Beta on the US Government shutting down? I think yes.

[RDMcG]

The political climate in the US is the most toxic I have seen in modern times.

Hard as it is to believe these maniacs are heading for a complete shutdown. Its a bit too late for the Senate to do much now, and Monday night,, stuff begins to close up. Impact will be quite large as the public sector begins to furlough. Right now nobody seems to know how to resolve it but it will get even uglier by Monday.....

[RDMcG]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/28/governmen...

Basically the Repubicans are determined to try to repeal the health care act in the US as well as force deep cuts in spending. As minority party they cannot repeal the law, so they have instead blocked the passing of expenditure authorities for everything meaning that the US could be in default of its debt obligations. It is very nasty in DC right now.

[RDMcG]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/28/frank-kea...

Its not just a carbon copy...its a fair bit worse this time due to the extreme nature of US politics. should be a strange week next week.......

[RDMcG]

jeff m2 said:

Actually the GOP has a majority in the house, around 230 seats.

It's really quite difficult to find an article that lays it out without heavy political bias.
NY Times had a piece that wasn't too bad. (sorry no link)

To put it into lay terms.
You are in a bad marriage, with divorce on the horizon, but you still have joint plastic. Your soon to be ex is still spending and you need to find a way to stop her.
Try to get her blacklisted at the shoe shop.

Sorry..I misspoke and you are of course correct. Republicans control the house, Dems control the Senate, but both houses have to vote for the final bill, (whenever that occurs). There are two flashpoints...the budget right now and the debt limits around October 17. The most inneffective congress I can remember on both sides of this sorry mess.

[RDMcG]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-repub...


Looks like we are going in with no plan to get out.

[RDMcG]

The interesting thing is that the GOP will not allow an up-and-down vote in the house, ( i.e. they will not allow a free vote) - the majority is not very strong.

[RDMcG]

Well...here we go. Watch for the talking heads tomorrow...

[RDMcG]

Last shutdown lasted 21 days. I would expect the Dems to sit back and let i crash into Oct 17. The GOP is getting the blame in the polls. so a second crisis will exacerbate that. Most people do not know the difference between the dept ceiling and the budget approval process so it will seem like one long spat. I doubt if Obama will move.

[RDMcG]

Halb said:

The Reign Of Morons Is Here
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Shutdown_Blu...

Best headline of the day was the NY Daily News.

House of Turds

[RDMcG]

Fittster said:

Out of interest why pay interest on bonds as opposed to the salaries of state workers?

Default would destabilize the world economy in days. Last US default was 1790. It is utter madness, but they are utterly mad, the lot of them,

[RDMcG]

Art0ir said:

That seems to be a topic of flaming debate on Twitter this morning, with some analysts claiming that during a panic (and a default would cause a huge panic), money goes to one place - Treasuries. Some reckon it could even push interest rates down.

Well...some are betting heavily that it will not happen, so buying treasuries...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-06/treasurie...

[RDMcG]

London424 said:

Saw this in my NFl column.

Replace Party Hacks with Algorithms: The nails-on-a-chalkboard nonsense in Washington, D.C., is happening partly because in most states, redistricting after the 2000 and then 2010 Census counts was designed by the parties in power to ensure that no House incumbent can ever be defeated. Zip-code analysis of voting patterns has given way to block-by-block computer analysis, generating gimmick gerrymandering that would have embarrassed Boss Tweed. Senate races cannot be gerrymandered, which is why the Senate recently has been more stable regardless of which party has the majority. In House redistricting, hanky-panky is unlimited.

.

This is absolutely a key issue. If you look at some of the Gerrymandered districts they look like they were drawn by Jackson Pollock. It is an affront to democracy.

[RDMcG]

Its getting a bit nip and tuck right now....couple of days left and the whole thing is in disarray. .......

[RDMcG]

Very ugly now with the House unable to agree on anything. Debt rating agencies getting twitchy..hard as it is to believe, the think they are going to do it.