WASHINGTON: Obama released his budget yesterday as a Valentine’s Day present to the US. His $3.7 trillion budget includes a deficit of $1.1 trillion. Obama’s proposal includes “tough choices and sacrifices,” which he asserts will bring about a reduction of the budget deficit in years to come. Such nonsense is all too readily trumpeted by the news media and too easily swallowed by the American public.

The reality is quite different. Budgets decisions are made from year to year, and no Congress or President today can dictate the actions of a Congress or President in the future. The only thing we can count on is that this year’s budget will increase our national debt by at least $1.1 trillion.

Such reckless spending may be in itself the precursor to the economic collapse of the US, according to Niall Ferguson, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University, resident faculty member of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Senior Research Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University, and Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, Stanford University:

Throughout history the rise and fall of empires isn’t slow or cyclical, as we like to think, but arrhythmic…it mostly happens very, very suddenly. America is a superpower on the edge of chaos. U.S. debt levels and its unwillingness to address the problem, has put it in the same category as other great empires which have collapsed throughout the ages.

This video shows clearly the mountain of trouble this administration is getting us into. Folks can’t visualize large numbers, so it is easy for politicians to pull the wool over our eyes.

What, Me Worry?

WASHINGTON: Today Moody’s warned the US of an impending credit downgrade due to the country’s worsening debt situation.

Moody’s Investors Service warned that lack of U.S. government action on the budget deficit increases the likelihood of a negative outlook on the country’s top AAA credit rating.

The Moody’s report, which came hours after a downgrade of Japan by Standard & Poor’s and an IMF warning on growing budget deficits in both countries, reiterated previous comments made by the agency late last year.

Moody’s had said in December that the extension of Bush-era tax cuts would add to the likelihood of a negative outlook on the U.S. rating in the next two years.

Lower debt ratings typically push up a country’s borrowing costs. A negative outlook makes a rating downgrade more likely in the next 12 to 18 months. MoneyNews.com

The NIP has written multiple times regarding previous warnings from Moody’s. The US Ignoring Moody’s is similar to a homeowner ignoring calls from their mortgage banker. Eventually credit ratings our downgraded, interest rates go up and penalties are instituted.

We are seeing the result already. During Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the US Obama hosted an unprecedented state dinner for the president of a country that has one of the worst human rights abuse record. How long until the Chinese demand higher interest rates to cover our increasingly worthless dollar?

This is just the beginning of the pain that awaits as our Congress and President blithely spend us into oblivion.

The latest posting today of the National Debt shows it has topped $14 trillion for the first time.

The U.S. Treasury website today reported that as of last Friday, the last day of 2010, the National Debt stood at $14,025,215,218,708.52.

It took just 7 months for the National Debt to increase from $13 trillion on June 1, 2010 to $14 trillion on Dec. 31. It also means the debt is fast approaching the statutory ceiling $14.294 trillion set by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last February.

The NIP has written multiple times regarding previous warnings from Moody’s. It appears that this administration is all to happy to push our economy into economic collapse. If you think this doesn’t matter to you, you are sorely mistaken.

What, Me Worry?

WASHINGTON: The Treasury Department stated that the US Debt reached $13 trillion for the first time in history on June 1st. Just six months ago the debt topped $12 trillion for the first time. The increase in just 6 months was 8%.

At this rate our debt will reach $14 trillion by the end of the year, increasing the national debt by 16% in one year. The US GDP was only $14 trillion in 2009, our debt soon will exceed the entire economy of this once great nation and the rate of increase is accelerating.

You or I could never dig ourselves out of this kind of debt, only the government can, and they will do it by inflating the currency. Back in November the NIP has warned about the dire consequences that await us if we pursue this course. This should give concern to every American. Our elected representatives need to be sent packing. Faced with our massive deficit, this Congress apparently subscribes to the Alfred E. Neuman school of philosophy, “What, Me Worry?” At the NIP we too are beginning to see Mr. Neuman as a viable candidate. His campaign slogan of 1956 still rings true today, “You could do worse… and you always have!”

Weren't you listening before? Now you're joining my band. Hope you can play guitar.

LONDON: The UK Pound declined against the dollar today after the market digested Moody’s warning about a possible downgrade of the country’s credit rating. “Britain and the U.S. had ‘resilient’ Aaa ratings, as opposed to the ‘resistant’ top ratings on Canada, Germany and France, Moody’s said in a report today,” according to Bloomberg.

Credit-rating agency Moody’s Investor Services on Tuesday warned that the United States and Great Britain may test the limits of their AAA sovereign ratings due to deteriorating public finances.

“These are the AAA countries whose public finances are deteriorating considerably and may therefore test the Aaa boundaries,” wrote Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of Moody’s sovereign risk group… Read more…

WASHINGTON: When it comes to public policy we thought these guys were supposed to be smart, veritable Einsteins as it were. The economy is still broken, apparently. First it was TARP. Then the Fed prints money like it is going out of style. (It IS going out of style.) Then the interim budget. Then the new budget. Then the Stimulus, with tons of earmarks. Followed by massive deficit spending. Surprise, nothing has  fixed the economy!

So President Obama today revealed his new jobs policy. Guess what? We as nation must continue to “spend our way out of this recession.” So what didn’t work before we will now do more of. Whatever happened to Einstein’s famous quotations:

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.

Read more…