The Housing Bubble

Hey, we do a lot of that social networking stuff right here. And, IMHO, the signal-to-noise ratio here is a lot higher than what you’d encounter on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

In Texas, “must be bi-lingual” is code for illegal aliens only need apply.

I thought that was code for “anchor babies only.” They are now getting old enough to work.

I thought that was code for “anchor babies only.” They are now getting old enough to work.

Har-dee-har-har! The anchor next door wouldn’t know the meaning of work if it fell right on her. She woke the whole damn nabe up with the party that she and her buddies had on the front porch.

And, yes, Grumpy Slim did call 911 and invite the constabulary to the festivities. First time they showed up, the party-goers had gone inside. Probably to enjoy each other’s company, if you get my drift.

After they’d had enough of the indoor recreating, it was back outside for more carrying on. Another call to the magic number. Cops showed up just as the party was breaking up.

After sunrise, I was tempted to go out on my side porch, which is very close to this young lass’ bedroom and indulge in a little carpentry. Y’know, with lots of hammering, drilling, and, hey, what the heck, how about some action with the power sander.

But, unfortunately, there wasn’t time. I had to get ready for a 9 a.m. meeting, one that required that I look presentable.

But, next time she tosses a party, guess what? I’ve got some work to do on a section of my gate. And it’s gonna be LOUD!

Bankruptcy laws not being upheld? That’s news. Got a link or at least an example?

GM

Oxide, I agree with you about the Bush jobs but the “great” Clinton year jobs were also just Internet bubble and housing bubble jobs. The major problem that began during the Clinton adminstration and has continued is the Federal reserve has allowed interest rates to be set too low. Greenspan was not easy with Bush I, but after that if was a war on savers that has not ended. Wall Street gets rich by having access to “free” money but a conservative saver gets nothing for putting his money in the bank and has to take risks he or she does not want to take.

You know the story about the lottery winner certainly means changes need to be done to the food stamp program, however, I think the bigger issue is what I identified today. You can put a $1 million in a bank account (bad idea) and just receive $2,500.00 in interest in a year so you would be eligible for food stamps just based on income. This is the true outrage. Do you think that we would have a housing bubble or Internet bubble if you could get 5% on your savings and mortgates were 7.5% with no teaser rate? OHN.

“Bankruptcy laws not being upheld? That’s news. Got a link or at least an example?”

Many, many TBTF banks

I don’t believe there were housing bubble jobs during the Clinton years. Maybe in California, but not like this one…

Nor were those 90’s Internet jobs “bubbly.” The only thing that popped was the unsupported stock prices. The demand for computer-based services is still there. Those JOBS that were created still exist. They were just shipped to India during the early 2000s (e.g. Carly Fiorina) — despite the “job-creating” tax cuts.

I say “Clinton era” because I don’t believe Clinton did much to create those jobs. And I do agree that Clinton’s NAFTA was a big problem too. I also agree that interest rates need to rise.

Nor were those 90’s Internet jobs “bubbly.”

I started my career in late 90’s in the “internet consulting.”
I think It was a bubble. A director in my company at that time hired her favorite Bartender to do HTML/cgi coding. He lasted 4 or 5 months. There were countless examples like this in my company and everywhere. The company had to downsize more than 50% by 2001.

You might learn at least what the business man is thinking about his reality if you don’t shout him down so mercilessly.

The inflated stock prices and to a lesser extent house prices supported the consumer spending during that period. Their overall prices may not have been terrible but they were increasing in value at an above normal rate allowing for equity extraction. The bubble in stock prices did support the jobs, also many of the Internet start ups just went out of business when they no longer could raise cash to burn through. BTW, as I said earlier on this blog, the social media stocks seem to be in the same type of bubble. Meanwhile gold seems to be fulfilling its role, I still do not see it in a bubble since Chinese demand is still through the roof and supply is not keeping pace.

my point is corporate taxation is counterproductive.

you all want to tax the corporations because it sounds like a lot of revenue paid for by someone else then you. but corporations pass along this taxation to the consumer, you’re plan just backfired and your back to paying its just hidden in the price of things. corporate taxation accomplishes nothing more than giving politicizations more of your money (collected by the corps) to redistribute.

