White House to Lower 2009 Deficit Estimate to $1.58 Trillion
Bloomberg reports with a straight face that:
The White House’s biannual budget review set for release next week will show the projected shortfall lessened primarily because the administration scrapped contingency plans to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in additional aid to the financial industry, said the official.
The reduced deficit is also attributable to fewer bank failures than the administration anticipated, which meant spending by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will be $78 billion less than forecast, said the official, who requested anonymity because the figures haven’t been publicly released.
XX Sean’s note: It’s when I read stuff like this that I get the urge to start laughing like the Joker. Or maybe President Obama should be doing that. Let’s review a few facts …
- The FDIC has no cash left in its fund to bail out banks - the recent implosion of Colonial saw to that.
- Year to date, 77 banks have blown up. Is no one noticing this? The loans carried by these banks are on the balance worthless, and most have yet to be charged off.
- So, the banking crisis is getting worse, not better. Saying the money won’t be used is just financial chicanery, and scam pulled on taxpayers. The Joker would be proud.
A final point: Many of my friends blame the people around Obama for the bad stuff that is happening, not the President himself. Really? Do you really think Geithner and the rest of them would be there if Obama didn’t want them there? Accountability, my friends. If we held Bush’s feet to the fire for all the wild-ass crazy/criminal stuff that happened on his watch (some of the weirdest stuff is only now starting to come out), we have to hold Obama accountable for the actions of those around him as well.
IN OTHER NEWS …
Deutsche commodities fund loses CFTC exemption
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Wednesday that a Deutsche Bank commodities fund and a second, unnamed commodities investor could no longer avoid federal limits on speculating in grain futures.
The CFTC said it was withdrawing a May 2006 no-action letter issued to DB Commodity Services, a unit of Germany’s Deutsche Bank, that allowed its DB Commodity Index Tracking Master Fund (DBC: 23.72 -0.04 -0.17%) to exceed speculative limits on corn and wheat futures.
The DB Commodity Index fund and sister fund Powershares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA: 24.96 +0.24 +0.97%) each told the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday it would be “revising its relevant procedures accordingly” in light of the position limits, which go into effect Oct. 31.
XX Sean’s note - the DBA is not cliff-diving on the news, so I guess the smart money figures the DBA will work around this.
Cash for Clunkers … for Appliances
I’m not making this up. As the Wall Street Journal says, “Beginning late this fall, federal rebates will be available for purchasers of high-efficiency household appliances, furnaces and air-conditioning systems. Congress authorized $300 million for the program earlier this year as part of the federal economic-stimulus bill.”
That should be good news for Whirlpool and GE, as well as Home Depot, Lowes and Sears Holding (Sears just announced bad earnings news today)
One final note: The Conference Board’s gauge of Leading Economic Indicators — the economic outlook for the next three to six months rose 0.6 percent, less than the forecast of 0.7 percent, after a revised 0.8 percent increase in June, the New York-based group said today. This is four consecutive months of increases, and yes, that’s good news. Still, I wonder how many months in a row leading indicators went up in 1930?
Related Posts
- Giant Stone Head Economics (06/05/09)
- Bullish Uranium News? (04/17/08)
- Morning Plate of Doom — And Oil Heats Up (03/09/09)
- Thursday — the Lone Star Republic, and Other Stories (04/16/09)
- The Real Scandal of AIG and More (03/16/09)
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