Quotes of the day
posted at 10:30 pm on February 23, 2009 by Allahpundit
“No one knows the economic effects of all this; estimates vary. But Obama’s political strategy stunts the impact from what it might have been. By using the stimulus for unrelated policy goals, spending will be delayed and diluted. There’s another downside: ‘Temporary’ spending increases for specific programs, as opposed to block grants, will be harder to undo, worsening the long-term budget outlook.
Politics cannot be removed from the political process. But here, partisan politics ran roughshod over pragmatic economic policy. Token concessions (including the AMT provision) to some Republicans weakened the package. Obama is gambling that his flawed stimulus will seem to work well enough that he’ll receive credit for restarting the economy — and not be blamed for engineering a colossal waste.”
*
“Another Maryland resident concurs: ‘I am an Obama supporter, campaigned for him, baked cookies for him; my husband and I are Democrats all the way, but this is the issue that gets our goat.’
Echoing Santelli’s complaint, a Silver Spring, Md., mom who did not want her name used adds: ‘I’m not sure why we should work and pay for someone else to have a granite countertop or an extra bathroom.’
When asked about people who hadn’t overreached but had lost their down-payment money when the value of their homes had dropped, she replies, ‘We put money in a 401(k), and we lost that money, and no one is going to give it back.’”
*
“But even if the stimulus is a magnificent success, the money still has to be paid back. The plan of record apparently is that we keep borrowing, spending and stimulating, faster and faster, until suddenly, on some signal from heaven or Timothy Geithner, we all stop spending and start saving in recordbreaking amounts. Oh sure, that will work.
There is another way. If it’s not the actual, secret plan, it will be an overwhelming temptation: Don’t pay the money back…
Anyone who regards the prospect of double-digit inflation with insouciance is either too young to have lived through it the last time (the late 1970s) or too old to remember. Among other problems, inflation works only as a surprise or betrayal. It can never be part of any public, official plan. Plan for 10 percent inflation, and you’ll get 20. Plan for 20 and you’ll need a wheelbarrow to pay for your morning Starbucks. But if that’s not the plan, what is?”
*
“I thought 8,000 was the floor, and it looks like 6,000 is the floor. People are angry, I’m getting angry.”
Blowback
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They used those decades to infiltrate us from the inside… the public education system. Universities and public school. All while we were looking to the outside, and shaking our heads, thinking liberals were just harmless hippies.
tickleddragon on February 23, 2009 at 11:38 PM
Circa 2012:
Just about four years ago I set out on Obama’s Recovery road,
Seekin a better job, lookin for a 401k pot of gold.
Well things got bad, and things got worse, I guess you will know the tune.
Oh ! lord, stuck on Obama’s Recovery road again.
The Hope and Change man in the White House said yet again good times were on the way.
Somewhere I lost his connection, he ran out of words to say.
Once more I got into his stimulus line, another one year stand, looks like the plans fell through again
Oh ! lord, stuck on Obama’s Recovery road again.
MB4 on February 23, 2009 at 11:39 PM
I noticed the same thing. It was the worst picture of Santelli that I’ve seen.
INC on February 23, 2009 at 11:39 PM
The only thing that would have a chance of saving us now is the idiot messiah’s resignation. I imagine that this will start to be discussed openly some time in the near future. But I am calling for it now.
Obama – resign, now!
progressoverpeace on February 23, 2009 at 11:41 PM
He’s older than I am but subconsciously I still think of him as a kid.
FloatingRock on February 23, 2009 at 11:45 PM
Dump President B. Hussein. He is ruining the well-being of our nation literally.
The Santelli revolution begins.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 11:46 PM
Ok, now let’s see what our “big strong” Republican leaders will do. For the most part NOTHING! Unless you call whining and worrying action.
Dick Armey’s website is a nice first step, but it isn’t nearly enough.
There needs to be immediate press conferences by our leaders in the Senate and House demanding an end to this right now. A demand that the “stimulus bill” be overturned by the President’s signature, now. They have the American people behind them, now is the time to strike while the iron is hot. No Mr. Obama, no more stimulus plans, no more spending, no more foolish decisions. It is time for the adults to be back in charge.
While they are at it, demand the chairmanships of Frank and Dodd be revoked immediately! If the dems balk, then bring it to the American people via commercials, videos, internet websites, newspapers, rallies, demonstrations in the streets. Our country is in serious trouble, no more pussy footing. Get serious or get out of the way!