Big V, sounds a little like you are blending liability and tax liability, no?

the rest of your post is an insulting straw man argument

Charlie,

“Double” corporate taxation (it is actually double taxation on shareholders, not corporations since the corp pays taxes only once and the shareholder then pays tax on dividends distributed from that profit) is voluntary. A limited liability corporation in Delaware will give you all the limited liability you want and can “check the box” to be taxed as a partnership. If a company doesn’t do that it is because they know that having all investors taxed as partners (in the year the profit is earned, instead of when it is distributed) will not get them the amount of investment capital or the liquid market in their shares that they want. Evidently, being taxed as a partnership isn’t all that appealing, or they would already have done it.

polly,

s corps and their equivalents make sense in some cases, mostly limited cases. when a c corp structure makes sense there is no need for the double taxation. i assume c corps represent most corps in terms of dollar volume.

the share holders are double taxed not the corp??? the shareholders are the corp, own the corp, and pay the corp taxes, often twice.

Charlie Tango:

The sharholders are not the corp. They are investors in it. See, money always gets taxed whenever it changes hands. I earn money and pay taxes on it. I then buy groceries, and my money becomes income to the grocer. He pays taxes on it. Is that “double taxation”?

If you are an owner or an executive of a corporation, you can also have the company cover all your expenses, so it’s not reported as income to you and you don’t have to pay taxes on it. The people in charge of a corporation’s money do this all the time. They are also fond of being paid in “shares”, which of course are only taxed when sold.

Corporate taxes are there because the corporate structure kind of necessitates that.

Is that “double taxation”?

not the same thing at all, in the case of corp taxes the same income gets taxed twice, in your example your income and the grocer’s income are not the same income

For all of the above, you need for people to buy your sh*t.

Dreams and creativity were not enough to save the candle shop.

Imho candle shops, nail salons, gift baskets types of retail shops are not really businesses They are just hobbies for wanna bee business owner that have been sold a bill of good called “be your own boss”. A real viable business that pays a decent wage, benefits and longevity is what is needed in this country. Basically let’s make our own sh*t.

Imho candle shops, nail salons, gift baskets types of retail shops are not really businesses They are just hobbies for wanna bee business owner that have been sold a bill of good called “be your own boss”.

Years ago, I had a lady come to me, seeking a website. She was going into the gift basket business and she lived a good bit of a-ways outside the city limits. Which meant that she’d be spending a good bit of time driving hither and yon to deliver her creations.

“Better invest in a gas station!” was my remark. It was greeted with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression.

We didn’t do business together. I guess I was just too blunt for her taste.

I don’t think her venture got off the ground. Matter of fact, I doubt that it ever taxied out to the runway.

“Better invest in a gas station!” was my remark.

Btw I recently talked someone out of having a franchise of hair salons for blacks and Latinos in New Jersey I am in the manufacturing/franchising industry and after 27 years have come to the conclusion that most people do not belong in business but are stupid enough not to realize it.

SUGuy
I hear ya. I use to joke about the tenants who were married to well to do men, who gave or bought (franchise) their wives a retail operation to give them something to do all day. It’s not a hobby, there is overhead, the wives learned as a life lesson.

Which makes me wonder..if all of these companies don’t pay many taxes anyway, then why are they bothering to lobby to lower the corporate tax rate? It wouldn’t matter what the rate is.

your logic is flawed

i own 1 corp, and 1/3 of another, i pay corp taxes, how can that be?

i own 1 corp, and 1/3 of another, i pay corp taxes, how can that be?

Your logic is flawed weak and timid, otherwi$e, your Corp’s Inc.’s should be coping your “Big Bidness Bro” GE et. al. tax implementations.

i’m not a friend of obama, like ge

Charlie:

Are you sure you chose the right structure for your business?

yes,

are you suggesting i’m foolish for having to pay income taxes?

its fun to point at ge, but they get all kinds of green favors.

i’m an insulation contractor and have invested in new state of the art air sealing technology that really saves energy.

as i said i’m not a friend of obama so even if i have the intelligent solution i don’t get favors.

most of pay taxes, the exceptions are for others.

A economy that isn’t based on production and wealth from jobs
and the actual well being of the Majority is doomed to become
a Society that becomes riddled with millions of people moving into poverty status .As it stands now Capitalism has been hijacked by price fixing monopolies and investment schemes dictating prices ,along with the creaming of the tax base and job base . In spite of this the Powers go after entitlement as
the answer to the short falls .

