First Posted: 9/1/11 06:39 PM ET Updated: 9/2/11 11:14 AM ET
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Friday, September 2, 2011
Sharon West, Missing Texas Teen, Vanishes Without A Trace
Sharon West, Missing Texas Teen, Vanishes Without A Trace
A distraught mother in southeastern Texas is trying to locate her 15-year-old daughter who disappeared under mysterious circumstances more than a month ago.
"I can't even describe how I am feeling. I miss her so much. I just want my baby to come home," Sandra West told The Huffington Post.
West's daughter, Sharon West, has not been seen since July 30. The teen had been staying with family friends in Fannett, an unincorporated town about an hour northeast of Houston. Her living arrangements there were temporary while her mom attempted to secure a job.
Sharon West's friend, Austin Meaux, last saw her at the residence in the 11100 Block of Gaulding Road at about 2:00 a.m. He said she was awake and still there when the rest of the family went to sleep.
According to Chuck Foreman, a private investigator based out of Austin who has volunteered to assist in the case, West sent a text message to a friend at about 5:20 a.m., saying she was at the Seabreeze Youth Club's soccer field, a couple of miles from where she was staying.
Roughly 40 minutes later, West used her cellphone to contact another friend and again indicated she was at the soccer field. According to police the area is a popular hangout area for kids. West did not contact any other friends after that and her cellphone died shortly thereafter.
Tropical Storm Warnings Issued Along Gulf Coast; Louisiana Governor Declares State Of Emergency
Tropical Storm Warnings Issued Along Gulf Coast; Louisiana Governor Declares State Of Emergency (VIDEO)
By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY, The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A large storm system churning in the Gulf Of Mexico grew Friday into Tropical Storm Lee, beginning a Labor Day weekend-long assault that could bring up to 20 inches of rain in some spots from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.
The storm was expected to make landfall on the central Louisiana coast late Saturday and turn east toward New Orleans, where it would provide the biggest test of rebuilt levees since Hurricane Gustav struck on Labor Day 2008.
Residents who have survived killer hurricanes such as Betsy, Camille and Katrina didn't expect Lee to live up to that legacy.
"It's a lot of rain. It's nothing, nothing to Katrina," said Malcolm James, 59, a federal investigator in New Orleans who lost his home after levees broke during Katrina in August 2005 and had to be airlifted by helicopter.
"This is mild," he said. "Things could be worse."
Lee comes less than a week after Hurricane Irene killed more than 40 people from North Carolina to Maine and knocked out power to millions. It was too soon to tell if Hurricane Katia, out in the Atlantic, could endanger the U.S.
By Friday evening, the outer bands of Lee, the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, already began dumping rain over southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and Alabama.
The storm's biggest impact, so far, has been in the Gulf of Mexico oil fields. About half the Gulf's normal daily oil production has been cut as rigs were evacuated, though oil prices were down sharply Friday on sour economic news.
Federal authorities said 169 of the 617 staffed production platforms have been evacuated, along with 16 of the 62 drilling rigs. That's reduced daily production by about 666,000 barrels of oil and 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas.
Kevin Lucas, an offshore worker from Lafayette, La., was evacuated Thursday by boat from a production platform. He was in the New Orleans' French Quarter on Friday. "It was rocking," he said of the boat. "A few fellows got seasick."
Tropical storm warning flags were flying from Mississippi to Texas and flash flood warnings extended along the Alabama coast into the Florida Panhandle.
The National Hurricane Center said the center of Lee was about 185 miles (295 km) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River on Friday and moving north at just 2 mph (4 kph). Its center was expected to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend.
Forecasters say that Lee's maximum sustained winds have increased to 45 mph (75 kph), from 40 mph (65 kph), and could increase further.
Governors in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as the mayor of New Orleans, declared states of emergency. Officials in several coastal Louisiana and Mississippi communities called for voluntary evacuations.
The Army Corps of Engineers was closing floodgates along the Harvey Canal, a commercial waterway in suburban New Orleans, but had not moved to shut a massive flood structure on the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel.
