Impervious to irony

WSJ: "Obama signs credit-card overhaul legislation into law"

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama put his signature on legislation Friday clamping down on credit-card companies' ability to boost interest rates and slap higher fees on consumers, a measure long-sought by the White House but reviled by the banking sector.

"We're not going to give people a free pass, and we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe, but we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility that the American people aspire to in their own lives," Obama said at a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden.

Ha ha ha! What a joker. By the way, did I say the United States is following California into a hole? Maybe I meant the United Kingdom: "Britain's debt omen"

Even the White House concedes that U.S. debt held by the public as a share of GDP will hit 70% in fiscal 2011, by far the highest level since 1951 and up from 40.8% in 2008, before declining. (See nearby chart.) But that forecast beyond 2011 depends on very rosy assumptions about renewed growth and future spending restraint.

The dollar's standing as the world's reserve currency gives the U.S. somewhat more protection against losing its AAA rating. But the world's creditors are making their own judgments about U.S. fiscal credibility on a daily basis, and those judgments will show up in the value of the dollar and the yields on Treasury debt. Those investors didn't like what they saw yesterday, perhaps because they think the British are showing where out-of-control spending leads.

Next stop: taking Hawaii to the international pawn shop.