The fact that the Politicians don’t see the situation as a need to Save America from the forces that overtook the proper
functioning of a economy in favor of Fat Cats and Globalism is apparent .

The athletes and the students get the gym, the coaches and administrators get the salaries and bonuses. Do you have problems with this arrangement?

Recently South Park had an episonde that touched on it.

Now this indoctrination is coming under question and at the same time the money for education - borrowed or otherwise - is vanishing. These two trends combined spell hard times for the education industry.

You must be channeling the latest post on the EduBubble blog, combotechie. Fun quote:

“After justifying their high tuition for years by ginning up stats about long-term salary differentials, it was only a matter of time before a smart banker type would start concocting formulae about the right ROI. And it’s not pretty for the big, fat, loan-happy schools like Georgetown or George Washington.”

Not only was the price of higher education distorted but the purpose of higher education was also distorted.

It used to be one went to college to study in a field that he would apply later to earning a living. Then the purpose morphed into going to college just to get a degree. It didn’t much matter what field the degree was in, a degree was a degree. The idea of associating a degree with some sort of work that the student would be spending MOST OF HIS LIFE DOING seemed by many to be sort of crass.

I suspect those days are gone, and gone with it are a lot of make-believe college classes. As in everything else in this Get Real Era it’s back to basics.

Combo, it may be true that a manager at The Gap doesn’t care about the difference between anthropology or history. However, there are companies who care a lot about the difference between an electrical engineer and a civil engineer. And if that isn’t a fine enough difference, companies will hire someone who studied the synthesis of cephalostatins over someone who studied the synthesis of folate, and they will turn up their noses at someone who studied the characterization of hydrogenation catalysts.

The field of study is extremely important.

“The field of study is extremely important.”

This is my point.

It didn’t much matter what field the degree was in, a degree was a degree.…

Oxide, put that phrase of mine back into contex and you’ll get what I mean.

Combo, I know what you’re trying to say. College degrees do little more than issue a nice piece of paper which says that X kid can get up for class and read a few books on the side, right? And now HR departments are afraid to hire anyone without “a” degree, because “everyone has one.” I don’t disagree with you there.

However, kids who study sci/engineering actually do study what they are going to do later to earn a living. It didn’t “use to be” that way. It still is that way.

So now you are getting back to what college used to be all about, which is preparing one for a job.

I’ve had many “conversations” (yelling matches, actually) with academic types who flat out told me that the purpose of going to college had nothing to do with earning a living after graduation. Their view was even though one ended up with a meaningless job he could always keep his mind occupied and himself enlightened by reflecting on what the finer qualities of his academic studies presented to him.

Associating money and education was distasteful to them and looked down upon.

Most HS graduates go to college because they don’t know what else to do, not that they’re really interested in any particular field of study. Then when they get their degree they either go to law school or culinary school, another way to park themselves for a couple years before dealing with the “real world” minus Paris Hilton. The lucky few have a family business to inherit, or family connections, or family wealth so they can afford to intern without pay in a highly competitive “glamour” job. A wealthy friend of mine bankrolled her daughter for several years so she could work for free and eventually land a gig with a network TV producer. Not something the 99%ers have any access to anymore.

From their point of view associating money with education was an attempt of putting a price on education - something, in their point of view, that could not be done because education, to them, was priceless.

To try to put a price on something that is priceless is an attempt to cheapen something that is enlightened and unworldly.

One can make a division in in academia between the arts and the sciences and reach some conclusions, IMHO:

The arts are mastered by students who play the game of discovering just what it is that the professor wants to hear and then feeding that information back to him. The professor thinks the student is a genius because the student thinks just as he thinks, therefore the student deserves an A.

This is tough to do in the sciences: The sciences are based mostly on facts, not on opinions as much of the arts are. In the sciences, either the student knows and understands the subject or he doesn’t. If the student understands he passes; if he doesn’t understand then he fails.

Back in the day, a HS grad could go right to work with the phone company or whatever. They could give IQ or aptitude tests back then, but no more. Now employers have to screen with degree requirements.

In academia there are “schools”. There is, for example, the Chicago school of economics and there is the Harvard school of economics. Both teaches economics but both have different versions of just what economics is all about.

