Seriously, though?
While it’s fun laughing at the John Galt wannabes, Obama is seriously screwing up the banking crisis. From today’s Krugman:
But among people I talk to there’s a growing sense of frustration, even panic, over Mr. Obama’s failure to match his words with deeds. The reality is that when it comes to dealing with the banks, the Obama administration is dithering. Policy is stuck in a holding pattern.
Here’s how the pattern works: first, administration officials, usually speaking off the record, float a plan for rescuing the banks in the press. This trial balloon is quickly shot down by informed commentators.
Then, a few weeks later, the administration floats a new plan. This plan is, however, just a thinly disguised version of the previous plan, a fact quickly realized by all concerned. And the cycle starts again.
Why do officials keep offering plans that nobody else finds credible? Because somehow, top officials in the Obama administration and at the Federal Reserve have convinced themselves that troubled assets, often referred to these days as “toxic waste,” are really worth much more than anyone is actually willing to pay for them — and that if these assets were properly priced, all our troubles would go away.
Essentially, Geithner is re-proposing the Hank Paulson cash-for-trash scheme again with new bows and ribbons added to make it look less completely shitty. But it is completely shitty and no serious economist thinks it’s a good idea. Ferchrissake, James Effing Baker even thinks temporarily nationalizing the banks is the only way we’re ever going to get out of this mess:
James A. Baker, the Treasury secretary under President Ronald Reagan, wrote in The Financial Times on Tuesday that temporary nationalization might be necessary to inject public funds into problem banks.
“I abhor the idea of government ownership — either partial or full — even if only temporary,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, we may have no choice. But we must be very careful. The government should hold equity no longer than necessary to restructure the banks, resume normal lending and recoup at least a portion of taxpayer investment.”
Here’s the deal, dudes: if the economy is not recovering by mid-2010, you can kiss the Democrats’ hold on the House of Representatives bye-bye. If the problem persists beyond that, you can say hello to President Moose-Eater in 2012.
The point is, cleaning up the banking system has to be the Obama administration’s #1 priority. If they fail at that, then every other worthwhile initiative — from national health care to investments in green energy — will fall by the wayside and the country will be even worse off than it is right now.
Here’s the deal, dudes: if the economy is not recovering by mid-2010, you can kiss the Democrats’ hold on the House of Representatives bye-bye. If the problem persists beyond that, you can say hello to President Moose-Eater in 2012.
The response to the banking crisis in specific is awful. But the overall response to people’s immediate economic needs has been good, so I don’t know if that will take. From a practical matter, the GOP can’t run against the banks, they’ll have to continue running against “socialism”, which is looking better and better to people. Obama might suffer if it endlessly gets worse, but the GOP literally has no other offer on the table. Their approach would be to do nothing, which would ensure things got even worse and I think people understand that.
Also, it would be helpful to note that Obama does seem like he’ll listen and change course when necessary, much like FDR did — who, after all, didn’t do nearly as much in 6 weeks as Obama did. FDR’s vaunted first 100 days was good, but the better stuff took a couple of years to develop.
1) Palin won’t make it two primaries.
2) The banks will get nationalized, eventually.
Obama might suffer if it endlessly gets worse, but the GOP literally has no other offer on the table.
That’s sorta my concern right now. If we keep losing 600k+ jobs a month, it won’t matter what the GOP has to offer — people will vote for them just because things would have gotten even worse under the Dems.
2) The banks will get nationalized, eventually.
Well I’m sure they will, but how long will it take and will it be too late?
Also…
– Brad, 7/31/08
The ledge. Back away from it. AGAIN.
Barack Obama’s socialist agenda is gonna cause his party to crash and burn in the mid-term elections. The failed policies of a longdead societal reject are never gonna fly with the American electorate. Real Americans value their freedom and ability to move up the economic ladder if they work hard enough (which is becoming increasingly difficult due to unconstitutional government regulation of the private sector.).
Americans will soon be longing for the days of Ronald Reagan when the words freedom and the American Dream still meant something. And those nostalgic yearnings will cause the Democrats to lose control of Congress for quite probably the next century.
Fall ’09 is my guess.
The ledge. Back away from it. AGAIN.
Can’t help it, man. This stuff freaks me out.
Americans will soon be longing for the days of Ronald Reagan when the words freedom and the American Dream still meant something
So you’re saying those things didn’t mean anything during Bush I and Bush II?
Government regulation of the private sector is unconstitutional and flys in the face of the very concept of limited government that our Founding Fathers placed as the Pillar of Our Republic.
Our Founders realized as modern conservatives do, that America will be the most prosperous if the free market is left to take its course free from government interference. That is why America experienced such economic prosperity during the Industrial Revolution, the concept of limited government was respected by our politicans.
Well I’m sure they will, but how long will it take and will it be too late?
The government’s stress tests of banks are supposed to done by the end of April. Let’s see what happens after that.
supposed to be done
Dale Gribble = Gary Ruppert (real?)
Here’s a question for those who get the economics a little better than me. So Krugman writes this:
The market wants to pay close to nothing for all the complex derivatives based on mortgages presently. This makes banks either look or truly be insolvent because of the mark to market rules—on a balance sheet at any given time the assets are worth whatever the market would pay for them now. Those derivatives are worth next to nothing because it’s so hard to know what is actually in them because of all the slicing and dicing. However, we know for sure that the houses that those mortgages represent are worth a whole hell of a lot more than nothing, even if the original prices were inflated by malice.
So my question is: is it possible to disentangle the worth of the houses, which is clearly more than zero, from the worth of the derivatives, which is close to zero. I think this is what the Obama Administration wants to happen, either through keeping the banks afloat for awhile and giving them time or subsidizing private entities to take the risks. Will this ever happen? Am I even asking an intelligible question?
By the way, thank jeebus for the Planet Money podcast and the two This American Life specials on the economy. Definitely worth a listen.
It’s my humble and uninformed opinion that the cake is not done yet. If we take it out of the oven now, it will fall.
Let people demand nationalization, as they are more and more moving towards, and the political fallout will be nil, and the actual process might just happen.
If they jumped in saying “nationalize!” right off the bat, the Republicans would work themselves into a foaming frenzy, and then it would get delayed until too late.
Don’t worry folks! I’ve got a broom here that will sweep this all up.
hmm.., can somebody give me a hand with the dust pan?
No it will be president reagan hair
I don’t understand this, maybe you can fill me in. How can you leftists reconcile your political beliefs with being a Patriotic American Citizen?
You leftists support government interference in the free market, the income tax, welfare services for the lazy, the Department of Education, the IRS, OSHA, National Health Care, gun control, all of which equal big government when our Nation’s Founders made it clear that they intended our Nation to be a Republic, a loose Confederacy of Independent States with a very limited central goverment.
Honeslty, considering all these contridictions between your beliefs and those of our Nation’s Founding Fathers, how can you reconcile your beliefs with being a Patriotic American Citizen since all of your beliefs run counter to the principles and system of government upon which Our Republic was founded?
It’s my humble and uninformed opinion that the cake is not done yet. If we take it out of the oven now, it will fall.
