The Grown Ups have Left the Room

Today, the U.S. government ran out of credit limit! And, at $14 Trillion and change, I guess Capital One is not sending them daily solicitations for new lines of credit (like they send to me, and each member of my family, even the ones that no longer reside here..)

So failing that, our Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has said all along he could prolong the "absolute end" by shuffling money around between accounts. So everyone went about their merry way, and today is that day, and the shuffling begins.

I wish he had told me what this means earlier, cause it sounds like a crime. Or like the U.S. Treasury is being run like a stock market or a giant slot machine or something.

http://1.usa.gov/lK7vnD
To get the actual statement he wrote to Congress. Basically the shuffling consists of borrowing money from the Civil Service Retirement Fund. And diverting interest that would have accrued to that fund. And other related measures. To keep the OPERATIONS of the government funded. Like those salaries of federal employees. Like I suppose keeping the heat on and the electricity on at the White House. Like paying social security benefits to retirees, widows, orphans. Basic operations.

Now, if this were an actual stock market, and you had a chance to invest in the U.S. government, or, say, the biotech startup in Silicon Valley. You might look at things like - what products have they actually brought to market? What is their return on equity? What is their profit to earnings ratio. And are they actually making money on operations? Or are they living on credit from some wealthy Chinese investors?

If you looked at the portfolio you would never place your bets on the U.S. Government, or as they say in Wikileaks speak, USG. Not sustainable, you would say, and move on.

Here we are. Federal employees, speak up - do you want your pension fund raided? The money has to be paid back to make the fund whole, says Mr. Geithner. How exactly is that going to happen?