation rose by 4,000 to 371,000. The consensus among economists had been for new claims to fall to 362,000. There was very little commentary about these numbers on the internet yesterday but, no matter how I slice it, these numbers bespeak a macro-economy caught in a 'dead-cat bounce,' an economy where an unemployment rate below 8% is considered progress and where annual growth in GDP of 2% is considered a sign of health.

It really brings to mind Disraeli's witticism that there are "lies, damned lies and statistics." I'm willing to wager that when California's unemployment numbers for December are finally released, the figure will still be hovering around 10%. (California's UE rate was 9.8% in November 2012.)

The Emperor Has No Clothes

I just read a brief news blurb on SeekingAlpha.com that Carl Icahn has reportedly purchased a stake in Herbalife. I see this as a sign that American capitalism is in a final death spiral, when one of its foremost practitioners invests in what can only charitably be called a 'pyramid scheme.'

Ask yourself this: who purchases Herbalife products aside from other Herbalife distributors? Herbalife has no retail outlets and relies solely on a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme to make its sales. OK, one can say, caveat emptor and all that. But for Icahn and Dan Loeb to take stakes in the company? When the SEC is reportedly investigating it for being nothing more than a Ponzi scheme?

My point is that when the titans of industry start to underwrite and support such transparently fraudulent operations as Herbalife, such support signals a rotten core at the center of American capitalism. We've become an ecomomy of Herbalife distributors all selling madly to the next fool in line and hoping to grab the last seat in the game of musical chairs before the music stops.

If you can stand to read about how Herbalife and its agents have defrauded various people, check out this link:

http://factsaboutherbalife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Negative-Testimonials.pdf