We just hope that no one leaves the cake out in the rain, because we don’t think that we can take it. We’ll never have that recipe again.
Brad, you may want to consider banning the troll, before he screws up yet another thread.
Can’t help it, man. This stuff freaks me out.
Sure, it’s just that well, you’re becoming a bit predictable with your posts. Every time there’s a new Brad post, it’s going to be hysterical bridge-diving about the world’s coming to an end and Obama hasn’t fixed the world with a twitch of the nose.
It took eight years for Clinton to pull us out of the last Republican nose-dive, give Obama at least a year to work this epic catastrophuck out.
Please? Otherwise you’re going to turn into the same concern-trolls that constantly blart about how “Obama’s got the wool pulled over your eyes, Democrofails!” and that’ll be sad.
Wait, what are the Troll Rules again? Can I call Dale:
An idiot
A moron
A selfish, crypto-nazi pig,
A kid-toucher,
A poo-snarfer
A limbaugh-licker
A snot-chugger,
A bull-feltcher
Michelle Malkin
…as long as I don’t adress his half-wit talking points?
loneoak–
Isn’t the problem that, while the houses are worth *something,* no one knows what that something is? The derivatives and cdo’s are based on those formerly-inflated values, the bubble of which has popped and now sits all over the face of the industry like a huge wad of bubble gum after the explosion.
Also, of course, whatever a foreclosed house is worth drags down the value of those around it, which probably starts a downward spiral of the whole nabe.
The idea, I thought, is to declare a value for these assets, and thereby establish a floor, below which nothing will continue to sink. And then to hope that that can lead to stopping the spiral, steadying the market, finding buyers, and getting the housing market to start an upward trend. That will then make the cdo’s less toxic, albeit worth a fraction of what they previously were worth.
Normally the gov’t. doesn’t do this; the market does. But the market is paralyzed w/ fear–in fact, there hardly IS any market, because the banks aren’t lending BECUASE OF THE–sorry; because of the original problem. They don’t know what their assets-on-hand are worth, and need to know that to cover their depositor requirements.
Also, it seems to me the biggest problem with nationalization is this: if we nationalize one of the giants, we will have to nationalize them all. But once Shittybank and Bank of Merika go under, who will have the money to finance their purchase?
Or so I think.
Am I wrong, Dude?
I don’t know, but “Shittybank” is a great name for the proposed “bad bank.”
Indeed. Don’t start hyperventilating yet, brother Brad. You’ve been listening to the Troofie trolls again. Remember – they are ALWAYS wrong. Always.
Obama is likely the shrewdest politician of his generation. Time and again he’s snatched victory from the jaws of what would have wiped out a lesser pol – not just snatched victory but turned it to advantage. He beat the Clinton Democratic Machine, and buried the GOP in the General. Barry is a lot smarter than his enemies, or even his friends, think he is.
And for once, I actually believe the President is a decent human being.
So remember, all we have to fear is fear itself, etc. etc.
Just the way we roll, torture loving bigot.
There has to be a paper trail for each of these derivatives I suppose? How about making banks legally obliged to put all of that information in the public domain? This would make it possible for those who actually currently own the derivatives to track them down and put some sort of value on them. Even if the information required to track it all the way back to its root is scattered between dozens of institutions, if the information is released, the job becomes merely difficult, rather than impossible.
Even if it requires hiring hundreds of people to do the legwork, isn’t it worth it if a few hours of labour can turn a worthless piece of paper into one which is worth a fairly significant sum?
And I can’t see how creating a lot of temporary jobs could possibly hurt the economy!
Another suggestion: The government could create a “good bank” instead of a bad one. A bank which doesn’t buy or sell investments, just lends money in fairly small quantities, at sensible rates, as a public service. Mortgages, small business loans and the like. If the lending is done responsibly, the money put into the bank is at no risk. This could help make credit more available, and avoid further job losses by helping small businesses operate.
And lastly.. Enact some laws which make it harder to foreclose on a persons primary residence! Perhaps forbid foreclosure if the borrower keeps up a certain minimum payment.. A proportion of their taxable income, which is set by the government, NOT the lender. This would give people the option of staying in their home.. at the expense of their credit rating however. Banks will hopefully see the wisdom in charging the mortgage holder what they can afford for the time being, rather than kicking them out and getting a house they can’t sell on at any price.
Brad, I’m kinda with you. The banking industry directly affectwhat I try to do for a living, since hardly anybody builds anything from cash anymore.
And I agree that nationalization is the real answer.
But I also see that Obama’s political instincts are really finely tuned. So as dire as it is, I am willing to cut a little slack. I think he knows what he’s doing; look how easily he kneecapped the Repubs on the stimulus bill, giving them as much rope as they needed to create enough nooses for all of them, and Rush Limbaugh for a bonus.
of course, I am keeping my pitchforks handy….
Exactly. And how will nationalization solve any of this? Nationalization solves insolvency by just wiping out the owners, not by guaranteeing a floor to shitty assets. You get a floor to shitty assets by buying them with tax dollars a big loss.
It seems to me we are either going to end the death spiral by:
1) Wiping out the shareholders of the insolvent banks thru nationalization, and selling the banks and all their shitty investments back to private investors. This would POSSIBLY free up enough capital to get regular lending back on track.
2) Guarantee a bottom to the shitty assets by buying them at a ridiculously inflated price, sorting them out, and selling them back at hopefully a decent price. This would solve the insolvency problem by taking the toxic assets off of the balance sheet.
The problem with 1) is that it doesn’t do anything to resolve the shitty asset problem, it just gives us a chance to reorganize the banks’ leadership and settle the stock market somewhat by resolving a proper stock price for the banks. Now those are fine goals, but as far as I can tell nationalization is more about stock price than the asset question. Maybe the asset value problem is secondary now?
It’s not that I’m opposed to nationalization for any sort of principled reason, I just don’t understand the reasons for it. There are a lot of shitty reasons to oppose it (OMG SOCIALISM!!!1!!) of course, but what are the good reasons for supporting it?
Everyone should note that analysts say it’s all about the buttocks.
Nationalization would do the following:
1) a real audit of the assets/liabilities of the banks.
2.) removes the promise to owners/shareholders any kind of profit off the last 8 years of counterfeiting.
3) Hopefully, forces the current managers into un-employment.
Do I think that will fix the problem? No idea, but I know it will make me feel a lot better about the WHOLE FUCKING MESS knowing those jack-offs aren’t getting richer.
Let no one be left behind.
That billboard’s a real kick in the ass.
The ledge. Back away from it. AGAIN.
I dunno, it seems like Brad has a perfect track record going, which is a good thing (and not meant as a slam on Brad). The more fraught with doom he becomes, the better things seem to turn out (politically, that is. The country’s still fucked up).
That billboard’s a real kick in the ass.
Satan, get thee behind me!
Guys, I hate to say it, but this is exactly why I was half hoping that Johnny McAin’t would’ve won. Suppose the problem can’t be “fixed”? Suppose 30 years of Reaganomics has no solution that can even begin to take hold in one presidential term? Suppose we’re on a ride to the bottom, L-shaped, no-end-in-sight, Japan-all-over-again? Guess who’s going to take the blame?