One doesn’t find that in the sciences. Physics is physics, chemistry is chemistry, calculus is calculus. Some schools teach the sciences better than others, differently than others, but the sciences themselves aren’t what makes the differences.

The Thiel Foundation agrees with you, Combo:

———-
College is a waste of time

I notice that not once does the author say what he majored in or why he dropped out, except that he bemoans sitting in class because he’d rather answer email or writes code. Well good luck, son, and stay away from sci-eng. Those darned bridges and buildings and chemicals like to “conform” to laws of physics and gravity, and I don’t you anywhere near them. And by the way, get used to competition. From India.

These two trends combined $pell hard time$ for the education industry (for profit$) Cult$.

My undergraduate degree in Zoology qualified me to do absolutely nothing except a) go to graduate school or b) go to medical or dental school. This fact became painfully obvious when I decided to take a break from med school. In looking for a job while on my break, I found I had no skills and no knowledge that would prove useful in the work force. Heck, I couldn’t even get a job waitressing! Ultimately I cobbled together two part-time research assistant positions which had to train me from scratch to do anything worthwhile. It was an eye-opening experience.

My career-minded friends who majored in business and econ and the like are mostly over-leveraged and sweating bullets and/or broke right now. That’s because they understood the ‘art of the deal’, and how important it was to have OPM working for you, yadda, yadda.

Most of my friends who majored in liberal arts seemed to have kept their heads a bit more during the bubble, and most of them are doing okay or better.

Maybe there’s something to those liberal arts. Maybe they teach perspective, and that there’s nothing new (no new paradigms) under the sun. History can teach you that, but not in one survey course.

The Brits ran the world quite successfully for several centuries with a ruling class that studied the classics- Latin and classical Greek history and culture. Seemed to work quite well for them. China’s run by engineers. We’ll see if they have the same track record. (They sure have built a lot of ghost towns already.)

Foreign graduates as well.

Indian schools charge a pittance compared to US schools.

“Funny how it all becomes crystal clear when the art/English/history/BS/economics majors have been eliminated from the conversation.”

Funny. I studied history, and recognized early on we were in a bubble of historic portions. My career-oriented friends with BSs were all telling me I was a fool, missing out on the opportunities of a lifetime, because I didn’t understand business (when the opposite was the case, because I had studied the _History_ of business, not the lame-brained group-think taught to them).

How are those Mcmansions working out, smart guyz? And those condos in Florida you bought with OPM, because that leverage was ‘how you make the big bucks’?

Moo-hoo-ha-ha-ha! I gloat! Hear me!

Never value tactics (BS) over strategy (BA).

Never value tactics (BS) over strategy (BA).

Point taken…although I can’t say I’ve met THAT many serious BA strategists. I suppose the few good ones might be easy to overlook in the sea of RE agents and pirate store owners. I do know ONE engineer/RE agent, and IMO he was a pretty good one. Approached the sales process just like an engineering project, a successful one.

I think it’s kinda silly to compare BA v. BS. I’ve seen every iteration of person under the sun: dumb doctors, smart doctors, dumb scientists, smart scientists, dumb dropouts, smart dropouts…

I prefer to be in the company of people that have a little of everything, but more importantly know when and where certain pieces fit.

“I prefer to be in the company of people that have a little of everything, but more importantly know when and where certain pieces fit.”

+1

Thanks CCC!

Capitalism is suppose to put a cap on prices through
competition . When you have price fixing monopolies the prices are based on what profit they want to make rather than what the market will bear .A perfect example of this was how they
were raising the price of Health Care during a recession ,while at the same time dropping people from coverage .

Based on what income is in America ,the prices are based on
the principals of capitalism . A Society that is based on the ill-gotten gains of any industry is doomed to become unbalanced .
People can’t afford the Health care costs,people can’t afford the fake housing prices ,people can’t afford the cost of things .Insurance Companies ,Corporate America ,and Wall Street have set up these absurd economic principals while the Politicians have aided and abetted them .

What were they thinking?

RE always goes up. Assume that to be true and everything else that happened is totally logical.

Hillary spends most of the time out of the country.

Of course not. If Bush were presidnet, your eyes would have seen much clearer. Time to load up on some carrots.

