According to FBN’s Elizabeth MacDonald, if lawmakers can’t reach an agreement on the debt ceiling the bond markets stand to lose $100 billion. Thus, not raising the debt ceiling could adversely cost the United States even more, from bond holders to mortgage holders, in terms of interest costs on debt.
Typically, loan rates are tied to 10-year Treasury bonds. With ratings companies poised to downgrade the U.S. Government’s credit rating to double-A, or even worse, single-A, resulting interest rate increases could prove devastating to taxpayers. Those rate increases would dramatically escalate the size of the US Debt and budget deficits. But the devastation wouldn’t stop just there, it would impact what each and every one of us pay out each month for our mortgages, our car payments, and everything else we purchase from each and every retailer. Because interest rates are based on U.S. Treasuries, interest rates on loans to do business across this nation will skyrocket.
FBN’s Elizabeth MacDonald told the audience, “The US missed a payment on $112M in debt back in 1979 and that missed payment basically cost the U.S. $86B mapped across the whole spectrum of U.S. Treasuries.” We’ve already seen a spike in rates portending what is to come, but GOP members of Congress and candidates like Mark Amodei are blind to the signs and deaf to anything other than that being spewed forth by the GOP’s plutocratic backers.
According to the S&P, bond prices would fall dramatically if the US were to lose its triple-A rating and interest rates will spike even higher. MacDonald likes to watch what’s happening in the credit default swap market as she feels it acts like a weather vane as to what’s happening or about to happen in the rest of the market. Click on the GRAPHIC above to watch Elizabeth MacDonald explain the dilemma facing the Congress. [DEFINITION: Credit Default Swap—A security that transfers the risk of default on a fixed income product to a different party.]
NV-CD2 doesn’t need representation from someone like Mark Amodei who is willing to pander for votes from the extremes on the right, which would portend economic disaster for the rest of us. Such a stance would not balance our national budget, nor would it close budgetary deficits. In fact, it would devastate not just the federal budget via increases in interest rates, it would devastate family budgets all across this nation.
It’s time for a change in leadership and voice for sanity in NV-CD2 . It’s time to elect someone who understands economics and how to a treasury actually works, that there is both an income stream as well as an outgo stream. It’s time to put someone in the NV-CD2 seat who has OUR backs, instead someone whose aim is to protect the interests of the banking, finance and oil industries.
So, as this campaign season ensues, turn the channel whenever you see an ad from Karl Rove’s Crossroads organizations or any of the other right-wing organizations attempting to buy your vote. Just tune it all out and instead vote for sanity by voting for Kate Marshall on September 13th.
Douglas County Democrats 