An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for December 2010
Glenn Beck 12/02/10
Siding With Foreign Countries?
Obama’s Troubling Acceptance Of Sovereign Default
Ireland, Greece and other nations on Europe’s periphery are laboring mightily to avoid default, swallowing their austerity medicine as they repair their balance sheets. This is what responsible nations do, since default should only be a last, disgraceful resort. They deserve Washington’s encouragement and support.
aus·ter·i·ty [aw-ster-i-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
1. austere quality; severity of manner, life, etc.; sternness.
2. Usually, austerities. ascetic practices: austerities of monastery life.
3. strict economy.
When a nation finds itself so far in debt, what would be the responsible thing to do? Go further into debt, or man up, take the consequences? It appears to me that Portugal has the right idea. Argentina, on the other hand, is more like a spoiled child, continuously breaking its toys and/or hiding them, and expecting them to be replaced.
Argentina has emerged as the world’s most egregious serial defaulter, jilting bondholders six times in its modern history. Its most opprobrious default occurred in 2001 to the tune of $81 billion. This is by far the largest sovereign debt default in global financial history.
At one time, countries that defaulted on their debts would be blockaded, until they paid up. Not so these days. A country evidently just say, “we ain’t gonna pay ya what we owe, and you’ll just have to make do with what we decide to fork over”. (source) Argentina’s economy is growing, yet they are still unwilling to pay their debts, in large part to the former president, husband of current the current Argentinian president. Both quite unpopular with the ‘middle class‘ folks too, apparently. (The Perons come to mind.)
Over the last decade, the Argentine central bank has become a pawn of the government. It has squirreled reserves away in the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Switzerland, the bank for central banks, in an effort to evade the enforcement of lawful judgments issued by New York courts. Multiple governors of Argentina’s central bank openly criticized the Argentine government for its growing infringement on central bank independence.
Governmental encroachment. Why does this sound extremely familiar? While the courts have sided with the independence of the central bank, Argentina has consistently failed to pay its U.S. creditors, and continues to brag about having a large chunk of change in a Swiss bank ($54 BILLION).
District Court Judge Thomas Griesa, ruling in favor of bondholders, said at the time, “in all the years of litigation, the [Argentine government] has shown not the slightest recognition of obligation to pay. And it is clear beyond any question that the [Argentine] Republic, as it went on from the crisis of 2001, has at times had resources at its command to pay the judgments, or at least to make substantial part-payments.
*getting out calculator* $105 million from $54 billion….. Yep, there would STILL be a very large sum in the bank over there in Switzerland.
Lost amid the midterm election mayhem was a move by the Obama administration in this case. Early in November the departments of Justice, State and Treasury filed a joint brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit supporting the Argentine government against American creditors. The brief advocates overturning Judge Griesa’s ruling.
What? Now, why would the Obama administration fight AGAINST U.S. companies, and FOR a foreign nation?
The administration worries that in response to the Judge’s ruling, other countries might permit attachment of U.S. government accounts abroad. But this would happen only if the U.S. government defaulted on its debt, something the Obama administration has rightly and forcefully argued is not possible. Furthermore, over 90% of U.S. reserves are held in gold, at Fort Knox and safe from foreign creditors.
Is Obama planning on defaulting? If not, then why argue against the companies with the claims?
The New York Fed in its own brief conjures the nightmare scenario of other foreign central banks withdrawing their reserves to reduce the risk of suffering the same fate as Argentina. Such fears are unfounded. Other countries need only fear attachments if they default on their debt, fail to offer a fair restructuring and have non-independent central banks.
Far from being an economist, even I can understand this issue. Why doesn’t the president and his administration?
But let’s suppose the New York Fed is right and foreign countries withdraw their reserves. The administration argued that this will weaken the dollar, drive up interest rates and increase our balance of payment deficits. Those claims are all patently false.
While it is perhaps true that withdrawn dollars could be moved outside the U.S., those dollars would continue to be held elsewhere, probably at the BIS. Where dollars are held has no effect on U.S. interest rates or dollar soundness; only the sale of those dollars does that.
To put it my simple terms, if I close my account at one bank, and open another account in a different bank, those dollars are still there, in the new account. Nothing has changed. Have I got that right?
There is a bigger picture the Obama administration is missing concerning other nations that might be tempted by the siren call of default. With the United States at the center of the global financial system and architect of many of its norms, what signal does it send to distressed nations at Europe’s periphery when the U.S. government sides with sovereigns that default?
The distrust for this administration grows. The bowing to foreign heads of state is one issue, but its siding with foreign countries against the interest of American companies/bond holders is even more disturbing.
Argentina has felt free to flout international financial norms and stiff its creditors for years. When the U.S. government sides with Argentina against those creditors, you can be sure that financial officials in Dublin and Athens as well as Lisbon, Rome and Spain all take keen notice.
The Obama administration must reaffirm America’s commitment to the sanctity of contract. And U.S. courts would be best served by not letting misguided policy arguments influence the rule of law.
The “hand shake” is rarely honored anymore. A written contract should be. When our government flouts the law, this sends an extremely disturbing signal to other countries, and to her citizens as well.