Democrats are expert at leading with their chins.
I still maintain that Republicans wanted to lose last November. Which is why they nominated McCain, a candidate guaranteed to be unable to unify the party. Her Mooseness as veep confirmed it. It was like they were saying, “yeah, we won’t win, but we’ll get in your faces and make a lot of noise, and then step back after the election and blame it all on you.” Looks like it’s going pretty well, n’est pas?
I for one am grateful to our Wall Street overlords for taking our money and giving me a reason to drink this weekend.
Now, where’s that bottle?
Why yes, I remember you saying that, Mr. or Mrs. Adopt A New Name Person.
I feel freaked out too. Talking to people helps me. Reading this and other blogs does too.
Paul Krugman is a smart guy but politics is a different playground completely. He wouldn’t be my first choice for political strategist.
“Why do officials keep offering plans that nobody else finds credible?”
It could be because there are few alternatives or that those available scare the crap out of them even more.
Government regulation of the private sector is unconstitutional and flys
There’s no more in the constitution about capitalism then there is about “gawd,” you ignorant fuck!!
I agree that nationalisation is best now, but buying the assets way above market would also probably work. The problem is bank capitalisation. Taking the assets way above value is a way of recapitalising them. A bad, costly way, but it’s not that it wouldn’t have the desired effect. It’s just that it would be a huge subsidy to bank shareholders. And, er, that’s kind of the plan. Once you boys stop having any illusion that Obama is not a corporatist, you’ll get it.
I’m a big fan of hyperbole too, but, please.
Forget the buttocks. Blame it on this penis.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=55&entry_id=36669
Oh, and Dale, we’ve heard it all before, but do you have to demean the name of an entertaining Mike Judge character who would never plod through such 3rd-rate propaganda slush?
On this “probably” seems to rest the whole of the government plan.
“the” penis. Sigh.
Yes, of course, it must be the famous reverse-double-backflip strategy. Pretend to want to win in order to lose so that you actually win because losing is winning and wining is losing.
The real failure of you hypothesis is the fact that McCain would never have done anything to resolve the 30 years of Reaganomics, so the next Democrat would have had to start cleaning it up anyway. So we might as well have a lifetime of Republican rule so that no Democrat has to take the risk of failing to solve the problem that crushing ordinary Americans and therefore lose a consecutive election.
Anyway, dontcha know, it’ll be Kudlow in ’12. The Repubs are that thin. When they’re not being thick. I mean they’re thick and thin. And their pants are on fire.
Obama’s probably doing the “my hands were tied” dance. Not sure why. He gets called a socialist by the Rushists either way.
commie atheist, somehow that article didn’t mention the best part of the Healthy Penis campaign.
somehow that article didn’t mention the best part of the Healthy Penis campaign.
Let’s see how you like it if you wear a dick suit to the mall.
Dale Gribble, isn’t that the moronic bug-control sidekick from “King of the Hill”?
We just have to sit back, relax, and let the economy collapse around BHO.
Then it will be clear to everybody he is the nations first Affirmative Action President, totally unprepared for the job. He will be hated more than Bush and Cheney soon.
True, it is probably not right to say that they set out to lose. On the other hand, there were no doubt voices in the party that said, “hmmmm….Reagan/Bushes really screwed things up, maybe…we should take a little break. Let the Dems take the blame for a while.”
Even if these voices were drowned out, I’ll bet many more of them are now saying “Whew. And now we can get ready to storm-in 1994 style, and direct even more wealth towards us. Life isn’t so bad after all.”
I would love to be dead wrong about all of this, and as a matter of fact, I’ll quit bringing it up. Still, to expect Obama, skilled campaigner as he is, to “fix” deep systemic economic problems within a couple of years is sheer fantasy. If Brad thinks that’s what it will take to keep the Pugs away from majorities, Pug majority here we come.
I don’t think the Republicans wanted to lose, but I predicted that if Obama won, he might wish he hadn’t.
The three alternatives seem to be 1) keep propping up the banks, 2) allow them to fail, 3) take them over (“nationalize” them). Krugman seems to be leaning toward (3), although he doesn’t quite come out and say so. Nationalization seems like the best option to me, too.
But shit, am I glad I don’t have to make these decisions.
since hardly anybody builds anything from cash anymore
There’s the whole fucking problem. When I hear about a business that can’t make payroll because the bank won’t extend it credit, I have to wonder how long that business is going to be in business anyway.
If it weren’t for the layers of parasites (management, executives & their ilk) skimming the cream from the top of the economy, things might cost closer to the value that was put into them, & no one would have to go into permanent debt for anything other than a house, which might not cost so damn much. Imagine saving for a couple of yrs. to buy a new car, rather than exchanging the debt you owe now for new debt for a new one.
Instead, this system of incredible bullshit, dependent on everyone’s “faith & confidence.” Said “confidence” lasting until yet another generation learns, too late, that it is a confidence game, & they’ve been conned but good.
Suckers, every last one.
Yes, Dale Gribble is the character on King of the Hill. He’s paranoid, but usually pretty funny, and sometimes clever.
I believe the name is what is referred to as a “clue”.
“Hey, hold my beer! I have to go wipe that grin of that prick’s face!”
I’m the solution to the budget mess.
“Well son, those teeth don’t show up until adulthood.”
Dale Gribble, isn’t that the moronic bug-control sidekick from “King of the Hill”?
Otherwise knownasTom DeLay.
You warmongering fucks have no shame do ya?
Damnspacebar.
Hmmmmm.
budget mess
WTF? “Budget mess?” “Spending Freeze?”
How can anyone refute anything that sensible?
Even Evan Bayh and Feingold, two liberals, say the current budget bill is a pork-filled mess and they refuse to vote for it.
No.
No? Bayh was a top pick for VP and Feingold has long been a liberal hero.
For what it’s worth, looking back through the pre-election comment threads is illuminating as to who might be behind some of the current perfidy.
Bayh is much more a right-winger, as he seemed to feel he was entitled to his father’s Senate seat. (But he really earned it, didn’t he?)
I don’t buy it, and I think it’s pretty silly to speculate. The Rusty Shackleford line is straight from the show and was a good joke.
What I meant by “clue” is that Dale Gribble – as with all trolls – should not be taken seriously.
The budget is just loaded with pork.
Here’s my solution. All Republican sponsored spending should be thrown out and any old Republican sponsored spending should undergo a complete investigation for fraud. Those not guilty of actual fraud should be convicted of treason for disobeying orders from the Commander and Chief of The United States of America during a time of war.
The “McCain/GOP wanted to lose” theory doesn’t really hold up, because if they want to swoop in as the saviors in 2010/2012, they should be setting themselves up as a credible, rational alternative. Instead, it’s just the usual magical tax cuts schtick, with a healthy dose of party implosion on the side (thank you Steele, Limbaugh, Jindal, etc…)
Nope, all the stupidity of the McCain campaign and post-Obama GOP is frighteningly real.
Well. I didn’t mean the Rusty Shackleford who is a regular here. And actually my two comments above are unrelated. For a while you will remember his nym was “Rusty Shackleford (not that one)”, since if you look at the OP in that link, apparently a “Dr. Rusty Shackleford” is a blogger at the rightwing My Pet Jawa.
