It is hard to keep up with the various plans in Washington to raise the debt ceiling. But one thing is clear: None of the proposals even begin to get U.S. debt under control. That is getting lost in this debate.
It is the frightening reality. The “grand compromise plan” –- The Obama-Boehner plan that fell apart; the one that got away -– would have cut $4 trillion in spending. But President Obama’s 2012 budget borrows almost $10 billion over the next ten years. The Obama-Boehner plan would not have even addressed half of the new debt being taken on, never mind the $14 trillion we already owe. The lesser plans being talked about would cut anywhere from $1.2 billion to $2.5 billion. They are really cutting nothing; they are barely reducing the rate of new borrowing.
That reality, not the impasse in Congress, is what will cause the U.S. to lose its AAA Bond Rating. Moody’s clearly said that today. The madness going on in Washington? It’s not even scratching the surface. We’re all going to need to buckle in.
AAA is a joke. We haven’t deserved that rating for a decade or more. Everyone knows that. But even more ridiculous, is that this is the same agency that gave AAA to the worst securities ever created in the history of our country. Who cares what they think?