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Re: some top-notch related reading (Reply to this comment)
by nick1326
AND I NEVER- EVER, said I supported the "Tea Party" - All I said is I DID NOT HEAR ABOUT THEM ON ANY OTHER NEWS CHANNELS THEN FOX! Same goes for Australia - why's no one talking about crime rates there, or other fascinating "coincidences" elsewhere abroad...
Im just making a simple point that 1) too many screts! and 2) all of us need to start looking at what is REALLY important, and making APPROPRIATE changes accordingly, rather than arguing around and around and around...
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Feb 10 '10
7:22 am PST
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Re: some top-notch related reading (Reply to this comment)
by nick1326
In going back and re-reading my opinion, along with the comments, I had to update and get current..
The fact that the comments went into a polarized right-vs-left battle so quickly simply strengthens the point I'm about to make: If you fall into this right-vs-left trap NOTHING GETS DONE. This is succinctly, a good 1-liner about my discontent with congress and the leadership in this country.
Right left, Republican Democrat, none of there pairs will ever totally agree -- something we can ALL agree on! That said, we ALL do need to move forward together and get things done. As I said form the beginning; 1) actions speak louder than words 2) the best things for the middle class HAVE come out of democratic rule, historically, despite that I myself am independant, somewhere in the middle, but closer to the right -- more for family values and more conservative fiscal policy...
I am seriously thinking about running for office at this point -- Again, I believe STRONGLY in RULES regarding finance- NOT the laissez-faire wh*re-fest it's become. (I remind you that Timmy Geithner was just ALMOST paying his in-arrears taxes about the time he was about to take office.. It was arround this time that it surfaced [quietly] in the media that Milken was #485 on the Forbes list of billionaires).
I believe a thriving middle class is the key to prosperity and there IS a way for us to do it globally, where-as somehow many people started thinking in order to achieve strong middle-class, the US had to go back to isolationism... NOT the case I say.
Thus far the administration has spoken many words about the middle class and small business and "main st" however ACTIONS are what really do the talking.. It's time to start WALKING the TALK. Nothing is being done as I see it. Again, to be succint, I'd say here, now, that the story of the administration is looking like this:
Instead of focusing on the needs of the many, and trying to find quorum somewhere in the middle, in order to actually FIX some things, this administration chose to pursue a more radical path and try to cram alot of crap down all of our throats -- As I predicted, Americans would NOT go for that. And indeed, WE ARE NOT. That said, we need to do something and we DO need to make some changes... as I said form the get-go here: THE RIGHT CHANGES. I know someone will ask "what's so radical?" so allow me to pre-emptively respond; How about SB-2099 the Blair Holt Bill? Trashing the constitution in my humble opinion is QUITE radical, and again, America is NOT going for this. Look at Australia, where VERY recently, their crime rates have SHOT through the roof because of recent gun control legislation!! THe good people gave up their arms, and now the criminals (who were bad guys to begin with, and ALWAYS had illegal weapons) of course still have theirs and are using them for bad purposes.. Let's learn an important lesson America- most news channels are NOT covering any of this...
BTW- before we leave that subject, guns do NOT kill people. and my opinion it's largely a LACK OF PARENTAL INVOLVMENT and/or GROSS NEGLIGENCE ciminal intent that has caused many of these recent tragedies in schools and Municipal facilities in our country. I believe very much in our Second Amendment rights, and our constitution, Period. I digress..
Nowadays, on the news we see lots of democrats pointing fingers within and weakening their own party, calling for resignations and it seems there's a crack in the facade.. While I don't support the dems a whole lot, I think that it's tragic and sad to see all the in-fighting. Again, the result FOR THE PEOPLE is LESS gets done... so since nothing is being done, we continue to get LESS THAN NOTHING DONE, for US...
To support the above, they're STILL trying to cram through this dead-fish of a health-care bill, and as expected, America is NOT going for it.
BTW, my existing health-care policy premium went up ANOTHER 100- bucks a month, to almost 700 dollars! No existing conditions, and let me tell you, it is HARDER THAN EVER to make a simple doctor's-visit claim! I can't be alone here America -- Please RESPOND! Tell me I'm not the only one having this... This rate increase BTW< happened effective DECEMBER 2009, before ANYTHING even offically happened!! What a shocker.. it's February 2010, NOTHING continnues to be what's been done so far, and I'm PAYING MORE MONEY ANYWAY! WTF America!?!?!
In short folks, I don't know what else to say. I was open minded - I TRIED to believe and when I heard the recent State of the Union, I WANTED the words to be true. However it's not going to well, and now with China acting up, it looks like we've got alot more pain to go... What WILL happen to the middle class in America? What will the result be folks -- will the rich simply get richer, and the middle and poor get even poorer? will it not be that simple???...
Well, here I am, fighting my way through 2010, I've taken a 58% net loss in income this year salary wise, and yet I'm very happy to be gainfully employed... Fortitude and determination... I love the USA, all I want is the best for our country. We need to stop this repub-vs-dem B.S.! and really start looking at what's important for our future. Start talking about REAL solutions for our economic dilemmaS and especially start addressing EDUCATION for our children. And lastly, you can PRINT your way out of ANY problem -- it makes it suck harder and harder for all of us by decreasing the value of the dollar further.
