This Week In The US Economy

[AllergyDoc]

He just lost his ear. The rest of us will be King Hussein's and Queen Pelosa's butt buddies.

[Demsey]

He just lost his ear. The rest of us will be King Hussein's and Queen Pelosa's butt buddies.

I'm a card carrying hetero, but I'd rather be in the Obama line on that one thank-you-very-much. Giving it of course. I mean, hell I've been taking it in the backside all year. Turn around is fair play.

[fakemaster]

Thanks for not letting this die.

[Demsey]

It's alive fakey, but slow growing. Pretty much a handful of members 'Preaching to the Choir' here. Don't know where all the proponents are that were making 17 page threads last November with regard to this administration. If I had to guess they are either:

A) Above eco/politico debate.

2) Sitting like deer in the headlights, in front of their keyboards, as they watch America fall into the sea and drag the rest of the planet with it.

C) Sitting back with Cheshire grins because they know something we don't and are saving their post count for the fifth quarter when they will rally a great big TOLD YOU SO! whent he jobs numbers get back down below the, by then, 15%.

D) Are afraid of Ken and his light sabre, that Excalibre known as Forum Rule [6]. It would take a good dose of 'Liberal Love' to lock this thread. 'Chieftang' and 'fat.tail.event' are just too well adjusted to boil that pot over.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Demsey

[cornerstone]

..

[Demsey]

Weimar style!

Dude! Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't even joke...................

Could you imagine if the dollar crashed........................hear that? Those are my knees knocking.

It's sad. You know what would give us a week-end rally? If Washington would just sgtay off the tube for the day. You know what would give us a nice St Patty's Day rally? If Washington would stay off the tube for the month. You know what would give us a good quarter? If Washington would just stay off the tube for a quarter. See a pattern here?

Obama had a great rep for a smooth delivery. Now it's just gargling granite chuck rock with Drano. Oh stop.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Demsey

[cornerstone]

On the bright side, I hear the next G7 meeting is going to be one of the best Dr Phil episodes ever.

[Demsey]

On the bright side, I hear the next G7 meeting is going to be one of the best Dr Phil episodes ever.

lmao! It only hurts when I laugh...............

"SpongeBob! Me moneh!"

Mr. Krabs

Actually, a bright spot could be found; Barack Obama is certainly no liar. And, it's ironic, and some may find this repugnant, he has a lot in common with W.; When they say they're going to do something, by God and with God they will do it.

O. has been saying all along; "This is going to get worse before it gets better". The man is clairvoyant I tell you.

So, when he holds that press conference 'someday' saying we're pulling out, we can all take his word to the bank. Hopefully, if we have any left, we can take some money too

The DOW is up 142, please excuse me while I go short something...................sigh, me moneh.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Demsey

[dluddy]

On the bright side, I hear the next G7 meeting is going to be one of the best Dr Phil episodes ever.

I've heard he has invited Oprah since she has managed her financial empire better than most G7 nations these days

Change we can believe in

[Shundi]

Dluddy did you see the WBZTV report on our esteemed governor's latest poll numbers? 17% approval by independents and only 47% among his own party... they're claiming most of it is due to this gas tax, etc but the economy certainly isn't helping!

[dluddy]

Dluddy did you see the WBZTV report on our esteemed governor's latest poll numbers? 17% approval by independents and only 47% among his own party... they're claiming most of it is due to this gas tax, etc but the economy certainly isn't helping!

More change we can believe in....Gas Tax increase or Double the Tolls at Bridges and Tunnels....Only The Cadillac of Governors

[Nanuq]

From an article this morning...

"At the very center of our economic near-depression is a credit bubble, a housing collapse and a systemic failure of the entire banking system. One can come up with a host of causes: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pushed by Washington (and greed) into improvident loans, corrupted bond-ratings agencies, insufficient regulation of new and exotic debt instruments, the easy money policy of Alan Greenspan's Fed, irresponsible bankers pushing (and then unloading in packaged loan instruments) highly dubious mortgages, greedy house-flippers, deceitful homebuyers.