Interestingly, Bush got Ghadafi to give up his nuclear program and stop backing terrorists without firing a shot or dropping a bomb. He also helped us with Islamists that were leaving the Eastern part of Libya to kill our troops in Iraq. Why after that we would go to war with him defies common sense. Cooperate with us against terrorists and we will bomb you, kill our troops and we will arm you and bomb your enemies. Great foreign policy message. It goes well along with the Mubarak vs. Iran message. Be our friend and when there is a Islamic uprising against you we will support it. Iran be our enemy and when you kill your people we will keep quiet and do nothing.

Thought we already had folks meeting with the rebels in Libya?

It goes well along with the Saddam vs. Iran message. Be our friend Saddam and when there is a Islamic uprising against you we will support it give you weapons to fight back. Iran be our enemy and when you kill your peopleIraq neighbors we will keep quiet and do nothing we will let others die and just watch & cheer.

From the “Read my lips” diary chapter 5: “How to Keep the oil flowing”

“Bush got Ghadafi to give up his nuclear program and stop backing terrorists without firing a shot or dropping a bomb. He also helped us with Islamists that were leaving the Eastern part of Libya to kill our troops in Iraq. ”

Ghadafi gave up a nearly non-existent nuclear program and tortured a few terrorists for us, in exchange for big $ and the release of the guy involved in the Lockerbie bombing- a national hero in Libya. Big win for Ghadafi.

Libya was the nation supplying the second most jihadis to Iraq. That didn’t slow down until they lost the war.

The country supplying the most jihadis was Bush’s friends the Saudis.

It’s a simple question really.

I am in no way anti christian

i went to catholic school and have since decided that i am an athiest, but i appreciate the christian sentiment “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” so much more then the muslim thinking.

i am really pretty pro christian

Then you better go learn at least a little something about your faith…. “pro-Christian”. lmao.

i spent years studying, reading all the scriptures, and more.

what are you referring to?

spanish inquisition?

again, i’m an athiest that appreciateschristian values.

why are you laughing your ass off?

“i spent years studying, reading all the scriptures, and more.”

uh huh. lol.

Perhaps you should occasionally read the news, rather than demanding a recap of everything that’s happened over the last 7 years from an anonymous blog poster.

Have we had anymore serious lies or horrid behavior such as torture coming from the White House? Any new laws that expand the government’s ability to spy on you?

Or were you just wondering why some of the Bush-era legislation is still in place or having a hangover effect?

Have we had anymore serious lies or horrid behavior such as torture coming from the White House? Any new laws that expand the government’s ability to spy on you?

Or were you just wondering why some of the Bush-era legislation is still in place or having a hangover effect?

Read some Glenn Greenwald for a change. He sets the record straight. You haven’t heard much on MSM because MSM covers for Obama. Classic example. The headline reads; 8 Nato soldiers killed in Afghanistan. After few days, you find out that all were Americans. Very cunning. The media is comlicit in iies and distortion. I bet you also believe that all these drones havn’t killed a single innocent since Obama became president. Who knew the drones became a way smarter overnight?

Thanks butters, good points.

Right now, I’m reading an anthology called The Case for Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Brief summary: We’ve really screwed things up there. Time to get out while the getting’s good and let the Afghans figure out their own future.

Perhaps you should occasionally read the news, rather than demanding a recap of everything that’s happened over the last 7 years from an anonymous blog poster.

Have we had anymore serious lies or horrid behavior such as torture coming from the White House? Any new laws that expand the government’s ability to spy on you?

Has it been 7 years already?

No new torture laws, but also no repealing of existing ones. Undoubtedly many lies, although we can’t know specifically which ones yet. One new war. Plenty of new dead Americans (and others). Plenty of new bailouts. In general, a continuation of the Bush policies in my opinion.

It’s called the benefit of the group. Yes. It’s an intellectually (and socially,) valid concept.

That’s what my grandfather did. He got in on one of the last traditional homestead opportunities in the continental US after WWII. Lived cheap his whole life and died with a bunch of land and equipment (by my standards, not corporate farm standards). I wish he’d have taken/been given a little more pain medication, but I totally respected his decision to tough it out at home rather than give his life’s work to the medical establishment in the final months/weeks of his life. I hope to do the same someday. Perhaps I should start stockpiling pain meds today :-).

“Why should the be forced to buy health care they will not use.”

For the same reason his neighbors inoculate their cattle. To protect each other’s herds.

