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the latest s e c on da r y m a r k e t a na ly t ic s se r v ic i ng Or ig i nat ion SECONDARY MARKET Crash Averted—For Now By Ed Delgado, President and CEO of the Five Star Institute G overnment leaders in Washington, D.C. averted highly detrimental consequences, for now, by passing, with bipartisan support, a bill that will raise the debt ceiling and bring government employees back to work. I say 'for now,' as the deal funds the government, at sequestration levels, until January 15, 2014 and lifts the debt ceiling, allowing the U.S. to pay its bills and debts, until February 7. Stay tuned for round two of what we have witnessed the past few weeks. As many people have pointed out, the government needs to cut spending, and pay down the debt. I absolutely agree. 60 | Unfortunately, the divide in Washington is not allowing for what is best for this country. In 2011, the government barely averted a government shutdown, and every time we come close to hitting the debt ceiling, Congress waits until the last minute, bestowing the image of a dysfunctional organization, and creating a crisis. The world is watching, the markets are watching, and the credit rating agencies are watching. In the end, our reputation is tarnished, consumer confidence takes a hit, and our economy is greatly weakened. As a nation, the toll we took over the past few weeks seemed rather minimal, however, in the eyes of our peers around the world, we are weakened. Our status as a world leader is diminished. And, the morale of our nation is damaged. If Congress and the White House don't find agreement within the next 90 days, and we once again run up to the deadline, our country will suffer much worse consequences than those of today. Sure, we have some flexibility, but once our government can no longer pay its bills, our credit rating will go down, and financial confidence in the United States will crash. Following the Congressional votes, Obama said we should not govern by crisis, and he's exactly right. But he should have gone further and said governing shouldn't prolong a crisis. In the years following the recession, the Obama Administration has governed time and again by crisis through hyper-regulation, and numerous lawsuits filed against American job creators, our nation's banks. Much like creating a crisis by putting off governing, over regulation has slowed our economic recovery, as well. Our economy is struggling to come back from the recession, our housing market is on the comeback, as well. For our nation to continue to thrive, we need true leadership. Leaders with principle and conviction, but also respect and the ability to make balanced decisions that are best for the country as a whole. What our country does not need, and cannot tolerate, are leaders in Washington who chose to create a crisis and play politics with our economy instead of working together to come to agreements and govern in a way that will move our country forward. The M Report MR