Independence Day

Today we celebrate our nation's fight for freedom. Tomorrow we go back to giving our nation's freedom away.

Don't forget to vote

Just so you know.

The big shitpile, continued

Is the global economic shitpile created by crooked financiers whose collective Ponzi scheme collapsed? Matt Taibbi says that it's much more sinister than that. It's nothing less than a takeover by the Big Money Boyz of our financial system. Greenwald says we need to get angrier than we already are. Krugman says that Obama is wasting his political capital on more-of-the-same crap from people who got us into this mess in the first place.

I think Obama is sincerely trying to fix this, but he's getting bad advice from people like Geithner, a Bush holdover who just wants to save his buddies. This is a class of people who have nothing in common with the rest of us, don't see any problem with the way things are, and see it all as a game.

We're already in a class war, people. You don't get to pick which side you're on. It's time to fight back.

Here's your shovel.

Billmon, again, gives us an idea of what needs to be done to get us out of this mess. Essentially, it mirrors Paul Krugman and Nouriel Roubini in saying that somebody needs to spend big bucks to stop this global tailspin. That somebody is the U. S. Government.

The big shitpile

Billmon over at DailyKos explains why we're in the mess we're in. When conservatives are allowed to set policy, we all take it in the shorts.

Now it's personal

My boss had to cut everybody's hours at work. We're all taking one unpaid day off per week in the hope of avoiding layoffs. While there is no shortage of work to do around the house and I'll have more time to do it, a 20% pay cut hurts. Especially with a California mortgage. This economy hasn't hit bottom yet, so my pay might still get cut again, maybe by 100%.

Lee J and I have done our part all these years. Our mortgage is one we could afford, with 20% down and a fixed rate. We don't have any other debt except for a modest amount on the credit card. I put my 15% into retirement savings every single pay period and Lee J went back to school and begun a new career. The Republicans took a surplus of hundreds of billions of dollars and squandered it into a trillion dollar hole. All they can say is "more tax cuts" while arrogant executives spend our bailout money on cruises and manicures. Overpaid and unregulated Masters Of The Universe showed they had no idea what they're doing and were rewarded anyway.

President Obama, members of Congress, here's my take on the stimulus. Right now, I'm not gonna spend a dime unless it's necessary. No going out, no purchasing of gadgets, toys, treats, goodies or anything. A tax cut won't mean a damn thing. If I can't be reasonably sure I'm still going to have a job, any tax savings will go into the bank, or to the aforesaid mortgage. I'm not helping the overall situation this way, but I've got my own ass to worry about. Democrats, we donated money, worked the phones and pounded the pavement for you. Do your part. Shut the Republicans up and do this right.

Bush's legacy

From MSNBC, comparing when Bush took office to today:

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Then: 4.2% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2001)
Now: 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 2008)

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
Then: 10,587 (close of Friday, Jan. 19, 2001)
Now: 9,015 (close of Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009)

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE (1985=100)

Then: 115.7 (Conference Board, January 2001)
Now: 38.0, which is an all-time low (Conference Board, December 2008)

FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY
Then: 6.4 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 7.6 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent numbers available)

AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE
Then: 39.8 million (Census numbers for 2000)
Now: 45.7 million (Census numbers for 2007 -- most recent available)

U.S. BUDGET
Then: +236.2 billion (2000, Congressional Budget Office)
Now: -$1.2 trillion (projected figure for 2009, Congressional Budget Office)

Not to mention two unjustifiable wars, the destruction of habeas corpus, letting New Orleans drown, ruining the environment and on and and on. Chimpy says history will judge and he's right about that. I just wish I could see how he'll be portrayed 200 years from now. Less than two weeks to go.

Here's mud in your eye

The McCain campaign has decided that, since it can't win on the issues, it wants to drag Obama into the mud. This weekend, Sarah Palin pulled out the race card and tried to pin Obama to retired Weatherman Bill Ayers. They also plan to exhume the corpse of the Jeremiah Wright "scandal," even though they said they wouldn't. Fine. Let's play that game, shall we?

