Wow.

Federal Debt: How To Lose A Trillion Dollars.

Everyone knows that the federal deficit is a real and growing problem. It's so large, however — $12 trillion and spiking rapidly — that it can seem abstract. That's about to change. Serious consequences associated with deficit spending have long seemed like far-off problems, but they are now likely to hit the country with considerable force within the next several years. One is servicing the debt itself. Most people don't pay much attention to the interest payments the federal government makes every year. They haven't had to. Debt service has been manageable, thanks to low interest rates and consistent economic growth...Link

To prevent crisis, ‘global governance’ is needed.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of Europe's central bank, said to a recent meeting of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations that in order to prevent another dramatic economic crisis, a new type of "global governance" must bring accounting practices on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean into sync with one another. "It is his belief that through global governance, the resiliency of the global financial system can be assured, noting that ultimately it was governments’ use of taxpayer’s money, equivalent to around 25% of GDP on both sides of the Atlantic, that prevented another catastrophic great depression from occurring," wrote Forbes reporter Mina Sanini, who captured the remarks...Link

Rib K.O.

Australia is Dangerous...

Nice.

1. Republicans are not always your friend
2. Some Tea Partiers like big government
3. Democrats are not always your enemy
4. Smaller government demands restraint abroad
5. Leave social issues to the states

You Idiot.

Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning called Harry Reid an “idiot” during a lunch meeting with other Republican senators this week — the latest sign that the Senate majority leader is getting under the skin of his GOP counterparts. Bunning’s harsh words — confirmed by several people in the room — came in the midst of Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander’s presentation about Reid’s handling of the Senate floor. Bunning rose from his seat and, speaking loudly, read fundraising data that singled out Reid and other Senate Democrats for taking more money from Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms than Republicans had. After Bunning called Reid an “idiot,” another voice yelled out: “He is acting like an idiot.”..Link

This is the start of grunge music.

Financial reform? How about some indictments?

I really get upset when people offer suggestions with no thought behind them. Everyone in Washington keeps insisting that to fix the financial markets we need more rules and regulations and a lot more bureaucracy. My idea is that all we need is for the alphabet soup to start doing their job...Link

White House press corps gripes pile up.

One of the enduring storylines of Barack Obama’s presidency, dating back to the earliest days of his candidacy, is that the press loves him. “Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me,” Obama joked last year at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. But even then, only four months into his presidency, the joke fell flat. Now, a year later, with another correspondents’ dinner Saturday night likely to generate the familiar criticism of the press’s cozy relationship with power, the reality is even more at odds with the public perception...Link