Joe Pyne on February 23, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Now Chris, I’m not sure how this helps Obama’s Presidency succeed.
I love how Obama blames it all on things he “inherited”. Hey, dumbass, the things you “inherited” were already known facts to the market and factored in to the price. Do you think the market didn’t know about the deficit while Bush was in office or it didn’t know about the housing problem while Bush was in office or entitlements or yadda, yadda, yadda? It’s the things that you are doing NOW, RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT that are hurting the market. Unlike some people in this country, the market doesn’t obsess about the past.
venividivici on February 23, 2009 at 11:52 PM
watson007… couldn’t agree with you more… If Obama thinks that what he is proposing/doing has any chance of doing anything positive for our country and economy, then he’s is really, really, incredibly stupid. His own people have told him it won’t work. Much more likely that he and his pals in the media are up to something else. We’ll start with a regional government much like the EU. The North American Union. Bush started it (SPP-security and prosperity partnership) US, Canada, Mexico. Obama can finish it. then just a small step to “the one world gov”. I too am not a conspiracy theorist, but too much doesn’t make sense, while too much else only makes sense!
misterk on February 23, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Remember just before the election, hearing the media say “if the election were held today… Barak Obama would win”.
Well, I ask you again…
And he’s only been in office 33 days!
katy on February 23, 2009 at 11:56 PM
America is a land of equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.
The premise that this money is just for those who “played by the rules” is a lie. Quit trying to ‘hoodwink’ and ‘bamboozle’ us unless you personally know the finances of every person in line regarding their foreclosures.
It is disgusting you would try to game this.
Starlink on February 23, 2009 at 11:58 PM
Obama is a whiner. The weakest kind of leader to have in these dangerous times foreign and domestic.
“Waaaaah, Bush gave me this recession. Waaah!”
I thought he was the messiah that can automatically fix all the ills in the world because he is half-black and can speak using a teleprompter.
The audacity of a dumb socialist.
jencab on February 23, 2009 at 11:59 PM
Eh, look at the bright side. This experiment will fail and then we can put to rest the ideology of the Godless liberal and get back to some common sense conservatism.
csdeven on February 24, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Excellent post, Joe. I would add that they need to go further and demand that Frank and Dodd be perp-walked and that the idiot messiah RESIGN immediately. They must broach this issue and show how serious this is.
I will bet that people on the idiot messiah’s economic team start tendering their own resignations pretty soon. I can’t imagine that people like Volker are going to want to be associated with this moron for much longer.
progressoverpeace on February 24, 2009 at 12:00 AM
…and government schools…
PrincipledPilgrim on February 24, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Cool….ditto. Now when that happens and the landscape looks like Dresden in 1945, then whata we do?
Starlink on February 24, 2009 at 12:01 AM
If they think Americans are mad now, just imagine how mad they would be if they learned countless billions, many more than Detroit needs, of our dollars are going to AIG because of Chinese blackmail. There is growing speculation that this is exactly what has happened.
Here’s the short version of the theory: The Chinese are savers. AIG successfully grabbed much of China’s cash and created pension funds for them. Some have likened AIG’s role to our Social Security system. AIG also insures China’s own banking investments.
When AIG tanked last year, the Chinese called their good buddy Hank Paulson, whom they had been doing direct business with for years, and gave him an ultimatum of sorts.
How would you feel if you knew your dollars were going to bailout the Chinese? Senator DeMint and Rep. Brad Sherman both made statements last fall that tend to support this story. I want the media to jump on the rumors and ask some questions. If this is for real, the American people need, and deserve, to know it.
flyfisher on February 24, 2009 at 12:02 AM
Think any of this throws a wet blanket on TARP II and Stimulus II?
ddrintn on February 24, 2009 at 12:03 AM
Besides, Obama supported all of the Bush bailouts so he shares the responsibility.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 12:06 AM
This is what happens when you cater to the lowest common denominator whether it is banks or homeowners.
Or dope-head voters looking for “change.”
What did they expect by electing an egotistical dimwit whose sole claim to fame was writing books about himself, and even that is in dispute.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:07 AM
I think the bright side is that the Republicans will rediscover their roots of common sense conservatism. I am not so sanguine about the rest of the country. Remember, the country went through 8 years of FDR economic policies that did nothing to solve the Great Depression and re-elected him for a 3rd term by a landslide. Many people today still believe that FDR “solved” the Depression when all of the economic data shows the opposite.