And if your “old” friends DO decide not to bleed to death when they hack their hand off in a cattle chute, by golly, they’ll probably use their Medicare, now won’t they?

And what about those tweaker grandkids and their grandbabies? I’m betting they don’t pay for their rehab or their ADHD meds, do they? Nope. Medicaid. And of course all their kids were born at home, right?

Give me a break.

Unfortunately, not in my area. DC has a large mobile immigrant population always looking for a place to rent.

It is a local thing. However, there are plenty of units for rent in DC. Sometimes I take the scenic option to get home (bus, not subway). It takes longer, but I like watching the people on the streets, and the view of the National Cathedral is always stunning.

I don’t know how expensive these units are and they certainly are not in a place where Oxide would want to live, but practically every building I see has vacancy signs up.

Unfortunately, in this area, the commute is so difficult that where you work can limit the places where you can reasonably rent a great deal.

Are you offering me a job in Richmond?

Is that really such a bad policy?

Let’s ask the many Nations that watch’s Al Jazeera daily while trying to get their hands on a Pakistani bomb with the brite-shiny-light.

Daily they chant over & over: “Cheney-Shrub, we love ya!”

Had did we jump from Reagan’s policy which I thought were smart and Bush II which I have said numerous times were dumb because instead of understanding that radical Islam makes democracy impossible in these countries, tried to impose democracy? I think if you were intellectually honest you would admit that the policies of Obama are the same misguided policies of Bush II. The election in Egypt will go as well as the election in Gaza. Reagan had a very smart policy of doing what was best for the United States and if they want to live in the 6th or 7th century fine just keep the oil coming and leave us alone.

P.S. sure did not take long: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.41aa8fb66749a2ae9cd6b26ae2e89b71.a01&show_article=1
Egypt’s military working with moslem brotherhood to win election.

Carter, Bush II and now Obama all thought they could bring democracy to the Middle East. Idiots row.

Booooooooo.

OK, abq, I’ll bite.

How did Reagan’s invasion of Grenada play into “winning” the cold war? The Soviet Union had already disintegrated in Chechnya, and Grenada had severed diplomatic ties with Moscow by then, IIRC.

Please ’splain how this wasn’t just a cover excuse for Ollie North’s gun runners to prop up ailing Central America puppet despots in favor of US corporatist interests?

Asking seriously here.

fine just keep the oil coming and leave us alone.

Al Jazeera wasn’t broadcasting USA military Operation names to the Grenadian’s I don’t think poindexter albuquerquedan.

Desert Shield (1990–91)
Desert Storm (1991)

Iraq (post-Gulf War)
Provide Comfort (1991–96)
Southern Watch (1991–2003)
Desert Strike (1996)
Northern Watch (1997–2003)
Desert Fox (1998)

Hey, Ronnie Raygun would have like Operation Santa Barbara Cowboy. Then again, Cheney-Shrub might have like: Operation Duck Hunt

Iraq War:
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Operation Option North
Operation Northern Delay
Battle of Baghdad (2003)
Operation Airborne Dragon
Operation Desert Scorpion (Iraq 2003)
Operation Sidewinder
Operation Iron Bullet
Operation Tyr
Operation Ivy Serpent
Operation Soda Mountain
Operation White House
Operation Tapeworm
Operation Ivy Lightning
Operation Silverado
Operation Ivy Needle
Operation Longstreet
Operation Industrial Sweep
Operation Tiger Clean Sweep
Operation Sweeny
Operation O.K. Corral
Operation Eagle Curtain
Operation All American Tiger
Operation Rifle Sweep
Operation Ivy Cyclone
Operation Boothill
Operation Iron Hammer(Matraqa Hadidia)
Operation Rifles Blitz
Operation Bayonet Lightning
Operation Bulldog Mammoth
Operation Clear Area
Operation Abilene
Operation Panther Squeeze
Operation Red Dawn
Operation Panther Backroads
Operation Iron Justice
Operation Rifles Fury
Operation Devil Siphon
Operation Overcoat
Operation Santa Strike
Operation Iron Grip
Operation Choke Hold

(That last name might work well in city police training video’s)

Daily they chant over & over: “Cheney-Shrub, we love ya!” …”We’ll never forget what you did for our country after your exhaustive diplomacy failed misreably!”

It is W’s fault (and others). Unfortunately, Obama’s policies haven’t been all that great either.