Sorry, should have been clearer.
perfidy
I like this version.
“…if they work hard enough (which is becoming increasingly difficult due to unconstitutional government regulation of the private sector.)”.
Man, what kind of *&#*^#^@^*@!!!! drugs are you on?????
We’ve had at least 8 (and more accurately about 20)years of a completely UNREGULATED private sector…..and the results are crashing down around all of us…except maybe you…that Reagan picture you’re clutching is blocking your view…
The fact that are so many clowns like you out there is really sad….we’ve had enough Republicanism to last us a lifetime…so go sit down and let the grownups try to clean up the mess your idols (Reagan, Bush, Gingrich, etc) have made
How about Feingold? Huh?
He’s a real lefty!
commie atheist said,
March 7, 2009 at 2:44
“the” penis. Sigh.
I feel you man.
Hey what’s uh, what’s the number of that website I’m in charge of?
Rigtheous Bubba sells clues for a good price.
Nope, all the stupidity of the McCain campaign and post-Obama GOP is frighteningly real.
All the more frightening because the pre-Obama GOP was just as stupid, and was in charge.
Pérez Prado says, “¡Huh!”
Gee, another bleak prediction from Brad.
Color. Me. Shocked.
THE.
This is pure awesome.
“Step #3: Liberals always claim to be in favor of higher taxes, agreeing with Bill Clinton that the government invariably spends money more wisely than those who actually earn it. However, such prominent proponents of higher taxes as George Soros, Ted Kennedy and Mr. and Mrs. John Kerry, protect their own otherwise taxable income through trusts and offshore accounts”
Yup, true. I’d like to see the libs answer for this.
Spicy colored fresh!
Or lib Mark Warner who vetoed a repeal of the estate tax, but then set up a “foundation” to shelter his on estate from taxation.
All wars are, um, disappointing.
Spicy colored fresh!
That was the only You Tube video I could find with Pérez Prado’s mambo version of “Perfidia.” But check out Estina’s other videos. They’re brilliant, and I want that record collection in the back.
Or lib Rush Limbaugh, who wanted to jail all drug addicts and throw away the key until he became the best-known narcotics addict in history.
Can of worms.
Step #1: It is high time that every American be guaranteed the right to speak freely. It is not reserved solely for left-wing college students who wish to take advantage of the first amendment to shout down conservatives. At the same time, they must not construe the conservative’s right to dismiss them as arrogant idiots as censorship.
What an arrogant idiot. A delusional arrogant idiot.
I don’t understand why, as a condition of receiving bailout money, the “managers” of these failed banks were not forced to resign, and teams of outside lawyers and accountants sent in to figure out, asap, exactly what is owed and what it’s worth. It’s time to stop the nonsense being perpetrated by the failed masters of the universe who are afraid to face the day of reckoning.
Meanwhile, the corporate media, which has successfully fought govt regulation for decades, has begun the steady drumbeat of blaming Obama for not fixing all of the markets’ problems in his first month. Jon Stewart and others are right: CNBC is where the action is these days. Limbaugh, though a buffoon, is just a distraction.
Brad is right. Fairly or unfairly, Obama is being blamed; and he needs to take a firmer hand with the banks, which are at the center of the rot. Currently he is not getting good advice from his team of financial insiders, who are too close to the authors or our misfortune.
Step #1…
Cut a hole in the box.
Liberals always claim to be in favor of higher taxes, agreeing with Bill Clinton that the government invariably spends money more wisely than those who actually earn it.
I’ve seen funhouse mirrors that have a clearer view of the world than this.
Yup, true. I’d like to see the libs answer for this.
Oh my god! Democratic politicians, contrary to the assertions of all liberals everywhere, are not paragons of perfection who can do no wrong. This is just shocking!
they should be setting themselves up as a credible, rational alternative. Instead, it’s just the usual magical tax cuts schtick
That’s it. They think/believe the magical tax cuts shtick is a credible alternative.
“authors of our misfortune” – one of my favorite phrases from Gibbon
I’ve seen funhouse mirrors that have a clearer view of the world than this.
It really has gotten to where every invocation of “liberals” they make is to the conservative strawman version and not the real thing.
As recently as a year ago, that was only true about 99.5% of the time.
Hey while we’re talking about
socialismcommunism and lefties and total AWESOME, I’d like to point y’all at this:http://stalinvsmartians.com/en/
Till, why don’t you try reading it again?
Democrat politicians advocate higher taxes, and also say the government knows how to spend money better than the individual, but at the same time set up shelters to avoid said higher taxes. Hmmm…
Think about it.
“Politicians are hypocrites” is not a policy argument. It’s just a blind statement of fact.
Step #1:
Well Till, obviously wealthy libs like Mark Warner and Corzine really DON’T believe the government can spend money better than they themselves can.
So why don’t they extend that belief to everyone else?
Liberals always claim to be in favor of higher taxes, agreeing with Bill Clinton that the government invariably spends money more wisely than those who actually earn it.
Aren’t the people who say this sort of thing the same ones who blame the current crisis on mortgagors and credit debtors?
Are wealthy libs who set up tax shelters and offshore accounts acting in their own self-interest, or not?
Should they be penalized for doing so?
George Soros, Ted Kennedy and Mr. and Mrs. John Kerry, protect their own otherwise taxable income through trusts and offshore accounts
The off-shore accounts of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry &c seem to be a right-wing article of faith, such that it would be impious to doubt their existence. The Great Gazoogle reveals a magical network of blogs citing other blogs about the existence of Kennedy’s off-shore accounts, but try as I could, I could not track down the ‘Blog Zero’ that actually provided the details.
Aren’t the people who say this sort of thing the same ones who blame the current crisis on mortgagors and credit debtors?
Yes, but they say that only about the dark-skinned ones, and the rules about “people” who know how to spend their money better than the government don’t apply.
All of you: Bite me!
I could not track down the ‘Blog Zero’ that actually provided the details.
That’s why conservatives are so supportive of the attempts to make the offshore banks and Swiss banks cough up details about who their customers are.
You libruls are all a bunch hippokrits who don’t like talking about the fack that Ted Kennedy’s gold in Switzerland could pay alla damn Socialist Securty.
Are wealthy libs who set up tax shelters and offshore accounts acting in their own self-interest, or not?
Should they be penalized for doing so?
No, we are going to take your money to pay their share.
But only people who vote Republican. After all, elections have consequences, and you did it to the poor already. Precedence, after all, rules the political world.
Polk, shhh! Our Dear Leader Obama has not yet announced the plan that will secretly take the conservatives’ money away! Too soon, too soon!
Isn’t that Breitbart (Prelutsky) piece linked by teh Bubba pretty much libel, with malice aforethought? Or did Jimmy Carter actually take millions of dollars from Arab cutthroats while I was sleeping?
James A. Baker is an attorney (like me). What does he know about monetary policy? That won’t stop me from offering my own prescription like everybody else who seems to be an expert.