It’s frightening and quite frankly bad for democracy for people to be emotionally invested in their leaders. People should tolerate their leaders as a necessary evil. When they become emotionally invested they are no longer capable of a rational response.
PackerBronco on February 24, 2009 at 12:07 AM
Oh no this is the reason we are going to need tarp 2 and stimulus 2. It’s not the end either. The auto’s will need bailout 2. If you don’t nip this in the bud soon it will be a free for all. Nobody’s going to have any money left.
Brat4life on February 24, 2009 at 12:09 AM
No money left?
We’ll have wheelbarrows full of it.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:09 AM
Anyone hear Levin tonight? He was talking about standing in line at the store and the was talking to another guy in line who voted for Obama. A conservative democrat. He was pissed. He said he made a mistake.
The hangover begins….
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Nope. Since when do they care about chattering constituents.
PrincipledPilgrim on February 24, 2009 at 12:11 AM
I would add that they need to go further and demand that Frank and Dodd be perp-walked and that the idiot messiah RESIGN immediately.
It will never happen; the color his skin isn’t the only thing that Obama has in common with Mugabe.
Even if it did happen, it would be the start of a race war; there is a lot of racial ideology tied up in Ogabe and there would be hell to pay if he were trounced from office.
Not that I wouldn’t like to see the man ridden out of D.C. on a rail.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:11 AM
PrincipledPilgrim on February 24, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Even if it’s true, our government would still be responsible.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 12:13 AM
I think the floor’s gonna be a lot lower than that.
CP on February 24, 2009 at 12:14 AM
I think one of the problems is that many Americans fail to see the connection between Wall Street & Main Street America. Too bad they are going to be getting more of that lesson all too soon…
/And to think that we were talking about hitting 14,000 only a few years ago…
youngTXcon on February 24, 2009 at 12:14 AM
I hear you, but I think that fear for the life of this country is going to trump fears of race riots soon enough. So the cities burn. Big deal. They’re going to burn anyway. Eventually, people will realize this.
progressoverpeace on February 24, 2009 at 12:15 AM
I do, too! Glad to know I’m not alone.
Alana on February 24, 2009 at 12:15 AM
History does show that to be absolutely true. Western political philosophers have advised against the cult of personality for 2,000 years, after having seen it in action in the Greek city-states.
I loathe having to live alongside people relearning history’s lessons.
venividivici on February 24, 2009 at 12:16 AM
Face meets concrete at 120mph. Gravity sucks.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:16 AM
I think the floor’s gonna be a lot lower than that.
CP on February 24, 2009 at 12:14 AM
Wait until people en-mass start saying “eff it, I’m taking the remains of my 401k out and stashing it.” Then at tax time, giving the same hard luck story that all the users are giving now: woe is me, I need a bailout.
Today could be written off as market jitters, uncertainty, but if people start believing there won’t be anything left soon, there will a run and then the balloon goes up.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:19 AM
I agree. But if it’s true don’t you believe Americans deserve to know China declared economic war on us? And shouldn’t the American people be involved in the dialogue for how we respond to said war?
flyfisher on February 24, 2009 at 12:19 AM
progressoverpeace on February 24, 2009 at 12:15 AM
Let us hope so, but who will light the match to remove Ogabe from office? These folks on the hill all have one thing in common: they’re politicians. Which one would be willing to lay their career on the line and then turn around to see no one else watching their back? Most of the pols seem more than ready to ride the nation into the abyss, protectively curled around their little piece of the pie until the bitter end.
That leaves what, the military? Or an armed public banging down the doors while the National Guard tries to choose sides?
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:23 AM
How many of you feel as I do? I have the sense that this administration does not seek to solve this economic problem. I feel that this crisis has given Obama the opportunity to push off horrendous spending and further his political ambitions through redistribution of wealth and crippling our capitalist system. I feel helpless watching this happen and the irony of his campaign of hope is that I feel none for the future.
carbon_footprint on February 24, 2009 at 12:25 AM
The national guard are our families. They too have a stake in this. I know what side they’ll be on when the crap hits the fan.
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:26 AM
The Federal Government has already decided on the course of action regarding the National Guard. According to our new attorney General, in his Heller brief, the 2d Admendment allows the Federal Government to disarm the National Guard.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:30 AM
Precisely.
Alana on February 24, 2009 at 12:30 AM
The national guard are our families. They too have a stake in this. I know what side they’ll be on when the crap hits the fan.