The MRGO was a major conduit for Katrina's storm surge, which overwhelmed levees and flooded St. Bernard and the city's Lower 9th Ward.
City officials said they expect some street flooding but no levee problems. Lee's storm surge, projected around 4 to 5 feet, is far short of the 20-feet-plus driven by Katrina. Billions of federal dollars have been spent on new levees and other flood protection.
In New Orleans' central business district, Friday seemed a typical day. Employees at big-box home improvement stores said residents weren't rushing in to stock up on supplies.
Merchants, however, worried the storm would dampen the Southern Decadence festival, an annual gay lifestyle fixture that rings cash registers on Labor Day weekend. Ann Sonnier, shift manager of Jester's bar, said receipts were disappointing so far.
"People are probably scared to death to come here after Katrina," she said.
Some tourists were caught off guard by Lee, but didn't let it dampen their spirits.
"I didn't even know about it," said Kyla Holley of Madison, Wis., who along with husband Rob was in town for the Labor Day weekend holiday. "But it wouldn't have stopped us from coming."
The water-logged Lee was tantalizingly close to Texas but hopes dimmed for relief from the state's worst drought since the 1950s as the storm's forecast track shifted east. Forecasters said it could bring drenching rains to Mississippi and Alabama early next week.
Morning skies were overcast with spotty rain on the Alabama coast Friday morning, but workers were still putting boats in the water for the Labor Day weekend at Sportsman Marina in Orange Beach, Ala.
"A lot of people go into a panic, but it's mainly just going to be a rainmaker," marina manager Ricky Garrett said. "We're really not taking any precautions."
On the Mississippi coast, tourism officials said there was no spike in cancellations for the holiday weekend at hotels and casinos.
On Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island, people kept an eye on the storm that was already bringing rain there. It's not as frightening as having a Category 2 or 3 hurricane bearing down, said June Brignac, owner of the Wateredge Beach Resort.
"But we're still concerned with all the rain that's coming in, causing possible flooding of the highway going out. If we don't leave, we may be trapped here until it's completely past," she said.
The rain, however, had a silver lining. In New Orleans, it was helping to tamp down a stubborn marsh fire that for several days has sent pungent smoke wafting across the area.
Southern Louisiana needs rain - just not that much, that fast.
"Sometimes you get what you ask for," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. "Unfortunately it looks like we're going to get more than we needed."
___
Associated Press writers Kevin McGill and Alan Sayre in New Orleans, Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala., and Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.
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The storm's biggest impact, so far, has been in the Gulf of Mexico oil fields. About half the Gulf's normal daily oil production has been cut as rigs were evacuated, though oil prices were down sharply Friday on sour economic news.
Federal authorities said 169 of the 617 staffed production platforms have been evacuated, along with 16 of the 62 drilling rigs. That's reduced daily production by about 666,000 barrels of oil and 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas.
Kevin Lucas, an offshore worker from Lafayette, La., was evacuated Thursday by boat from a production platform. He was in the New Orleans' French Quarter on Friday. "It was rocking," he said of the boat. "A few fellows got seasick."
Tropical storm warning flags were flying from Mississippi to Texas and flash flood warnings extended along the Alabama coast into the Florida Panhandle.
The National Hurricane Center said the center of Lee was about 185 miles (295 km) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River on Friday and moving north at just 2 mph (4 kph). Its center was expected to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend.
Forecasters say that Lee's maximum sustained winds have increased to 45 mph (75 kph), from 40 mph (65 kph), and could increase further.
Governors in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as the mayor of New Orleans, declared states of emergency. Officials in several coastal Louisiana and Mississippi communities called for voluntary evacuations.
The Army Corps of Engineers was closing floodgates along the Harvey Canal, a commercial waterway in suburban New Orleans, but had not moved to shut a massive flood structure on the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet shipping channel.
The MRGO was a major conduit for Katrina's storm surge, which overwhelmed levees and flooded St. Bernard and the city's Lower 9th Ward.
