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Good riddance to Dodd, an incompetent, corrupt statist hack and shameless thief that’s the very embodiment of everything wrong in DC today-
And as chairman of the Banking Committee, he is more than a little responsible for the entire subprime meltdown… while getting “VIP” deals from Countrywide for himself, then lying about it!
A real piece of work, this one- he needs to be in jail, not one day retired in that Irish cottage of his-
Our local Tea Party steering committee met yesterday to discuss plans for the future: When to run our radio ads on health care, getting our PAC up and running, etc. There was some discussion on the subject of whether or not everything we have done has actually had any effect. Here’s what I sent them this morning:
As we discussed yesterday, we’re in the middle of a cultural battle for America. I think we’re winning. But according to the dead-tree media, we’ve already lost.
In any war, a good technique to use against the enemy is called FUD – to instill Fear Uncertainty, and Doubt in the other side, by trying to convince them that their enemies are invincible and resistance is futile (to coin a phrase). The left and their allies in the media have been very successful at using this technique against the Tea Party movement. We’ve all been speaking out and protesting and fighting our hearts out and – to watch the news – it seems like our best efforts are having zero effect. But now it turns out that the Democrats are not invincible after all; A few of them may actually have a remnant of integrity. Just look at the headlines this morning:
Sen. Dorgan to retire
Democrat Ritter drops out of Colorado guv bid
Chris Dodd to Retire
Scott Brown within 9 points in Massachusetts
…and Nancy Pelosi is being universally laughed at for her “There has never been a more open process’ comment on her refusal to let C-SPAN cameras into the committee meetings.
Towanda!
B-Rob
14 years ago
@ John Cooper —
You wrote something that I find fascinating:
“In any war, a good technique to use against the enemy is called FUD – to instill Fear Uncertainty, and Doubt in the other side, by trying to convince them that their enemies are invincible and resistance is futile (to coin a phrase).”
You and your fellow teabaggers actually think you are at war . . . and based on what? Losing the presidential election? A half-spent stimulus package? A bank bailout that actually worked to stabilize the economy? A health reform package that is not even law yet?
So what will you do as the economy continues on it’s upward swing, unemployment continues to ease, and the fear lessens? What will you folks do to get back that fear that you admit you need to keep going?
Do you understand why you guys look like a bunch of nuts to the average American?
This state goes against and Liberal Democrats go against everything our country was founded on. The Democrats including Coakley are reducing our freedoms and rights. They want government to control every aspect of our life, no thanks. Millions of Americans have died so I can be free, even though I live in one of the most restrictive states on personal freedom.
It is proven that firearm safe storage laws and gun control laws are causing thousands of Americans their life. These laws have not reduced accidents or suicide but they are responsible for many, many deaths. Read John Lott’s book The Bias Against Guns for the facts/truth.
The facts show most violent crimes are committed by criminals with long histories of violence who should be in prison for life. Prosecutors like Coakley are always quick to cut deals with violent criminals so they can serve much less time than they should. They get out and hurt or kill again, this process keeps on repeating itself.
I have met Senator Scott Brown and he is one of the most sincere caring people I have ever met. He unlike the Democrats in this state listens to his constituents. Help turn this country around by voting in someone who is a true Patriot, strong leader and someone who actually has experience. Scott Brown has never voted for a tax increase and he will protect our rights. Please vote for Scott Brown.
You pick that up from Obama? Think you are cute? clever? Apparently Obama thought so when he used the term and like a fool you follow his lead.
The term, “teabagger” is discusting, vile, repulsive and ignorant as are those are that use it. You owe John Cooper and all in the Tea Party movement an apology. Doubt you have the integrity or decency to apologize. You don’t even respect yourself or you wouldn’t have used it in the first place.
Another democrat bites the dust in Michigan’s Gov. race:
Lt. Gov. John Cherry’s surprise announcement Tuesday he’s dropping out of this year’s race for governor throws the contest for the Democratic nomination up for grabs.
The 58-year-old Cherry announced in a statement that he couldn’t raise enough money to be competitive against Republicans, who have been raising cash for months. Some Democratic party regulars had grumbled Cherry was failing to energize the base and polls showed him trailing the GOP leaders by double digits. But he was expected by party leaders and activists to stay in the race.
Republicans in the race include Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, Attorney General Mike Cox, state Sen. Tom George of Kalamazoo, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Holland and Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder.
Polls also showed Cherry attracting well under 50 percent of the Democratic vote. Speculation that his campaign was in trouble heightened last month when his campaign manager resigned and Cherry replaced his chief of staff. An EPIC-MRA of Lansing poll in mid-December showed 39 percent of voters did not recognize Cherry.
Political observers have said the lieutenant governor was damaged by his connection to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, whose popularity has plummeted along with Michigan’s economy.
“He would have to run on Jennifer Granholm’s record. And that’s an indefensible record,” said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who considered and then decided against a 2010 gubernatorial bid.
Oh and, he’s also a member of the Tea Party group if my memory is correct. And I have to agree with Missy on the name calling bit. B-Rob you paint yourself a pure fool by using insults and slurs against your opposition and it only discredits your position in an argument. You can name call, swear, and insult all you like but it will not justify your position at all as these are not facts but your personal opinions.
There is a difference between, “have-nots” and the “needy”. “Needy” are, as the tag suggests, in need of assistance due to events outside of their control. This assistance is generaly in the form of training or schooling to, “teach the man to fish” to get the “needy” back on their feet and no longer be a social burden on others. The “have-nots” are the group of people that have adopted a parasitic lifestyle and do NOT want to better themselves by living by their own means and skills but off of leeching the labors and wealth taken from the working class though taxation. The Tea Party groups are highly against supporting the, “have-nots” with massive taxation policies and grossly abused spending policies.
We, as a Nation, can not support current Entitlement programs and afford the new ones coming out in the Healthcare Reform bill simply by tax collection and the Democrats who are retiring or have jumped ship KNOW of this problem. Our National Government has had to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to afford to run current Wealthfare programs and to start up (but not maintain) the Healthcare reform bill’s spending. To be able to afford our current Entitlement programs and the new ones, there is only one solution and that is to have massive taxation on all Citizens and businesses. This is what the Tea Party supporters do NOT agree with. Every time you tax a business at a higher rate, its budget for the year is greatly reduced forcing a slew of things to happen:
1. Employee Layoff/Termination.
2. Capital/land selling (downsizing)
3. Higher prices tagged to final product/service
4. Liquidation of the Business, store closes shop for good. (far worse than Layoffs).
Our current Economical state is not healthy and imposing more taxation on a society already hurting for jobs, money, food, and shelter is not a wise move. The true solution is to have many of these bloated Entitlement programs collapse simply because there is no more money for them. When you punish those who do work for their lively hood by taking the bulk of their wealth away and give it to those who refuse to take care of themselves you will soon see either a revolt in one shape or form be it though exodus, voting powers, or physical reaction against you. The French Middle Class taught this lesson rather well to the aristocrats demanding more of the Middle Class’s wealth and fruits of labor to afford the bloatsome lifestyles of the aristocrat of that era. This Congress and White House are the modern Aristocrats who have lived far outside of their means for far too long as the rest of the nation is crumbling. What type of Revolt will happen, no one knows. Hopefuly it will be revolt though the voting booth and only just that. Our Nation can not survive a second Civil War.
Flyovercountry
14 years ago
Re: B-Rob #6
Your mis characterization of the tea party movement is patronizing and flat out wrong. They don’t look silly to the average American, they are the average American.
As for your predictions of an economic upswing, maybe, maybe not. While it is true, that our economic system is more powerful than the Zero’s attempt to destroy it, the recovery is far later in arrival than if we had followed an actual intelligent course of action, which would have been to allow the free market system to work. The recovery will be no where near decent, if the Zero’s economic policies are allowed to take hold. I believe you are misreading the Zero’s election as a political shift to the left by the entire country. I would remind you that the Zero and a compliant media actually ran a campaign of flat out deception. Obama was presented as a centrist, and actually claimed the mantle of being a tax reforming hawk when it suited him. Now that the American People are able to see this is untrue, he is losing support at a dizzying pace. Get ready for Henry Mancini’s, “Baby Elephant Walk,” in November. You are going to hear it alot.
I think that many democrats will choose not to run to save the party. They will take cushy jobs with speaking engagements. They are banking on the fact that Americans are inherently fair and will take it out on them if they run, but will give another democrat who is not associated with this mess a chance. They think that the democrat challenger if he is unknown and new may actually appeal more to the electorate in their district than any Republican. They see themselves as sacrificial martyrs, probably still convinced that somehow the Democrats will hold on to the majority as long as there are bright shiny new faces. So I don’t think we should get too optimistic yet for the Republicans. If these democrats step down there will be a new race between a new Democrat who had nothing to do with the mess in Congress and a Republican who had nothing to do with the mess in Congress. So the race will be down to ideas, and who has a better plan. I hope the Republicans who are running in these districts remember that. They still have to win over the democrats and independents there.
Good grief! Do you really want me to toss back in your sorry face all the war/Hitler rhetoric you crazy left wing loons have used for the past 9 years?
And since when did you become an “average” American?
B-Bob wonders what we are at war against? Well, Bob, here’s what — the royalist-socialist mindset that has slaughtered millions in history — in just the past 100 years socialism has killed off some 100,000,000 people, Bob. That’s war, isn’t it? Isn’t killing people to win something a war of some sort? Sure it is, Bob. You are clueless as to what the socialists say — they (you too, Bob,) repeat incessantly that they (you too, Bob) are at war with free markets, individual rights, liberty and the right to pursue happiness and be left alone. The socialists have been screaming for years that they are at war with America. They said it back when the National Socialists ran Germany, and when the Soviet Socialists ran Russia, and the Chinese Socialists ran China — all the while killing anyone who disagreed.
That’s war, Bob. That’s the war we are fighting Bob.