Repeal the 1980 Decontrol Act that created ARMs, the 1982 Garn-St. Germain financial deregulation act and the “alternative mortgage transactions act” (12 USC sec. 3801-3806)
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode12/usc_sup_01_12_10_39.html
that royally messed up state regulation of usury laws, let people refinance under new system and then after that, determine which banks to “nationalize” or whatever. Before you can force people to pay back what they borrowed, you need to determine if the interest they were charged was just, reasonable and fair, which under ARMs and the other predatory devices they were not.
“authors of our misfortune” – one of my favorite phrases from Gibbon
Although the best-selling “My Misfortunes” is often described as an autobiography, it was in fact ghost-written.
The “McCain/GOP wanted to lose” theory doesn’t really hold up, because if they want to swoop in as the saviors in 2010/2012, they should be setting themselves up as a credible, rational alternative.
Good point. I don’t necessarily think they know how to do what they want to do, or will be able to, or will be able to avoid making moves that will push them ever farther from their goal. What they have shown so far is that they’re willing to gamble on the same old politics of hatred that swept in Reagan, Gingrich, Bush II. That kind of thing always seems to work best when they are perceived as “the underdog”, as incongruous as that role is with their corporate ruling class status. Which is why I don’t think they mind at all at the moment being the minority party, with the economy imploding as it is. A few more months and their “base” won’t even remember Bush being president, since they will have had it pounded night and day into their heads as to how Obama caused the mess. Then, the thinking goes, 2010 is theirs.
Liberal : Social Democracy :: Conservative : ______
Liberal : Social Democracy :: Conservative : POOP!
Which is why I don’t think they mind at all at the moment being the minority party, with the economy imploding as it is.
For some of them, maybe. For most, I bet it gnaws at their guts like some horrible tapeworm. Just look at what the trolls and rightie bloggers are saying – and you know most of the Redoublechin pols are no smarter than those jokers.
A few more months and their “base” won’t even remember Bush being president…
They forgot about that in about 2006, except for a few flashes when it was convenient as a stick to beat liberals with.
“Socialist Security”.
Heh. Indeed.
Wow, that Perlutsky post is so crowded with straw men I’m starting to itch.
I’m pretty sure Nancy Pelosi was president for the last 8 years.
Affirmative action argues that African Americans and Latinos are intellectually inferior and are unable to compete academically unless other students are handicapped because of their race.
Wow. WowWow. Now that’s some fucked-up fucktardery right there. No wonder these blow-holes get everything wrong; it would appear they never bother to understand a basic premise in the first damn place.
I’m pretty sure Nancy Pelosi was president for the last 8 years.
That would explain the whole “Impeachment off the table” disgrace.
Ferchrissake, James Effing Baker even thinks temporarily nationalizing the banks is the only way we’re ever going to get out of this mess
Even Greenspan advised nationalizing all the declining banks a couple of weeks ago. Paulson and Bernake are too close to these mofo bank CEOs to be able to see clearly.
Even Greenspan advised nationalizing all the declining banks a couple of weeks ago.
That’s actually the best argument I’ve heard for not doing it.
That would explain the whole “Impeachment off the table”
disgraceTRIUMPH!Oh yes and repeal this dog too from Phil Gramm:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/solvent-insurer-insolvent-insurer/
Phil Gramm is the fvcker who set this real estate bubble off.
“Phil Gramm is the fvcker who set this real estate bubble off.”
No, we were. Forcing banks to make loans to people who couldn’t possibly pay them back in the name of “diversity” and whatnot.
Is it me or are the trolls slowly getting more and more retarded? It’s like that Futurama episode with the intestinal worms, only reversed.
In the wake of the global economic meltdown, President McCain today announced a further series of tax-cuts, and the start of a new war — either in Iran or Syria (“whichever” said the White House).
Vice President Palin, with an eye to her candidacy in 2012, is on an undisclosed Caribbean island posing for another calendar.
Another day, another $50 in DOW decline. Under Bush the decline was about $0.50 a day. Obama is 100 times worse than Bush ever was.
If you look at the DOW chart you can see an enormous drop when TARP came out, but then things were fairly steady until Obama was elected. People have been selling like mad ever since.
There is no mistaking it. This has been Obama’s economy since November. It was his election that prompted people to try to escape it.
Source(s):
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EDJ…
Is it me or are the trolls slowly getting more and more retarded?
Nothing slow about it. They’re going pretty much verbatim off the blast-fax.
Wow. Brad, that sounds a whole lot like Bobo Brooks on NPR this evening. Sorry.
Natch, Bobo simply bloviated: “He can’t address ALL these problems, he has to focus on the banking crisis. We’re all DOOOOOMED!” Without any reasons why so I gotta give you some cred. But Criminy, son, it’s ALL ONE PROBLEM.
It’s like my failure to close tags. No matter what else I write, what other tags I use correctly, failure to address that one part means everything is still fucked up. it’s all the same problem.
[Yes! What a save!]
Of course this has been Obama’s economy since November, 2008.
And for the previous 8 years, it was Bill Clinton’s economy.
The party of personal responsibility wants none, accepts none.
Loanoak- Your question does make sense, but unfortunately the answer is no. A derivative is a derivative because it derives it’s value from an underlying asset (and they are not just houses). It cannot be decoupled until the derivative is retired or expires. And the problem is not just derivatives, but all sorts of debt securities that are backed by collateral whose value has fallen drastically.
What the Obama team believes (and this is what scares Krugman and comrade Brad, and yours truly) is that the securities’ value is only temporarily depressed due to irrational panic, rather than permanently impaired because they were badly written. The reality is the latter. The securities and derivatives were written at a time when assets were irrationally high, and they are now returning to more rational levels. Their value will never come back, and neither will the value of the securities that are so crippling the banks.
It’s too bad that people on this thread are being so hard on Brad. Nobody expects Obama to solve this with a twitch of his nose, but people who have been watching his actions, and are not scared out of their wits, either don’t know what is going on, or have a screw loose. They have had since election day to come up with a workable plan, and they have done nothing but fiddle, tinker, stall and delay. We lost 650,000 jobs last month. More than 800,000 if you count upward revisions to previous months. If that doesn’t scare the shit out of everyone, then what does?
Or lib Mark Warner who vetoed a repeal of the estate tax, but then set up a “foundation” to shelter his on estate
I was interested to learn this new policy that “donating millions to a charity” is no longer a demonstration of how private philanthropy works, but is in fact a display of liberal hypocrisy.
The market was winning!!! until voters STABBED IT IN THE BACK.
I was interested to learn this new policy that “donating millions to a charity” is no longer a demonstration of how private philanthropy works, but is in fact a display of liberal hypocrisy.
Yep. Just when someone starts doing exactly what the conservatives champion, it suddenly becomes a bad thing.
Nancy Pelosi strikes me as the kind of elite woman who farts in wine glasses and then sniffs them.
STABBED IT IN THE BACK
Html FAIL above.
Probably a good thing.
We’re a massive FAIL.
From where I sit, you’re both right and you’re both wrong. Krugman is of the opinion that the actual value is far less than what Geithner et. al. (seemingly) think it is. Their difference is quantitative, not qualitative.