City officials said they expect some street flooding but no levee problems. Lee's storm surge, projected around 4 to 5 feet, is far short of the 20-feet-plus driven by Katrina. Billions of federal dollars have been spent on new levees and other flood protection.
In New Orleans' central business district, Friday seemed a typical day. Employees at big-box home improvement stores said residents weren't rushing in to stock up on supplies.
Merchants, however, worried the storm would dampen the Southern Decadence festival, an annual gay lifestyle fixture that rings cash registers on Labor Day weekend. Ann Sonnier, shift manager of Jester's bar, said receipts were disappointing so far.
"People are probably scared to death to come here after Katrina," she said.
Some tourists were caught off guard by Lee, but didn't let it dampen their spirits.
"I didn't even know about it," said Kyla Holley of Madison, Wis., who along with husband Rob was in town for the Labor Day weekend holiday. "But it wouldn't have stopped us from coming."
The water-logged Lee was tantalizingly close to Texas but hopes dimmed for relief from the state's worst drought since the 1950s as the storm's forecast track shifted east. Forecasters said it could bring drenching rains to Mississippi and Alabama early next week.
Morning skies were overcast with spotty rain on the Alabama coast Friday morning, but workers were still putting boats in the water for the Labor Day weekend at Sportsman Marina in Orange Beach, Ala.
"A lot of people go into a panic, but it's mainly just going to be a rainmaker," marina manager Ricky Garrett said. "We're really not taking any precautions."
On the Mississippi coast, tourism officials said there was no spike in cancellations for the holiday weekend at hotels and casinos.
On Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island, people kept an eye on the storm that was already bringing rain there. It's not as frightening as having a Category 2 or 3 hurricane bearing down, said June Brignac, owner of the Wateredge Beach Resort.
"But we're still concerned with all the rain that's coming in, causing possible flooding of the highway going out. If we don't leave, we may be trapped here until it's completely past," she said.
The rain, however, had a silver lining. In New Orleans, it was helping to tamp down a stubborn marsh fire that for several days has sent pungent smoke wafting across the area.
Southern Louisiana needs rain - just not that much, that fast.
"Sometimes you get what you ask for," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said. "Unfortunately it looks like we're going to get more than we needed."
___
Associated Press writers Kevin McGill and Alan Sayre in New Orleans, Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala., and Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.
WH Already Lowering Expectations on Jobs Speech
WH Already Lowering Expectations on Jobs Speech
AP FileBy Ed Henry and Peter Barnes, Fox News
In what could be a way of lowering expectations for next Thursday's big economic speech, aides to President Obama are privately spreading word that he will not present his entire jobs plan in his address to a Joint Session of Congress.
Aides say Thursday's speech will be part of a bigger plan the White House will roll out throughout the fall with the president hitting the road for speeches and town hall appearances. Aides have already confirmed that Obama will be traveling to California, Colorado, and Washington state for one three-day swing later this month that will include economic events as well as some fundraising.
The move could be a way to try and lower the stakes for Thursday's Joint Session appearance, but it could also be an attempt by the administration to show the president is trying to stay all over the economy heading into what will likely be an uphill re-election battle.
"There's no question the president will want to keep returning to jobs," one top aide told Fox News. "I don't want to downplay the speech [next week] -- it's going to be substantial. But the idea that this is the be-all and end-all is wrong."
In what could be a way of lowering expectations for next Thursday's big economic speech, aides to President Obama are privately spreading word that he will not present his entire jobs plan in his address to a Joint Session of Congress.
Aides say Thursday's speech will be part of a bigger plan the White House will roll out throughout the fall with the president hitting the road for speeches and town hall appearances. Aides have already confirmed that Obama will be traveling to California, Colorado, and Washington state for one three-day swing later this month that will include economic events as well as some fundraising.
The move could be a way to try and lower the stakes for Thursday's Joint Session appearance, but it could also be an attempt by the administration to show the president is trying to stay all over the economy heading into what will likely be an uphill re-election battle.
