Tim Geithner is over in Europe speaking to members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European political leaders, telling them that they need to take immediate and significant action to reduce the risk of default on their sovereign obligations. Essentially, we're telling them that they need to cut government spending and increase taxes in order to avoid the risk of default on debt securities issued by European countries.

"The threat of cascading default, bank runs, and catastrophic risk must be taken off the table, as otherwise it will undermine all other efforts, both within Europe and globally," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a speech before the IMF. The U.S. Treasury is trying to convince Europe to respond to the crisis with a "shock-and-awe" strategy. Washington believes a major increase in the effective size the euro zone bailout fund would finally put market fears to rest.

This is so ridiculous it's almost laughable. God bless Geithner for trying, but why should anyone listen to him? Why should any of the European politicians or financial types listen to us? For crying out loud, the United States is the largest debtor nation on the planet and has shown absolutely no political will to either reduce spending, balance our budget, reduce entitlements, or support either our currency or our debt in any meaningful way.

I don't know if it's the proper metaphor, but isn't the very, very blackened pot trying to convince the kettle to clean itself up?