And it’s part of that war to be taking money from those who earned it – -at the point of a gun or threat of imprisonment no less, — and give it to banks that should fail, business ideas that should go stimulate themselves, and all manner of other crackpot ideals of big government, that steals money from some to give to others that a third party decrees imperially that such largess is our “duty.” Yes, Bob, it’s a war on our labor (socialism enslaves) our time, our effort, our money, or lives, our property — you Bob are at war against the people of the United States, socialist that you are — and you want to keep up the full court press to defeat the inalienable rights of mankind so that you might bring Pharaoh back to life. Yes, Bob, you all declared war on reality, on reason, on math itself. You vow, as you leader does — to take no prisoners — for it was Obama himself who said “if they come with a knife, we’ll get a gun.” That’s a declaration of war Bob. By our own “president” mind you — who bought into the redistributionist “I know better than yourself how to live your life and spend your money” socialist crud. What do we know about our own selves — that’s the message that socialists give and say they are at peace as they wage war. And it is War, Bob. Your own creed declares it so.
And now that we know which side you are on, well, that just makes it easy eh?
Alas for you all, you Bobs one and all, is that while your leader does not see the war of Islam against us, and you do not see the war you are waging for what it is — war — We the People — average Americans to you — do see it. Hitler, Stalin, Mao did not see what they were doing as war — they saw it as hope, change and audacious planning for the future. It’s your burden, Bob, but War it is — as even Lenin himself said — diplomacy is war by other means. So be it, Bob. Be diplomatic – -but we know you are at war with America.
Well put, @Jim Hlavac. But if you’re banking on billy bob being a supporter of the Republic as created by our Constitution, you’ve gotten in line with the wrong teller.
Me? I’m still roaring over this comment of billy bob’s
So what will you do as the economy continues on it’s upward swing, unemployment continues to ease, and the fear lessens? What will you folks do to get back that fear that you admit you need to keep going?
Do you understand why you guys look like a bunch of nuts to the average American?
The multiplicity of irony here is simply delicious…. first, if there was ever a fear inducing POTUS and Congress, it’s been Obama/Pelosi/Reid. “pass this now, spend this now, or we’re doomed….” Yeah, no fear there.
Second, the notion that Wall Street and housing, propped up by the taxpayers’ cash, is the sign of a rebounding economy is downright hilarious. The party of the little blue collar guy, making Wall Street and the financial world profitable (on the backs of the taxpayer), is a dichotomy lost on the billy bob’s of the world. Proof positive the ACORN doesn’t fall from from the tree filled with other nuts.
Third and last, the pipe dream of an economy on the upswing appears difficult to impress upon the billy bob’s. Must be the bright glare of stars in their eyes, I guess. Unfortunately time is the ultimate proving ground. And while billy bob is always assured of work as a lawyer in our society, the same cannot be said for free enterprise that doesn’t depend on exploitation of others in distress for making a living.
DR
14 years ago
In Colorado, Ritter was destined to be roadkill in November. Though Ritter said his decision not to seek re-election was for family considerations, he was seen as a very weak incumbent. Many Colorado Dems were quite nervous about keeping the seat. Several informal polls had Ritter trailing badly against Scott McInnis, the presumed Republican gubernatorial nominee by 15-20 points. Ritter was also trailing businessman Dan Maes, another Republican candidate with limited name recognition. You can say the writing was on the wall.
Being a one-term governor in Colorado is a bit unusual. Former Gov John Vanderhoof was the last one-term governor back in the early 1970s. However, Vanderhoof was seeking election to his first full term since he was finishing Gov John Love’s term. (Love had become Nixon’s energy advisor.) Though Vanderhoof was seen as a very likeable and very competent, he fell victim to the Democratic tide in the 1974 mid-term elections. Unfortunately, a roster of communists pretending to be Democrats swept all of the statewide positions back then. The Republicans narrowly retained control of the legislature.
Timothy
14 years ago
BECK NAILS IT TODAY
Considering how bad things are going for the DNC, Democrats have only last card to play before 2010 elections: RACISM.
They’ll bring up the immigration issue again and will try to split the populace (plus jazz up the base).
TammyL
14 years ago
@B-Rob: I found this comment repulsive. No where have I heard Tea Party members call themselves “tea baggers”. This is a derogatory term that the media has used to denigrate people who are fed up with both parties. They are fed up with the lobbying, the greed, and corruption in government. They are fed up with the politicians spending away their childrens futures on frivolous pork projects. They are fed up with the constant lying. Yes, this discontent has been growing a long time. I imagine that it has been there during the Reagan years, the Clinton years, the Bush years, and now the Obama years, and like all movements, the seeds were there, and now they are finally coming to fruit. It has happened in this country. The straw has finally broken the camel’s back. Now as a result, the Tea party is taking root. To denigrate them is to ignore years of frustration, and to assume that they are just now having problems. And that is what the liberals in town forget.
Saint Pitbull
14 years ago
Count me as a proud tea-bagger. And those Charlie Browns like B-Rob are my tea-baggee’s. Savor the experience B-Rob – I’m sure it’s not your first nor last.
Hard Right
14 years ago
Time to ban b-rob? If it were up to me I would, but I’m not as nice as the authors/mods.
As for fear mongering, for 8 years we heard the left scream that the Patriot Act would be used to drag us from our homes and violate our rightts. That by killing terrorists we were making things worse. That Bush would not peacefully give up power, blah, blah, blah.
B-Rob said; “So what will you do as the economy continues on it’s upward swing, unemployment continues to ease, and the fear lessens? What will you folks do to get back that fear that you admit you need to keep going?”
Actually, none of these things are happening. It is the markets that are up, not the economy. The economy is still doing poorly and it looks like this trend will continue on for a little bit longer. Besides, the “upswing” in the market could possibly be caused by the holidays since many people were spending their money. It has nothing to do with Obama and most intelligent people won’t give him any credit for it.
As for unemployment, a .17 percent drop in December is not considered easing. Many places that usually hire part-time and seasonal workers have no plans to do so in the next two fiscal quarters. Plus, they are still laying people off and cutting the hours of some seasoned career workers. In short, the small amount of jobs created this month doesn’t make up for the jobs are being lost or will be lost. Another problem that will continue to hit us hard is the fact that the dollar has reached a new 30 year low each month for the last four.
I know, in petulance, you will consider me a fear monger. However, I just try to stay on top of what is going on around me. And with what I am finding, I have plenty or reasons to take your comment with a grain of salt.
I am not doubting that there are still many things to be happy about. After all, I can’t complain because my friends and me are still receiving an education, we still have clothes on our backs, and we still have food to eat. In my view, that is plenty, but it hardly does enough to cast a rose tinted picture on the struggling economics this country is facing.
B-Rob
14 years ago
Dropping like flies, huh? Let’s see . . .
Out of 178 House Republicans, 14 are retiring — 7.9%
Out of 256 Democratic House members, 10 are retiring — 3.9%
Out of 40 GOPer Senators, 6 Senate Republicans are retiring — that’s 15%
2 Democrats out of 58 are retiring — 3.4%
In the states, 3 Democrats have opted against reelection to governorships out of the 27 seats held by Dems — 11%
Of the 23 GOPers, 4 are leaving — 17%
Yes, folks, you are correct. “They” are dropping like flies and the rats are fleeing the ship. Only it is the minority party GOPers who are taking a hike, not the Dems!
I know, as Colbert put it, “facts have a liberal bias” — but your people are bordering on delusional!
The nutty right chose to use the phrase “tea bag Congress” . . . hence they are “TEABAGGERS” by their own choice. I did not tell them to use a phrase that had a most unfortunate but humorous secondary meaning. They did that all by themselves. It’s up there with the signs at the teabag parties that say stuff like “Immigrants shuld learn English” or “Keep your government hands off my Medicare”: it is ignorance on display, a self inflicted wound that basically tells you the mentality of the participants.
@B-Rob: Surprising it took you and your sponsor George Soros so long to come up with those parrot points for you.
Speaking of parrots, did you get your cracker?
You’re a day late and a dollar short as usual.
B-Rob
14 years ago
@ Flyovercountry and Hard Right —
Look, I know you guys hope unemployment stays high and people are out of work and desparate and fearful. Because like John Cooper mentioned, you WANT fear out there. But the problem for you folks is simple:
1) What goes up must come down — unemployment spike higher and faster than predicted; now it is starting to slide at an equally fast rate.
2) Since Obama mentioned in March 2009 that the stock market was down too far and people should buy stocks, gues what happened? It went up close to 40%.
3) Bank stocks were tanking a year ago; now they are way up from where they were.
4) Oil prices, other commodities, food — all stable.
5) No swine flu pandemic.
6) Housing starts are turning around.
7) We had decent Christmas sales numbers even though the weather sucked. That means . . .
8) Consumer confidence is starting to improve.
I know this good news really SUCKS for you guys. Each additional employed person able to make their rent or mortgage payment is one less potential teabagger. And if those unemployed individuals actually realized that it was the stimulus package you hate that gave them the COBRA subsidy that they otherwise would not have had (you know . . . the difference between having health insurance at $300 per month or having none because it was $1,000 per month) . . . again, one less potential teabagger.
It is hard to convince people that Obama is taking the country to hell in a handbasket when unemployment is dropping and the economy is growing. Which is why you wingnuts are so damned fearful of more good news coming out between now and November, and why you cheer each additional terrorist attempt. (Heck, GOPers were even RAISING MONEY off that failed undie-bomber. How tasteful!)
@B-Rob accused: “I know you guys hope unemployment stays high and people are out of work and desparate and fearful. ”
WRONG AGAIN!!!
What an ASS you are!
Rather than deal with the substance of the issues, you follow the tested Obama technique of erecting straw men arguments.
Your intellectual dishonesty is SO transparent to all but yourself.
P.S. Speaking of the Swine Flu scare, WHO was it that was making the scare?