Paulson and Bernake are too close to these mofo bank CEOs to be able to see clearly.
I think the root of the problem is that the damn country has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, even the AIG bailouts were probably predicated on the effect an AIG crash would have on G-S.
Is it me or are the trolls slowly getting more and more retarded?
Nothing slow about it. They’re going pretty much verbatim off the blast-fax.
As an ubernerd, I am reminded of Loyal to the Group of Seventeen’s speech patterns in Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun, but without the underlying humanity trying to express itself.
And J__, the gold standard for Perfidia in this bastard’s mind has to be Phyllis Dillon’s.
What? No one is going to hold us responsible for this crisis?
is this a joke?
Lesley, considering they spelled his name wrong, I’d say it was.
Boring Troll said,
“our Nation’s Founders made it clear that they intended our Nation to be a Republic, a loose Confederacy of Independent States with a very limited central goverment.”
Yes. And then after the Articles of Confederation failed and we almost collapsed into American Revolution II, we scrapped that plan and made the US Constitution.
oops. heh.
The market cannot fail. It can only be failed. Or some such horseshit.
Okay, I’ll admit that’s damned scary. I do have to say that I find it hard to believe that Obama is not aware of these things. So far, he’s been the man with a plan. I’m willing to give him a little more time.
But it seems to me that the only sane course is to nationalize the banks, and I really do think the opposition from the American people would be negligible at this point. People are mad and scared. They fucking hate the banks now. Hate them. I’ve talked to some Downtown Des Moines Office Workers lately who’d be happy to see some of those authors of our misfortunes hanging from lamp posts.
Obama should listen to me, since I foresaw this whole shitty mess coming down way back when I worked for Unprincipalled Mortgage and then for Shittimortgage. Harumph. Makes me more prescient than Greenspan, at least.
But, but, this is a rural, agrarian country, except for a few merchants & businessmen in the cities, & has been since 1776!! Nothing has changed.
A document written of by & for wealthy property & slave-owners couldn’t possibly need improvement!!
For what it’s worth, looking back through the pre-election comment threads is illuminating as to who might be behind some of the current perfidy.
Simba B,
All hail killfile! I give any nick I’ve never seen before exactly one chance NOT to say something stupid. They do it, they hit the bottom of the killfile so fast and unlike my old amnesties, now NOBODY gets out. If I had time to find the perpetrator of this trashing of comment threads (which I can’t even bear to participate in anymore), they’ll go in as well, never to return.
P.S. I get the feeling this mess has driven a lot of people away. I don’t see as many favorite commenters as I used to.
Okay, I’ll admit that’s damned scary. I do have to say that I find it hard to believe that Obama is not aware of these things. So far, he’s been the man with a plan. I’m willing to give him a little more time.
He’s a canny one, to be sure, I just hope he has a trick up his sleeve, even though it looks like he’s falling
Obama should listen to me, since I foresaw this whole shitty mess coming down way back when I worked for Unprincipalled Mortgage and then for Shittimortgage.
Heh, I worked for May I Pee for six and a half years… didn’t lose a penny worth in the crash because I sussed out the executives cooking the books back in ought-three (which prompted Spitzer to get Medieval on Maurice Greenberg’s ass).
Greenspan is a shit, no doubt; still, it’s interesting that he’s for nationalizing the banks while his successors resist even the idea of attaching strings to humongous amounts of bailout dough. I mean, Bernanke still has to “encourage” these asswipe bankers to use the money to shore up loans, not pay shareholders and themselves. They’ve proven time and again they are out of touch with reality and yet he wants gov’t to continue trusting it will all work out.
Go ahead, Mohammedan-Marxists!! Nationalize the banks. Punish the producers. Then, when your nation is hip-deep in malt liquor cans & fried chicken wrappers, I shall return w/ my magic
perpetual motion machinestatic electricity generator, & you will all fall at my feet, as I will be your savior!!Nancy Pelosi strikes me as the kind of elite woman who farts in wine glasses and then sniffs them.
Am I to understand you know enough women who do this on a regular basis so as to be able to point one out from a crowd? I must admit, it had never ocurred to me to do suck a thing. The mind dazzles.
didn’t lose a penny worth in the crash because I sussed out the executives cooking the books back in ought-three (which prompted Spitzer to get Medieval on Maurice Greenberg’s ass).
I didn’t lose any money because, thanks to my crappy corporate pay, I could never afford to put more than 1% in my 401K. Ha! Once again, freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
It’s nice that you caught wise before you got burned. I think back to a lot of good folks who really didn’t think things could go bad. Even after being lied to by Principal and then fucked over by Citi, they just refused to believe that things could get really bad, as long as they still had a job. I hope they’re doing okay now but I suspect many of them are hurtin’ for certain.
Matt T., I noted that too. WTF? This is what the “elite” do?
Someone has some issues, if not full-blown problems,
Nancy Pelosi strikes me as the kind of elite woman who
farts in wine glasses and then sniffs themwas super hot when she was youngFixed.
it had never ocurred to me to do suck a thing.
Only Republicans suck things on a regular basis.
Someone has some
issuesfantasies, if not full-blownproblemsperversionsWow, all this editing… I’m gunning for Korir’s job.
OnlyRepublicans wish they could suck things on a regular basis, but sadly, few people will allow them accessfify
4Bs, I feel your pain.
B4, is that Trinity place where Speaker P. & Gov. Sibelius went some sort of Catho-Lesbo-socialism indoctrination academy? Or worse?
No he doesn’t!!
— M. Bouffant
I hope they’re doing okay now but I suspect many of them are hurtin’ for certain.
Yeah, I feel bad for the drones who bought the line of BS from home office, wore the corporate swag, and are probably unable to retire.
B4, is that Trinity place where Speaker P. & Gov. Sibelius went some sort of Catho-Lesbo-socialism indoctrination academy? Or worse?
Just for that, you have to write a 500 word piece of Pelosi/Sibelius slash. Remember that it is a pre-Vatican II milieu.
Hello? *tap* *tap* Is this thing on?
➔➑
500 word piece of Pelosi/Sibelius slash. Remember that it is a pre-Vatican II milieu.
Eeeww!! Good thing that wasn’t me typing. It said the Gov. graduated in ’70 though. That’s post-Vat II.
Eeeww!! Good thing that wasn’t me typing. It said the Gov. graduated in ‘70 though. That’s post-Vat II.
I was going by the photo, apparently taken in 1962.
Really, I just wanted to use the word milieu in a sentence.
B4, is that Trinity place where Speaker P. & Gov. Sibelius went some sort of Catho-Lesbo-socialism indoctrination academy? Or worse?
Like there is something wrong with that?
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We place with joy a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, —
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.
Someone has some issues, if not full-blown problems,
Someone has a complete collection of issues, bound together with a burgundy linen-weave cover.
[Must credit tigrismus, Queen of the Universe and Boss of You].
Here once the embattled farmers stood.
Casually attired but looking good,
One said “I don’t think it could be any clearer’
We’re being screwed, arse full, by Fonterra
OK, fun is fun, trolling is trolling, speech is free, it’s wide-open here, bla yada etc.
