Who Put This Clown In Office?

[Tecumseh]

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged Thursday to slash interest rates yet again to slow housing and credit problems from inevitably plunging the country into a recession.

Fixed.

Damn, if only we had a presidential candidate who actually saw this as a bigger threat to our nation than "TERRORIST WHO HATE OUR FREEDOMS!!11 OMGWEAREGOINGTODIEWITHOUTTHEWARONTERRAH!!!"

I'm glad we made that tough decision to destroy our economy to do whatever it is that we are doing. Excellent choice.

I agree.

What if we used the money spent on Iraq fixing their economic problems, to fix our own?

[Paddy]

And if your money's in the stock market in anything but energy/gas/oil stocks, you'd better get out quick.  It may be right on the edge of the abyss.

[crawdaddyjim]

This isn't Bens doing. He inherited it from the money god. Previous poster was right that the cure is injecting money. Through the vehicle of lowering taxes. And/or a second earned income prebate although a larger amount would be nice this time. Expectations determine the market and the market determines how much money industry has to do business with. We as a country need to stop hammering the wealthy. Note: I am not wealthy although I am working on it very hard. When they get hammered they pull out of the economy and sit on their cash. That kills the little guy trying to climb out of the ooze.

I think most of this recession talk is a direct result of democratic presidential candidates stating they are going to raise taxes. And start another round of class warfare ala F. Roosevelt in 1937.

[Paddy]

Yeah.  'Trickle down economics'.  That really worked the first time. 

No.  Here's what needs to happen:

1) Raise the minimum wage to increase the purchasing power of millions.  This will increase demand, and thus    production.

2) Bust up the oil companies under Sherman anti trust laws. This will create more competition and lower gas prices.  High gas prices are very inflationary and destructive to the economy.

3) Raise taxes on the uber wealthy to take the burden off the working middle class.

4) Abandon the 'war' in Iraq (which is really an occupation).  Bring the troops home and declare "Mission Accomplished"  (oh, wait that's already been done)

5) Print only enough money to keep pace with growth and no more

5) Stop lowering interest rates in order to encourage borrowing.  It's artificial and destructive.  Let the market seek its own level.

and some other stuff.

[crawdaddyjim]

We tried that in 1934. Didn't work then and won't work now.

Get a copy of "The forgotten man" by Amity Schleas. It might just open your mind a little.

[Paddy]

We tried that in 1934. Didn't work then and won't work now.

Get a copy of "The forgotten man" by Amity Schleas. It might just open your mind a little.

Uh-huh. More corporatist apologetics.  I heard it all before, about how that 'eeevil' FDR actually used federal money to help the little guy who was unemployed and hungry.  Can't have any of that.  Not good for the shareholders dontcha know.

[WeedWhacker]

Yeah.  'Trickle down economics'.  That really worked the first time.  :rolleyes:

No.  Here's what needs to happen:

1) Raise the minimum wage to increase the purchasing power of millions.  This will increase demand, and thus    production.

Whaaaat? Stop. Just stop right now.

Mandating an increase in labor costs means increased costs for businesses. Those costs do NOT magically go away, they are passed on to the customer. By raising the federal minimum wage, the gov't is raising prices across the board.

[French G.]

Re-distribution of wealth by compulsory consumer product charity tax is best for an economy.... A socialist economy. Raising minimum wage is about the dumbest bit of class warfare crap ever.

How about we leave the evil oil companies alone to make some money. In the interest of making more they will maybe do some exploration to find more money in the ground.

Trickle down economics worked pretty damn good the first time. We recovered from the 70's and by the time Clinton showed up to take credit for the economy it was roaring.

[seeker_two]

Riley: I can only agree with #2...as long as we expand it to other companies as well (telecomm, financial, media, etc.)

The rest is a recipe for disaster......

[Fly320s]

What the hell, I'll throw in my two penny ante.

