While excusing himself for skipping out on his agreement to back the current bill, some Republican Congressman [I wish I'd heard his name] spun the situation in order to blame the Democrats. The talking heads called him to task for politicizing the situation and he denied doing what I, for one, had just heard him do. And, then, he did it again. And again.
As the MSNBC talking heads all agreed: this is Congress playing politics while the country's [and the world's] economies burn.
In other words, business as usual in Congress.
^^^
And, someone just made the point: THIS is the time when stores order their Christmas inventories and they do that with credit. Only, credit is non-existent right now. So, there will be way-low inventories in the stores in December. Even if people ARE in the mood to buy by the shopping season, the shelves will be empty. Which will delay any possible recovery-- assuming one is possible by then.
Thanks, Congress.
September 29, 2008
The National Tantrum
I just tuned into the Stock Market for the first time today.
Wow.
I saw huge craters in the DOW and the S & P at 1:45 this afternoon. There are several blue-chips I'm keeping an eye on, too -- and they did the same. Some bounce happened pretty fast -- but still. . .
So, I turned on the TV. And, apparently, Nancy Pelosi stuck the Republicans in the eye with a sharp stick just before the vote. Knowing these people the way I think I do, the Republicans decided to take their marbles and go home based on what she said.
OK, in my opinion, everyone involved is a fool and/or Pelosi doesn't want the bill to pass. If I could figure out the fact that the Republicans would act like toddlers throwing a tantrum if attacked, she certainly should have.
After hearing what Pelosi said in her follow-up speech, she may have set a bear-trap for the Republicans and they stepped in it.
NOW, she can stand up there and place the blame squarely on the Republicans as the Do Nothing Party.
The House of Representatives is a playpen -- BOTH sides included.
Wow.
I saw huge craters in the DOW and the S & P at 1:45 this afternoon. There are several blue-chips I'm keeping an eye on, too -- and they did the same. Some bounce happened pretty fast -- but still. . .
So, I turned on the TV. And, apparently, Nancy Pelosi stuck the Republicans in the eye with a sharp stick just before the vote. Knowing these people the way I think I do, the Republicans decided to take their marbles and go home based on what she said.
OK, in my opinion, everyone involved is a fool and/or Pelosi doesn't want the bill to pass. If I could figure out the fact that the Republicans would act like toddlers throwing a tantrum if attacked, she certainly should have.
After hearing what Pelosi said in her follow-up speech, she may have set a bear-trap for the Republicans and they stepped in it.
NOW, she can stand up there and place the blame squarely on the Republicans as the Do Nothing Party.
The House of Representatives is a playpen -- BOTH sides included.
September 24, 2008
Greed Trumps Brain
Oh. My. God.
The latest I just heard is that, at this moment, when more scrutiny of the stock market than during it's entire history is happening [if I'm watching, everyone within reach of a TV must be], someone did some blatant insider trading yesterday.
Just before Warren Buffett announced that he is buying Goldman Sachs, the stock spiked. Someone knew it was coming.
How stupid is THAT? The whole world is watching and someone broke the law on the world stage. And, how hard do you think it will be to track down this moron?
The latest I just heard is that, at this moment, when more scrutiny of the stock market than during it's entire history is happening [if I'm watching, everyone within reach of a TV must be], someone did some blatant insider trading yesterday.
Just before Warren Buffett announced that he is buying Goldman Sachs, the stock spiked. Someone knew it was coming.
How stupid is THAT? The whole world is watching and someone broke the law on the world stage. And, how hard do you think it will be to track down this moron?
September 23, 2008
Hey, folks--
I'm watching the senate hearings and just heard that Paulson et. al. are asking that student loans and credit card debt be added to the bundled mortgage payments that are being addressed right now.
The total amount of all that debt bundled together is why $700 billion is being asked for. And these folks don't know that that amount will be enough even to cover the mortgages.
In fact, the talking heads are now talking about INCLUDING 'ANYTHING' IN THE DEBT TO BE ADDRESSED. and they're unwilling or unable to say what 'ANYTHING' actually includes.
I just wrote my senators asking them to unbundle the 3 different types of debts.
I also informed them that I'm more likely to be willing to underwrite student loans that have already been granted, if needed, than I am to rescue people who overused their credit cards.
I think we can make the case that such loans are an investment in our nation's future-- while people overusing their credit to buy shoes can't be similarly justified. but that's just me.
In any case, tho, I believe further hearings should be held to address the different types of debt. This is especially true since, even Paulson admits, no one actually knows HOW MUCH the mortgages alone are going to cost us. That's US -- the taxpayers.
So, please -- if you think the different types of loans should be un-bundled -- write your senators and let them know your views.
The total amount of all that debt bundled together is why $700 billion is being asked for. And these folks don't know that that amount will be enough even to cover the mortgages.
