Well, today, while much of the blogosphere was consumed with all things Warren and Blagojevich, many of us probably missed Obama's and Biden's virtually simultaneous, but quite public, "Oh, sh*t!" moments.
OBAMA...
"Obama: A Continued Economic Decline Is Not Acceptable."
Huffington Post December 19, 2008 03:33 PM
Barack Obama, addressing the press for the fifth straight day, offered perhaps his gloomiest assessment yet on the current economic situation. Relaying how the talks with his economic teams have revealed a landscape far more challenging than previously imagined, he insisted that "a significant amount" of government spending was needed "on the front end."
"What is striking in the conversations that we have had with economists from the left and the right over the past several months is how the economic forecasts have deteriorated, and the conclusion has been with credit freezing up, with businesses laying off workers, with a continued weakness in the housing market, and escalating foreclosures, that unless you have a bold approach, you could see the economy continuing to decline at a pretty rapid clip. That is not acceptable to me," he told reporters. "I don't think it is acceptable to the American people."
More bad economic news is indeed anticipated. The housing market is expected to get hit with another round of massive foreclosures as rates on subprime and other loans get bumped up. Moreover, state budgets are precarious and governors could also end up pleading for bailouts from the federal government.
BIDEN...
"Biden: U.S. Economy in Danger of `Absolutely Tanking.' "
ABC News December 19, 2008 05:13 PM
Vice President-Elect Joe Biden said the U.S. economy is in danger of "absolutely tanking" and will need a second stimulus package in the $600-billion to $700-billion range.
"The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in," Biden told me during an exclusive interview -- his first since becoming vice president-elect--to air this Sunday on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
"There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That's the only short run," Biden told me.
Hmmmm....
Do you think someone reminded them both that there's a $1 trillion dollar budget deficit projected for fiscal 2008? But, ooopsey-daisy, the previous two administrations decided it was better to do that "math" if you left out the ongoing obligations that we were accruing as far as Social Security and Medicare were concerned? Because, if you paid attention to generally accepted accounting principles (i.e.: "GAAP"), the reality is that the real projected budget deficit for just fiscal year 2008, alone, is between $4 and $5 trillion.
Then again, after hearing the 2008 numbers, maybe Obama and Biden did some quick research and learned that if you "re-calibrated" (added back in those accrued liability numbers for Social Security and Medicare that the Clinton administration conveniently decided--and apparently George W. Bush thought that was just a dandy idea too--should be placed "off-balance-sheet" back in the 90's) the overall national debt, which is projected to be around $16 trillion now (according to pundit-publicized math), the real national debt is somewhere around $65-$66 trillion, once we put those realities back on the government's books, as well?
($66,000,000,000,000. Sixty-six trillion. That's $220,000 for every man, woman and child in the U.S., just to get "even.")
Or, maybe they were both briefed about the real unemployment statistics--not the current 7.5% rate that's currently being stated in public by our government--but the approximately 16% (that's almost 1:6) of Americans that are actually out of work now?
Oh, but maybe it was just something a bit more mundane that caused Obama and Biden to ever-so-slightly freak out a bit in public today, because they were informed that the same ratings agencies (Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's) that told everyone that all those toxic mortgages were AAA+ paper over the past few years were the same damn people advising Bernanke and Paulson as to which private sector paper they should cover with taxpayer funds via the bailout over the past 90 days?
Then again, perhaps it was the realization that Obama and Biden are going to have to print $8.5 trillion more off of the government's printing presses to support the aggressive and unprecedented schedule of T-bill sales that the Federal Reserve has planned for 2009? Do you think they were just given the lowdown that there might be an issue with hyperinflation or with regard to there not being any market for those T-bills--at all--in coming months? Or, that they'd have to increase the interest rates on them into double-digits just to get them sold in the first place? (To finance the obligations that Bush/Paulson have left for them on the steps of the White House as a going away present?)
Obama, today, in his closing comments on the economy...
Obama went on to note that, in this environment, tough budgetary choices will have to be made. And that the idea of narrowing the deficit was unrealistic. That, however, wasn't an excuse for fiscal prudence. Or, for that matter, to not have one's eye on the long-term effect of near-term spending.
Or, maybe, it's just the reality that, come January 20th, 2009, there really won't be any ("extra") money left...at all.
Oh, Sh*t!