You have ZERO credibility BLOB!
B-Rob
14 years ago
@ Mike’s America —
I am betting that ole Zbig never taught you how to convert numbers into percentages, did he? If he did, then you should have said to your fellow cons here “Er, folks, don’t want to pee in the lemonade, but MORE GOPERS are leaving than Dems.” I did not even include the two left leaning Senate independents when I calculate those percentages. if I did, then it would be only 3.33% of Dems . . . less than a third the percentage of GOPers leaving the Senate.
Why didn’t you point out the obvious flaw in this analysis, Mike? You are a smart guy . . . surely you knew your posters were holding onto false hopes. And why didn’t you point out that Dick Blumenthal appears to be a much stronger Dem candidate in Conn. than Chris Dodd? Is this site all about mass-self-delusion?
IndieDogg
14 years ago
To R-Bob and others of like ilk.
It astounds me that you folks continue to assert, as if it’s accepted fact, that people who care about limited government and fiscal responsibility are “nut jobs” to “average Americans.”
If that’s true, it seems odd that the group of voters currently surging or leading in polls of affiliation and/or identification is the “Independent” voter.
It certainly isn’t the Democratic party and, honestly, isn’t the Republican party, though the R’s and the D’s are currently moving in opposite directions on the charts.
The group that is surging is the mass of what I call “independent thinkers.” A/k/a, Independent voters.
I don’t know what you call an “average” American. It’s a term thrown around a lot but without any specific meaning. Average what? Height? Income? Age? Color? Intelligence?
I’d prefer to be an “Exceptional American” but, be that as it may, neither you nor your fellow blinders wearers have been authorized to assume the mantle of “Average American” so as to speak for “their” thoughts, wishes or preferences, claim it all you might.
Or, to be more down home about it, ‘That dog just won’t hunt.’
@B-Rob: I learned quite a few things at Columbia University BLOB. Not all of it from Zbig.
Maybe if you had gone to a better law school you might understand.
But I doubt it.
You reek of delusion and panic.
Old Trooper
14 years ago
B-Rob, Some of US are at War. Some of You live under the umbrella of Safety that others provide.
Your “reality” is not ours. I still find your comments and bar room language to be both abrasive and purposefully obnoxious. Some of the folks on the night shift at the Kandahar JOC would be happy to take you out about 120Km northeast of here and just drop you off to see the war and leave you at the tender mercies of some folks that believe they are at war with America and could give you a short lesson on that subject.
From what I see and hear the US Economy has it’s a$$ in a sling despite the deceitfully jolly links you post here and the views of our European Allies on the value of US currency in the World Market are in dispute with yours. The Chinese and Japan are so heavily invested in US Bonds that they honestly don’t want the US to fail but are hesitant to back any more US Debt. Despite the Federal Funds handed out to Banks, they are reluctant to loan money back home from what I read.
Fannie & Freddie have been in distress for some time due to the lack of oversight on the part of Democrat Congress for a couple of years now. Look for the price of Oil to go up again soon due
to Obama’s failed Foreign Policies and a lack of development of US energy resources. Team Obama does not understand Economics and neither do you quite obviously if you believe the BS links that you cast out here like nuggets of wisdom.
Hard Right would like to see you banned. My subordinates want to plan your next vacation at the foot of the Hindu Kush just for their own amusement. They are of the type that come from Military backgrounds and every time they relocated due to reassignments their first day at a new school was spent confronting schoolyard punks and bullies that needed a lesson on civility. Folks that come off like you do here.
You show up here with a collection of insults but no genuine complaints that bear conventional logic and are not supported by facts. I reckon that behaving like a horses ass is acceptable in your social circle. Being rude is of value to you in some quaint middle school arrested adolescent fashion. But like Hard Right, I would like to see you go wipe your backside elsewhere. I drop by here every now and again to laugh at little men like you that attempt to make your point with sniveling and insults. I’d rather have you scribbling your nonsense on an outhouse wall in your neighborhood than annoying folks here. That’s all the time I can spare you right now.
It is 39F, partly cloudy and 03:26 hrs in Kandahar, sunny skies and a high of 60F are expected.
Those are facts from my reality. I have a briefing in a couple of hours that is reality based, not the drivel that I hear from the Pretender in Chiefs mouth piece, Mr. Gibbs.
B-Rob
14 years ago
Flyover —
Another point. You said that Obama campaigned as a centrist. Maybe he did. But you cons SAID he was a Communist at worst, at least a Socialist, and most definately “the most liberal Senator in the Senate.” But he kicked serious a$$ in the election anyway, didn’t he? And his liberal party won the majority of governorships and strengthened their hold on both houses of Congress. How the hell is that NOT a shift to the left? And if it is not, by your definition, what the hell WOULD a shift to the left look like?
B-Rob
14 years ago
Mike, Mike, Mike . . . I am not going to try to compare resumes with you; mine is just as nice as yours . . . trust me. But back to the issue at hand, just a simple question:
Why didn’t you point out to the people here that more GOPers than Dems, whether in absolute numbers or percentages, were leaving Congress with their tails between their legs? Where is your intellectual honesty?
@B-Rob: If you think being an ACORN stooge is a resume enhancer then you are a bigger fool than I thought.
As for the rest of your spin, I’ve said it before: you’re only fooling yourself!
Now, go make yourself a nice cup of TEA!
Better get used to drinking that beverage!
B-Rob
14 years ago
And Mike, here is the other problem you cons have: You say I have “no credibility” for saying that cons want things to suck. Yet I said that in response to a guy who searched far and wide and cherry-picked to find articles that proclaimed that things actually DO suck. Your poster had already proven my point!
But I present to you the same question I asked before:
would you rather have 6% unemployment come late October (which will help the Dems) or keep it close to 10%?
Secretly, the GOP wants things to suck real bad, so they can blame it on Obama. but the numbers are turning his way, aren’t they?
Another thing: the number of GOPers jumping ship, if you think of it from a “futures” perspective, says that they think the Dems will have a good year in 2010. Just as no one would have guessed in 2008 that Barack Hussein Obama would wipe the map with the GOPers in 2010, no one is picking Dems to add seats in 2010 at this point. But the body count so far says “GOPers are in big trouble.” Maybe that upstate NY Congressional District turning Blue in the face of teabagger mania is a harbinger of things to come.
@B-Rob… by heavens, I’ve no idea what you have your office watercooler filled with…
1) What goes up must come down — unemployment spike higher and faster than predicted; now it is starting to slide at an equally fast rate
“an at equally fast rate”…. really? A .2 drop in employment between Oct-Nov is “equal” to the rise? Tell me about those not included in your magic BLS (should be “BS” number) that are falling thru the stat cracks because they are on one of the perpetual extensions Congress doles out like candy every few months? Or don’t those count for your rhetoric, and is merely a pesky fact easier to ignore?
And a bit premature, are you not? Two days… new employment figures. They dang sight better drop, as Nov’s did, because of seasonal hiring. Or don’t you figure seasonal into your rhetoric either?
2) Since Obama mentioned in March 2009 that the stock market was down too far and people should buy stocks, gues what happened? It went up close to 40%.
3) Bank stocks were tanking a year ago; now they are way up from where they were.
Missed that little factoid I mentioned that of course the banks and stocks are doing well… they’re all guaranteed for their losses by the taxpayer. And now that financial support is stealthily transferred in the back rooms from Bernanke’s Reserve to Geithner’s Treasury. Same money… all from us. With all that taxpayer cash pumped in, and free support, they damned well better be doing good. This and a dime won’t get your ghetto clientele a cup of coffee.
4) Oil prices, other commodities, food — all stable.
ummm… that’s why it’s up over $80 brl… stable, eh? And who pays for that in the end but the consumer. Gee… I feel so much better now. Considerably cheaper last year. Stable… about as stable as your thought patterns.
5) No swine flu pandemic.
You musta missed the Obama/Sebelius “fear” campaign for the non-epidemic.
6) Housing starts are turning around.
You’re way out of your expertise here, guy. Same concept as the banks. Housing bubble is trying to reinflate, courtesy of your POTUS and your Congress…. all on the taxpayers’ dime. But again, you won’t figure this out until your blindsided with truth in time. But I shall be here to remind you, when your values tank further and FHA/Fannie/Freddie all suck up more taxpayer “bailouts” (which Geithner conveniently managed to bypass Congress on in the 11th hour for the future by removing caps…) because all these new “improving” housing stats (not starts…. new construction STILL in the tank) turn toxic.
Can you say about 2-2.5% equity in 50% of all the loans this year? (That would be a 3.5% down FHA loan, but with 1% upfront MI one time fees refinanced back in). If they had to sell tomorrow, they are already upside down and toxic. Just wait til Bernanke raises the rates.
~~~
@IndieDogg, that was a stellar response to billy bob’s comment. However when you have someone on a hallucinogenic, believing this is an improving economy for anyone but finance, banks and wall street, you sometimes have to just wait for reality to catch up. It always does. Al Gore’s having an increasingly hard time convincing the world of global warming when it doesn’t happen.
It is, however, extremely offensive when a snake under a rock Chicago lawyer suggests that anyone who advocates fiscal responsibility and calls out for fiscal responsibility is “rooting” for failure, instead of sounding the “one if by land, two if by sea” alarm. All I can say is those that sounded like me are those that Founded this country in small government and fiscal responsibility. Those that share billy bob’s “social justice” progressive concepts of government cures live in Cuba, Venezuela, etal.
I think I’m in fine company. It’s billy bob who’s the fish out of water. So cast your personal insults Alinsky style all you want, billy bob. Repeat your lies until you are blue in your face… they still will be proven lies in time. And I’m quite patient to watch you eat your words, or try to cast further aspersions elsewhere.
I will, however, never forgive your kind for your concerted attempt to destroy a great Republic.