Since we're on the subject of past associations with supposed terrorists, what might we find? For starters, McCain doesn't think bombing abortion clinics is terrorism. He also hangs out with several convicted criminals, such as G. Gordon Liddy, Carl Lindner and Ollie North who've all supported terrorists. When Clinton was trying to warn everybody about Osama bin Laden, McCain didn't think bin Laden was such a bad guy. And, of course Todd Palin's membership in a party that seeks Alaska's violent secession from the US should also be in our tally.

When it comes to rubbing shoulders with religious crazies, Obama can't touch McCain or Palin. McCain's associations with bigoted and unstable preachers such as John Hagee and Rod Parsley is well-known as is Palin's pal, witch-hater Thomas Muthee.

Oh, and McCain's oft-told war hero story might be not what it's made out to be.

Since the economy is on everyone's mind, the Obama Campaign made a little documentary on McCain's role in the Keating Five scandal:


McCain was supposed to be contrite about that and called it one of his worst mistakes. Seems that he's apparently only sorry he got caught. McCain is right; his only way to victory is to distract voters from the collapse of the free-market economy that he championed. The only problem is, if he's going to resort to cheap smears, Obama is rubber and McCain is glue.

They're doing it again

Disaster is imminent.

As Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, put it Friday morning on the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the congressional leaders were told “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications here at home and globally.”
Mr. Schumer added, “History was sort of hanging over it, like this was a moment.”
When Mr. Schumer described the meeting as “somber,” Mr. Dodd cut in. “Somber doesn’t begin to justify the words,” he said. “We have never heard language like this.”

We're in trouble. But something about that meeting seems familiar... why do the words weapons of mass destruction and civil liberties keep popping into my head? As usual, Glenn Greenwald explains why:

What's most vital to underscore is that the beneficiaries of this week's extraordinary Government schemes aren't just the coincidental recipients of largesse due to some random stroke of good luck. The people on whose behalf these schemes are being implemented -- the true beneficiaries -- are the very same people who have been running and owning our Government -- both parties -- for decades, which is why they have been able to do what they've been doing without interference. They were able to gamble without limit because they control the Government, and now they're having others bear the brunt of their collapse for the same reason -- because the Government is largely run for their benefit.

We're being played again. Yes, this is a serious problem, but anything these people say is probably a lie. So how we deal with it is something we should be careful with. One way of being careful is making the choice between John McCain, who said this;

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

and Barack Obama, who said this:

First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.
Second, taxpayers shouldn't be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.
Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.
Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.
Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.
Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I've been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.
And finally, this plan can't just be a plan for Wall Street, it has to be a plan for Main Street.

Time for new management.

John McCain will work for you

A s long as you're rich.

Quit whining, losers

Yeah, I mean you. And me. And just about everyone I know. That's the message that Phil Gramm, John McCain's economic advisor has for all of us:

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said.

"We've never been more dominant; we've never had more natural advantages than we have today," he said. "We have benefited greatly" from the globalization of the economy in the last 30 years.

That's some straight talk, all right. McCain's economic policy in a nutshell- STFU and get back to work. My yacht needs a new GPS.

Who'll be guarding the henhouse

One of the many frustrations that the American people has with George W. Bush is the pervasive, almost proud corruption under his administration. Anybody who thinks a McCain administration would be any different should meet McCain's top economic advisor (and future Treasury Secretary should he get elected) Phil Gramm. Gramm, a former Republican Senator from Texas, is one of the wonderful people who gave us our current foreclosure crisis. He also was, like a large number of McCain's people, a registered lobbyist for UBW Bank of Switzerland.

Well, Gramm's former boss, UBW, is under investigation for helping billionaires evade taxes. Mr. Straight Talk, naturally, doesn't want to talk about it.

Gramm's record as a Senator should be a warning. A gleeful deregulator, Gramm had no qualms about slipping a bill amendment benefiting Enron when his wife was on the board.

I don't know about you, but I can't afford much more from George Bush. With McCain in office as Bush 3, we'll be living with LeeJ's parents by 2012.