The Republican Party.
Well, that was easy.
I could blame poor Tim Geithner, whom I’m starting to feel sorry for. Tim was last seen furiously denouncing Standard & Poors for venturing the opinion that things don’t seem to be working too smoothly down in Washington. Felix Salmon posted a very nice column yesterday morning explaining why S&P’s action was justified. Unfortunately, Felix also explained why the downgrade wouldn’t impact the Market, proving that being exceptionally smart and exceptionally well informed won’t allow you to see more than fifteen minutes into the future.*
I could also blame the Wall Street geniuses who caused the wreck in the first place, including the “Buy Me Now!” genius/prostitutes at S&P, who handed out triple A ratings to piece of shit investments until the cows came home and shat† all over us. Yes, they’re also the guys who demanded genius-sized bonuses to clean up the wreckage they made. (Hey, my division made a profit! I’m still a genius!) And they’re also the guys who did not show up in unison to demand that Congress pass a “clean” bill raising the debt limit.
But, really, it’s the Republicans all the way on this one. Since day one, they have done nothing assist in the effort to overcome the current economic disaster and everything to obstruct it, a disaster for which they bear significant responsibility, given their lockstep support for the endless errors of the Bush Administration. Since the arrival of the debt ceiling on the political horizon three or four months ago, they have mortgaged their souls to the wing of their party which is actively seeking to destroy the U.S. economy in order to destroy Obama. It is ludicrous to watch “thoughtful” conservatives like Ralph Douthat and Robert Samuelson and George Will pretend that there is room for blame on both side. Well, I blame the Democrats 5 percent at best, and the Republicans for the other 95.
*Felix is now telling us not to panic and to buy stocks and sell bonds. I’m always buying stocks, Felix. I’m afraid to panic, because if I panic and try to make decisions about my investments, I’ll be trying to predict the future, and my guess is that I’m even worse at that than you are.
†I’ve read that the past tense of “shit” is actually “shit.” Well, I’m going with “shat.”