But, my fellow aesthetes, if anything calls for a ban it is this: Poetry that rhymes.* Could one be any more square?
*Except “Flood/stood.” Unless he pronounces it “stud.”
Poetry that rhymes.* Could one be any more square?
There once was a man from Venus
Who said “let’s keep this between us”
Then dropped his pants
And I got a glance
Of his big long hairy
Oh, fuckit. This thread is boring. Have I had enough to drink to make it interesting yet?
They blame all problems on Teh Clenis
A plan they think totally genius
All that they will
Is to point at Bill
And his big long hairy
“I think it’s gone gangrenous,
In fact, this is the leanest
It’s been” whined the winger
But we shelved our PWNXXORS zinger
He meant the market, and not his
A young man walked with a stoop
Completely out of the loop.
Up came a sailor
And with a loudhailer,
Something something something.
Is he seriously comparing the Red State Strike Force Tea Party with the Battle of Lexington and Concord?
A Tea Bagger who admired Aeneas*
Asked the TSA Agent to screen this
He thought her his Dido,
Then zipped his fly low
And flashed his wee little
*Fuck You and your proper ancient roman pronunciation
If I got any of you to say PENIS out loud at home, then I will consider this thread a huge success. If I instead got you to yell PENIS out loud at work, then I will consider this the second greatest thread EVAR*
*Second to Zombie Thread That Will Not Die Of Course.
Also, PENIS.
I’m eating an onion hoop!
I ordered a double-sized scoop.
It’s a symbol, they say,
of a girl’s vay-jay-jay,
But all I can say is.
This article posted by the patriotic blogger Van Helsing over at rightwingnews.com shows yet another example of government intruding into areas that are none of its business.
“More government is intrinsically bad. With every law that passes, petty tyrant bureaucrats become a little more powerful, and the rest of us have a little less air to breathe. As an example of how awful it’s gotten already, a bait shop in Clearwater, Florida has been fined for painting this tasteful mural on its wall:
The mural allegedly constitutes “extra signage” — which is forbidden. Never mind that it includes no words or logos, or that the store sells bait, not fish, much less that it is none of bureaucrats’ business whether a business advertises its wares on its own property anyway. The point seems to be to prove that Clearwater’s homegrown Politburo can make people do whatever it says.
The owners complied with orders to cover the mural with this banner featuring our precious First Amendment:
Apparently, authorities think they’re being baited. They want to levy a fine of $500 for every day the banner is displayed.
The ACLU has actually made itself useful for once, taking this to court on behalf of the owners, who can’t afford to buy justice on their own.
On a tip from The MaryHunter. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.”
Not only is the local government of Clearwater, Florida intruding in a matter which is none of its damn business, it is also in clear violation of the First Amendment Right to Free Speech.
Wow. Bert Prelutsky is still alive?
Burt!
Somewhat shorter Burt (not Bert) Prelutsky:
Liberals suck. They need to acknowledge the following:
1. Conservative speech in America is censored.
2. Since we have a totally level playing field, the fact that blacks and hispanics can’t compete with whites means they are functionally retarded.
3. More taxes bad. Less taxes good. Liberals are hypocrites because they take all deductions the IRS allows.
4. Jimmy Carter – history’s greatest monster.
5. War is good.
6. Christ is the reason for the season.
7. Big Business good. Big Government bad.
8. U.S. out of the U.N.!
9. Muslims bad.
10. Mexicans bad.
11. Murderers bad: kill them! (bonus: Jimmy Carter, history’s Greatest Monster).
12. Homos bad, Boy Scouts and soldiers good.
13. You should only vote for someone of your own race or gender if you’re a white male.
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bprelutsky/2009/03/06/a-12-step-liberal-recovery-program/
OK, Burt Prelusky is dead after all. Apparently he passed away in 1983 and everything published under his name since then was actually written long ago and has been parcelled out in segments, kind of the way that Tupac has been putting out CDs.
Well, for one thing, the asteriod didn’t hit us.
For another, I am expressing confidence in President Obama by replacing my aging, and essential, Palm Pilot, with an iPod Touch.
Thirdly, Oh brave new world, that has such things in it. This thing is the geek equivalent of heaven.
Fourthly, I will blame all my typos on it. Whether I am using it or not. Because the line between portability and practicality was drawn with a crayon the size of a Saturn missle.
y
But all I can say is.
Does SC have room on his mantle for all these internets he’s been winning?
“asteroid” dang it!
Apparently he passed away in 1983
When Videodrome came out? The full scale of the conspiracy is only now becoming apparent.
the asteriod
Ok, limericks are one thing. Do we really want to start posting epic poetry here?
Has anyone mentioned that Obama hasn’t been able to hire any new economic advisors, and hence, can’t use their plans, because Republicans in Congress won’t let him?
Hallo? Can’t hire them? Can’t use their policies until he hires them? Can’t hire them until Republicans get their fingers out of their asses?
I’m eating an onion hoop!
You mean vaginas, don’t you?
According to right wing troll – somebody we’ve never heard of, posting a guest-blog-post at a blog no one has ever heard of, stating his opinion of something he knows nothing about first-hand, is proof that…well…I don’t know…something…Obama’s failing or something like that….born in Indonesia….kill whitey….arugula….
You mean vaginas
You scary vaginas!
Now you have set me off again on the subject of scary foreskins.
What worries me, you see, is the ultimate fate of my foreskin, once the hospital flushed it down the drains after the circumcision. Suppose it’s still alive down there in the sewers, feeding, and growing to unnatural size upon its unspeakable diet? Growing angrier with every year of abandonment, down there in the darkness among the white alligators and the babies thrown out with the bathwater and all the other rejecta of society?
Not to mention all the canaries abandoned down in the coal-mines.
And possibly all the frogs that were placed in saucepans of water and brought slowly to the boil.
This is what I worry about, and why I can’t sleep at night.
the 1982 Garn-St. Germain financial deregulation act
I’ve always preferred St. Germain solo
Scary Foreskins & Super Creeps
Growing angrier with every year of abandonment…
One day it will come looking for you, eating passers-by, swatting down military aircraft like toys, and crying “Poppa! How could you betray me!”
I think we are going about this all wrong. We should just declare Obama’s plans successful just for having been proposed.
Like Dubya set the Middle East free by ordering the Invasion of Iraq, Obama saved the economy when he signed the stimulus bill.
Now we can just make shit up to support it.
Unemployment would have been 25% by now if Obama hadn’t saved the economy by signing the stimulus bill.
All the banks would have gone bankrupt by now if Obama hadn’t saved the economy by signing the stimulus bill.
Islamofascists would have taken over the world if Obama hadn’t saved teh economy by signing the stimulus bill.
Shit works!!!
TigerHawk’s posse
Damn, I thought that said TigerHawk’s pussy. Which admittedly made more sense.
… hip-deep in malt liquor cans & fried chicken wrappers…
That sounds like a helluva party to me.
