In Billy Crystal’s hit comedy “City Slickers,” famous for getting old pug-ugly actor Jack Palance something nobody ever was thought possible for a performer like him, an Oscar, Jack’s character, a grizzled old cowboy called Curly, liked to say that life comes down to “just one thing.” This early morning post comes down to just two things, but I am counting on you to add to the total.
Thing One: Fitch Ratings affirmed the United States’ “Long-Term Foreign- and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at ‘AA+’ with a Stable Outlook” yesterday, stating,
“The United States’ ‘AA+’ rating is supported by its large economy, high per-capita income, dynamic business environment and exceptional financing flexibility due to the U.S. dollar’s role as the preeminent global reserve currency. However, high fiscal deficits, a substantial interest burden, and high and rising government debt levels constrain the rating. Debt is more than double the ‘AA’ rating median. The government has not taken meaningful actions to address the large general government (GG) fiscal deficits (averaging 7% of GDP since 2022), and spending pressures will mount over the next decade due to an aging population…“
This sparked the Axis newx media to start its doomsday act, suddenly showing interest in the National Debt, while the anti-Trump conservative outlets did the same. The Triple Whammy of two Democratic Presidencies and two Trump terms has exploded the National Debt beyond all reason or fixing, both parties are complicit, and the only reason the issue is being raised now is because Trump is President and Democrats think the Iran War makes government spending useful as a campaign issue before midterms. Anyone who takes political warfare over the dept seriously is so dumb they’d probably vote for Kamala again. It’s obvious that no party is ever going to do anything about the National Debt, even though it is a ticking time bomb. Fixing the problem takes sacrifice, and any party in power that doesn’t ensure short term gratification for voters with 95 IQs and the attention span of mayflies is going to lose power. But accepting short term pain, giving up some overly expensive benefits and not just balancing the budget but achieving a surplus and then using the surplus to reduce the debt guarantees political disaster, so it is never going to happen. Never. Everybody figures that the disaster will happen after they are dead, so why worry? Brilliant. Ethics Alarms used to discuss how irresponsible and incompetent this is. The topic is now officially in my “Futile Ethics Grandstanding” category along with demanding that guns be banned, an end to all wars, the “two state solution” for Palestinians, and slavery reparations.
Thing Two: During the first Trump Administration a refrain on conservative blog Instapundit referring to the Democrats was, “All they had to do was not be crazy, and they couldn’t do it. “Yesterday President Donald Trump’s handpicked board at the Kennedy Center voted to add an inscription below the Kennedy Center’s sign, saying the arts complex was “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” This is designed to get around the court order rejecting the attempted at re-naming of the performance complex to include Trump’s name. There is no defending this obsession. It is crazy, petty, the kind of thing that triggers the “No Kings” fools, and accomplishes nothing but stroking Trump’s massive and frequently bonkers ego.
Now go find more things…
Ethics Alarms 
The mini Ethics Train Wreck which is Lefty’s latest deification of a career criminal (Corey Ruiz) continues apace.
Not only has the…um…family (which has explicably grown exponentially since Ruiz assumed Meal Ticket status) retained Ben Crump, but career criminal/anti-semite/bigot/racist/sexist/riot fomenting/race-baiter extraordinaire Al Sharpton will be delivering the eulogy TODAY.
FF‘sS…they’re closing down city streets to accommodate this!
Seems Lefty’s given up all efforts to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Still, a career criminal eulogizing a career criminal displays a perverse symmetry one doesn’t often see in life.
PWS
Regarding politicians taking petty credit for things that occur on their watch is routine. Every governor’s name is on every construction project from highways to schools that typically are in large measure funded by the feds.
Six years ago, the media used fearmongering to convince well over half the people to give up normal life.
Can they not usxe similar fearmongering to get people to sacrifice some of their entitlements?
No.
They wanted to close liquor stores and practically had riots in the streets. Sorry, no. We will have to hit absolute rock bottom and have harsh austerity measures across the board, if they can’t somehow manage a dig out with fancy accounting. I’m not even sure what other states have been doing by not hiring and having less work hours and mandatory days off will balance it out.
The Democrats are estopped from complaining about the debt, because it was first downgraded from AAA under President Obama, and the Democrats decried it.
I am saddened not one politician even pretends to be a budget watchdog. I think the last time anyone cared was during the tea party movement.
DOGE was substantially budget oriented, and look at all the hate focused on that effort, and Musk. The last serious national discourse about the National Debt was when Ross Perot made it the main issue behind his independent run for the White House. His special broadcast where he explained the problem clearly and cheaply using crude charts was perhaps the most valuable political speech in my lifetime. WR Grace produced a huge report on how to cut waste, fraud and abuse. It was ignored and forgotten.
My perspective of DOGE was a little different. I always thought the savings was a side effect of the main goal of streamlining the bureaucracy and duplicate departments, etc. It was such a short term effort, I don’t think we even know if it made a difference at all.
DOGE’s effort was about ending this money pipeline:
Taxes & deficit –> federal government –> non-profits & government workers –> democrat political action committees & party apparatus.
If you look at the current funding status of the two party’s coffers, DOGE was an overwhelming success.
We need to seriously think about nonprofits and how they currently function and how many are a net benefit to society or are just a money maker for attorneys and lobbyists with no benefit. I’m glad that it stopped some of the worst offenders.
Jason Arday found dead, per Daily Mail. Ugh.
Posting on it now.
I hope all the people who sped him along the way and enabled him are paying attention.
“I hope all the people who sped him along the way and enabled him are paying attention.”
Mark my words, these despicable enablers will be blaming Righty for POUNCING, when the blood’s on THEIR hands!
PWS
Economists, accountants, business management types have been banging this drum for decades. The plain and simple reason you cannot pass even modest cuts is a visual – anyone remember the TV ad showing Republicans literally pushing grandma off a cliff in her wheelchair? That did it forever.
DOGE should be continued to uncover waste and fraud. Those millions turn into billions and before you know it you’re talking about real money.
Those modest cuts could be as simple as smaller budget increases. If a COLA would be 3%, increase the budget by 2%. Over time this will make a difference, especially if the economy continues to grow. It actually isn’t rocket science.