In fact, the talking heads are now talking about INCLUDING 'ANYTHING' IN THE DEBT TO BE ADDRESSED. and they're unwilling or unable to say what 'ANYTHING' actually includes.
I just wrote my senators asking them to unbundle the 3 different types of debts.
I also informed them that I'm more likely to be willing to underwrite student loans that have already been granted, if needed, than I am to rescue people who overused their credit cards.
I think we can make the case that such loans are an investment in our nation's future-- while people overusing their credit to buy shoes can't be similarly justified. but that's just me.
In any case, tho, I believe further hearings should be held to address the different types of debt. This is especially true since, even Paulson admits, no one actually knows HOW MUCH the mortgages alone are going to cost us. That's US -- the taxpayers.
So, please -- if you think the different types of loans should be un-bundled -- write your senators and let them know your views.
September 20, 2008
Sorry, Cheney--
but you can't ignore or attempt to destroy the middle class without the repercussions being felt in the upper class. It can't be done.
What a short memory you have. The same experiment was attempted in the 1920's. Didn't work then. Won't work now.
It seems you and the rest of the uber-riche are stuck with the rest of us until you can figure out a way to move to the Moon or Mars or something.
So, after Wall Street made all that lovely money by creating a whole new group of homeless people and the government did nothing to stop them, the trickle up effects begin and the Feds scramble all over themselves to fix the mess the super-rich made for themselves. Once again, they'll attempt to ignore the rest of us and only fix the top layer.
Just TRY building a pyramid without a base and see how far YOU get--
What a short memory you have. The same experiment was attempted in the 1920's. Didn't work then. Won't work now.
It seems you and the rest of the uber-riche are stuck with the rest of us until you can figure out a way to move to the Moon or Mars or something.
So, after Wall Street made all that lovely money by creating a whole new group of homeless people and the government did nothing to stop them, the trickle up effects begin and the Feds scramble all over themselves to fix the mess the super-rich made for themselves. Once again, they'll attempt to ignore the rest of us and only fix the top layer.
Just TRY building a pyramid without a base and see how far YOU get--
September 15, 2008
When She's Not Banning Books. . . .
Governor Palin's Reading List -- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."
It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list.
This is virtually the entire article. But, you can click here for links to related information.
xxx
Oh, and by the way, she knows Westbrook Pegler -- but she doesn't know the Bush Doctrine.
What were her handlers thinking, letting her go before live cameras without tutoring her on the basics?
And, even when she's lying, she can't get it right.
A rhetorical question about banning books? That's "hypothetical", Dumbass!
Having just spent 8 years with a president who can't pronounce "nuclear", even if I agreed with her politics, I couldn't stomach 4 more years of village-idiot jokes.
Maybe it comes from having a mother who was an English major, but I firmly believe that the people in the Executive Branch of our government should be fluent [or at least conversant] in, at minimum, one language.
Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow flies."
It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list.
This is virtually the entire article. But, you can click here for links to related information.
xxx
Oh, and by the way, she knows Westbrook Pegler -- but she doesn't know the Bush Doctrine.
What were her handlers thinking, letting her go before live cameras without tutoring her on the basics?
And, even when she's lying, she can't get it right.
A rhetorical question about banning books? That's "hypothetical", Dumbass!
Having just spent 8 years with a president who can't pronounce "nuclear", even if I agreed with her politics, I couldn't stomach 4 more years of village-idiot jokes.
Maybe it comes from having a mother who was an English major, but I firmly believe that the people in the Executive Branch of our government should be fluent [or at least conversant] in, at minimum, one language.
September 8, 2008
Stealing from the Huffington Post
Adam McKay coined the sentence that, he said, we must hammer and hammer between now and November. He's right.
I hear folks say, "The polls don't show the energized young people who only have cell phones."
"The polls are slanted because people are focused on Palin right now."
"The polls are skewed for this reason or that reason or this other reason."
But, the fact is -- there are people who, at the end of the day, simply want to vote with the majority. The folks who don't trust their own judgment. The people with short memories. The people who believe the lies McCain spews so effortlessly. The people who don't bother to look at the 95% voting record. The people who don't look ahead to the Supreme Court appointments.
So, I'm going to blatantly plagiarize McKay's sentence and place it, as a tag-line on all my emails. Everyone who gets an email from me -- be they liberal or conservative [of whom there are a lot in my address book, sad to say] or right-wingnuts [of whom there are a few] and people who are choosing ignorance [of whom there are a few] will receive the reminder.
Here's Adam's sentence:
"Katrina, four dollar gas, a trillion dollar war, rising unemployment, deregulated housing market, global warming...no more."
and while I'm about it, I think I'll add "corporate bailouts" just before "no more".
Thanks for the idea, Adam. I'm unholstering my hammer right now.