"The list is long. But the list of causes of the collapse of the financial system does not (emphasis added) include the absence of universal health care, let alone of computerized medical records. Nor the absence of an industry-killing cap-and-trade carbon levy. Nor the lack of college graduates. Indeed, one could perversely make the case that, if anything, the proliferation of overeducated, Gucci-wearing, smart-ass MBAs inventing ever more sophisticated and opaque mathematical models and debt instruments helped get us into this credit catastrophe in the first place.

"And yet with our financial house on fire, Obama makes clear both in his speech and his budget that the essence of his presidency will be the transformation of health care, education and energy. Four months after winning the election, six weeks after his swearing in, Obama has yet to unveil a plan to deal with the banking crisis.

"What's going on? 'You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,' said Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. 'This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before.'"

"Clever politics, but intellectually dishonest to the core. Health, education and energy -- worthy and weighty as they may be -- are not the cause of our financial collapse. And they are not the cure. The fraudulent claim that they are both cause and cure is the rhetorical device by which an ambitious president intends to enact the most radical agenda of social transformation seen in our lifetime."

'Nuff said.

[guinea]

I wonder if this recession/depression will have a profound impact on the US psyche.

One in 12 people are now out of work and the number is rising. Massive foreclosures are leading to tent cities sprouting up. Soup kitchens are being stretched. Businesses are failing daily and people are being let go in all industries.

The US provides a very narrow safety net for the unemployed and it doesn't last a long time. There is no adequate health care coverage for those that are in this huge financial dificulty.

In the states recently I was watching the tales of poor people on the news. People were getting fired for being 30 minutes late for work or for drinking soda on the job. These people were fired so avoid paying any compensation. Gross missconduct means no redundancy payout. Being fired also means no assistance from the state.

True capitalism is very harsh. It is impossible for everyone to be rich. You can't have a nation of millionaires (ignoring inflation) someone has to peel the potatoes and clean the toilets. Pretending that everyone can get ahead if they just work hard is bull. Only come can. America and Europe has imported crap purchased on credit for the last decade. Now this is drying up the natural order of capitalism is returning.

Do you think Americans will reach out to those in their own country who are in need through no fault of their own? I think they'll have to. How the'll sell the message without it being called communism/socialism/marxism I don't know, but I can't see the richest nation on earth being so dispassionate they'd let this pain continue without intervention.

[Demsey]

Do you think Americans will reach out to those in their own country who are in need through no fault of their own? I think they'll have to. How the'll sell the message without it being called communism/socialism/marxism I don't know, but I can't see the richest nation on earth being so dispassionate they'd let this pain continue without intervention.

They do, gladly, but best when not mandated by royals, meddling bureaucrats, political agendists, and hauty idealists. By the force of 'law' which they have and abuse to push around the apolitical clay. Pretty much why the tea ended up in the harbour and why, in 233 short years of history why America is indeed, for the mo', the 'richest nation on Earth'. Subject to change of course

Speaking of 'riches', an American, any American, 'scraping by' even in this environ, translates into one damn lucky Rwandan or Somalian. Don't believe the Liberal hype. You still can't swing a dead cat in this country without hitting opportunity. It's just that through decades of 'entitlement' programs folk are just plain lazy. An 'out of work' accountant will stay out of work, on unemployment, until he finds another air conditioned accounting job. There has been an 'help wanted' sign in my local McDonalds window since December, and as I am fond of saying; "Julio can jump the fence on Saturday night, hit the Home Depot car park in Austin Monday morning and have cash in his pocket Monday evening. More than $14 I can assure you. His secret? He knows what 'work' is. Few do. Anymore.

