I really wish I had a TV sometimes:
On the same night that Standard and Poor's downgraded the United States' top-level credit rating for the first time in history, Christina Romer, former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, didn't mince words when asked of downgrade's potential consequences. (h/t NewsBusters)
The U.S. is "pretty darn f*#ked," Romer said during a segment on Real Time with Bill Maher called “How F*#ked Are We?”, after Maher asked what the new could mean for the U.S. economy.
"I’ve been hanging around [Treasury Secretary] Tim Geithner too long," Romer said, explaining her foul language. Geithner, she says, swears "like a seventh grade boy."
Something tells me Timmy has probably stepped up his "foul language" over the weekend.
The link above has a clip...pretty funny. She was really cute.
More on the interview:
Maher then asked her if she agreed that the stimulus should have been bigger than the “half-assed” one passed in 2009. Romer agreed that “it should have been even bigger.”
Romer said that although the stimulus should have been bigger, it isn’t too late to pass another, larger stimulus now. “What I want is more now,” she said.
“The president today started talking about a very sensible plan of a tax cut for firms that hire veterans, and I want to say ‘there are 15 million other unemployed people, let’s do a big tax cut for any firm that’s willing to hire,’” Romer said. “So someone ought to be making the case for swinging for the fences, not [for] small programs.”
She pushed for a much bigger stimulus but was drowned out by Summers and Geithner and ultimately left the administration that she graciously still supports. Very cool lady.