"There's no question the president will want to keep returning to jobs," one top aide told Fox News. "I don't want to downplay the speech [next week] -- it's going to be substantial. But the idea that this is the be-all and end-all is wrong."
Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/09/02/white-house-hints-more-economic-speeches-proposals-ahead#ixzz1Wrh3LsSB
Condi Rice: Cheney Attacked My Integrity
Condi Rice: Cheney Attacked My Integrity
AP GraphicsBy Jim Meyers, News Max
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has lashed out at Dick Cheney over his newly published memoir, calling an assertion by the former vice president an “attack on my integrity.”
Cheney writes in his book “In My Time” that Rice misled President George W. Bush about negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program.
"I kept the president fully and completely informed about every in and out of the negotiations with the North Koreans," Rice said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has lashed out at Dick Cheney over his newly published memoir, calling an assertion by the former vice president an “attack on my integrity.”
Cheney writes in his book “In My Time” that Rice misled President George W. Bush about negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program.
"I kept the president fully and completely informed about every in and out of the negotiations with the North Koreans," Rice said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/condoleezzarice-dickcheney/2011/09/01/id/409409#ixzz1Wres6yIt
Judge Weighs If Casey Anthony Should Pay $500G Tab
Judge Weighs If Casey Anthony Should Pay $500G Tab
Published September 02, 2011
| Associated Press
July 5: Casey Anthony hugs her attorney, Jose Baez, after hearing a jury clear her of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Casey Anthony's attorney said Friday that Florida authorities are trying to recoup the money spent investigating her 2-year-old daughter's disappearance only because of "sour grapes" over the woman's acquittal on a murder charge.
Judge Belvin Perry said after hearing arguments on the issue that he would not issue a ruling until at least Sept. 22. He could extend that date but said he hopes to rule by then.
Anthony was acquitted in July on charges of murdering her daughter, Caylee. But the 25-year-old was convicted of four counts of lying to authorities. She told officers a baby sitter had the child. Authorities later learned the baby sitter never existed, but the investigation drained manpower.
Anthony has appealed her convictions.
Several agencies, including the sheriff's office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, filed expenses of more than $517,000.
Anthony was not in court Friday and is serving probation in an undisclosed location in Florida. After the hearing, defense attorney Cheney Mason said she was progressing well.
"She's fine," Mason said as he walked out of the courthouse. "She's getting help and she's being taken care of and protected. That's all I can tell you."
Asked about Anthony's financial outlook, Mason said that it is unchanged.
"I know of no deals with anybody and of nobody making any money," Mason said. "Casey has no money. She's indigent -- period. So why are we doing this? Why are we wasting more and more taxpayers' money chasing a ghost?"
Mason called the state's attempt to make his client pay such high investigative costs unfair.
"What you have in essence is the state claiming 100 percent of the costs for a case they lost. ... That to me has nothing to do with justice. It has to do with sour grapes," he said.
Prosecutors spent the morning calling a handful of witnesses representing the four agencies seeking reimbursement. State attorney Linda Drane Burdick said though the totals seem high, all the costs arose from four lies Anthony was convicted of telling. -- The sheriff's office has asked for $293,123; the state attorney's office has asked for $141,362; the FDLE is seeking $71,939; and the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation is asking for $10,362.
She said it was unfair for taxpayers to cover those costs.
"But for Mrs. Anthony's lying at the beginning of this case, there would no investigative costs," Drane Burdick said. "... It would not have occurred if Mrs. Anthony had it in her to tell the truth."
The state is not seeking to get back money spent helping Anthony's defense or the money spent to sequester the jury during trial.
Anthony's lead defense attorney, Jose Baez, was not in court Friday.
Instead, Mason attacked the state's assertions, saying it was trying recoup all of its costs for the investigation and not just those related to what prosecutors say were Anthony's lies.
Mason pointed to dates well after the October 2008 murder indictment and December 2008 discovery of Caylee Anthony's remains that were included in the agency tallies. He also argued against court reporter invoices that didn't take place until 2010 and 2011, well after the investigative phase of the case.