Because it’s always the President’s fault..never Congress, right?

And here I thought laws were required for these programs and for spending…

I did say “and others”.

I did say “and others”.

Yes, you did. If you meant members of Congress, then good on you. It’s easy to pick one person to blame, but it’s counterproductive when it’s the legislative branch that’s doing the damage.

Though I’d certainly agree that all three branches of government have done plenty of damage in the past 50 years.

Of course you can’t pick on congressmen without going after those who elect them. The American public would rather elect pretty people who tell them soothing lies than who honestly tell them that tough times are ahead.

Like sorority girls at frat parties…never quite understanding why the guys who tell them what they want to hear turn out to be liars.

“The American public would rather elect pretty people who tell them soothing lies than who honestly tell them that tough times are ahead.”

Abe Lincoln wouldn’t have stood a chance today.

Abe Lincoln wouldn’t have stood a chance today.

Yeah, 146 years later, Ol’ Abe would still lose the Southern vote!

Republicans did so well when they controlled the White House and Congress from 2000-2006, let’s bring them back for a second round.

This time, they can reform Medicare out of existence, cut SS, give more tax cuts to corporations (so they can create lots of jobs - in China) and cut the deficit.

As a side benefit of cutting social programs, obesity will no longer be a problem. We, too, can have children selling their kidneys to the rich.

They turned a 3 billion profit last quarter.

The tooth fairy came to my house when I was a kid. You believe those numbers (accounting sleight of hand), and you deserve the present corrupt leadership we call our government.

you deserve the present corrupt CEO leadership we call our government “TruePatrioticCorporationInc’$™” .

The poor, poor Inc.s, “we’re $uffering, we need$ help!”… “Hurry!”

“The tooth fairy came to my house when I was a kid. You believe those numbers (accounting sleight of hand), and you deserve the present corrupt leadership we call our government.”

So they suspended SarbOx for GM? IIRC, they have reported losses since the reorg and analysts think they wil have more if the economy continues to sink.

I’m not saying that they can’t cook the books, but then again, isn’t that true for any Fortune 500 firm?

Enron could have been Sarbanes-Oxley compliant. It does nothing to prevent accounting trickery that was used by Enron execs.

The fact that not a single board member of any corporation has gone to jail under the provisions of SOX should be proof that either all public corporations are honest or that the law is ineffective.

GM/Chrysler bailout (and preserving a big chunk of what’s left of the US manufacturing base) = $20 billion or so….or about what we paid for FOUR B-2 bombers (assuming you don’t count the R & D costs)

Bankster bailout = 3 Trillion? More? (This includes the continuing backdoor bailout of the FED giving out zero interest rate loans, then Uncle Sam borrowing the same money back @ 3-4%.)

Anyone who rooted for GM and Chrysler to go down the crap tube is an effing idiot.

Anyone who rooted for GM and Chrysler to go down the crap tube is an effing idiot.

anyone who wants an unsupportable business to be allowed to fail is an idiot?

I guess we the fedgov should be propping up all those pirate shops and scrap-booking stores too…

I’m saying that $20 billion to keep most of the US manufacturing base intact is money (relatively) well spent.

Want to know the real reason Chrysler was in trouble?

When the Germans bought them out, the 5-10 billion dollars of cash Chrysler had in the “rainy day” fund got exported to Stuttgart. Essentially, buying out Chrysler with Chrysler’s own money.

Then all the engineers got laid off/bought out, and Chrysler was forced to start buying Mercedes components, at Mercedes prices.

The bankster class has been wealth-stripping US manufacturing since the eighties.

I’m saying that $20 billion to keep most of the US manufacturing base intact is money (relatively) well spent.

For how long? Once the money runs out and no more bailouts, we will see how the manufacuring base remains intact.

Here’s an interesting take on why Ah-nold has done the things that he has.

“Watching our economy go down the tubes because of higher oil prices is smarter?”

The economy is not going down the tubes because of higher oil prices. The economy is going down the tubes because of myriad factors, the profligate and needless waste of 5000 pound internal combustion powered land whales being but an insignificant one. I believe that shockingly high gas prices would actually point us in the right direction, being that price is now the only factor that can change American behavior. (Which is pitiful)

“BTW, it does not always take five years to produce oil even offshore oil. Many of those projects shutdown in the Gulf of Mexico could have produced oil just before the Nov. 2012 election.”