Penalized For His Faith
High School Player Flagged For Touchdown Nod to God
A high school football player in Tacoma, Wash., got flagged for dropping to his knee and pointing to the sky after scoring a touchdown during a playoff game.
“It’s just something I do every time I get in the end zone,” said Ronnie Hastie, a Tumwater High School running back. “To honor my Lord because I play for him. I give him the glory because he’s the one that gives me the strength.”
Although Hastie’s strength may be divine, high school referees are apparently not.
He was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, a 15 yard penalty—the same amount of yards a lineman would receive after steamrolling a quarterback well after a play.
There is something seriously wrong in the state of our nation. How is giving glory to God “unsportsmanlike”? I can imagine anything MORE sportsmanlike!
He apparently broke a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rule that bans players from drawing attention to themselves.
Who comes up with these rules? Does someone sit down on their socialist ass and decide “Well, that MIGHT offend someone, so it must be made against the rules”? If thanking the Lord for your God given abilities is offensive to ANYONE, then they need to rethink their living arraignments, and find some place else to live! It is quite obvious to me that the kid was not calling attention to himself, but to his Creator!
“I’ll change it for the team cause they are the most important; we don’t want the penalty,” said Hastie.
Perhaps, instead of this young man bowing to the PC bigots, he, and every other player should bend a knee to give thanks for the gifts they have been given. The 1st Amendment protects these kids, so when are we going to start standing up FOR them, and against the bastardizing of the Constitution?
Let me ask one obvious question in today’s current anti-Christian environment: If the kid was a Muslim, and did the same thing, would there still have been a penalty for his actions?
Invest In Duct Tape
Guarding Jimmy Carter’s Tongue
By Ken Blackwell
Just a snippet:
Too bad we have no Special Agent in Charge to guard former President Jimmy Carter’s tongue. He was on CBS News recently holding forth on topics above his pay grade. He claimed that he had the “highest batting average” of any post-war President since LBJ in terms of legislative successes. Right.
We can remember some of those successes. Recall the creation of a U.S. Department of Education under Carter? Good. Now, quick: Ask yourself to name one improvement in American education attributable to Jimmy Carter’s gift to the bosses of the national teacher unions.
Carter gave us an unnecessary Department of Energy. With it we got his Rube Goldberg system of gasoline rationing. Older Americans may remember waiting in long lines for gas. You had to line up on Odd/Even days, according to the last digit in your license plate. What a nightmare!
Read the whole column here.
If ever a former president should sit down, and SHUT THE **** UP, it would be Jimmah Cartah! Yep, that ol’ peanut farmer needs to know when to walk away….I’d say with dignity, but he never had any to start with, so it’d be difficult for him to do now.
I remember the Carter years all too well, and it wasn’t pretty! He is the reason so many became Reagan Democrats! Yet, he just can’t help himself, can he. For some reason, he thought he was a wonderful president, when the rest of the rational world KNOWS he was the second worst president EVAH, Mr Obama being the worst, having done more damage in less than 2 years than Carter did in four.
Glenn Beck 12/01/10
Ann on DODT
Bradley Manning: Poster Boy For ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
by Ann Coulter
The two biggest stories this week are WikiLeaks’ continued publication of classified government documents, which did untold damage to America’s national security interests, and the Democrats’ fanatical determination to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” and allow gays to serve openly in the military.
The mole who allegedly gave WikiLeaks the mountains of secret documents is Pfc. Bradley Manning, Army intelligence analyst and angry gay.
We’ve heard 1 billion times about the Army translator who just wanted to serve his country, but was cashiered because of whom he loved.
I’ll see your Army translator and raise you one Bradley Manning.
Close The Primaries
I’m going to have to disagree with Michael Silence! I see no logic to his argument that closing the primaries to party affiliation would ‘suppress’ the vote. Not sure where there is a ‘country club’ around the Podunk area, either. 
If you aren’t a Republican, or Republican leaning, why should you choose who I end up voting for in the general election? Doesn’t make a bit of sense to have such open primaries.
Ok, here is a scenario for ya: Let’s say the Democrats mostly support a particular candidate, but those of the opposition know that the other Dem candidate in the primary would be much easier to beat. Is it ok for everyone on the Republican side to go and vote for the primary candidate that can be easily beat, there by, denying the Democrats the candidate of their choice?
Well, I see it the same way on the Republican side. Why should a bunch of Democrats choose who will be my general election choice? I may be registered as a Republican, cuz that’s how it works these days, but I’m more of a CONSERVATIVELY independent minded type. HOWEVER, I will vote 99% for the one closer to the “right”, as opposed to the one leaning so far left, he/she is on the verge of falling over, no matter the party affiliation.
From Blue Collar Muse and the resolution on Facebook :
… our state should move to a system of registration by party and should structure our primaries so the political parties cannot interfere in other parties’ primary elections and county party organization. Republicans deserve the opportunity to conduct our primaries free of influence from others and with the belief that we are selecting candidates who truly believe in the principles of limited conservative government. This is merely a long overdue first step and the final decision rests with the legislature and the new governor. But Republicans should know that their representatives at the Tennessee Republican Party are looking out for their best interests.”
