Saturday, August 06, 2011
S&P's Idiocy
S&P just downgraded the US to a AA+ rating, down from AAA. Much as I too was frustrated by the debt ceiling shenanigans fueled by the extreme right-fringe, I cannot understand this move by the S&P. It seems like an idiotic move at best because what does it really mean to downgrade US debt? There is only one real bond market in the world where you can park massive billions of dollars. This move will not curtail the demand for US debt but it will make it costlier for the US to borrow. Which, in turn, will actually increase the risks to the US economy and by extension the world economy. And really - France is a better credit risk than the US? Not to mention the UK and Australia? I hope, I really do hope that this move is the beginning of the end of the relevance of the credit rating agencies. For what it's worth, I have lowered my rating of S&P to F. Wait, F-.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Debt Ceiling Crisis
So here's a quick summary of things so far:
Democrats and Republicans over the past two decades have together racked up insane amounts of national debt which is backed solely by the "full faith and credit" of the US Government. The current crop of Representatives and Senators have to come to grip with the problem and deal with it. Except, they aren't.
On the one side, we have a President who is willing to give on almost everything in order to get a deal done. On the other side, we have a Speaker who is subject to such extreme pressures from the right fringe of his party that he is unable to go from coming out on top in a fight with the President to getting a bill passed. While it must be frustrating to be Mr. Boehner that his own party does not have the intelligence to recognize the absolute stunner of a deal that he managed to negotiate on their behalf, it is even more frustrating to be a reasonable American in this age of right-fringe insanity.
Most reasonable Americans believe that tax breaks for the wealthiest have to end. Those tax breaks do not produce jobs. If they did, then we would not have the jobs situation we do now.
Most reasonable Americans also believe that spending on entitlement programs and on national defense has to be pruned.
Unfortunately, most reasonable Americans are not represented in the debate on the Hill today. Only the fringe elements are. And the right-fringe is particularly well represented.
No Republican leader seems to have the stature to take on the debt-fundamentalists and call their bluff.
Obama has the position to call their bluff but for reasons unfathomable, he won't. He could, right now, sign an Executive Order increasing the debt ceiling by the required amount and order the Treasury to sell more bonds to the Fed. At the same time, he could announce cuts to certain programs to show his commitment to a balanced approach to dealing with the debt crisis. Those two actions would challenge the right-fringe to go to the courts to block the Executive Order increasing the debt ceiling. Those two actions would also show strong, sane leadership in a time of chaos and crisis.
It is not clear to me why he won't take those actions. Perhaps one reason is that he does not quite have it in him to take on the risks that are required when one aspires to greatness. One can only hope that he will recognize that the only constraints on him are the ones that his own thoughts are imposing on him.
Democrats and Republicans over the past two decades have together racked up insane amounts of national debt which is backed solely by the "full faith and credit" of the US Government. The current crop of Representatives and Senators have to come to grip with the problem and deal with it. Except, they aren't.
On the one side, we have a President who is willing to give on almost everything in order to get a deal done. On the other side, we have a Speaker who is subject to such extreme pressures from the right fringe of his party that he is unable to go from coming out on top in a fight with the President to getting a bill passed. While it must be frustrating to be Mr. Boehner that his own party does not have the intelligence to recognize the absolute stunner of a deal that he managed to negotiate on their behalf, it is even more frustrating to be a reasonable American in this age of right-fringe insanity.
Most reasonable Americans believe that tax breaks for the wealthiest have to end. Those tax breaks do not produce jobs. If they did, then we would not have the jobs situation we do now.
Most reasonable Americans also believe that spending on entitlement programs and on national defense has to be pruned.
Unfortunately, most reasonable Americans are not represented in the debate on the Hill today. Only the fringe elements are. And the right-fringe is particularly well represented.
No Republican leader seems to have the stature to take on the debt-fundamentalists and call their bluff.
Obama has the position to call their bluff but for reasons unfathomable, he won't. He could, right now, sign an Executive Order increasing the debt ceiling by the required amount and order the Treasury to sell more bonds to the Fed. At the same time, he could announce cuts to certain programs to show his commitment to a balanced approach to dealing with the debt crisis. Those two actions would challenge the right-fringe to go to the courts to block the Executive Order increasing the debt ceiling. Those two actions would also show strong, sane leadership in a time of chaos and crisis.
It is not clear to me why he won't take those actions. Perhaps one reason is that he does not quite have it in him to take on the risks that are required when one aspires to greatness. One can only hope that he will recognize that the only constraints on him are the ones that his own thoughts are imposing on him.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
BlackBerry Storm Woes
Two years ago, with hopes that have since subsided and transformed into a silent, helpless frustration, I paid for a BlackBerry Storm 2. What a mistake. To start with, I ran into the slow browser that seems to uniquely distinguish the BB from the iPhone and Android smartphones. In the time since, I've dealt with the phone crashing while placing a call, getting hung and requiring a reboot to be fixed, the keyboard getting stuck and requiring a reboot to be fixed, being unable to send/receive email and requiring a reboot to be fixed .. well you get the picture.
Finally, after 20 months of owning this brick, I decided that I should provide BB with some heartfelt feedback. I can't help laughing as I am writing this - I should have known better. It is quite difficult to figure out where exactly on RIM's website one should provide "customer" feedback. Perhaps that is just yet another symptom of this company's spiral into irrelevance. So I decided that I had to just post it here .. in my blog.
After having owned 4 BlackBerry's in a row, it is now clear to me that there buying a fifth would be a stupid thing to do. So why am I writing this blog - just so that others who need to vent about their utter frustration in using this mislabeled "smart"phone can read this and feel a bit of empathy. This brick is not even useful as a paperweight. Too light for that. For any other purpose, it is merely deadweight. Emphasis on dead.
RIP RIM. Goodbye.
Finally, after 20 months of owning this brick, I decided that I should provide BB with some heartfelt feedback. I can't help laughing as I am writing this - I should have known better. It is quite difficult to figure out where exactly on RIM's website one should provide "customer" feedback. Perhaps that is just yet another symptom of this company's spiral into irrelevance. So I decided that I had to just post it here .. in my blog.
After having owned 4 BlackBerry's in a row, it is now clear to me that there buying a fifth would be a stupid thing to do. So why am I writing this blog - just so that others who need to vent about their utter frustration in using this mislabeled "smart"phone can read this and feel a bit of empathy. This brick is not even useful as a paperweight. Too light for that. For any other purpose, it is merely deadweight. Emphasis on dead.
RIP RIM. Goodbye.
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