"I think it's time (Florida state attorney) Lawson Lamar's office accepts the fact they lost this case," Mason said.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/02/judge-weighs-if-casey-anthony-should-pay-500k-tab/#ixzz1WracCqre
Death of Pregnant Michigan Woman Deemed Suspicious
Crime & Courts
Death of Pregnant Michigan Woman Deemed Suspicious
Published September 02, 2011
| FoxNews.com
Jennifer Webb, whose body was found early Wednesday in rural Michigan, is shown in this photo she posted on social networking sites and was included in her obituary.
The mysterious death in Michigan of a pregnant woman close to giving birth has sparked a police investigation into the death, which is being described as suspicious.
The woman, whom acquaintances have identified as 32-year-old Jennifer Webb, was expected to give birth next month, MyFoxDetroit.com reported. Police have yet to publicly identify her.
"She was excited she was going to have a baby," neighbor Steve Wobig told the TV station.
Her body was found early Wednesday in a rural area in Saginaw County's Buena Vista Township, near the police department's gun range.
Buena Vista Township police initially responded to a suicide report, but the Saginaw County prosecutor said it now is being looked at as a suspicious death, MyFoxDetroit.com reported.
Investigators from Michigan State Police were called in to take over the case, something that usually happens when a law enforcement officer is involved. The prosecutor said no arrests have been made and has refused to comment on possible suspects.
MyFoxDetroit.com cited unnamed sources who said a Buena Vista police officer had been sent home from work because of his possible connection with the victim.
Autopsy results are pending.
Webb's obituary in the Saginaw News says she enjoyed hunting and camping, as well as Michigan football.
"Jennifer was the type of person who, once you met her, you felt like yo knew her all your life," the obituary reads.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/02/death-pregnant-michigan-woman-deemed-suspicious/#ixzz1WrYTjOA5
Thursday, September 1, 2011
United States Treasury
Donald Marron
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The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills
May 26, 2011 by Donald Marron
Since the day of Alexander Hamilton, the United States has never defaulted on the federal debt.
That’s what we budget-watchers always say. It’s a great talking point. One that helps bolster the argument that default should not be an option in Washington’s ongoing debt limit slowdown.
There’s just one teensy problem: it isn’t true. As Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal recently noted, the United States defaulted on some Treasury bills in 1979. And it paid a steep price for stiffing bondholders.
Terry Zivney and Richard Marcus describe the default in The Financial Review (sorry, I can’t find an ungated version):
Investors in T-bills maturing April 26, 1979 were told that the U.S. Treasury could not make its payments on maturing securities to individual investors. The Treasury was also late in redeeming T-bills which become due on May 3 and May 10, 1979. The Treasury blamed this delay on an unprecedented volume of participation by small investors, on failure of Congress to act in a timely fashion on the debt ceiling legislation in April, and on an unanticipated failure of word processing equipment used to prepare check schedules.
The United States thus defaulted because Treasury’s back office was on the fritz.
This default was, of course, temporary. Treasury did pay these T-bills after a short delay. But it balked at paying additional interest to cover the period of delay. According to Zivney and Marcus, it required both legal arm twisting and new legislation before Treasury made all investors whole for that additional interest.
Some may quibble about whether this constitutes default. After all, the United States did eventually make its payments. And the disruption applied to only a sliver of its debt – certain T-bills owned by individual investors.
But I think it’s unambiguous. A debt default occurs anytime a creditor fails to make a timely interest or principal payment. By that standard, the United States did default. It was small. It was unintentional. But it was indeed a default.
And the nation still stands. But that hardly means we should run the experiment again and at larger scale. Zivney and Marcus examined what happened to T-bill interest rates as a result of this small, temporary default. They find a surprisingly large effect. As best they can tell, T-bill interest rates increased about 60 basis points after the first default and remained elevated for at least several months thereafter. A simple way to see that is to look at daily changes in T-bill yields:
T-bill rates spiked upwards four times in the months around the default. In November 1978, Henry “Dr. Doom” Kaufman predicted that interest rates would rise. They did. Turn-of-the-year cash management caused rates to fall and then rise as 1978 became 1979. And rates spiked and fell in October 1979 when Paul Volcker announced that the Fed would target monetary aggregates rather than interest rates (the “Saturday night special”).