According to right wing troll – somebody we’ve never heard of, posting a guest-blog-post at a blog no one has ever heard of, stating his opinion of something he knows nothing about first-hand, is proof that…
I especially like the part where he/she says “The ACLU has actually made itself useful for once,” which is what conservatives say every time the ACLU comes to the aid of a conservative, which is pretty damn regularly, which is further proof that conservatives are brain-damaged hypocritical WATBs who can’t remember that the sun comes up every morning so they start every day with a surprise.
I enjoy a nice run-on sentence with my coffee.
Good news, fellow Satanic liberals: I start with ACORN week after next, doing my nefarious work to put private medical insurers out of business and enable workers to join unions.
WOLVERINES!!!!
Shouldn’t that be something like “ST. ELMO’S FIRE!!”
🙂
Good news, fellow Satanic liberals: I start with ACORN week after next, doing my nefarious work to put private medical insurers out of business and enable workers to join unions.
We’ve got a conservative commentator on our local public radio station (they give him three minutes a week to be “fair” to the other side) who actually blames McOldypants loss on “voter fraud perpetuated by ACORN.” I’m sure other people were saying it, too, but I was still shocked at the absolute idiocy of that guy.
Yay for Jennifer, though!
Lord Soros be praised! Congrats.
i’m very concerned that we are losing control of this economy. i’d like to see things change fast too, but i’m afraid our best chance is to go along and try to work in a bipartisan way with the republicans. i voted for obama but he just keeps getting himself into worse and worse trouble!
Bless your little trolly heart! Why don’t you sit down and have a cup of STFU .
I am full of shit and I am convinced that the only way to ameliorate my condition is to swallow a lot more shit. Did I mention shit?
…I am convinced that the only way to ameliorate my condition…
Trolls don’t know words that big!
Jennifer, where do we register?
In other good news, peoples, I closed the re-finance on my house last week; the lower rate (and principle balance) is knocking $200 a month off the payment. I unfortunately had to be somewhat deceptive to secure the loan, given that I had been laid off (lost my main contract) in December. Fortunately, 15 years of self-employment and the timing of the layoff helped to obscure this fact and, of course, I had by the time I signed the papers already found another full-time job.
And I start my full-time new job on Monday (the ACORN gig is 4 – 8 days per month, on what would otherwise be my days “off”), which pays more than the job I had with the asshole boss. Whose business, by the way, is circling the drain. I had lunch yesterday with the plumbers and both wanted to know if I could get them on with the new company. I may end up poaching his entire employee roster by the time it’s all said and done.
Hey, well, you will be “creating jobs” then!! Teh One thanks you!
Good for you Jennifer! Although you realize that you’re only causing the pain to the wealthy with your insistence on sucking money away from the truly wealthy, who need more money in these troubled times…
Huey, Dooey, and Louie Duck –
You can sign up to help with the healthcare campaign here. ACORN is working in conjunction with a coalition effort on the issue.
Sorry, our focus at the moment is not on registering fictitious or pantomime (whether royal or not) persons to vote – but please do check back before the next election!!
I heard you ACORN guys could help me vote, like, loads of times. My boyfriend Sean told me so it must be true. Just don’t tell any of my fans I spoke to you.
(Oh, and FYWP with a rolled-up copy of one of my piece of shit books.)
Why do you hate America so?
Good luck and glad to hear about your recent good fortunes.
I found this story last night:
Let’s just be sure there’s a departure tax levied on those Going Galt.
Yep, I had a ball laughing at the Galtoid Crown Prince Of Emo in the earlier thread – if by “laughing” you mean “wondering how he’d go with fava beans & a nice little Chianti” that is.
It will likely take at least a full year before anyone can say whether President Obama has bolloxed the US economy, saved its unworthy ass, or neither. One little problem is that the whole toxic stew of financial instruments was literally intentionally engineered to defy ANY human comprehension – & sadly, it looks like it succeeded in that … golly, Kafka would be so proud!
I think the assumption that EITHER Obama’s plan as-is OR nationalization of banks can solve this crisis is a rash one. There may be a manifold solution that’s not yet apparent to the econo-wonks because nobody is thinking far enough out of the box yet … or there may be absolutely no functional solution at all.
I’m a lot more worried about the impending geopolitical backwash from this sour economic Slurpee … a heap of folks around the globe were just on their way to a more-or-less First-World lifestyle, & are now seeing those cherished hopes perish in flames — possibly forever — & those who’ve just had their dreams shat on will often turn to the meanest bastard they can find to lead them, out of sheer desperation &/or spite. Two mean bastards bordering on each other = Very Interesting Times.
Nothing gets done until President Collins says it gets done. Just like the stimulus bill
One day it will come looking for you, eating passers-by, swatting down military aircraft like toys, and crying “Poppa! How could you betray me!”
Best anime EVAH.
OK, Burt Prelusky is dead after all. Apparently he passed away in 1983 and everything published under his name since then was actually written long ago and has been parcelled out in segments, kind of the way that Tupac has been putting out CDs.
I look forward to the posthumous Tupac/Hendrix/Prelusky mashup CD.
1) Palin won’t make it two primaries.
2) The banks will get nationalized, eventually.
Word.
The bats have left the bell tower
The victims have been bled
Red velvet lines the black box
Bert Prelutsky’s dead
Undead, undead, undead
Rush (Limbaugh) Limburger is Archie Bunkers resurrected idiocy remake joke for conservative hick bigotry entertainment. View how he is the sabotage of the Republican party. The uneducated, the pinko-commy accuser, the misinformed, Rush Limburger- son of Archie Bunker, *Boss* Hog of the GOP. Death of the Conservatives. See the remake at
rushlimburger.blogspot.com
“if the economy is not recovering by mid-2010, you can kiss the Democrats’ hold on the House of Representatives bye-bye”
While some house seats will certainly be lost if that is the case, I highly doubt the balance will shift back so quickly. If any conservative anywhere had an actual idea or thought, you might be right, but they don’t.
2012, on the other hand, concerns me.
First, this dribbled out of the troll:
Apparently because history, the notion of causality, and even current events are beyond him. Tell you what, Gomer, have a gander at what an unregulated Wall Street really looks like. Read a little. Check out Bechtel water rights and Enron energy futures, and those were after regulation. For a more educational view, preceding centralized banking, check out the Railroad and speculation schemes of the 1800s, and bank runs throughout the same period.
Get your head around this simple fact: In every endeavor there need to be rules. If you let the players themselves establish the rules, those rules won’t tend to have a lot of things they can’t do. Government was supposed to protect us from that, and the Constitution was supposed to protect us from government. When both of those things fail, what kind of world do you think you’ll find yourself in?
First, this dribbled out of the troll:
Apparently because history, the notion of causality, and even current events are beyond him. Tell you what, Gomer, have a gander at what an unregulated Wall Street really looks like. Read a little. Check out Bechtel water rights and Enron energy futures, and those were after regulation. For a more educational view, preceding centralized banking, check out the Railroad and land speculation schemes of the 1800s, and bank runs throughout the same period.
Get your head around this simple fact: In every endeavor there need to be rules. If you let the players themselves establish the rules, those rules won’t tend to have a lot of things they can’t do. Government was supposed to protect us from that, and the Constitution was supposed to protect us from government. When both of those things fail, what kind of world do you think you’ll find yourself in?