Deep Something

So Much for Republican Bipartisanship

January 26, 2009September 29, 2018 B. John 238 Views 0 Comments Economic Simulus, Economy, Harry Reid, John Boehner, John McCain, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Krugman

That didn’t take long. John McCain is on TV this weekend saying he won’t vote for the stimulus package. Other leading Republicans are complaining about the package not having enough tax cuts…blah, blah, blah. Of course they’re also on all the Sunday morning talk shows complaining about the dangers of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison, and prattling on with the lies about all the released prisoners “returning” to the battlefield. The Republicans seem to have always thought that bipartisanship means that everyone must agree with them. For some reason, the spineless Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have gone along with the bullies, thinking somehow the Repubs won’t be so mean to them, if they just give them everything they want. I’m hoping that Obama is going to demand that Pelosi and Reid grow a spine. It sounds like maybe he has one. It’s been reported that Obama, during a White House meeting with Congressional leaders last week, said matter of factly, “I won.”

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Just So You Know-I Brought Down Wall Street

September 29, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 238 Views 0 Comments Center for Immigration Studies, Christian Civil League of Main, Economy, Financial Crisis, Krazy Kristian Kooks, Mark Krikorian, Michael Heath, National Review

Why am I not surprised to learn that the krazy kristian kooks are now blaming gay people for the financial crisis affecting America. Never mind that their usual rant is that Gay’s don’t need job protections because we have all the disposable income. We used it, I guess, to wreck havoc in the world financial markets.

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Canned Goods and Ammo

September 29, 2008September 29, 2018 341 Views 0 Comments Bush, Bush Administration, Credit Market, De-regulation, Dow Jones, Economy, jobs, John McCain, Recession, republicans, Stock Market, Wall Street

I’ve been joking with a co-worker this afternoon that, given what happened today with the economic bailout package, and Wall Street’s reaction, we need to get to the grocery store to buy canned goods and ammo. Unfortunately, that may not be too far from reality. Most of the Republicans, and enough Democrats voted against the bail out plan that it failed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average nose-dived over 777 points. That’s the largest one day drop ever.

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The Economic Crisis

September 26, 2008 B. John 221 Views 0 Comments Bailout, Bush, cheney, economic crisis, Economy, Government Bailout, Paulson

I know you can hardly wait for my take on the current economic crisis. I’ll be the first to admit, that like John McCain has said, I’m no expert on the economy. Certainly there are a lot of “financial products” out there I don’t have a clue about, but there are some things about the market and the politics around it I do understand. Any plan needs to come at this current economic problem from at least two directions. One direction must work on the consumer side to reduce the number of defaults and bad loans. This will help the economy and reduce the total cost of any bailout. On the other side, perhaps purchasing some percentage of an institutions bad debt is acceptable, but that institution has to absorb a portion of their bad decisions. This goes to trust and accountability.

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The Free Marketeers and Cardinal Richelieu

September 19, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 256 Views 0 Comments AIG, Corporate America, Culture War, Depression, Economics, Economy, Free Market, Government Bailout, Karl Rove, Recession, Wall Street

Today, while running an errand, I passed a sight which gave me some pause. I’m not sure why I noticed, and I’m not sure why I am drawing the assumptions I’m drawing, but I’ll tell the story anyway. Some years back, to make ends meet, I worked a part time job for a lot of years. For several of those years, I sold shoes at a Florsheim shoe store right in the main corner of the largest mall in Greensboro, NC. To pass the time when we were slow, I would often pick out someone walking by, and just based on what I could see, I’d make up the person’s current life situation. If that person came in the store, and any sort of chat developed, I was often astounded by how accurate my story had been, and so, from that perspective, I tell another story. I have no clue how accurate it is, but it illustrates a point about the recent economic downturn.

We were driving up Dale Mabry Highway, the main north-south road here in Tampa. Walking north (going south would eventually run you into the water of the bay) was two men. One of them was maybe near my age in his late 40s or early 50s. The other person was a bit younger, probably in his late 20s. (I don’t think they were related.) They both had backpacks and were carrying more bags by hand. They had the look of people moving on to somewhere else taking along just what they could carry. I didn’t get the idea from their appearance they had been homeless.

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Closing and Layoffs-Fundamentals Are Fine

September 17, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 200 Views 0 Comments Albertson's, Bennigans, Checkers, Economy, Jabil, Lay-off, Layoff, mccain, Phil Graham, Publix, Sonic

If, like John McCain, I had a wife worth $100 million dollars, I guess, like him, I too would probably think the economy was just fine. I don’t have a significant other that is worth that, in fact, he like me, probably has negative net worth. Based on what I’m seeing around here with a lot of closings, the evidence is pretty strong that we’re into a major slowdown.

Deep Thoughts

Darwin on Today’s Economy

April 10, 2008August 10, 2015 397 Views 0 Comments Charles Darwin, Dick Cheney, Economy, george bush, Oil Prices, Recession

Reuters has a report from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Economic Policy Institute showing that, “Since the late 1990’s average incomes have declined 2.5 percent for families on the bottom fifth of the country’s economic ladder, while incomes have increased 9.1 percent for families on the top fifth.” That got brought home to me tonight when I went to grab a bite to eat, and saw a couple have to forego eating so the kids could. More on that later in this story. One of the Deep Thoughts on this site is a quote from Charles Darwin, who said, “If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” It doesn’t take much to help people, but the current crooks and liars running this government are hell bent and determined to not only forego providing that help, but in enriching their wealthy friends at the expense of those who can least afford it. One of the Deep Thoughts on this site is a quote from Charles Darwin, who said, “If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” It doesn’t take much to help people, but the current crooks and liars running this government are hell bent and determined to not only forego providing that help, but in enriching their wealthy friends at the expense of those who can least afford it.

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Darwin on Today's Economy

April 10, 2008September 29, 2018 B. John 233 Views 0 Comments Charles Darwin, Dick Cheney, Economy, george bush, Oil Prices, Recession