Normally, the strongest time of year for the market is the 4th quarter. It may be different this year. Note this email response from the senior Senator from Utah.
“Thank you for contacting me to express your thoughts and concerns about recent debate on our nation’s debt and budget negotiations. I appreciate your timely input on this very important topic.
As you may have heard through the news media, a compromise proposal was negotiated over the weekend of July 30th. The compromise proposal passed the House on August 1, 2011 by a vote of 269-161, the Senate on August 2nd by a vote of 74-26, and signed into law by the President later that day.
There are some positive features in this legislation, and the Senate’s Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and conservatives throughout the country should be commended for insisting on them.
First, the President asked for a clean debt limit increase, and conservatives refused. Conservatives held the line and made clear that any increase in the debt limit required matching deficit reduction.
Regardless of the President’s talking points, non-defense discretionary spending is at historic levels. We are set for our third straight trillion dollar deficit. We have a national debt of
$14.5 trillion, and the President’s budget would give us $13 trillion more in debt. The answer to this is not giving the government more money to spend.
Second, having lost the fight over a clean debt limit increase, the President insisted on a balanced approach to deficit reduction, by which he meant reducing the deficit by raising taxes. But conservatives again fought this back. They knew that the primary driver of our debt is spending. Regardless of the President’s talking points, non-defense discretionary spending is at historic levels. We are set for our third straight trillion dollar deficit. We have a national debt of
$14.5 trillion, and the President’s budget would give us $13 trillion more in debt. The answer to this is not giving the government more money to spend.
And third, conservatives resisted the effort by the President’s allies to push most of the deficit reduction in this package down the road.
So there are some achievements in this proposal that conservatives can hang their hat on. However, I regret to say that I was unable to support it because it does not sufficiently provide us with the SOLUTION to the debt crisis that the markets are demanding. Last week, Moody’s made clear that the real threat to America’s Triple A rating is not default, which even the administration now acknowledges was never going to happen. The real threat of a downgrade comes from a failure of will. It comes from a failure of presidential leadership in getting federal spending under control.
There is a solution to this spending crisis. It is Cut, Cap, Balance. In addition to providing short term relief by cutting and capping spending, it provides for a long-term solution through passage of a strong Balanced Budget Amendment. The proposal signed by the President falls well short of Cut, Cap, Balance.
Even with this agreement, we are going to be back at the drawing board before the year is out. The President will be asking Congress to raise the debt ceiling again.
Thank you, again, for writing. I welcome your continued input on this important topic.
Sincerely,
Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator”