Shocker: Axelrod Blames the Tea Party

Shocker: Axelrod Blames the Tea Party
By John Ransom
8/8/2011

One week after Democrats drove us to the brink of default because they wouldn’t cut the U.S. budget deficit, White House officials tried to blame everyone from ratings agencies to the Tea Party for the economic woes they created.

The worst Treasury Secretary in our history, Timothy Geithner told a TV audience on Sunday:

"There is no risk the—the United States of America would ever not be in a position to meet its obligations," according to Business Insider.

Um, Tim. Where have you been the last month?

Tim Geithner then also blasted the rating agency S&P for downgrading U.S. debt, saying they showed “terrible” judgment; that they didn’t understand “basic U.S. fiscal budget math.”

Um, Tim. Where have you been the last two years?

The statement that S&P doesn’t understand “basic U.S. fiscal budget math” is so far out of touch than I wonder if Geithner even knows how to add or subtract. The economic results that Geithner and company have given us, tells us that at the very least the math the White House is using isn’t working.

Remember: This from the guy who predicted in the spring that there was virtually no chance that any rating agency would downgrade U.S. debt at anytime.

The real problem here is that Geithner is once again showing which side doesn’t understand the “basic U.S. fiscal budget math.”

Or any other math for that matter.

Here’s some more math that Obama and Geithner doesn’t understand:

Gasoline prices are at $3.673 per gallon versus $2.776 a year ago.

Unemployment is at 9.2 percent officially. Real unemployment is over 16 percent, not budging much from its peak of 17.4 percent despite record-shattering government spending.

Housing prices are still declining despite a much ballyhooed month-over-month increase in June of .01 percent. The average home price is now at $138,000 versus the $202,000 peak price.

The debt-to-GDP ratio is now over 100 percent for the U.S. It was this ratio more than any other that sealed the downgrade of U.S debt. Geithner knows this. At a time that rating agencies were warning that unless the U.S. significantly cut its debt, that a downgrade was inevitable, the administration, lead-or mislead- by Obama and Geithner put together a debt deal that made sure that debt-to-GDP went up, not down.

Since the debt deal was announced the stock market has been a record losing streak, staunched by mixed trading on Friday. And nothing Geithner said over the weekend is going to give the markets confidence for the week.

It’s not just the debt deal that’s math challenged though.

Government economists have been forced to revise downward employment and growth estimates over the last few months. The recession isn’t officially on, but psychologically it’s on enough to spook the markets, sap consumer confidence and start a capital strike.

In short, this economy has a headache, and it’s got Geithner’s and Obama’s name written all over it.

To make matters worse Geithner, who told the White House that perhaps he was leaving after the debt deal was sealed, has decided that he’s going to stay after all.

Thanks Tim. Where have you been the last few months?

Predictably, Former White House senior adviser David Axelrod blamed the Tea Party movement on Sunday for the debt downgrade, which show that the White House isn’t just math challenged but maybe having group LSD flashbacks.

The S&P ratings moved downward because the debt deal didn’t go far enough in S&P’s estimation, which is exactly the position the Tea Party took on the issue. So at least in the estimation of professional rating agency that has 150 years experience, the Tea Party is right and the White House is wrong.

Geithner knows this and that’s what has the White House so mad.

The White House has now blamed the Tea Party for the debt downgrade, racism, global warming, terrorism, SUVs, the coal industry, illegal immigration, incivility and obesity.

By my math, that makes the Tea Party 100 percent OK with me.
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To read another article by John Ransom, click here.