IndieDogg
14 years ago
Mata. You rule, with guns blazing. Well done. I believe we can change B-Rob’s name now to Mr. Crispy.
Now, I have a question, or an observation, that you can correct if I’m off base.
Those who came together to form this Republic were not “politicians” by trade. N’est pas, to honor the French for their aide, and their nice statue for the harbor.
If we remember that, it might help shine a light on the intent of these people as it is embodied in the Declaration and Constitution.
They were setting out rules by which they wanted to be governed.
They were not setting rules by which they would govern (and control) others.
On the other hand, people whose sole occupation in life is to “run” the country (even the thought is occasionally nauseating), of course, are inclined to find more ways to do their “job” and expand their “area of responsibility” — like most bureaucrats.
If we recall who the founders of this nation were and from whence they came, it might help us understand exactly how Lost in Space are the likes of Billy Bob, Pelosi and the Gang that Can’t Vote Straight.
B-Rob
14 years ago
Mata Harley —
I see you chimed in. My thoughts:
1) More con poo-pooing of the good numbers. It just proves my point.
2) and 3) — you don’t LIKE the fact that the stock market is doing well, but it is, isn’t it? Know what that means for pension portfolios and 401ks? It’s called “good news,” Daughter!
4) Food is down and I just paid in the $2.60 range for gas. A far cry from $4, when McCain argued that we should have a gas tax holiday, isn’t it?
5) Did we have a pandemic with 50,000 deaths, or didn’t we? No, we didn’t. This is called “good news.” Again, I know you wish it were not so, but there it is.
6) Housing . . . again, you are predicting utter chaos. I know you want it, but it is not looking like it is actually going to happen. Yes, it sucks to be a negativa diva, but there it is!
Fiscal responsibility my a$$. If you cons had had your way, no telling what would have happened to the economy. But thanks GAWD the voters did not sent McCain and Susie Sunshine to the White House.
Hey, I know it hurts. But face the facts: we are doing better now than we were a year ago. The worst is over and the economy, much to con chagrin, is improving. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, cons!
B-Rob
14 years ago
Old Trooper —
The person you called “Pretender in Chief” is the duly elected president, having won more than 350 electoral votes and more popular votes than any president EVER by the second largest margin EVER. It sucks to be the LOSER, but your side LOST. The voters spoke and they said “no more cons” — bigtime. Either get used to it, or move to another country with a president more to your liking.
B-Rob
14 years ago
IndieDogg and Mata —
Here’s another thing: you rail against socialism. Whatever. But when you use “European” as a put down, to people who have never left the holler, that might work. But anyone who actually KNOWS anything about Europe would say “Hmm . . . Europe’s not so bad.” THAT, my friends, is why the right is losing college educated adults: you are trying to convince them that something pretty decent is actually bad. It’s like saying to a heterosexual male “Salma Hayek is awful ugly, ain’t she?” Er, yeah . . . that’s a winner . . . .
unemployment spike higher and faster than predicted; now it is starting to slide at an equally fast rate
What color is the sky in your world?
We deal in facts, so here’s a graphic that may help you.
(I’ll have to apologize again for the fact that there wasn’t one done in crayon but perhaps you can muddle your way through. We grownups don’t frequently use Crayola or Rose Art.)
Notice the pretty line in the lighter blue color? That’s what the gov’t said would happen with no stimulus bill.
Notice the pretty line in the darker blue color? That’s what the gov’t said would happen with the stimulus bill.
Notice the pretty line in red? That’s what has really happened even with the stimulus. Yeah. The reality is that nothing the gov’t has said would happen has really happened.
By the way, Mr. ParaLegal2…you can go here to purchase one (or more) items from a fine line of consumer goods bearing the chart above.
With your special coffee mug and matching t-shirt you’re bound to be the most popular guy on the short bus. Heck, you might even score some extra attention in the Judge’s chambers too.
billy bob, you misconstrue. I fully celebrate any genuine gains that benefit pensioners and investors.
My difference with you is I recognize that is a gain with all risk shouldered by the taxpayers. Now, were I as blindly foolish as you as to believe that when the feds either yank out that rug of taxpayer support (when the Reserve pulls out, and the Treasury simply can’t overprint any more cash in the Reserve basements) that the stock market could hold it’s own, I would be fully ecstatic. Because, you see, you again lie that all of us wish for failure simply for political power. That would, instead, be the hallmark of your chosen party members…. I believe Iraq and Surge demonstrates that point adequately.
Again you “poo pooh”, as you say, financial analysts that are genuinely concerned about the stability of the economy and the markets once the taxpayer is no longer on the hook…. assuming (hopefully) that happens some day. If it doesn’t we’re all in bad juju.
So you once asked me the same question you asked Mike… would I prefer 6% unemployment or 10% in October prior to the midterms. I answered you genuinely with 6%, of course. However I, unlike you, do not listen to WH talking heads and media parrots when it comes to the economy.
At this point, I remained steadily tuned to the financial networks of all political stripes… Fox Business News, Bloomberg, Euro Squawk Box, BBC, even MSNBC’s biz channel. I have to say the the majority do not share your optimism because they follow the money, and know that the taxpayers pockets are not as deep as necessary to keep the banks and housing industry inflated as they have in the past.
As I said… time is on my side. Your mea culpas and eating your shorts will be welcomed at that time. But knowing you and your Alinsky rhetoric, hardly expected.
Last point… if you are so enthralled with European government structure, planes leave regularly from int’l airports. ta ta Other than that, don’t expect me to support changing my Republic for your Euro-socialist dream. And BTW… you may want to check out how Europe is doing financially.
billy bob… sigh… you just don’t know how to actually put out facts instead of talking points, do you?
4) Food is down and I just paid in the $2.60 range for gas. A far cry from $4, when McCain argued that we should have a gas tax holiday, isn’t it?
Glad you’re happy with that. It was $2.43 a year ago. What an improvement, eh? Oil and commodies started going *majorly* going up 1-2 days ago… and along with them will go the prices at the pump and our utilities. In fact, at today’s $83 per brl, compared to the $30’s per brl in Jan of last year, you should be thoroughly embarrassed at your “stable” comment. Get a grip.
I believe Aye cleaned your clock for you on the “equally” strong reduction in unemployment over a seasonal hiring season. Still no comment on all those living on extension not included, I see. An inconvenient fact.
5) Did we have a pandemic with 50,000 deaths, or didn’t we? No, we didn’t. This is called “good news.” Again, I know you wish it were not so, but there it is.
Now there’s a laugh. Never believed it was a pandemic. That was an Obama/Sebelius/CDC fear-mongering talking point. And you again prove you slithered out from under a rock by suggesting I wished for such. It is not my kind screaming for population control. Look to your own back yard.
You may also want to remember that despite all the fear-mongering of pandemic from YOUR eunuch in chief, antidotes were unavailable for all but a chosen few until after time proved that the pandemic scare YOUR president and cohorts proclaimed was pure bullshit. Good thing those death panels were thwarted by their own lies, eh? Over a year of warning, and they still couldn’t provide their own shots in time except for a few.
Housing? As I said, talking to someone who lives on LSD about economic analyses is like pissing into a nor’easter. Just you wait, ‘enry ‘higgins, just you wait. Time will evolve into reality, and you will have no other choice but to try to make up new lies to pass on.
In the meantime, the rest of us who’ve been trying to prevent this from happening… ala stop increasing the taxpayer risk, debt and interest on that debt… will be cursing you to your grave. May the strongest repercussions of what you refused to help stop lie in your own backyard.
Well, let’s see… how much time did BLOB get us to waste today?
More than his idiocy was worth to be sure.
Old Trooper
14 years ago
B-Rob, The Pretender is the TEMPORARY resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I have better than 29 YEARS invested in keeping Pseudo Intellectual phonies like You
Safe. Running my ranch back home brings me more income than Military pay as an O-6.
I pay more taxes in a year than you most likely make in a year and have seen residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come and go based upon elections. My Rank is Permanent.
Over almost 3 decades I deployed to places where Foreign Policy and Diplomacy poorly conducted fell on it’s ass because of poor judgment, bad decisions and ideologies based upon ignorance on the part of clowns in office. I don’t need a lecture from you on any subject.
Get over it Jocko. Obama is a phony and a one termer. Why was I recalled to Active Duty from Retirement if the Boy Wonder and his Band of Idiots had things so well in hand?
Things are not so well in hand here and no, it is not Bush’s fault. It was a hesitancy, lack of priorities, failure to take sound advice from Professionals that marks Obama as a rank amateur and a Pretender in all of the 57 States and abroad.
You don’t have to answer that. I know the answers and You quite frankly don’t.
Otherwise you would be running something other that a keyboard.
HOUSING STARTS: Privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000. This is 8.9% (±10.2%)* above the revised October estimate of 527,000, but is 12.4% (±9.1%) below the November 2008 rate of 655,000.Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 482,000; this is 2.1 percent (±9.2%)* above the revised October figure of 472,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 83,000.
BUILDING PERMITS: Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 584,000. This is 6.0% (±1.6%) above the revised October rate of 551,000, but is 7.3% (±1.8%) below the November 2008 estimate of 630,000.
Single-family authorizations in November were at a rate of 473,000; this is 5.3% (±1.1%) above the revised October figure of 449,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 86,000 in November.
WASHINGTON – The number of people preparing to buy a home in November fell sharply in the latest sign that the housing market, which had been rebounding strongly, may be headed for a “double-dip” downturn over the winter.
Consumers are taking their time following the extension of a tax credit deadline, and that is draining momentum from the summer’s recovery, according to data Tuesday from the National Association of Realtors. The figures echoed what homebuilders saw in November and showed how dependent the housing market is on government programs to lower interest rates and lure buyers with tax credits. If those programs expire as planned early this year, the housing market will have to stand on its own.
::snip::
The National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements fell 16 percent from October to a November reading of 96. It was the first decline following nine straight months of gains and the lowest reading since June.
