And so it goes!

Yesterday, the house rejected the Wall Street bailout. Most Republicans voted against it and only about 60% of the Democrats voted for the bill. They (both sides) are posturing and playing politics while the country burns, the DJIA dropped almost 800 points, more banks are failing or are on the verge of failure. The price of everything goes up while wages for the average American either are stagnant or in decline. That is if they still have a job. The future for the average American is in doubt.

We use to have a social contract between the people, government and business, but it has been abolished in  favor of greed. Even as the stock market and peoples savings and pensions tank, the greedy ones continue their rant against the regulation that would have prevented this disaster. They have no shame. One has to ask why regulations were put in place to begin with. Well, the answer is simple, regulations were imposed because someone tried to abuse and take advantage of the system. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Is it time for revolution? I don't know, but we have been abused enough. If our government will not or can not protect us, then what purpose does it serve? We now have the best government that money can buy; this is true at the local, state and national levels. As the economic situation deteriorates, so will society, with increased crime, violence, prejudice and disorder. People take extreme measures when their economic well being is threatened. The let them eat cake attitude of the business and governmental elite can lead to the same results as the French Revolution. 

A Self Fulfilling Prophesy

What am I talking about? The Housing crisis! Housing has been on a down turn for at least two years. Why do I say that it was a self fulfilling prophesy, because for several years prior to the actual down turn there were news reports on an almost weekly basis about the housing bubble and how it can not be sustained. The media were beating the drums of a housing downturn until it became a reality. Did the media contribute to the down turn, we can't tell for sure, but it sure didn't help the psychology of the market.

When the housing market went south, it also precipitated the current mortgage fiasco. Now most of those shouting about the overpriced housing market did not stop to think about all of those sub-prime mortgages out there. Once the price of housing started to tank, a lot of people ended up owing more than their houses were worth. That coupled with the ARMs which started to adjust upwards caused the mortgage markets to go south. A lot of theses now worthless sub-prime and ARM mortgages were bundled into packages that were bought by investment banks which in turn resulted in the failure of some big names on Wall street.

A perfect example of the perfect storm.

Bush must think we just fell off the turnip truck!

Today I listened to the "shrub" touting his administration's plans to get us out of the financial mess that we are in. What I didn't hear was why in the hell they let it get so bad in the first place. They have been shouting about deregulation for years as if regulation was the source of all of our ills. Well, they got their deregulation and they exercised a hands off approach towards business. Look what it got us! These greedy bastards almost brought the economy down, not just here, but world wide. Even now they are whining and "warning" that new regulations will harm business. Bull! These neocons are true Slobbering Neanderthal Right Wing Wackos. They have no sense of decency, country or patriotism; they would pimp their own mothers for a buck.

P.S. The new bailout proposed by the Shrub administration is at least $700 billion, that is on top of the $800 billion already committed. We now have $1.5 trillion added to our national debt, financed by China and other countries that don't like us. The Neocons shout about freedom, what kind of freedom will we have when China et. al. decide to put the screws to us?

Did you know?

Did you know that as of September 2008 the national debt is $9.65 Trillion, that is over $31K per person in the United States! It is growing at a rate of $1.80 billion per day. Who knows that the deficit for 2008 will be with all of these bailouts (currently about $800 billion including the stimulus package). The Bush Administration estimated that the 2009 deficit will be $490 billion. I am sure that must be optimistic, wishful thinking with all of the bailouts yet to come.

On top of the budget deficit, we are currently running a current account (trade) deficit  of about $183.1 billion. All of that junk we buy from China and all of the foreign oil contribute to the trade deficit. To make matters worse, all of this debt has caused our dollar to become less valuable, which in turn causes the debt to rise, and so on.

What are our leaders doing? Nothing is the answer, at least not until the horse is out of the barn! Now they are running around like chickens with their heads chopped off, giving our tax dollars away to every crook (oops, I'm sorry, I mean banker CEO) who pleads for a bailout.