Please do the same and ask everyone you know to do it, too.
The alternative is unthinkable.
I hear folks say, "The polls don't show the energized young people who only have cell phones."
"The polls are slanted because people are focused on Palin right now."
"The polls are skewed for this reason or that reason or this other reason."
But, the fact is -- there are people who, at the end of the day, simply want to vote with the majority. The folks who don't trust their own judgment. The people with short memories. The people who believe the lies McCain spews so effortlessly. The people who don't bother to look at the 95% voting record. The people who don't look ahead to the Supreme Court appointments.
So, I'm going to blatantly plagiarize McKay's sentence and place it, as a tag-line on all my emails. Everyone who gets an email from me -- be they liberal or conservative [of whom there are a lot in my address book, sad to say] or right-wingnuts [of whom there are a few] and people who are choosing ignorance [of whom there are a few] will receive the reminder.
Here's Adam's sentence:
"Katrina, four dollar gas, a trillion dollar war, rising unemployment, deregulated housing market, global warming...no more."
and while I'm about it, I think I'll add "corporate bailouts" just before "no more".
Thanks for the idea, Adam. I'm unholstering my hammer right now.
Please do the same and ask everyone you know to do it, too.
The alternative is unthinkable.
September 4, 2008
Republicans and the Economy: A Dysfunctional Relationship
Economy? What Economy? -- By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
On an issue of some concern to Americans -- the economy -- they [Republicans] seem to have nothing to say.
I have combed the schedule of events here [at the Republican Convention] without finding a single forum . . . devoted to what John McCain and the Republican Party propose to do about America's . . . economic challenges. I've found four panels on what to do about the Middle East, but not one on what to do about the Middle West. [emphasis added]
[T]he Republicans here plainly don't believe that the economy needs fixing. On Monday, a New York Times poll of Republican convention delegates showed that 57 percent believe the American economy is in very good or fairly good shape.
The only economic concern of ordinary Americans that finds expression inside this year's GOP convention is the price of gas, for which the chief solution, as you would expect at a convention where the American Petroleum Institute is hosting the party's governors, is offshore drilling.
Republican silence on economic matters stands in sharp contrast to the Democratic convention last week in Denver, where there were close to 20 forums on "green" jobs, reviving progressive taxation, balancing the budget, rebuilding infrastructure, the economy of alternative energy and the like. [emphasis added]
^^^
If the election is about the economy, they're cooked -- and their silence this week on nearly all things economic means that they know it.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
On an issue of some concern to Americans -- the economy -- they [Republicans] seem to have nothing to say.
I have combed the schedule of events here [at the Republican Convention] without finding a single forum . . . devoted to what John McCain and the Republican Party propose to do about America's . . . economic challenges. I've found four panels on what to do about the Middle East, but not one on what to do about the Middle West. [emphasis added]
[T]he Republicans here plainly don't believe that the economy needs fixing. On Monday, a New York Times poll of Republican convention delegates showed that 57 percent believe the American economy is in very good or fairly good shape.
The only economic concern of ordinary Americans that finds expression inside this year's GOP convention is the price of gas, for which the chief solution, as you would expect at a convention where the American Petroleum Institute is hosting the party's governors, is offshore drilling.
Republican silence on economic matters stands in sharp contrast to the Democratic convention last week in Denver, where there were close to 20 forums on "green" jobs, reviving progressive taxation, balancing the budget, rebuilding infrastructure, the economy of alternative energy and the like. [emphasis added]
^^^
If the election is about the economy, they're cooked -- and their silence this week on nearly all things economic means that they know it.
September 1, 2008
Already, the Federal Government as it would be under McCain is showing us what to expect:
Federal Government Involved in Raids on Protesters -- by Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com
[P]olice attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue . . . .
As the recent "overhaul" of the 30-year-old FISA law illustrated . . . we've essentially decided that we want our Government to spy on us without limits. There is literally no police power that the state can exercise that will cause much protest from the political and media class and, therefore, from the citizenry. Beyond that, there is a widespread sense that the targets of these raids deserve what they get, even if nothing they've done is remotely illegal. We love to proclaim how much we cherish our "freedoms" in the abstract, but we despise those who actually exercise them.
See here for the complete text.
Federal Government Involved in Raids on Protesters -- by Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com
[P]olice attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue . . . .
As the recent "overhaul" of the 30-year-old FISA law illustrated . . . we've essentially decided that we want our Government to spy on us without limits. There is literally no police power that the state can exercise that will cause much protest from the political and media class and, therefore, from the citizenry. Beyond that, there is a widespread sense that the targets of these raids deserve what they get, even if nothing they've done is remotely illegal. We love to proclaim how much we cherish our "freedoms" in the abstract, but we despise those who actually exercise them.
See here for the complete text.
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