The fourth big move was the day of the first default, when T-bill rates rose almost 0.6 percentage points (i.e., 60 basis points).There’s no indication this increase reversed in the days that followed (the vertical line on the chart is just a marker for the day of default). Indeed, using more sophisticated means, including comparing T-bill rates to interest on commercial paper, the authors conclude that default led to a persistent increase in T-bill rates and, therefore, higher borrowing costs for the federal government.
The financial world has changed dramatically in the intervening decades. T-bill rates hover near zero compared to the 9-10 percent range of the late 1970s; that means a temporary delay in payments would be less costly for creditors. Treasury’s IT systems are, one hopes, more reliable that 1970s vintage word processors. And one should take care not to make too much of a single data point.
But it’s the only data point we have on a U.S. default. Not surprisingly it shows that even temporary default is a bad idea.
P.S. Some observers believe the United States also defaulted in 1933 when it abrogated the gold clause. The United States made its payments on time in dollars, but eliminated the option to take payment in gold. For a quick overview of this and related issues, see this blog post by Catherine Rampell at the New York Times and the associated comments.
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Posted in Budget | Tagged Debt, Debt Limit, Default, Deficit, Treasury | 31 Comments
31 Responses
on May 26, 2011 at 1:50 am | Reply Milton Recht
The South did default on Confederate debt used to finance the Civil War and as far as I know, the debt has never been repaid. It was US debt, owned by US citizens, although one can rightly question its purpose. If it not US debt, what is it?
Either the South was still part of the US when the debt was issued, so it was US debt, or the South was its own sovereign derived from the former entire US during the Civil War. In the latter case, its debt had as much right to be called US debt as the North’s debt.
I do not believe the North after the Civil war assumed any of this defaulted debt, which severely negatively affected its Southern citizens.
on May 26, 2011 at 9:05 am | Reply Matt
You state an interesting question. My take is a little different. My interpretation of whether this is US debt would be if it is issued by the United States Treasury or the Treasury was responsible for the payments. They did not issue the bonds via the United States Treasury.
In the first instance you mention, I would consider the South’s debt the debt of a section of the country just as a state’s debt is not the resposibility of the United States Treasury. In the second instance, I would say that because the South is its own sovereign it is responsible for its own debts unless the debt is taken on by the US Treasury when the two were joined again.
on July 18, 2011 at 9:50 pm Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Congress passed a law forbidding the repayment of any debt of the Confederacy or any of the states which had rebelled. This had the intended effect of crippling the Confederacy and it’s component states.
on May 26, 2011 at 8:58 pm | Reply Bernard HP Gilroy
Either the South was still part of the US when the debt was issued, so it was US debt, or the South was its own sovereign derived from the former entire US during the Civil War.
But you left out an important implicit premise: That “the South” was authorized to issue debt in the name of the United States. While the Lincoln administration never accepted that the so-called Confederacy existed as a sovereign nation, it certainly recognized that there were organized governments of sedition. Those governments were, by definition, illegitimate, and therefore could not obligate the United States by issuing debt.
on June 7, 2011 at 11:39 am | Reply Tom Veil
Milton, the US Constitution addresses this question very directly, in Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, adopted on July 9, 1868:
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
on May 26, 2011 at 3:20 am | ReplyWhen US defaulted on its debt… « Mostly Economics
[...] Marron has this super post linking to a paper (gated though). It mentions how US defaulted temporarily on its T-bills in [...]