My 1049 form states I am a "Flight Instructor/Commercial Pilot". Wow. Neat. The preferred path. Oh well. Starting May, when the boat comes off the hill, it will look more like this keeping the wolf from the door. Plan Bravo:

Then again, some of those girls working at the McDonalds are sweet. Maybe they have older sisters. I'm not sure which way I will go.

[HauteHippie]

True capitalism is very harsh. It is impossible for everyone to be rich. You can't have a nation of millionaires (ignoring inflation) someone has to peel the potatoes and clean the toilets. Pretending that everyone can get ahead if they just work hard is bull. Only come can. America and Europe has imported crap purchased on credit for the last decade. Now this is drying up the natural order of capitalism is returning.

Do you think Americans will reach out to those in their own country who are in need through no fault of their own? I think they'll have to. How the'll sell the message without it being called communism/socialism/marxism I don't know, but I can't see the richest nation on earth being so dispassionate they'd let this pain continue without intervention.

The pain of making some Americans peel the potatoes and clean the toilets? What's so bad about that? Even those on welfare have the ability to produce something useful for society, whether it be bagging groceries or shining shoes... all preferable to collecting checks from the government. The simple fact of the matter is that capitalism rewards people for reaching their potential, while socialism rewards people for sitting on their bums.

[Demsey]

In another thread, discussing TTK, even though I am aquainted with his 'forum identity' surely all these years, I admitted he was an enigma to me. In sizing him up, as a 'person' (hard to do on the ethernet) I demured my opinion to that of those I have had some insight, those who knew 'him' better and just left it at that.

I have been paying attention to President Obama earnestly since he threw his hat into the ring. I consider him too an enigma. He speaks well, but I do not think he speaks to me. I have no good basis as of yet to size him up. Again, I demure my opinion to those who's opinion I would imagine captures an insight into real world issues that I am not privy;

[fakemaster]

Nah he has always been crystal clear. I just can't get over the fuzzy math. Just the other day he said that there is a bankruptcy filed every 30 seconds in this country that is directly related to inability to pay mortgages. Now that means:

There are two bankruptcies every minute

120 every hour

2880 every day

Which will result in 1,051,200 by the end of the year.

Only probelm is that there weren't that many bankruptcies filed total in the last year. Hell in the last 30 years. And even if there were they were ALL related to motgages? What a hoot.

Edited March 6, 2009 by fakemaster

[82KUBA]

This Week in the US Economy

82kuba gets laid off after 8years with the company

[Guest asim]

damn,

i'm sorry to hear that Kuba

[Demsey]

Well they hit all the marks today; GE down graded but declared stable by Standard and Poors, more banks turn positive returns on TARP, 'Up tick' rule and 'Mark-to-Market' testimony/hearing at the House Financial Services Committee was fruitful. Congress gingerly trying to not commit to relegating market accounting practices (wow, I finally agree with a Congressman Dodd issue statement) but opened dialogue with regard to 'breakers' and 'collars' (I do miss 'curbs in/out' although I am aware of pitfalls there as well) and the market responds.

Then the cherry on top; the President's address to the Business Round Table. At first I was glad the coverage didn't overlap the day's trading as has been the experience so far; Geithner and Obama speak, the market tumbles on their rehtoric, but we'll see where the futures lay overnight and the Asian market response. Both should continue the momentum into tomorrow? The address was both mutual, empathetic and refreshingly sympathetic to the private sector. I don't know what went on behind closed doors in the White House last week-end, but someone shook them up. I don't think the critical comments last week by the likes of Warren Buffett went unheard. Nor the grumblings of the global citizenry en masse. Anyhoo, the address was a Kennedy moment. Nothing short of brilliant. Nothing short of assured 'confidence'. One CEO in the gallery commented; "When the Treasury Secretary spoke I made a 'tick' mark with my pen everytime he mentioned or referred 'confidence'. In short order, my pen was out of ink."

MmmmK. A Kennedy moment indeed. But cautious optimism here. The follow through is the real test. Afterall, Kennedy did get us to the Moon before 1970.