What does this mean to you and me? Well if you are planning to retire using the proceeds from your 401K, you can now plan on working until you are 75. Even the so called safe money market mutual funds are taking a hit. And the Neocons wanted to invest Social Security funds (aka privatization) in the stock market! Sure!

What to do? Well, we already got rid of one King George.

Borrow and Spend Republicans

This is unbelievable. First  there is Bear Stearns ($30 billion) then Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac ($205 billion), now AIG ($80 billion). Throw in the $165 billion stimulus package and we are in hock to the tune of $480 billon just this year alone; and the year isn't over for another 3 months. All of money has to be borrowed, from guess who? China! What are these people thinking?

In the same breath, both Obama and McCain are talking about tax cuts. How are they going to pay for all of this. I think that over burdening the government with debt is part of the Republican plan to force smaller government. If we are using most of our tax revenues to pay off the national debt, there will not be enough left for so called discretionary spending. Actually, if we are not careful the interest will grow to a point where we will not be able to pay off the principle. It will become like Germany after WW I, where they needed a wheel barrow full of money to buy a loaf of bread. Can you spell hyperinflation?

Obama on the other hand probably has not thought of the consequences of all of this debt. He will be under extreme pressure to come across with the programs that he has been promising to his supporters. Already they are trying to make it over $500 billion by adding a $25 billion loan to the big three automakers.

It does not matter who wins, we are screwed no matter what.

PS Arrrg, I just found out that with other commitments, the bailouts are up over $800 billion!!!!!!! Does anyone want to try for $1 trillion????? Our politicians need some western justice: a tall tree and a short rope!

Expectations

The candidates for POTUS are raising expectations among their support groups. In particular Obama is promising everything but the kitchen sink. In addition to change, what ever that is, he sounds like Hoover promising a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. He is pandering to the wants and needs of his support groups. What he is not doing is addressing the needs of the country, the budget deficit, the trade deficit, outsourcing of jobs, the falling dollar, etc. He mentions many of these things, but there are on real solutions offered.

McCain is now the agent of change! Say what? What is he going to change? He has promised tax breaks when the deficit is soaring. That is no change. He is going to stay the course in Iraq. What kind of change is that... Like Obama, McCain panders to his supporters. His barracuda throws out the red meat to the voracious minions, to be devoured like so much carrion.

Oh God I can't stand it! Neither one of these idiots will do what the country needs. Liberals to the left of us, Neocons to the right of us, the abyss in front us, as we ride into the valley of death... (sorry Lord Tennyson)

Palin

S. Palin is certainly not a pig, but what is she? All you have to do is watch her in action to realize that the woman is a barracuda. Her slash and burn, take no prisoners mentality is obvious from her speeches. I watched Palin's interviews on ABC. Her lack of preparation was obvious from the interviews.

One thing I will say, her family should be off limits, they are not running for office. Also, along those same lines, the "press" should not be making an issue of the fact that Palin is a mother. Unless she proves that she can not handle her job because she is a mother, shut up.

My problem with her is she has partaken of the NEOCON Kool-aid. She has not shown me that she has the intellect necessary for the position she seeks. God save us!

One Year Later

One year after my rants about politics, where are we? Same place! We now know who the candidates are, Obama and McCain. I can not see myself voting for either one of these clowns. McCain is an old man trying to relive the glory of his youth by sending our sons and daughters to die in a war of attrition which we will ultimately lose. There are more of them than there are of us. On the other hand we have the agent of change! Obama talks about change until I no longer know what it means. Has he changed, not that I can see. He is carrying out the same type of sleazy campaign that the Republicans wage. It was most evident in his fight with Clinton. There, in my opinion, Obama played the race card in an effort to defeat Clinton. First he said on TV that if he won he would get Clinton's supporters, but if she won she would not get his. I believe that was a clear message to his black supporters not to support Clinton. Next he tried to make people believe that Bill Clinton was a racist. Bill Clinton is a lot of things, but it is hard to believe that he went from being the"first black president" to being a racist. Obama is a cynical, hypocritical politician of the old type. The only change he wants is to put himself in the white house and he will do anything to accomplish that goal. Both of these men are dangerous for our country either one will drag it down.