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:26 AM
I’m wary of a mob but have little trust in any pols doing what needs to be done. There is no electoral process to regain Congress until 2010 and you can bet your socks that the dems would be a granite wall of opposition to anything even remotely targeting Ogabe for impeachment.
There are few rational options for two years yet two years is going to see some serious destruction in this nation.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:32 AM
I agree with you. I wonder though, if Obama’s fantasy of utopia has hit the realtiy of just how enormous the job of converting the US over to socialsm would be. Is he insanely committed to it? Or is he going to crack under the pressure he thought he could handle?
I can’t tell.
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:32 AM
The floor? What floor? We are looking into the abyss. Santelli just sees a small part of the rewarding of bad behavior. Now we are rewarding Hamas too. What next?
clnurnberg on February 24, 2009 at 12:32 AM
According to our new attorney General, in his Heller brief, the 2d Admendment allows the Federal Government to disarm the National Guard.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:30 AM
What the…? Under what conditions?
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:33 AM
Marshall Law?
If so, who the hell is going to strip those arms from them?
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:35 AM
And give the arms to whom?
More frightening by the minute
clnurnberg on February 24, 2009 at 12:35 AM
I’ll find the link…give me a few. He wrote a brief for the DC gun grab in which he argued that the Feds have every right to deny weapons to citizens including the National Guard….BRB….
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Insofar as said information assists us in throwing any and all representatives of our government that acquiesced to their blackmail in jail for life, yes, but China didn’t force us to barrow and spend their money so I wouldn’t consider it an act of war. But it would be a good cause to take preventative actions to keep it from happening again. Quitting our credit/spending habit cold turkey and saving more of our money, as well as slashing the size of our government, would be a good start.
If I were of the impression that China were actually waging economic warfare against us, with malicious intent, I would agree with you at least in part, but I don’t get that sense. Clinton was just over there begging for more money the other day. More likely, if there was something akin to blackmail, it was an attempt to gain compensation for our having wasting so much of the money they’ve lent us and getting ourselves into this mess, which is costing them in more ways than one.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Let’s all watch the Cool Dude pull a rabbit out of his hat.
GarandFan on February 24, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Ouch, that’s gotta sting. Looks like the President’s plan of making the GOP look stupid and partisan is working great. As every polling agency EXCEPT for Rasmussen has revealed, the GOP has come out of the last few weeks looking worse for wear among the electorate, even as people are healthily skeptical of the foreclosure bill as laied out last week. Really bad news for the GOP, most Americans don’t expect the economy will get better for YEARS while also supporting the stimulus. And believe me, if you think Rick Santelli is going to deliver wins in 2010, you’re screwed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/us/politics/24poll.html?_r=1&hp
DeathToMediaHacks on February 24, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Matthews? Getting angry?! OVER THIS?!
gryphon202 on February 24, 2009 at 12:37 AM
I think it starts by people calling for his resignation – enough that it has to be covered by the media. Santelli’s “tea party” (and that was not the first one called for) is a euphemism for demanding his resignation. People need to start using the actual word, “resignation“, so that it becomes part of the public discussion.
I think it will happen – though I really don’t imagine politicians will be at the forefront with it. Perhaps a few House Republicans (who have saved this country a few times, recently) but it is more likely to come from out here, move to some articles, or to Rush, and then among the protests that will be starting. But people can get it started by demanding easier resignations first, like Holder (who really HAS TO GO, the insufferable moron), Shrillary (for this Gaza terrorist financing), Geithner, …
progressoverpeace on February 24, 2009 at 12:37 AM
It’s hard to believe that The One and his cronies are *this* naive and economically illiterate. I’m beginning to wonder if this isn’t deliberate. That The One and his minions are trying to tank the economy, starting with the stock market. After investors get out with what they have left, inflation fueled by the stimulus-driven debt and failing banks will wipe out remaining cash reserves.
Why? Two thoughts, one, the Bolshevik revolution was essentially designed to wipe out the middle class. That was quite effective, from what I have heard from people who visit the Former Soviet Union, there are some very rich folks and a lot of very poor folks with very few in the middle class. The One believes himself and his closest followers to be the upper crust elites, the rest of us really need to be in the servant class. It’s a lot easier to control poor people than people who have sufficient means to be somewhat independent.