Re-Re- The End... (Hrumpph)
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Feb 10 '10
7:19 am PST
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some top-notch related reading (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
In terms of trying to understand (1) the causes of the banking disaster and (2) the politics behind the bailout, some of the best pieces I've read are
http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2008/09/economic_disasters_and_stupid.php
and its followups
http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2008/09/bad_probability_and_economic_d.php
and
http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2008/09/how_mortgages_turned_into_a_tr.php
by the mathematician Mark Chu-Carroll;
http://www.slate.com/id/2201641/
by the business correspondent Daniel Gross;
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/print
by the investigative reporter Matt Taibbi, a long but vivid and entertaining piece;
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom
by Wall-Street-high-roller turned reporter/author Michael Lewis, also long, vivid, and entertaining;
and http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/imf-advice by former longtime International Monetary Fund economist Simon Johnson.
The pieces will not make you less angry, but they will make your anger much better-directed. :)
cheers,
- Brian
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Apr 18 '09
8:30 pm PDT
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Re: Re: yes indeed. (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
You're kidding, right?
The "tea party" phenomenon was financed almost entirely by the Republican Party and its spinoffs: FreedomWorks is run by former Speaker of the House Dick Armey, who resigned for ethics violations, and by Matt Kibbe, a protege of the late Republican campaign maestro Lee Atwater, who on his deathbed apologized eloquently for his role in corrupting the political process (Matt Kibbe, of course, is alive and has not apologized). DontGO, the other leading sponsor, is heavily funded by oil companies. Large numbers of leading Republican officials have appeared at these "grassroots" "protests", and the teabag parties were promoted intensely by Fox precisely becauase Fox is a Republican network.
The purpose of the tea parties is to convince people
1) That the bailouts weren't just as much a Republican idea (started under Bush) as a Democratic one;
2) That the economic collapse was somehow, mysteriously, caused by high income taxes, even though income taxes are extremely low by historical or international standards; and
3) That the collapse was NOT caused by three decades of loosening all the rules that would have prevented it -- a bipartisan failure -- and by the Bush administration's refusal to enforce the rules that were left.
All the networks are fundamentally run by, and for, the rich. Fox, however, is the most shameless about playing people for rubes. Don't be fooled.
best,
- Brian
http://firedoglake.com/2009/04/13/corporate-lobyists-raising-money-for-tea-parties/
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Apr 18 '09
3:54 pm PDT
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Re: yes indeed. (Reply to this comment)
by nick1326
I agree, it was sales/greed driven, however as they say, it takes two to tango...
That said, I'm with you, and I wish our wonderful country the best.
BTW- many (more) bad things have happened since I wrote this... for instance, I had no idea about the "tea parties" going on around the country (speaking of those evil financiers) until well after the fact... I guess Fox network really IS the only (half) truthful network out there. Such an important symbolic meaning behind it, shame on EVERY other network for not even mentioning this.
I suppose my next politically-based piece will have to be a verbal a$$ ripping of our networks..
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Apr 18 '09
1:31 pm PDT
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yes indeed. (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
Hi! I'm reading this late (i'll be dropping you an e-mail as well). Mostly, i couldn't agree more; the history of the last 30 years in this country is centered on class warfare, and the rich are the only ones with weapons and a strategy. I voted for Obama on the grounds that he'd pretty much _have_ to be the best president of my lifetime (his competition being, umm, probably Jimmy Carter?!?!), but not on the grounds of trusting him. He talks pretty, but the financier class made this problem, and they're still the people he's been listening to first. Some of the things he wants to do seem okay, some don't; I wish our country the best.
One correction, though: very little of the subprime crisis was caused by poor people deciding to lie about their incomes. Most of it was sales-driven: the banks made a deliberate decision to loan to just anyone, and the loan officers, who looked hard for customers, told them what to say (in many or most cases, the customers said perfectly true things).
Naive people trusted the bank officials because, well, bank officials are supposed to understand this stuff. I wouldn't have gotten myself trapped like that (we made sure to get a strong, solid down payment and reasonable monthly payments at a constant interest rate), but I understand how people did. There's a bloodsucker born every minute; for 30 years we've been giving them MBAs.
cheers,
- Brian
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Apr 13 '09
11:16 am PDT
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FOLLOWUP (Reply to this comment)
by nick1326
Hey- thanks everyone who's been reading this and emailing. I'm glad lots of Americans are concerned... im glad ALL colors and peoples are concerned.. again WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER.
I just wanted to blurb for a minute: Last night Obama's speech was a moving, motivating and positive one. It was most welcomed, in light of all the doom and gloom everywhere. As I said in the piece I wrote, I LIKE Obama! although the overtones of the article could easily mislead somebody into thinking I wasn't giving him a fair chance: HARDLY TRUE>
Last nights speech was fantastic. OR, perhaps better said, EVEN IF our representatives don't have an effing clue, AT LEAST THE EXECUTIVE HAS!!! (and hopefully his cabinet, to follow!).
I liked what I heard- now all Im saying is LETS FOLLOW THROUGH. More actions LESS WORDS. At least (I think / I hope) we're on the right track. Perhaps the most important thing he said last night: YES< we NEED change- but we need to RIGHT change... Mr. President, I could not agree more.
Amen
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Feb 25 '09
1:22 pm PST
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