For their role in the mortgage crisis alone, S&P deserves to have their government seal of approval revoked for their reckless use of their ratings authority. A decision could be handed down any day. Call the SEC now and tell them to revoke S&P’s government seal of approval for their reckless use of their ratings authority

With the debt ceiling deal now law, the next stage of using artificial crisis to force austerity onto the American people begins. This next time instead of members of Congress saying they must vote for big cuts to avoid default, they will be able to point to the newly created triggers in this deal as [...]

The headline is somewhat misleading because nobody really knows the state of the debt ceiling debate as far as I can tell. It’s unwinding in the midst of more chaos than anything I can recall on Capitol Hill. The complete leadership vacuum is stunning.

Several months ago when Republicans first made it clear they were planning to hold the debt ceiling hostage many wanted President Obama to issue a veto threat. Obama could have done this while still maintaining the deficit hawk image he so desperately craves with a statement like: I would happy work on a bipartisan basis [...]

Perhaps the best way to look at the possibility of President Obama using the 14th amendment to declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional, is not to wonder if Obama has the will to use it, but question whether he has the resolve it would take not use it.

Congress is in a full blown austerity mode right now and any deal that comes out of these negotiations is likely going to be really bad news for regular people. That is why I suspect any deal will just happen to be reached at the last minute, so Congress will “need” to quickly pass the bill with effectively no public debate or time for scrutiny.

The oft confused Sen. Lieberman gets taken to the woodshed by Nobel winner Paul Krugman. It turns out that the best way to hold down costs is not to cut Medicare but expand it.

I’m beginning to suspect the Republican’s decision to hold the debt ceiling hostage to demand only big cuts in spending and President Obama’s almost enthusiastic desire to play along was a way to deal with the problem of the nonexistent bond vigilantes by actively creating some. Most of the elites in Washington would love to [...]

With Washington now terrifyingly obsessed with immediate austerity, despite the UK being a perfect example of how misguided such a move is right now, it is important for millions to realize that our economy is in no way back to stable. Two recent stories are great reminders that while the economy probably seems fine for [...]