The other possibility is the thought that by creating a Weimark Republic redux, the ability to re-make the economy in their desired marxist template will be realized. One problem with this, the guy who re-constituted the country after the Weimar debacle was *not* the one in charge when the country tanked. This does allow the thought that Obama and Biden are really that stupid, they are the ones that are standing in the tree sawing at the branch holding them up. This leads to the speculation that there is someone behind this bunch who is pulling their strings — they (Obama-Biden) will be the fall guys and the real leaders will emerge from behind the curtains to do the actual remaking of the new Marxist economy.
AZfederalist on February 24, 2009 at 12:40 AM
Kind of ironic, Obama demands exit strategies from Iraq and Afghanistan, but didn’t think of coming up with an exit strategy for something as elementary as going into debt.
Phoenician on February 24, 2009 at 12:40 AM
A friend I spent part of my tour in Vietnam with emailed this to me today and, since it fits in to this discussion I don’t think he will mind my sharing it:
New Element Discovered
Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.
The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years; It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
DL13 on February 24, 2009 at 12:40 AM
Bishop…
Sorry, the brief by Holder was U.S. vs Emerson, in which he argued that the Second Amendment was no barrier to the confiscation of guns from citizens including the National Guard.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:43 AM
You have linked the New York Times. Any opposing view would be futile. You have proved your point with impeccable evidence. What could anyone say to undermine the New York Times? Nothing. Nothing.
carbon_footprint on February 24, 2009 at 12:44 AM
I’m certain you’re correct regarding the lower ranks, but if Obama really does have ill intent for our nation, he’ll be replacing the higher ups with loyalists at some point in time and they may try to affect the culture for their benefit.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 12:44 AM
Or a free ride based on race.
No “stimulus” that ignores positive wealth (as Obama’s has) creation has a snowballs chance in hell.
Where’s the
beefproduction?The Democrats and the nation are screwed because of the very liberal ideology that’s cramming trillions in spending down our throats.
Minus our innate ingenuity (that Dems hate), of take this, make that and sell it, all that’s left is a parasitic delay of what’s inevitably worse that gave us our downfall to begin with.
Buying work on bridges, paying off minions and toxic debt versus opening up oil, other resources and raising investment capital (dropping business taxes) not to mention the twisted refusal of liberals to get out of our lives and let us succeed, that, is a death spiral.
Speakup on February 24, 2009 at 12:45 AM
I will be interested to see what happens when Governmentium and societum are placed in the Fermi Lab collider.
WashJeff on February 24, 2009 at 12:45 AM
Umm, that should have been “Weimar”, not “Weimark” the first time it was used.
AZfederalist on February 24, 2009 at 12:46 AM
We all know where that leads…..the racist Black Hole.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:46 AM
The Market is in free full and those of you who are technical analysts, next support is is 6900 then 5800.
The only real hard support is @ 4000. God help us.
WC on February 24, 2009 at 12:46 AM
Sorry, the brief by Holder was U.S. vs Emerson, in which he argued that the Second Amendment was no barrier to the confiscation of guns from citizens including the National Guard.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:43 AM
Hey great. Guess I’ll be buying more PVC pipe and coffee grounds.
If these fools are looking for action, they’re going to find it; 75 million gun owners won’t go easily into that particular good night.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:49 AM
I was thinking 2000, myself.
clnurnberg on February 24, 2009 at 12:49 AM
The only thing that gives me a ounce of hope is that no country has ever been overrun in which the citizenry were armed. And this country is seriously armed.
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:50 AM
If you’re planning on retirement, your 401k is now a 201k and fast approaching 101k.
WC on February 24, 2009 at 12:50 AM
Yep. UPS today dropped off 800 more rounds of M855.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:50 AM
I think it’s a combination of both gross incompetence coupled with, at minimum, Marxist tendencies. I’m not sure if it’s a fact or not but I’ve heard that he’s read Rules for Radicals. He may have a wider agenda. If so, I hope that his incompetence will cause him to lose control of the outcome and prevent him from achieving his goals.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 12:51 AM
carbon_footprint on February 24, 2009 at 12:44 AM
Hacks got over his tantrum last week and is back to his full bore hysterics which are usually a mile long.
He tries courageously to convince everyone that shattering the stock market and savaging the economy is some sort of visionary master-stroke of Ogabe’s, a sly plan to marginalize the GOP forever, after which the nation will soar to new heights of success.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:52 AM
I hadn’t heard that, are you serious?
