China says 'no' to buying more U.S. debt

By Steve Collier, Colorado Springs

First off, MY APOLOGIES! I missed Saturday's post! Changing your own brakes might save you some money in the long run, but prepare yourself to give up a big portion of your day! Ford has its own tools you need to change brakes... and it took me three trips to NAPA for the right stuff. ARGH!!

Anywho, on to the serious stuff. I caught this Associated Press story, dated April 30, on Representative Mark Kirk, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and co-chair of a group of lawmakers promoting relations with Beijing, where he said that China had "very legitimate" concerns about its investments. Those investments? U.S. DEBT!

And if I were China, I wouldn't feel compelled to buy our country's debt either, especially since we're creating more! The TEA Parties aren't about political party or affiliation. More so, we target those who have lost their way as far as leading our country in the right direction. President George W. Bush started the slippery slope downward with his approval of "TARP 1," and he got a LOT of flack from everyday, outside-the-Beltway Americans. But then, we learn of TARP 2, the Stimulus Bill, the expanded $3.6 trillion budget and additional spending under President Barack Obama. And they want to know why we criticize him three ways from Sunday.

Folks, China is just the beginning. Why would anyone want to buy our debt when we have no clear plan to re-balance our budget and begin paying down that debt, especially as we look at upwards of 9-10 TRILLION dollars worth of deficit spending up to 2019. Insanity doesn't begin to describe it.

Read this excerpt from the AP story: "Treasury Department data shows that investors in China have sharply curtailed their purchases of bonds in January and February." That is a trend folks, not a one-time deal. We have no clear solution in Washington to save America jobs, other than to throw money at the problem. Money isn't the solution to our problems ... reorganizing is.

We all talk about saving GM and Chrysler jobs.. then why do the Unions continue to reject (until just before the deadline for restructing) any cuts to benefits or wages in the face of their companies going under? American car companies pay their workers almos twice as much as foreign automakers on U.S. soil. BTW.. those car companies built vehicles Americans WANT to purchase. And a good chunk of the cost of your vehicle goes to legacy costs within those car companies that they can't keep up with.

Be forewarned... our incredible spending habits in the U.S. Congress will be our undoing, much like our Roman counterparts from centuries before. Corruption, I dare to say, is the norm.