The drop was far larger than the 2 percent expected from economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters, and analysts were surprised.
Let’s see what the spittle flecked fellationists over at the New York Times have to say shall we?
The financial crisis and Great Recession have their roots in the housing bust. When it comes, a lasting recovery will be evident in a housing rebound. Unfortunately, housing appears to be weakening anew.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Times Topics: Foreclosures | Housing
Figures released last week show that after four months of gains, home prices flattened in October. At that time, low mortgage rates (courtesy of the Federal Reserve) and a home buyer’s tax credit (courtesy of Congress) were fueling sales. That should have propped up prices. But it was not enough to overcome the drag created by a glut of 3.2 million new and existing unsold single-family homes — about a seven-month supply.
The situation, we fear, will only get worse in months to come. Rates already are starting to rise as lenders brace for the Fed to curtail support for mortgage lending as early as the end of March. The home buyer’s tax credit is scheduled to expire at the end of April. And a new flood of foreclosed homes is ready to hit the market.
It is increasingly clear that the Obama administration’s anti-foreclosure effort — which pressed lenders to reduce interest rates — isn’t doing nearly enough. High unemployment rates also mean that many borrowers who did qualify for aid have been unable to keep up with even reduced monthly payments.
As a result, an estimated 2.4 million foreclosed homes will be added to the existing glut in 2010, driving prices down by another 10 percent or so. That would bring the average decline nationwide to about 40 percent since the peak of the market in 2006.
::snip::
The economy is hard pressed to function, let alone thrive, when house prices are falling. As home equity erodes, consumer spending falls and foreclosures increase. Lenders lose the ability and willingness to extend credit and employers are disinclined to hire. True economic recovery is all but impossible.
::snip::
We wish we could proclaim a Happy New Year in housing. But until more is done to help struggling homeowners, the portents are not good.
Gas averages $2.91 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, B-Rob. So how is it that you paid a little more than 30 cents less than the national average? I don’t know, but it leads me to believe that it is you who might be the one fudging numbers for your own benefit. As for food, gonna have to disagree with you there. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a loaf of bread cost on average a little over $2.00 (Buck 97 without taxes, which vary by state) in 2009. Hard to believe that it was around $1.10 to $1.50 circa 1998 to 2008 according to the same source. Also, you’re confusing the market with the overall economy. Either that, or you’re changing the word from market to economy in all the recent news article about the rising market we’ve been seeing.
No, the United States economy is still not doing well. The market for December of 2009 had an “upswing” because of the holidays. People spent their money, and as a result, money began to circulate through the markets causing a spike in their numbers. And as our nations history shows, we can have a good market and still have a bad overall economy. As for the unemployment rate, it went down by a little bit, but it wasn’t anything significant. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad some people found work during the holiday season. However, a .17 percent reduction in unemployment during the holiday season is kind of small compared to that of other years, and would hardly be considered an easing of unemployment. Well, at least the members of the United States Congress won’t think so, and for very good reasons.
Overall, most companies are still laying people off. Recently, their was an article in Time magazine covering people who got laid off of work before the holidays. In it, Brenda Schultz, a manager of a U.S. postal service store in Mobile, Alabama discusses her disappointment with having to lay off some of her employees two weeks before Christmas. I just want to clarify that, the USPS is beating many other mail couriers in the market, yet still cutting hours and people. My point being with this story is that many businesses are still cutting their number of employees, and cutting the hours of the workers that they’re keeping. Besides, most places like the USPS are usually happy to hire extra hands in terms of part-time employees and seasonal workers. Yet, they haven’t been doing so this year (including the holiday season, which is unusual) for the most part, and they don’t have plans to do so for at least two or more fiscal quarters. So there is a good chance that the .17 percent might be in vain because the unemployment rate might go back to 10.17% or even higher.
Sadly, some economists do not think employment will make a full recovery until the year 2013, and if this comes true, that will lead to many other obstacles that we will have to face as Americans until then. Take for example how employment and the value of our dollar may impact one another. For each of the past four months, the U.S. dollar has reached a new 30 year according to the San Bernardino Chronicle paper released during the week of December 12th, 2009. At the same time, our performance as a nation to create jobs hasn’t been so good, and the average unemployment rate for 2009 loomed at around 9 percent or higher.
I am not trying to be a nuisance by complaining about anything. I know that there are many nations going through much more difficult circumstances economically, as well as in other ways. I am grateful that I can still continue a good education, have clothes on my back, and food that my family can share. However, despite the fact that there’s good news coming out of this country every week, I can’t possibly concur with you that the economy is “easing.” Mainly because everything that I had read overwhelmingly indicates otherwise. Healing? Hopefully it’ll happen very soon, but it may be too early to tell.
Ryan, kudos to you for again expressing yourself well, with eloquence, and taking a courteous high road to boot. You’re a better “mankind” than I am. I have little patience with those bent on turning us into a Euro-socialist country because they believe it superior. The very notion of such is an assault on our foundation. Dare I say it? Yes… UN American!
But then, it’s likely you never knew… being limited in your news searches. Unlike you, many of us see both sides, while you remain tunneled visioned on those that fit your ideology, and worship your back yard community organizer eunuch in chief hero.
Old Trooper… love hearing you remind those educated attorneys that Oval Office occupants are merely temporary stewards. We always hope they’d know… but then I guess that’s expecting too much.
BTW, Aye… allow me to thank you for @ putting into “pictures” the info for the reading challenged, like billy bob, that I have put into so many posts INRE the economics and housing forecasts. Truly you are becoming a “clocksmith” for cleaning the clocks of so many “parrots”, as Mike says.
Guess I should just make my future posts nothing but pictures, eh? We must, after all, appeal to the lowest common denominator. And our Chicago law school grad, billy bob, is a perfect example of such. LOL
Mata,
A propos a key change in the Senate, Rasmussen came out with a poll yesterday showing Scott Brown has closed the gap in Massachusetts to single digits! That special election is in two weeks. http://mlajoie2.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-can-brown-do-for-you-plenty.html
Now they can vote to screw America with impunity, and then get cushy jobs in the politburo as their rewards.
Good riddance to Dodd, an incompetent, corrupt statist hack and shameless thief that’s the very embodiment of everything wrong in DC today-
And as chairman of the Banking Committee, he is more than a little responsible for the entire subprime meltdown… while getting “VIP” deals from Countrywide for himself, then lying about it!
A real piece of work, this one- he needs to be in jail, not one day retired in that Irish cottage of his-
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/
Our local Tea Party steering committee met yesterday to discuss plans for the future: When to run our radio ads on health care, getting our PAC up and running, etc. There was some discussion on the subject of whether or not everything we have done has actually had any effect. Here’s what I sent them this morning:
Towanda!
@ John Cooper —
You wrote something that I find fascinating:
“In any war, a good technique to use against the enemy is called FUD – to instill Fear Uncertainty, and Doubt in the other side, by trying to convince them that their enemies are invincible and resistance is futile (to coin a phrase).”
You and your fellow teabaggers actually think you are at war . . . and based on what? Losing the presidential election? A half-spent stimulus package? A bank bailout that actually worked to stabilize the economy? A health reform package that is not even law yet?
So what will you do as the economy continues on it’s upward swing, unemployment continues to ease, and the fear lessens? What will you folks do to get back that fear that you admit you need to keep going?
Do you understand why you guys look like a bunch of nuts to the average American?
This state goes against and Liberal Democrats go against everything our country was founded on. The Democrats including Coakley are reducing our freedoms and rights. They want government to control every aspect of our life, no thanks. Millions of Americans have died so I can be free, even though I live in one of the most restrictive states on personal freedom.
It is proven that firearm safe storage laws and gun control laws are causing thousands of Americans their life. These laws have not reduced accidents or suicide but they are responsible for many, many deaths. Read John Lott’s book The Bias Against Guns for the facts/truth.
The facts show most violent crimes are committed by criminals with long histories of violence who should be in prison for life. Prosecutors like Coakley are always quick to cut deals with violent criminals so they can serve much less time than they should. They get out and hurt or kill again, this process keeps on repeating itself.
I have met Senator Scott Brown and he is one of the most sincere caring people I have ever met. He unlike the Democrats in this state listens to his constituents. Help turn this country around by voting in someone who is a true Patriot, strong leader and someone who actually has experience. Scott Brown has never voted for a tax increase and he will protect our rights. Please vote for Scott Brown.
@B-Rob:
You pick that up from Obama? Think you are cute? clever? Apparently Obama thought so when he used the term and like a fool you follow his lead.
The term, “teabagger” is discusting, vile, repulsive and ignorant as are those are that use it. You owe John Cooper and all in the Tea Party movement an apology. Doubt you have the integrity or decency to apologize. You don’t even respect yourself or you wouldn’t have used it in the first place.
http://onlineslangdictionary.com/definition+of/tea+bag
Another democrat bites the dust in Michigan’s Gov. race:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100106/POLITICS02/1060345/Cherry-s-exit-leaves-uncertainty-in-Democrats-primary-race
Allen West should have been a Presidential canidate for 2008 instead of McCain.
http://allenwestforcongress.com/
Oh and, he’s also a member of the Tea Party group if my memory is correct. And I have to agree with Missy on the name calling bit. B-Rob you paint yourself a pure fool by using insults and slurs against your opposition and it only discredits your position in an argument. You can name call, swear, and insult all you like but it will not justify your position at all as these are not facts but your personal opinions.
There is a difference between, “have-nots” and the “needy”. “Needy” are, as the tag suggests, in need of assistance due to events outside of their control. This assistance is generaly in the form of training or schooling to, “teach the man to fish” to get the “needy” back on their feet and no longer be a social burden on others. The “have-nots” are the group of people that have adopted a parasitic lifestyle and do NOT want to better themselves by living by their own means and skills but off of leeching the labors and wealth taken from the working class though taxation. The Tea Party groups are highly against supporting the, “have-nots” with massive taxation policies and grossly abused spending policies.