on May 26, 2011 at 3:41 am | Reply WILTON E.RICHARDS
please get somebody to get someone to talk
about helping the poor and the disable plus
putting back cost of living increase and do and a increase.that was taken away.very unfair.the poeple are surrering can not paid
there bill.and the gov. wants to whats wrong
them duh.WILTON E.RICHARDS
on May 26, 2011 at 9:59 am | ReplySecondary Sources: Fed Crisis Loans, Long-Term Unemployment, U.S. Default - Real Time Economics - WSJ
[...] [...]
on May 26, 2011 at 1:12 pm | Reply Shaun
The price of gold started going through the roof after that default, and almost doubled that year.
on May 26, 2011 at 3:50 pm | ReplySecondary Sources: Fed Crisis Loans, Long-Term Unemployment, U.S. Default - superworkweb.com
[...] –U.S. Default: Donald Marron looks at a case of U.S. default in 1979. “The financial world has changed dramatically in the intervening decades. T-bill rates hover near zero compared to the 9-10 percent range of the late 1970s; that means a temporary delay in payments would be less costly for creditors. Treasury’s IT systems are, one hopes, more reliable that 1970s vintage word processors. And one should take care not to make too much of a single data point. But it’s the only data point we have on a U.S. default. Not surprisingly it shows that even temporary default is a bad idea.” [...]
on May 26, 2011 at 4:51 pm | ReplyThe Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills « Donald Marron | ENA news
[...] Originally posted here: The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills « Donald Marron [...]
on May 26, 2011 at 5:47 pm | ReplyActually, the U.S. has defaulted on its debt not so long ago – in 1979, due to a glitch at the Treasury’s back office. It was small and unintentional; even so, the effects were surprisingly large, Donald Marron explains, as T-bill rates increa
[...] several months. “Even temporary default is a bad idea.” May 26th, 2011 Actually, the U.S. has defaulted on its debt not so long ago – in 1979, due to a glitch at the Treasury’s back office. It was small [...]
on May 26, 2011 at 8:17 pm | ReplyMy Supposed Representative in Congress | Notes
[...] its credit rating by defaulting on its debt for the first time in history [Update: (May 26, 2011) apparently there was a brief default in 1979; the consequences were not good] and sending signals to everyone else around the world that our [...]
on May 27, 2011 at 8:19 am | Reply Morning Must Reads: Recess | Swampland
[...] What happens if the U.S. defaults on its debt? It did, on April 26, 1979. [...]
on May 30, 2011 at 12:13 am | ReplyReconciliation | politicsense.societydirect.com
[...] 1) In 1979, the United States accidentally missed some of its bond payments ? and paid for it. [...]
on June 1, 2011 at 10:39 am | ReplyWill Not Raising the Debt Ceiling Lead to Armageddon? | RedState
[...] House votes against raising debt ceiling, 318-97 THE HILL POLL: Voters oppose raising the $14.3T debt ceiling White House Turns to Reagan to Make Point on Debt Ceiling Vote Explaining the House Debt Ceiling Vote Charade The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills [...]
on June 1, 2011 at 12:14 pm | ReplyWill Not Raising the Debt Ceiling Lead to Armageddon? | Tea Party Base
[...] House votes against raising debt ceiling, 318-97 THE HILL POLL: Voters oppose raising the $14.3T debt ceiling White House Turns to Reagan to Make Point on Debt Ceiling Vote Explaining the House Debt Ceiling Vote Charade The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills [...]
on June 1, 2011 at 1:11 pm | Reply Diane Swonk
It’s hard to imagine that Congress could be so childish as to threaten default, as a tactic to deal with the deficit. Childish and dangerous.
on June 2, 2011 at 1:15 am | Reply bullsballs
when the feds default on all loans, and the dollar is devalued by 50%, maybe people will think something may have gone wrong with the big o plan to spend his way out of debt.
gold is over $1500.00 an ounce, that is an indicator that things are VERY bad…
gold and lead will be trading at a hot rate, and I have pounds of lead…
on July 8, 2011 at 10:39 pm | Reply Christopher Smart
“. . . and I have pounds of lead…”
Yeah, mostly in your head.
