XPost: soc.culture.usa, alt.society.liberalism, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc, sac.politics   
   From: remailer@domain.invalid   
      
   In  dipshit Lefty Lundquist   
    wrote:   
      
   > Biden is a piece of shit criminal.   
      
   Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said “the U.S. is on an   
   unsustainable fiscal path” in a “60 Minutes” interview with Scott   
   Pelley released Sunday.   
      
   “The U.S. federal government’s on an unsustainable fiscal path. And   
   that just means that the debt is growing faster than the economy.   
   So, it is unsustainable. I don’t think that’s at all controversial,”   
   Powell said when asked if the national debt is a danger to the   
   economy.   
      
   The U.S. national debt topped $34 trillion for the first time ever   
   in early January, just over three months after surpassing the $33   
   trillion mark, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury.   
      
   Congress has punted on spending deadlines three times since the end   
   of September as it grapples with how to fund the government amid   
   tensions about the ballooning national debt.   
      
   Under the latest stopgap measure passed in January, funding for four   
   federal agencies will expire on March 1. Funding for the rest of the   
   government is set to run out on March 8.   
      
   President Biden and House Republicans faced off on the borrowing   
   limit last spring, ultimately averting disaster days before the U.S.   
   was set to default. But Fitch Ratings downgraded the U.S. credit   
   rating from “AAA” to “AA+” in August, citing the increasing burden   
   of the national debt and repeated partisan standoffs over the debt   
   limit.   
      
   Despite the Fed chair’s long-term worries about the national debt,   
   he said members of the central bank’s rate-setting panel believe   
   “the economy’s in a good place.”   
      
   The economy has been growing quickly, clocking in at an annual rate   
   of 3.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the   
   latest data released by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic   
   Analysis.   
      
   Inflation has also fallen drastically from its 9 percent peak in   
   summer 2022 to 3.4 percent in December, according to the latest   
   consumer price index (CPI). The Fed hiked interest rates from near   
   zero in March 2022 to a range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent in June 2023,   
   and they have held rates steady at subsequent meetings.   
      
   Top Fed officials have signaled rate cuts on the horizon in 2024 but   
   declined to cut rates following the January meeting last Wednesday,   
   as expected. What was less expected was Powell’s suggestion that   
   March rate cuts were off the table at a press conference following   
   the announcement, a position he doubled down on during his “60   
   Minutes” interview.   
      
   “I would say, and I did say yesterday, that I think it’s not likely   
   that this committee will reach that level of confidence in time for   
   the March meeting, which is in seven weeks,” Powell said.   
      
   “The kinds of things that would make us want to move sooner would be   
   if we saw weakness in the labor market or if we saw inflation really   
   persuasively coming down,” he added.   
      
   Powell and the Fed have taken heat from both sides of the political   
   spectrum for their decision to keep interest rates at their highest   
   level in more than two decades.   
      
   Former President Trump accused Powell of being “political” and   
   suggested the Republican appointee would cut rates to help Democrats   
   during the upcoming election during a Fox Business interview on   
   “Mornings with Maria” that aired Sunday.   
      
   Some Senate Democrats also urged the Fed chair to cut rates ahead of   
   last Wednesday’s meeting.   
      
   “As the Fed weighs its next steps in the new year, we urge you to   
   consider the effects of your interest rate decisions on the housing   
   market and to reverse the troubling rate hikes that have put   
   affordable housing out of reach for too many,” Sens. Elizabeth   
   Warren (D-Mass.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)   
   and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote in a letter to Powell last   
   Sunday.   
      
   But Powell pushed back on any implication that politics would play a   
   role in the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates in the coming   
   months.   
      
   “We do not consider politics in our decisions. We never do. And we   
   never will,” Powell said. “Integrity is priceless. And at the end,   
   that’s all you have.”   
      
   https://thehill.com/homenews/4447860-powell-the-us-is-on-an-   
   unsustainable-fiscal-path/   
      
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