We, as a Nation, can not support current Entitlement programs and afford the new ones coming out in the Healthcare Reform bill simply by tax collection and the Democrats who are retiring or have jumped ship KNOW of this problem. Our National Government has had to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to afford to run current Wealthfare programs and to start up (but not maintain) the Healthcare reform bill’s spending. To be able to afford our current Entitlement programs and the new ones, there is only one solution and that is to have massive taxation on all Citizens and businesses. This is what the Tea Party supporters do NOT agree with. Every time you tax a business at a higher rate, its budget for the year is greatly reduced forcing a slew of things to happen:
1. Employee Layoff/Termination.
2. Capital/land selling (downsizing)
3. Higher prices tagged to final product/service
4. Liquidation of the Business, store closes shop for good. (far worse than Layoffs).
Our current Economical state is not healthy and imposing more taxation on a society already hurting for jobs, money, food, and shelter is not a wise move. The true solution is to have many of these bloated Entitlement programs collapse simply because there is no more money for them. When you punish those who do work for their lively hood by taking the bulk of their wealth away and give it to those who refuse to take care of themselves you will soon see either a revolt in one shape or form be it though exodus, voting powers, or physical reaction against you. The French Middle Class taught this lesson rather well to the aristocrats demanding more of the Middle Class’s wealth and fruits of labor to afford the bloatsome lifestyles of the aristocrat of that era. This Congress and White House are the modern Aristocrats who have lived far outside of their means for far too long as the rest of the nation is crumbling. What type of Revolt will happen, no one knows. Hopefuly it will be revolt though the voting booth and only just that. Our Nation can not survive a second Civil War.
Re: B-Rob #6
Your mis characterization of the tea party movement is patronizing and flat out wrong. They don’t look silly to the average American, they are the average American.
As for your predictions of an economic upswing, maybe, maybe not. While it is true, that our economic system is more powerful than the Zero’s attempt to destroy it, the recovery is far later in arrival than if we had followed an actual intelligent course of action, which would have been to allow the free market system to work. The recovery will be no where near decent, if the Zero’s economic policies are allowed to take hold. I believe you are misreading the Zero’s election as a political shift to the left by the entire country. I would remind you that the Zero and a compliant media actually ran a campaign of flat out deception. Obama was presented as a centrist, and actually claimed the mantle of being a tax reforming hawk when it suited him. Now that the American People are able to see this is untrue, he is losing support at a dizzying pace. Get ready for Henry Mancini’s, “Baby Elephant Walk,” in November. You are going to hear it alot.
Read and watch THIS!
Papa Ray
[courtesy embed by Mike’s America]
I think that many democrats will choose not to run to save the party. They will take cushy jobs with speaking engagements. They are banking on the fact that Americans are inherently fair and will take it out on them if they run, but will give another democrat who is not associated with this mess a chance. They think that the democrat challenger if he is unknown and new may actually appeal more to the electorate in their district than any Republican. They see themselves as sacrificial martyrs, probably still convinced that somehow the Democrats will hold on to the majority as long as there are bright shiny new faces. So I don’t think we should get too optimistic yet for the Republicans. If these democrats step down there will be a new race between a new Democrat who had nothing to do with the mess in Congress and a Republican who had nothing to do with the mess in Congress. So the race will be down to ideas, and who has a better plan. I hope the Republicans who are running in these districts remember that. They still have to win over the democrats and independents there.
@B-Rob: Oh shut up BLOB! You are such an ass!
Good grief! Do you really want me to toss back in your sorry face all the war/Hitler rhetoric you crazy left wing loons have used for the past 9 years?
And since when did you become an “average” American?
Oh Please!
@Flyovercountry: Just for you!
B-Bob wonders what we are at war against? Well, Bob, here’s what — the royalist-socialist mindset that has slaughtered millions in history — in just the past 100 years socialism has killed off some 100,000,000 people, Bob. That’s war, isn’t it? Isn’t killing people to win something a war of some sort? Sure it is, Bob. You are clueless as to what the socialists say — they (you too, Bob,) repeat incessantly that they (you too, Bob) are at war with free markets, individual rights, liberty and the right to pursue happiness and be left alone. The socialists have been screaming for years that they are at war with America. They said it back when the National Socialists ran Germany, and when the Soviet Socialists ran Russia, and the Chinese Socialists ran China — all the while killing anyone who disagreed.
That’s war, Bob. That’s the war we are fighting Bob.
And it’s part of that war to be taking money from those who earned it – -at the point of a gun or threat of imprisonment no less, — and give it to banks that should fail, business ideas that should go stimulate themselves, and all manner of other crackpot ideals of big government, that steals money from some to give to others that a third party decrees imperially that such largess is our “duty.” Yes, Bob, it’s a war on our labor (socialism enslaves) our time, our effort, our money, or lives, our property — you Bob are at war against the people of the United States, socialist that you are — and you want to keep up the full court press to defeat the inalienable rights of mankind so that you might bring Pharaoh back to life. Yes, Bob, you all declared war on reality, on reason, on math itself. You vow, as you leader does — to take no prisoners — for it was Obama himself who said “if they come with a knife, we’ll get a gun.” That’s a declaration of war Bob. By our own “president” mind you — who bought into the redistributionist “I know better than yourself how to live your life and spend your money” socialist crud. What do we know about our own selves — that’s the message that socialists give and say they are at peace as they wage war. And it is War, Bob. Your own creed declares it so.
And now that we know which side you are on, well, that just makes it easy eh?
Alas for you all, you Bobs one and all, is that while your leader does not see the war of Islam against us, and you do not see the war you are waging for what it is — war — We the People — average Americans to you — do see it. Hitler, Stalin, Mao did not see what they were doing as war — they saw it as hope, change and audacious planning for the future. It’s your burden, Bob, but War it is — as even Lenin himself said — diplomacy is war by other means. So be it, Bob. Be diplomatic – -but we know you are at war with America.
Well put, @Jim Hlavac. But if you’re banking on billy bob being a supporter of the Republic as created by our Constitution, you’ve gotten in line with the wrong teller.
Me? I’m still roaring over this comment of billy bob’s
The multiplicity of irony here is simply delicious…. first, if there was ever a fear inducing POTUS and Congress, it’s been Obama/Pelosi/Reid. “pass this now, spend this now, or we’re doomed….” Yeah, no fear there.
Second, the notion that Wall Street and housing, propped up by the taxpayers’ cash, is the sign of a rebounding economy is downright hilarious. The party of the little blue collar guy, making Wall Street and the financial world profitable (on the backs of the taxpayer), is a dichotomy lost on the billy bob’s of the world. Proof positive the ACORN doesn’t fall from from the tree filled with other nuts.
Third and last, the pipe dream of an economy on the upswing appears difficult to impress upon the billy bob’s. Must be the bright glare of stars in their eyes, I guess. Unfortunately time is the ultimate proving ground. And while billy bob is always assured of work as a lawyer in our society, the same cannot be said for free enterprise that doesn’t depend on exploitation of others in distress for making a living.
In Colorado, Ritter was destined to be roadkill in November. Though Ritter said his decision not to seek re-election was for family considerations, he was seen as a very weak incumbent. Many Colorado Dems were quite nervous about keeping the seat. Several informal polls had Ritter trailing badly against Scott McInnis, the presumed Republican gubernatorial nominee by 15-20 points. Ritter was also trailing businessman Dan Maes, another Republican candidate with limited name recognition. You can say the writing was on the wall.
Being a one-term governor in Colorado is a bit unusual. Former Gov John Vanderhoof was the last one-term governor back in the early 1970s. However, Vanderhoof was seeking election to his first full term since he was finishing Gov John Love’s term. (Love had become Nixon’s energy advisor.) Though Vanderhoof was seen as a very likeable and very competent, he fell victim to the Democratic tide in the 1974 mid-term elections. Unfortunately, a roster of communists pretending to be Democrats swept all of the statewide positions back then. The Republicans narrowly retained control of the legislature.
BECK NAILS IT TODAY
Considering how bad things are going for the DNC, Democrats have only last card to play before 2010 elections: RACISM.
They’ll bring up the immigration issue again and will try to split the populace (plus jazz up the base).
@B-Rob: I found this comment repulsive. No where have I heard Tea Party members call themselves “tea baggers”. This is a derogatory term that the media has used to denigrate people who are fed up with both parties. They are fed up with the lobbying, the greed, and corruption in government. They are fed up with the politicians spending away their childrens futures on frivolous pork projects. They are fed up with the constant lying. Yes, this discontent has been growing a long time. I imagine that it has been there during the Reagan years, the Clinton years, the Bush years, and now the Obama years, and like all movements, the seeds were there, and now they are finally coming to fruit. It has happened in this country. The straw has finally broken the camel’s back. Now as a result, the Tea party is taking root. To denigrate them is to ignore years of frustration, and to assume that they are just now having problems. And that is what the liberals in town forget.
Count me as a proud tea-bagger. And those Charlie Browns like B-Rob are my tea-baggee’s. Savor the experience B-Rob – I’m sure it’s not your first nor last.
Time to ban b-rob? If it were up to me I would, but I’m not as nice as the authors/mods.
As for fear mongering, for 8 years we heard the left scream that the Patriot Act would be used to drag us from our homes and violate our rightts. That by killing terrorists we were making things worse. That Bush would not peacefully give up power, blah, blah, blah.
As for the “economic recovery.”
U.S. pending home sales down in November
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2010/01/04/daily11.html
House Prices Will Not Recover Until 2016
http://ezinearticles.com/?House-Prices-Will-Not-Recover-Until-2016&id=2395555
Why some economists think the U.S. recession isn’t over
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/why-some-economists-think-the-us-recession-isnt-over/article1418586/
Why Employment Might Not Fully Recover Until 2013
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/maximum-utility/the-long-road-to-recovery-2/120/
Now b-rob go elsewhere you mentally ill, hateful, leftist troll.