Could have is the operative phrase. I feel that you are splitting hairs/engaging in mere sophistry. The fact of the matter is that drilling now will not affect pump prices and, depending on the drill site and the geology of the play, the average time between the siting of a rig, the first bit and heavy mud chewing through earth, to the refinery and then into your (not my) car is longer than from now until 11/12.

“No President has been elected with higher than 8% unemployment. While Obama might be able to pull off a close one in the low 8s against Palin at 9% or above he is toast. And if does not change his foreign policy and energy policy 9% plus is likely. You betcha.”

Who cares and who mentioned anything about Obama and Palin? Don’t distract yourself with the man behind the curtain.

Furthermore, as I posted earlier, “not making these drilling companies accountable for the spills that will happen under difficult geologic conditions will further befoul the planet (as well as myriad other externalities).”

But we need cheap gas or else! We can’t think differently about the future, energy and the economy and have to “do something resembling anything” as they say in the Army. Who is selling this malarkey? It just seems as though we have a remarkable dearth of creativity, critical thinking skills and pure American gumption these day. Quite sad really to watch the sun set over the empire for lack of will and ideas.

MrBubble

being that price is now the only factor that can change American behavior. (Which is pitiful)

[Hwy applauds LOUDLY!]

My comment was tongue in cheek for those people who are completely out of the workforce (i.e. no reason to get anywhere fast), not hustling to find a job (although I went “3rd world” and biked to my interviews and changed in bathrooms) or working more than one job to make ends meet. That said, you can get surprisingly far when you go at 15 mph average and don’t have to park. Fifteen miles in one hour? Take that Conestoga Wagon!

And I wouldn’t say that the bicycle is a third world technology any more than an automobile is 19th century German technology.

Yeah, well staty tuned…

(damn)

staty tuned = stay tuned

Please remember though, that proponents of the stro…….er, weak dollar policy are betting against protectionism taking hold.

Obs: We visited Iowa last weekend. John Deere is humming - no summer shutdown as told by my girl’s siblings that work there. Lots and lots of American made tractors heading to the four points of the compass - many outfitted with accoutrements not usually used in American fields.

What a tangled web we’ve woven.

“We visited Iowa last weekend. John Deere is humming - no summer shutdown as told by my girl’s siblings that work there.”

So how long until they offshore the factory?

“Peak Jobs”

Unlike the dipschitz who run the show over here, about everyone else in the work realized a long time ago that having productive jobs for people leads to stability.

So the plan has been to have policies that have lead to the Great Sucking Sound.

Our so-called leading economists believed this was all good, because, somehow, the candy crapping unicorn would somehow generate employment.

Never mind that nobody wants to pay for anyone’s education.

Never mind that most people aren’t cut out to be entrepeneurs and knowledge workers.

Never mind that it is totally idiotic to expect the majority of the population to start a retraining program after age 45. You will never get your “investment” back. Especially when there are no clear cut job fields to retrain for. Or starting salaries are $12/hour.

There should have been RICO charges on every IB in New York three years ago.

The fact that there have been barely any charges of any kind should tell you all you need to know.

Actually bullfighting isn’t really that popular in Mexico.

Yeah, well it’s old, and it’s a joke.

LOL! It must be a really old one, as there hasn’t been a revolution in Mexico since the early 1920’s. No military coups either, unlike in South America. The PRI ran Mexico in a de facto one party system for about 80 years until the PAN captured the presidency in 2000 when Vicente Fox was elected.

As a matter of fact it really is an old one, one that dates from the Thirties or so IIRC. I got it in passing while reading about something else some many years ago.

Anyway, I think it is funny.

Another joke, or rather a story, This from James Mitchner I believe. It is supposed to be true:

A human skull was found in Mexico and the Mexicans claimed it to be from prominent religous figure and thus it became santified by the Mexicans.

Then another skull was found by another group of Mexicans and this group claimed this newly found skull to be from the same person as the other skull. So, what to do?

It was learned that the first skull was smaller and thus was probably the skull of a boy, so … the authorities determined that the larger skull was indeed the skull of the prominent figure when he was an adult, and the smaller skull was the skull from the same prominent figure when he was a boy.

Your comment speaks volumes, Cracker, as always. Well played.