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 12:53 AM
I cannot wait to see society’s reaction once the pensions start making the news. Pensions were poorly funded two years ago near the stock market peek. My guess is that 90% of pensions are underfunded now and probably half have no chance of meeting promised obligations. Taxpayers, mmmm, ahhhhh, you need to bailout public employees and teachers.
I am getting my surf board out because the big waves are coming and will only get bigger:
Wave 1) The Banks
Wave 2) The Pensions (2010 – 2016)
Wave 3) Social Security (2016 – …)
Wave 4) Medicare
WashJeff on February 24, 2009 at 12:53 AM
Our government’s desire to continue selling bonds to the Chinese may be why we were willing to accede to their blackmail, but this story isn’t about our borrowing and spending. The speculation is that US taxpayers have bailed-out AIG, a private company, due to their interaction with China, yet we were never told that by President Bush, Paulson, or CONgress. The Chinese got in bed with an American company, AIG. And once they determined they had made a poor business decision, they expected the US goverment to make them whole and were willing to use blackmail to get their way. This is just one of ten thousand reasons we shouldn’t be doing business with commies.
If this is true, I see it as a huge story with serious implications. If true, it further undermines trust in our government. If true, we’ve got a serious foreign policy problem. If true, we can’t evaluate AIG economically the way we would evaluate any other firm. They have a market cap of less than $2 billion, yet we’re into them for hundreds of billions already, with likely that much more needed. We ought to let them fail, but we can’t because we’ve got to consider the foreign policy dilemma.
Americans, who are rapidly going broke, should not be on the hook for bad bets made by the Chinese. But if our leaders have decided that we ought to be on the hook for said bad bets, then we deserve the honest truth from our government.
flyfisher on February 24, 2009 at 12:54 AM
One more thing… Everyday we become more vulnerable to a terrorist attack and that is the one thing that will unit the country.
Or will it?
katy on February 24, 2009 at 12:55 AM
Yes…sorta…my mistake on Heller…it was his brief(5th Circuit) in U.S. vs Emerson as assistant AG.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:55 AM
To paraphrase LBJ, “If I’ve lost Matthews, I’ve lost middle America.”
Of course inflation is the plan. Hasn’t it always been? Good luck trying to control the monster, Barack.
PattyJ on February 24, 2009 at 12:55 AM
If he loses the media’s support he will be a spent force, but it seems likely that they will hang on to their creation and not chase it over the ice flows.
A media backlash is our only hope, with a full investigation of the man.
So, I am not optimistic
clnurnberg on February 24, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Yep. UPS today dropped off 800 more rounds of M855.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 12:50 AM
Very fine indeed. I have on order two extra sets of .223 dies as well as 1,000 virgin pieces of Winchester brass. I’ll be keeping the fixin’s on a shelf, just in case.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Americans need to be told now that they cannot expect Social Security and Medicare much longer. It’s a political promise that cannot be kept with sound dollars. Grandma and Grandpa will have to move in.
flyfisher on February 24, 2009 at 12:59 AM
The Fed will first try to force feed Universal Health Care down our throats. Then the Soylent Green cookies hit the shelves at QT and Albertson’s.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 1:02 AM
A New York Times piece? And it’s saying Obama is doing a super job?
Who’d you have to sleep with to get your hands on something like that?
Chuck Schick on February 24, 2009 at 1:03 AM
If I get into a coversation about SS, I always tell people they do not own their money per Flemming V. Nestor (1960)
supreme court decision. This link is at the SSA web-site and says point blank:
I am sure you and many of HA readers know this, but I amazed how many do not.
WashJeff on February 24, 2009 at 1:06 AM
Then the Soylent Green cookies hit the shelves at QT and Albertson’s.
I will be going for the Soylent Yellow, supposedly it’s going to be made from a better class of people.
Bishop on February 24, 2009 at 1:06 AM
Helen Thomas?
WashJeff on February 24, 2009 at 1:07 AM
That’s the plan. But I’m not sure we’ll last that long. This nation is a pressure cooker ready to blow. I expect something to happen. Who knows what it will be. There are too many possibilities, some of which seemed like tinfoil a year ago are now all too likely. I pray we are able to hold it all together, but the Washington stooges don’t inspire confidence.
flyfisher on February 24, 2009 at 1:07 AM
Keep the faith, folks!
As a group of Texan’s once said:
“Come and take it!”
G’nite. Rare day shift tomorrow.