I'm not too concerned about the short-term, say less than 5 years, economy.  That will work itself out, regardless of what we do now, as I think that die is cast. 

As for the long term solution, what I would like to see is a better economic education in all levels of school with a focus on individual fiscal responsibility.  Teach the kids that if they want to have all the toys, then they have to work for them as no one will give them handouts.  Teach the kids how to save and budget in order to be able to afford that 50 inch plasma TV.  Teach them that at some point in their lives, they will need that rainy-day fund to save their house from being foreclosed.

The people today don't want to save and budget.  They want the big house, big car, big TV now, not next year.  Which is all well and good, except that those people have run-up their debt so high that they are living paycheck to paycheck even though they earn $80k per year.  I see it everyday at work.  They expect their new house to increase in value at a huge rate so they can borrow against their equity to buy more stuff.  But when the house decreases in value, or their mortgage rate increases, then they say, "Help me, big government!" because they haven't saved a dime.

Enough.  People need to learn patience.  If they want to be rich, they need to realize that it will take a lifetime of earning, saving, and investing to get there.  If they want to buy everything today, then they need to realize that they will have no money tomorrow.

Back to basics.

[The Rabbi]

Yeah.  'Trickle down economics'.  That really worked the first time. 

No.  Here's what needs to happen:

1) Raise the minimum wage to increase the purchasing power of millions.  This will increase demand, and thus    production.

2) Bust up the oil companies under Sherman anti trust laws. This will create more competition and lower gas prices.  High gas prices are very inflationary and destructive to the economy.

3) Raise taxes on the uber wealthy to take the burden off the working middle class.

4) Abandon the 'war' in Iraq (which is really an occupation).  Bring the troops home and declare "Mission Accomplished"  (oh, wait that's already been done)

5) Print only enough money to keep pace with growth and no more

5) Stop lowering interest rates in order to encourage borrowing.  It's artificial and destructive.  Let the market seek its own level.

and some other stuff.

This is exactly the recipe that Obama and Hillary have for the country.  Are you sure you aren't a DNC operative?

[crawdaddyjim]

We tried that in 1934. Didn't work then and won't work now.

Get a copy of "The forgotten man" by Amity Schleas. It might just open your mind a little.

Uh-huh. More corporatist apologetics.  I heard it all before, about how that 'eeevil' FDR actually used federal money to help the little guy who was unemployed and hungry.  Can't have any of that.  Not good for the shareholders dontcha know.

Most shares in the U.S. Markets are owned by "The forgotten Man". You have no clue. The middle class has the largest stake in corporate America. His job, his retirement are a direct relationship. We cannot as a economy both work for and pay to the gov't. It is profit negative. Just ask the Communists in the USSR.

There is no FREE Lunch. Only consumers pay taxes. Unions are parasites on the working man.

[stephpd]

Anyone see the Daily Show w/Jon Stewart when Alan Greenspan came on? Besides being dry and boring Greenspan talked about people that have been in the business for years talking about this and that causing problem and that NOBODY has a clue as to what and how anything has any effect on the market. Or simply 'Nobody Knows'.

Everyone hear talks a game, good or bad, and it's all bs. The stock market is worse then a craps game. Pure gambling and speculation.

[Manedwolf]

3) Raise taxes on the uber wealthy to take the burden off the working middle class.

 

[Dntsycnt]

5) Stop lowering interest rates in order to encourage borrowing.  It's artificial and destructive.

Riley, aren't the other things you listed (aside from 4 & 5) also artificial and destructive?

[LAK]

French G

We are not borrowing "billions a week" to finance a war. That money, much less than billions a week, is allocated by defense spending bills and the federal budget.

And who is paying the interest on the "federal budget" - or has the national debt been paid off while I was not looking?

You can not maintain an ongoing line of credit costing you x in interest payments and claim that a portion of your earnings is "paying the rent with no borrowing".

When you have no debt, then you can brag about what income is paying for what.

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