on June 8, 2011 at 11:15 am | ReplyFT Alphaville » The T-bill that broke America’s credit [updated]
[...] – Speaking of T-bills triggering default… Donald Marron reminded everyone a while back that the United States failed to pay off bills maturing in April 1979, following a [...]
on June 11, 2011 at 2:59 pm | Reply Daniel Evan Opheim
32 years ago?
on June 24, 2011 at 9:03 am | ReplyPlaying with Fire with the Debt Limit « Donald Marron
[...] markets would likely punish the US with higher interest rates if we defaulted. That’s what happened in 1979, for example, when back office snafus caused Treasury to unintentionally miss payments to some [...]
on June 27, 2011 at 7:04 pm | ReplyUnited States has never defaulted on the federal debt. Oh Yeah what about 1979? | Politisite
[...] via The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills « Donald Marron. [...]
on June 27, 2011 at 7:14 pm | Reply United States has never defaulted on the federal debt. Oh Yeah what about 1979? « Iron Mill News Service
[...] via The Day the United States Defaulted on Treasury Bills « Donald Marron. [...]
on July 14, 2011 at 4:50 am | Reply Herman Munster
How does an entity, trillions in debt have a outstanding credit rating???
Smoke and mirrors folks, it is better we get this over with now. The whole debt thing is a farce anyways and only exist on paper. What good is a debt ceiling anyways if it just gets raised as soon as we get to it??? I would rather go through immense suffering now so that our children do not have to in the future. We were set up to take a fall, sooner we get it over with, the sooner we can move on…..more than likely something really crappy needs to happen for the people to get angry enough to take back the government. Time to re-introduce lynch mobs into our society and have politicians be afraid to screw the American people. One or two of these scallywags hanging from a tree would change the mindset of a majority of the rest……self interest motivates them and nothing inspires people like this more than their desire to stay alive. Right now their greed for more more more is unquenchable, but properly motivated they would be pleased as punch to be content with what they have.
on July 15, 2011 at 10:15 pm | ReplyIt’s the Budget, Stupid | Bookle+
[...] the credit markets freak out and, if they do, where the political fallout lands. Congress actually defaulted temporarily on some T-bills in 1979 when Congress was slow in raising the debt limit and the Treasury was [...]
on July 15, 2011 at 10:16 pm | ReplyIt’s the Budget, Stupid | Global Village: Sid Harth
[...] the credit markets freak out and, if they do, where the political fallout lands. Congress actually defaulted temporarily on some T-bills in 1979 when Congress was slow in raising the debt limit and the Treasury was [...]
on July 29, 2011 at 1:08 am | ReplyFederal debt default? So what? It happened before — in 1979 « David McElroy
[...] If you’ve been listening to any news lately, you know that Financial Armageddon looms if the politicians in D.C. don’t suddenly agree to a plan to raise the debt ceiling. Pretty much everybody agrees that such a thing is unthinkable. The only problem is that it happened 32 years ago — and it wasn’t a big deal. [...]
on August 1, 2011 at 10:40 am | Reply A deal, not a solution « The Presteblog
[...] ceiling is a big deal when every time the federal government bumps up against it, it gets raised. Donald Marron points out that the U.S. defaulted on successive weeks in 1979: Terry Zivney and Richard Marcus [...]
on August 6, 2011 at 3:56 pm | Reply secretbonus1
US Defaults: 1790, 1841-1842,1873-1884,1919(multiple states defaulted) 1933 (denied people the ability to receive their payment in gold), and 1971 (owed around 40,000 tonnes of gold but only had 7200 and they defaulted on promises to pay in gold and silver). They also defaulted on some treasury bills in 1979.
1842 was part of a major economic depression period for the USA. It was shortly after President Andrew Jackson terminated the USA’s central bank, the equivalent of today’s Federal Reserve. The USA government, and not an independent bank, became the custodian of the USA funds. It didn’t work out so well then. If the USA Dollar loses its status as the world’s reserve currency, it probably won’t work out so well for the either Federal Reserve or the USA economy this time either.
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