Limerick on February 24, 2009 at 1:09 AM
the only good thing about everything going to sh-t is that hopefully there will be a full investigation of obama and all of his dirty secrets come tumbling out. then, impeachment, etc. oh, how i hope and pray. i am praying on a daily basis that this happens.
Ghoul aid on February 24, 2009 at 1:16 AM
I did know that, but I suspect most do not. Regardless of the law, the money does not exist. And simple math dicates all of our existing obligations cannot be met (again, with sound dollars).
If we assume the national debt plus political promises (SS, Medicare, etc.) equals $75 trillion, we could have spent $50 million every single day since the birth of Father Abraham from the book of Genesis, circa 2000bc, and we would not have spent $75 trillion. But somehow the libtards have no problem borrowing more, spending more, promising more. It’s insanity. And frankly, it was insanity for President Bush to do it as well. It wasn’t all his fault, but because he did not force a change of our poor fiscal habits, we went broke on his watch.
flyfisher on February 24, 2009 at 1:16 AM
If it’s true then I would at least agree it should be made public. But I would still argue that Bush, Paulson and CONgress would be to blame and should be prosecuted if possible and appropriate. We should also take steps to reduce China’s influence over our government and economy.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 1:19 AM
Well, you got the important part right.
FloatingRock on February 24, 2009 at 1:20 AM
I’m a bit leery about an Obama resignation. That would give us a President Biden.
Get rid of them both? President Pelosi.
All the possibilities here are to gruesome to contemplate.
trigon on February 24, 2009 at 1:37 AM
I’m a bit leery about an Obama resignation. That would give us a President Biden.
Get rid of them both? President Pelosi.
All the possibilities here are to gruesome to contemplate.
trigon on February 24, 2009 at 1:37 AM
but to watch him go down in flames is just too good to pass up and seriously sets the republicans up for 2010/2012!!!!
Ghoul aid on February 24, 2009 at 1:39 AM
His very first job out of college was teaching Alinsky’s “community organizing” methods. And Alinsky’s son couldn’t be prouder. Here’s the letter he sent the Boston Globe right after the Democratic National Convention:
http://tinyurl.com/5m3qho
Jim Treacher on February 24, 2009 at 1:39 AM
If Obama resigned, Biden would be president, but I think it would be a better thing. Second, he would name a VP and I doubt it would be Pelosi, so she would not be Pres if Biden resigned.
We’d have a Gerald Ford situation at worst.
clnurnberg on February 24, 2009 at 1:42 AM
Just for kicks, I charted out a trendline for the Dow Industrials. If you use the market lows in the early 1950′s and the ’74 lows, it gives you a potential low for this market of around 1000.
Sleep well.
trigon on February 24, 2009 at 1:45 AM
The real 800 pound gorilla in the room is the Baby Boomer 401K.
Boomers are getting ready to retire, and the stock market is down 49% from its high in the last 16 months. Much of this is do to a combination of the Government seizing banks (which cause their stock to be worthless), and the uncertainty that investors feel as the government daily seems to change the economic rules for this country. By picking winners and lossers… by either pumping money into, or seizing, different banks, they killed the business credit market… add to that the Government doom and gloom talk… and the market tanked.
So, folks about to retire have lost about HALF of what they were going to use to live on after retirement… and a case can be made that it was CAUSED by the government…
Let that story get out… and stand by… things will really start to get ugly.
Romeo13 on February 24, 2009 at 1:48 AM
I know it’s wrong to discriminate against a whole generation of people who will suffer because this fool got elected, but I keep thinking of the cookie-baking d*bag in MD quoted here, and it makes me chuckle evilly. They’re stupid, and it’s not nice to laugh, but it’s as funny as watching Paris Hilton cry on the way to jail. Sorry. Goodnight, everyone.
chunderroad on February 24, 2009 at 2:03 AM
As I’ve gone through this thread, the thought – white armor, blue helmets keeps coming to mind. Let things get totally screwed up, then obamabi calls on the UN and they send Fwench peacekeepers. .. you know the folks who are real good at trading sex for food.
bullseye on February 24, 2009 at 2:04 AM
He may be able to find a few political Generals to sit on the Joint Chiefs… but there is no way he can replace the Colonels and Captains who really run the military (along with NCOs of course).
Those Colonels and Captains are all combat Vets from Afgan and Iraq… and THEY have the loyalty of the Ranks… not the Generals.
It will all depend on which way those Cols and Capts. jump.
Romeo13 on February 24, 2009 at 2:16 AM
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