Word: debts
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Long past dreams of Beltway comity, Obama is now in a political tight spot, wedged between sky-high unemployment and lingering concerns over government spending and debt. That choice pits the President's left flank against his moderate supporters. Meanwhile, Republicans have found some traction on the economy, for which Americans traditionally blame, for good or ill, the guy who calls 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home. As soon as Obama finished speaking, his foes pulled out their knives too. South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint called Obama "delusional" and "out of control...
...same time, international confidence in the government's ability to pay its $12 trillion debt is tenuous, and Obama has yet to take any clear steps, beyond rhetoric, to reassure investors. His 2010 budget, announced last February, projected medium-term deficits that even Obama's aides agree are unsustainable. And by most accounts, his health care reform package, if it passes, is unlikely to yield the clear long-term savings that Obama once suggested...
...recent weeks, Obama has begun to talk more about the debt, admitting in an interview with Fox News that too much spending could yield a loss of confidence in the U.S. and a "double-dip recession." At Brookings, Obama copped to trying to "spend our way out of this recession in the near term" but also announced that "one of the central goals of this Administration is restoring fiscal responsibility...
...other parts of Europe, things are looking even worse. Shares on the Greek stock market have fallen 9% over the past two days. The parlous state of Greece's public finances has prompted credit-rating agency Fitch to lower the country's debt rating to BBB+, the lowest in the euro zone, Europe's single-currency region. Further blows could follow: rival agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's have threatened similar moves in recent days. (See 10 things to do in Athens...
...Nowhere more so than Greece. Years of debt-fueled consumption and lax fiscal policies have left the country drowning in red ink. National debt is expected to rise to 125% of GDP in 2010, the highest in the euro zone. "If you want an example of a political élite that thought membership of the euro zone was a panacea," says Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform in London, "you don't need to look further than Greece. They're in very serious trouble." (See pictures of the global economic crisis...