Geithner to China—Trust Me—Pigs Really Can Fly!

posted at 8:19 am on June 1, 2009 by Rovin
[ Economics ]    printer-friendly

Our Treasury Secretary will make the grand attempt to sell the Chinese the theory that pigs can fly over the next few days.  So far, our own U.S. media has done a good job of ignoring the massive debt that’s piling up under this new administration.  Now, Tim Geithner will try his hand at convincing our biggest broker that their investments are secure.

June 1 (Bloomberg) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrived in Beijing with a pledge that the Obama administration will control its borrowing as he sought to reassure China its holdings of U.S. government debt are safe.

“No one is going to be more concerned about future deficits than we are,” Geithner told reporters on the way to two days of meetings that start today in China’s capital.  LINK

 Really?  Just how sincere can this “concern” be conveyed to the government of China when a strong majority of U.S. citizens are already questioning our own administration’s policies on uncontrolled spending?  Can Geithner sell an already fattened pig to the Chinese the way his boss sold a “bill of goods” to the American electorate?  When our own CBO is projecting a 1.75 trillion dollar deficit created this year alone with a GDP projected to be at 12.9 percent, (both historical records), how does Geithner make any claim that his government is sincere in controlling spending and borrowing at such a record pace?  And how does Mr. Geithner sell this concern to the Chinese when his own congress is showing no signs of slowing down on its reckless spending practices?  From USA Today:

“This year’s fast-track timetable on health care calls for leaders of key congressional committees to unveil legislation this month, debate it next month and pass it before leaving for the summer recess in August. Final passage would follow in September or October, before next year’s elections start to complicate things.” (emphasis mine)

Estimated price tag: One trillion dollars—and change.

Kenneth Thorpe, a health care analyst in the Clinton administration and now a professor at Emory University, estimates the cost of expanded coverage at $1.3 trillion to $1.8 trillion over 10 years. Under congressional rules, the legislation can’t increase the deficit. That means other spending has to be cut or taxes raised to offset its costs within 11 years.  LINK

What’s interesting is how USA Today assumes that our congress will follow a set of rules that they have already broken several times.

There’s only one policy that the United States Federal government hasn’t gotten around to, (yet), that’s inevitable—raising taxes.  When all is said and done, our liberal big spenders in Washington will have no choice but to spring this little fact onto its citizens as soon as Obama has signed into law about three trillion in debt.  The Democrats tax and spending policies of previous controlled congresses, has simply changed the process.  Spend first, like there’s no tomorrow and tax later when there is no other choice available.

Earth to China—–do you understand now that the terms like “pledging to control borrowing” and the “concern for spending practices” are just a smokescreen for both our nation’s financial demise?  My advice for China—-tell Geithner, THIS PIG WON’T FLY!

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