B-Rob said; “So what will you do as the economy continues on it’s upward swing, unemployment continues to ease, and the fear lessens? What will you folks do to get back that fear that you admit you need to keep going?”
Actually, none of these things are happening. It is the markets that are up, not the economy. The economy is still doing poorly and it looks like this trend will continue on for a little bit longer. Besides, the “upswing” in the market could possibly be caused by the holidays since many people were spending their money. It has nothing to do with Obama and most intelligent people won’t give him any credit for it.
As for unemployment, a .17 percent drop in December is not considered easing. Many places that usually hire part-time and seasonal workers have no plans to do so in the next two fiscal quarters. Plus, they are still laying people off and cutting the hours of some seasoned career workers. In short, the small amount of jobs created this month doesn’t make up for the jobs are being lost or will be lost. Another problem that will continue to hit us hard is the fact that the dollar has reached a new 30 year low each month for the last four.
I know, in petulance, you will consider me a fear monger. However, I just try to stay on top of what is going on around me. And with what I am finding, I have plenty or reasons to take your comment with a grain of salt.
I am not doubting that there are still many things to be happy about. After all, I can’t complain because my friends and me are still receiving an education, we still have clothes on our backs, and we still have food to eat. In my view, that is plenty, but it hardly does enough to cast a rose tinted picture on the struggling economics this country is facing.
Dropping like flies, huh? Let’s see . . .
Out of 178 House Republicans, 14 are retiring — 7.9%
Out of 256 Democratic House members, 10 are retiring — 3.9%
Out of 40 GOPer Senators, 6 Senate Republicans are retiring — that’s 15%
2 Democrats out of 58 are retiring — 3.4%
In the states, 3 Democrats have opted against reelection to governorships out of the 27 seats held by Dems — 11%
Of the 23 GOPers, 4 are leaving — 17%
Yes, folks, you are correct. “They” are dropping like flies and the rats are fleeing the ship. Only it is the minority party GOPers who are taking a hike, not the Dems!
I know, as Colbert put it, “facts have a liberal bias” — but your people are bordering on delusional!
@ Tammy L —
I think your are not paying much attention
http://www.teabagcongress.com/
http://www.americanconservativedaily.com/2009/03/tea-bag-this-is-for-real-something-we-can-do/
The nutty right chose to use the phrase “tea bag Congress” . . . hence they are “TEABAGGERS” by their own choice. I did not tell them to use a phrase that had a most unfortunate but humorous secondary meaning. They did that all by themselves. It’s up there with the signs at the teabag parties that say stuff like “Immigrants shuld learn English” or “Keep your government hands off my Medicare”: it is ignorance on display, a self inflicted wound that basically tells you the mentality of the participants.
Another one . . .
http://www.reteaparty.com/2009/02/27/rick-santelli-is-as-mad-as-hell-chicago-tea-party/
“Tea Bag the Fools in Congress” . . . indeed . . . .
@B-Rob: Surprising it took you and your sponsor George Soros so long to come up with those parrot points for you.
Speaking of parrots, did you get your cracker?
You’re a day late and a dollar short as usual.
@ Flyovercountry and Hard Right —
Look, I know you guys hope unemployment stays high and people are out of work and desparate and fearful. Because like John Cooper mentioned, you WANT fear out there. But the problem for you folks is simple:
1) What goes up must come down — unemployment spike higher and faster than predicted; now it is starting to slide at an equally fast rate.
2) Since Obama mentioned in March 2009 that the stock market was down too far and people should buy stocks, gues what happened? It went up close to 40%.
3) Bank stocks were tanking a year ago; now they are way up from where they were.
4) Oil prices, other commodities, food — all stable.
5) No swine flu pandemic.
6) Housing starts are turning around.
7) We had decent Christmas sales numbers even though the weather sucked. That means . . .
8) Consumer confidence is starting to improve.
I know this good news really SUCKS for you guys. Each additional employed person able to make their rent or mortgage payment is one less potential teabagger. And if those unemployed individuals actually realized that it was the stimulus package you hate that gave them the COBRA subsidy that they otherwise would not have had (you know . . . the difference between having health insurance at $300 per month or having none because it was $1,000 per month) . . . again, one less potential teabagger.
It is hard to convince people that Obama is taking the country to hell in a handbasket when unemployment is dropping and the economy is growing. Which is why you wingnuts are so damned fearful of more good news coming out between now and November, and why you cheer each additional terrorist attempt. (Heck, GOPers were even RAISING MONEY off that failed undie-bomber. How tasteful!)
@B-Rob accused: “I know you guys hope unemployment stays high and people are out of work and desparate and fearful. ”
WRONG AGAIN!!!
What an ASS you are!
Rather than deal with the substance of the issues, you follow the tested Obama technique of erecting straw men arguments.
Your intellectual dishonesty is SO transparent to all but yourself.
P.S. Speaking of the Swine Flu scare, WHO was it that was making the scare?
You have ZERO credibility BLOB!
@ Mike’s America —
I am betting that ole Zbig never taught you how to convert numbers into percentages, did he? If he did, then you should have said to your fellow cons here “Er, folks, don’t want to pee in the lemonade, but MORE GOPERS are leaving than Dems.” I did not even include the two left leaning Senate independents when I calculate those percentages. if I did, then it would be only 3.33% of Dems . . . less than a third the percentage of GOPers leaving the Senate.
Why didn’t you point out the obvious flaw in this analysis, Mike? You are a smart guy . . . surely you knew your posters were holding onto false hopes. And why didn’t you point out that Dick Blumenthal appears to be a much stronger Dem candidate in Conn. than Chris Dodd? Is this site all about mass-self-delusion?
To R-Bob and others of like ilk.
It astounds me that you folks continue to assert, as if it’s accepted fact, that people who care about limited government and fiscal responsibility are “nut jobs” to “average Americans.”
If that’s true, it seems odd that the group of voters currently surging or leading in polls of affiliation and/or identification is the “Independent” voter.
It certainly isn’t the Democratic party and, honestly, isn’t the Republican party, though the R’s and the D’s are currently moving in opposite directions on the charts.
The group that is surging is the mass of what I call “independent thinkers.” A/k/a, Independent voters.
I don’t know what you call an “average” American. It’s a term thrown around a lot but without any specific meaning. Average what? Height? Income? Age? Color? Intelligence?
I’d prefer to be an “Exceptional American” but, be that as it may, neither you nor your fellow blinders wearers have been authorized to assume the mantle of “Average American” so as to speak for “their” thoughts, wishes or preferences, claim it all you might.
Or, to be more down home about it, ‘That dog just won’t hunt.’
@B-Rob: I learned quite a few things at Columbia University BLOB. Not all of it from Zbig.
Maybe if you had gone to a better law school you might understand.
But I doubt it.
You reek of delusion and panic.
B-Rob, Some of US are at War. Some of You live under the umbrella of Safety that others provide.
Your “reality” is not ours. I still find your comments and bar room language to be both abrasive and purposefully obnoxious. Some of the folks on the night shift at the Kandahar JOC would be happy to take you out about 120Km northeast of here and just drop you off to see the war and leave you at the tender mercies of some folks that believe they are at war with America and could give you a short lesson on that subject.
From what I see and hear the US Economy has it’s a$$ in a sling despite the deceitfully jolly links you post here and the views of our European Allies on the value of US currency in the World Market are in dispute with yours. The Chinese and Japan are so heavily invested in US Bonds that they honestly don’t want the US to fail but are hesitant to back any more US Debt. Despite the Federal Funds handed out to Banks, they are reluctant to loan money back home from what I read.
Fannie & Freddie have been in distress for some time due to the lack of oversight on the part of Democrat Congress for a couple of years now. Look for the price of Oil to go up again soon due
to Obama’s failed Foreign Policies and a lack of development of US energy resources. Team Obama does not understand Economics and neither do you quite obviously if you believe the BS links that you cast out here like nuggets of wisdom.
Hard Right would like to see you banned. My subordinates want to plan your next vacation at the foot of the Hindu Kush just for their own amusement. They are of the type that come from Military backgrounds and every time they relocated due to reassignments their first day at a new school was spent confronting schoolyard punks and bullies that needed a lesson on civility. Folks that come off like you do here.
You show up here with a collection of insults but no genuine complaints that bear conventional logic and are not supported by facts. I reckon that behaving like a horses ass is acceptable in your social circle. Being rude is of value to you in some quaint middle school arrested adolescent fashion. But like Hard Right, I would like to see you go wipe your backside elsewhere. I drop by here every now and again to laugh at little men like you that attempt to make your point with sniveling and insults. I’d rather have you scribbling your nonsense on an outhouse wall in your neighborhood than annoying folks here. That’s all the time I can spare you right now.
It is 39F, partly cloudy and 03:26 hrs in Kandahar, sunny skies and a high of 60F are expected.
Those are facts from my reality. I have a briefing in a couple of hours that is reality based, not the drivel that I hear from the Pretender in Chiefs mouth piece, Mr. Gibbs.
Flyover —
Another point. You said that Obama campaigned as a centrist. Maybe he did. But you cons SAID he was a Communist at worst, at least a Socialist, and most definately “the most liberal Senator in the Senate.” But he kicked serious a$$ in the election anyway, didn’t he? And his liberal party won the majority of governorships and strengthened their hold on both houses of Congress. How the hell is that NOT a shift to the left? And if it is not, by your definition, what the hell WOULD a shift to the left look like?
Mike, Mike, Mike . . . I am not going to try to compare resumes with you; mine is just as nice as yours . . . trust me. But back to the issue at hand, just a simple question:
Why didn’t you point out to the people here that more GOPers than Dems, whether in absolute numbers or percentages, were leaving Congress with their tails between their legs? Where is your intellectual honesty?