Why should the Democrats have a say in who the TN GOP have as a general election candidate? And visa versa? It’s not up to the right to choose who will run on the left, but that’s a possibility as well. This, also, just might, help curb voter fraud.
Billboard Prophecy
Nashville billboards claim Jesus will return May 21, 2011
There are 24 shopping days left till Christmas.
And 171 days left until Jesus’ second coming.
That’s the message on 40 billboards around Nashville, proclaiming May 21, 2011, as the date of the Rapture. Billboards are up in eight other U.S. cities, too.
Have these people not read Matthew 24? Specifically, verse 36? But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. So, would someone like to explain how they came up with this specific date?
Their message is simple — “He Is Coming Again” — and their aim is to get unbelievers to turn around quickly. But critics say the billboards are a waste of time, one more failed attempt to predict the end of the world.
Isn’t it their time to “waste”? What do the critics care, one way or the other, how they “waste” their time? Other than date specific, it’s a pretty good idea to get the Word out.
The latest prediction comes from a verse in Luke 17: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man.”
It’s a matter of simple math, said Evans.
Granted, it’s a real good idea to get your life cleaned up….’get right with God’ in other words, but these folks who decided there is a specific date? Who are we to put God on our time table? I’m ready, but that doesn’t mean God is ready.
According to Camping’s prediction, the Rapture will happen exactly 7,000 years from the date that God first warned people about the flood. He said the flood happened in 4990 B.C., on what would have been May 21 in the modern calendar. God gave Noah one week of warning.
Since one day equals 1,000 years for God, that means there was a 7,000-year interval between the flood and rapture.
Now, I’m not Biblical scholar, but evidently, my understanding of the connection with Noah is a whole lot different. Yeah, we are behaving in a manner as the people in Noah’s day, turning our backs on our Creator, living very unhealthy lifestyles, rampant sex and such, but I don’t see that as a time table. And just how does this guy know that a day equals a thousand years? It might be 276 hours, or it could be a few million years. God’s time is not our time, and to presume such a thing? Hmmm…. Yes, 2 Peter 3:8 says But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. It says ‘as’, it does not say specifically. If you’ve ever waited in line, the 5 minute wait can seem ‘as’ an hour, or if you are chatting with folks around you, an hour wait can seem ‘as’ just a few minutes. Putting a clock on God doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. Remember “The Great Disappointment“?
“We hope that anyone would get a Bible out and try and prove that this is wrong,” he said.
Obviously, I’m not going to try to prove them wrong, or right. If that’s what they believe to be the case, then so be it. I’m just saying I’m waiting on God, and when He comes, I’ll know.
“Spending Season”?
Holiday spirit hinges on taxes, jobless benefits
The important Christmas spending season got off to a promising start this weekend, but the lame-duck Congress and President Obama would play the Grinch if theyre unable to agree on extensions of unemployment benefits and the Bush-era tax cuts.
Although retailers report that consumer spirits are up and shoppers are in more of a buying mood after two years of dismal Christmas sales, analysts say yanking the critical supports out from under consumers will trigger big setbacks in the economy in coming weeks.
“The hit to personal income – and even more importantly to consumer confidence – could make for a tough holiday season,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, who estimates that every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates about $1.61 in economic growth.
I have a real problem with this. Yes, times are tough for a great many people, us included. For the first time in a long time, I won’t be spending Christmas with Brat, Ick, and Short Person in Texas. Why? We really can’t afford it. But we will adjust. People are concerned with whether or not they are going to have a roof over their heads, yet I’ve seen many articles, kind of like this one, talking about the “spending season”.
Well, guess what! Money has NOTHING to do with whether or not you feel the joy of the Season. If that’s what gives you joy, being able to spend thousands of dollars on crap no one wants, didn’t ask for, and doesn’t actually need, then you have much bigger problems than the dollar sign! If you can’t afford to buy Little Johnny that fancy gaming system he’s been whining about for months, so what? Does he have food to eat? Is he blessed with clothes on his back? Is there still a roof over his head, and heat to keep him warm?
Yes, we are a capitalist country. We consume goods and products. In good times, we can afford to purchase those overpriced toys for our children. In bad times, it’s a whole lot more important to show them how much we love them by giving them the gift of comfort….a home, food, warm clothing, and most of all that love!
So, when Little Johnny lays on the floor, kicking and screaming about how he HAS to have that toy cuz Davey’s dad is out of work, but he is buying one, after you blister the little ingrate’s behind, explain to him that perhaps Davey’s dad doesn’t have enough sense to pour piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel, and you are more concerned with the health and well being of your child, than evidently Davey’s dad is.
We have been given a Great Gift! The gift of love and forgiveness. Yet we have squandered that Gift. We exchange gifts to remember that Great Gift, and if we can’t afford to go out and buy some lavish present, then we find other ways to show our love for our families, every single day. Christmas is NOT about shopping! It’s not about who has the coolest toys under the tree! It’s about the great love God has for us! So much love that He gave us the Greatest Gift of all……………forgiveness! Why don’t we put that Gift to good use?
Glenn Beck 11/30/10
