As Gomer Pyle would say "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"
The US Treasury is delaying by several months a report on whether China manipulates its currency, the yuan.
It's not like nobody knows that the answer is yes. Yes, China manipulates its currency. Now you needn't wait for the report. Happy?
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said he would delay the report, which was due out on 15 April, until after a series of high-level international meetings.
The decision may improve US relations with China but could upset some American lawmakers.
We owe them a lot of money, so deliberately upsetting them would be... unwise. Perhaps if we could somehow manage to owe them less, say by cutting the budget to 2008 levels?
It is no secret that the US believes China keeps the yuan artificially low, harming the US economy. But saying that in an official report is a different matter. It would set off a chain of events that could eventually result in unilateral US sanctions against Chinese products and could damage relations between the two countries.
Pressure on Iran
Mr Geithner justified pushing back his report to the US Congress by saying he would use upcoming events, including a G20 meeting and a US-China summit, to try to encourage the communist superpower to change its currency position.
Branding China as a currency manipulator at this stage would cause headaches for the US administration. Chinese President Hu Jintao is due in Washington later this month for a nuclear summit, and the US is expected to push hard to sign China up to sanctions against Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme.
But the US government is under pressure from its own lawmakers to take a tougher line on China's currency. A number of members of the US Congress believe the low yuan - which has been pegged to the dollar for nearly two years - is directly affecting their local economies.
#3
This is what everyone on the right has come to HATE about Washington, especially this administration. They simply feel they are above following the rules, or obeying the law. Report due to Congress on the 15th, gee, it's inconvenient, so lets not do it. Jobs numbers look weak, lets essentially lie and pad them with temp census workers. Healthcare Reform legislation actually a massive tax that will increase the deficit and full of unmantioned other rules, don't release the bill till the last seconds, and cause the CBO to doublecount Social Security cuts so the numbers appear to balance and "reduce" the deficit with 10 years of taxes and 6 years of program.
They are contemptuous of the citizens they serve. The see themselves as a priviledged, exempt, superior ruling class for the peasants.
And now that Oblahblah finds the smoldering anger and public complaints growing too loud, he tells the peasants to "Tone it Down".
Who the F*ck does he think he is and we aren't?
Now this latest 17 minute ramble when challenged by a citizen who had the audacity to say we are over-taxed. It feels an awful like the preening narcissist simply couldn't believe the peasant dared to challenge him, and felt compelled to demonstrate with the vastness of knowledge that he was being masterful in his ruling of his kingdom.
What a jackass, and God help the Republic!
#6
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said he would delay the report, which was due out on 15 April
Geithner seems to have trouble with that date, doesn't he?
Well, it just goes to show the policies of administrations up to and including this one have left us in a position of weakness in regard to China. If we were dealing from a position of strength we would have called a spade a spade a long, long time ago and let the Chicoms bitch about it all they want. It makes me furious. We've been sold down the river.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/04/2010 17:42 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Compare Chin's YUAN wid PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM [www.wallstats.com USG = ALLFED Budget Poster > USDOD-VS-NON-DOD] > THE US OF A FEDERAL BUDGET: WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO!?
POSTER includes AVG US CITIZEN $$$ CONTRIBUTION TO FED BUDGET PER PERSONAL INCOME RANGE.
* RIAN > RUSSIA'S BLACK SEAS FLEET TO LOSE ALL OF TS WARSHIPS BY 2015?
by Anne E. Kornblut, a WaPo blogger!
Even by President Obama's loquacious standards, an answer he gave here on health care Friday was a doozy.
Toward the end of a question-and-answer session with workers at an advanced battery technology manufacturer, a woman named Doris stood to ask the president whether it was a "wise decision to add more taxes to us with the health care" package.
"We are over-taxed as it is," Doris said bluntly.
Obama started out feisty. "Well, let's talk about that, because this is an area where there's been just a whole lot of misinformation, and I'm going to have to work hard over the next several months to clean up a lot of the misapprehensions that people have," the president said.
He then spent the next 17 minutes and 12 seconds lulling the crowd into a daze. His discursive answer - more than 2,500 words long -- wandered from topic to topic, including commentary on the deficit, pay-as-you-go rules passed by Congress, Congressional Budget Office reports on Medicare waste, COBRA coverage, the Recovery Act and Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (he referred to this last item by its inside-the-Beltway name, "F-Map"). He talked about the notion of eliminating foreign aid (not worth it, he said). He invoked Warren Buffett, earmarks and the payroll tax that funds Medicare (referring to it, in fluent Washington lingo, as "FICA").
Halfway through, an audience member on the riser yawned.
But Obama wasn't finished. He had a "final point," before starting again with another list -- of three points.
It was not evident that he changed any minds at Friday's event. The audience sat politely, but people in the back of the room began to wander off.
Even Obama seemed to recognize that he had gone on too long. He apologized -- in keeping with the spirit of the moment, not once, but twice. "Boy, that was a long answer. I'm sorry," he said, drawing nervous laughter that sounded somewhat like relief as he wrapped up.
#1
I've said it all along. Like most egotists, the man loves the sound of his own voice. And when TOTUS isn't around, he sounds like a rambling, stumbling, stuttering boob. I also notice when he shifts into the "down home" dialect when he's out on the road dealing with the rubes.
But, of course, the media still insists he's one of the Great Orators of our time. You'll know he's in serious trouble if even they get off that bandwagon.
#4
Well, if it's like our Dear Speaker said about healthcare ("We have to pass it to see what's in it"), then I'll predict what's said about other pending garbage:
Cap & Trade:
"We have to pass it to prove global warming"
Iran nuke:
"We have to permit the development of the bomb to prove that they are capable of building one"
Amnesty for illegals:
"We have to pass the bill to find out how many are here and determine the cost-benefit of keeping them out in the future"
Sharia law:
"We must permit the application of Sharia law in the US to determine if it's compatible with the rights of freedom of religious expression"
Big Brother & anti-terrorism:
"We must yield further rights & freedoms in the interest of self-protection; we will give them back when the danger is over"
Greater social spending:
"We must yield to the needs of the needing few. When the needing few are greater than the providers we'll take another look at where we went wrong"
Higher taxes & the economy:
"We must provide for the common good...it takes a large & functional government to do so. We'll reduce the taxes when the 'crisis' is over."
And, of course, you can expect similar diatribes from our Dear Leader defending the moves...
#5
Events will overtake this President. We have the descent of Mexico into chaos, we have terrorism, we have the economy. It will accelerate and he will be outside the OODA loops.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/04/2010 13:52 Comments ||
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#6
Very good development logi_cal. Unfortunately, also true.
The teabaggers laughed at him and made jokes, but now he has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt and with geometric logic that his policies are sound and reasonable.
#8
Behavior that is rewarded is reinforced.
If you elect a two bits con man POTUS, don't expect him to believe that he can't fool all the people all the time.
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