@B-Rob: If you think being an ACORN stooge is a resume enhancer then you are a bigger fool than I thought.
As for the rest of your spin, I’ve said it before: you’re only fooling yourself!
Now, go make yourself a nice cup of TEA!
Better get used to drinking that beverage!
And Mike, here is the other problem you cons have: You say I have “no credibility” for saying that cons want things to suck. Yet I said that in response to a guy who searched far and wide and cherry-picked to find articles that proclaimed that things actually DO suck. Your poster had already proven my point!
But I present to you the same question I asked before:
would you rather have 6% unemployment come late October (which will help the Dems) or keep it close to 10%?
Secretly, the GOP wants things to suck real bad, so they can blame it on Obama. but the numbers are turning his way, aren’t they?
Another thing: the number of GOPers jumping ship, if you think of it from a “futures” perspective, says that they think the Dems will have a good year in 2010. Just as no one would have guessed in 2008 that Barack Hussein Obama would wipe the map with the GOPers in 2010, no one is picking Dems to add seats in 2010 at this point. But the body count so far says “GOPers are in big trouble.” Maybe that upstate NY Congressional District turning Blue in the face of teabagger mania is a harbinger of things to come.
@B-Rob… by heavens, I’ve no idea what you have your office watercooler filled with…
“an at equally fast rate”…. really? A .2 drop in employment between Oct-Nov is “equal” to the rise? Tell me about those not included in your magic BLS (should be “BS” number) that are falling thru the stat cracks because they are on one of the perpetual extensions Congress doles out like candy every few months? Or don’t those count for your rhetoric, and is merely a pesky fact easier to ignore?
And a bit premature, are you not? Two days… new employment figures. They dang sight better drop, as Nov’s did, because of seasonal hiring. Or don’t you figure seasonal into your rhetoric either?
Missed that little factoid I mentioned that of course the banks and stocks are doing well… they’re all guaranteed for their losses by the taxpayer. And now that financial support is stealthily transferred in the back rooms from Bernanke’s Reserve to Geithner’s Treasury. Same money… all from us. With all that taxpayer cash pumped in, and free support, they damned well better be doing good. This and a dime won’t get your ghetto clientele a cup of coffee.
ummm… that’s why it’s up over $80 brl… stable, eh? And who pays for that in the end but the consumer. Gee… I feel so much better now. Considerably cheaper last year. Stable… about as stable as your thought patterns.
You musta missed the Obama/Sebelius “fear” campaign for the non-epidemic.
You’re way out of your expertise here, guy. Same concept as the banks. Housing bubble is trying to reinflate, courtesy of your POTUS and your Congress…. all on the taxpayers’ dime. But again, you won’t figure this out until your blindsided with truth in time. But I shall be here to remind you, when your values tank further and FHA/Fannie/Freddie all suck up more taxpayer “bailouts” (which Geithner conveniently managed to bypass Congress on in the 11th hour for the future by removing caps…) because all these new “improving” housing stats (not starts…. new construction STILL in the tank) turn toxic.
Can you say about 2-2.5% equity in 50% of all the loans this year? (That would be a 3.5% down FHA loan, but with 1% upfront MI one time fees refinanced back in). If they had to sell tomorrow, they are already upside down and toxic. Just wait til Bernanke raises the rates.
~~~
@IndieDogg, that was a stellar response to billy bob’s comment. However when you have someone on a hallucinogenic, believing this is an improving economy for anyone but finance, banks and wall street, you sometimes have to just wait for reality to catch up. It always does. Al Gore’s having an increasingly hard time convincing the world of global warming when it doesn’t happen.
It is, however, extremely offensive when a snake under a rock Chicago lawyer suggests that anyone who advocates fiscal responsibility and calls out for fiscal responsibility is “rooting” for failure, instead of sounding the “one if by land, two if by sea” alarm. All I can say is those that sounded like me are those that Founded this country in small government and fiscal responsibility. Those that share billy bob’s “social justice” progressive concepts of government cures live in Cuba, Venezuela, etal.
I think I’m in fine company. It’s billy bob who’s the fish out of water. So cast your personal insults Alinsky style all you want, billy bob. Repeat your lies until you are blue in your face… they still will be proven lies in time. And I’m quite patient to watch you eat your words, or try to cast further aspersions elsewhere.
I will, however, never forgive your kind for your concerted attempt to destroy a great Republic.
Mata. You rule, with guns blazing. Well done. I believe we can change B-Rob’s name now to Mr. Crispy.
Now, I have a question, or an observation, that you can correct if I’m off base.
Those who came together to form this Republic were not “politicians” by trade. N’est pas, to honor the French for their aide, and their nice statue for the harbor.
If we remember that, it might help shine a light on the intent of these people as it is embodied in the Declaration and Constitution.
They were setting out rules by which they wanted to be governed.
They were not setting rules by which they would govern (and control) others.
On the other hand, people whose sole occupation in life is to “run” the country (even the thought is occasionally nauseating), of course, are inclined to find more ways to do their “job” and expand their “area of responsibility” — like most bureaucrats.
If we recall who the founders of this nation were and from whence they came, it might help us understand exactly how Lost in Space are the likes of Billy Bob, Pelosi and the Gang that Can’t Vote Straight.
Mata Harley —
I see you chimed in. My thoughts:
1) More con poo-pooing of the good numbers. It just proves my point.
2) and 3) — you don’t LIKE the fact that the stock market is doing well, but it is, isn’t it? Know what that means for pension portfolios and 401ks? It’s called “good news,” Daughter!
4) Food is down and I just paid in the $2.60 range for gas. A far cry from $4, when McCain argued that we should have a gas tax holiday, isn’t it?
5) Did we have a pandemic with 50,000 deaths, or didn’t we? No, we didn’t. This is called “good news.” Again, I know you wish it were not so, but there it is.
6) Housing . . . again, you are predicting utter chaos. I know you want it, but it is not looking like it is actually going to happen. Yes, it sucks to be a negativa diva, but there it is!
Fiscal responsibility my a$$. If you cons had had your way, no telling what would have happened to the economy. But thanks GAWD the voters did not sent McCain and Susie Sunshine to the White House.
Hey, I know it hurts. But face the facts: we are doing better now than we were a year ago. The worst is over and the economy, much to con chagrin, is improving. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, cons!
Old Trooper —
The person you called “Pretender in Chief” is the duly elected president, having won more than 350 electoral votes and more popular votes than any president EVER by the second largest margin EVER. It sucks to be the LOSER, but your side LOST. The voters spoke and they said “no more cons” — bigtime. Either get used to it, or move to another country with a president more to your liking.
IndieDogg and Mata —
Here’s another thing: you rail against socialism. Whatever. But when you use “European” as a put down, to people who have never left the holler, that might work. But anyone who actually KNOWS anything about Europe would say “Hmm . . . Europe’s not so bad.” THAT, my friends, is why the right is losing college educated adults: you are trying to convince them that something pretty decent is actually bad. It’s like saying to a heterosexual male “Salma Hayek is awful ugly, ain’t she?” Er, yeah . . . that’s a winner . . . .
What color is the sky in your world?
We deal in facts, so here’s a graphic that may help you.
(I’ll have to apologize again for the fact that there wasn’t one done in crayon but perhaps you can muddle your way through. We grownups don’t frequently use Crayola or Rose Art.)
Notice the pretty line in the lighter blue color? That’s what the gov’t said would happen with no stimulus bill.
Notice the pretty line in the darker blue color? That’s what the gov’t said would happen with the stimulus bill.
Notice the pretty line in red? That’s what has really happened even with the stimulus. Yeah. The reality is that nothing the gov’t has said would happen has really happened.
By the way, Mr. ParaLegal2…you can go here to purchase one (or more) items from a fine line of consumer goods bearing the chart above.
With your special coffee mug and matching t-shirt you’re bound to be the most popular guy on the short bus. Heck, you might even score some extra attention in the Judge’s chambers too.
Someone mentioned Blumenthal?
Here he is getting PWND by none other than Glenn Beck.
Roll the tape:
billy bob, you misconstrue. I fully celebrate any genuine gains that benefit pensioners and investors.
My difference with you is I recognize that is a gain with all risk shouldered by the taxpayers. Now, were I as blindly foolish as you as to believe that when the feds either yank out that rug of taxpayer support (when the Reserve pulls out, and the Treasury simply can’t overprint any more cash in the Reserve basements) that the stock market could hold it’s own, I would be fully ecstatic. Because, you see, you again lie that all of us wish for failure simply for political power. That would, instead, be the hallmark of your chosen party members…. I believe Iraq and Surge demonstrates that point adequately.
Again you “poo pooh”, as you say, financial analysts that are genuinely concerned about the stability of the economy and the markets once the taxpayer is no longer on the hook…. assuming (hopefully) that happens some day. If it doesn’t we’re all in bad juju.
So you once asked me the same question you asked Mike… would I prefer 6% unemployment or 10% in October prior to the midterms. I answered you genuinely with 6%, of course. However I, unlike you, do not listen to WH talking heads and media parrots when it comes to the economy.
At this point, I remained steadily tuned to the financial networks of all political stripes… Fox Business News, Bloomberg, Euro Squawk Box, BBC, even MSNBC’s biz channel. I have to say the the majority do not share your optimism because they follow the money, and know that the taxpayers pockets are not as deep as necessary to keep the banks and housing industry inflated as they have in the past.
As I said… time is on my side. Your mea culpas and eating your shorts will be welcomed at that time. But knowing you and your Alinsky rhetoric, hardly expected.
Last point… if you are so enthralled with European government structure, planes leave regularly from int’l airports. ta ta Other than that, don’t expect me to support changing my Republic for your Euro-socialist dream. And BTW… you may want to check out how Europe is doing financially.
billy bob… sigh… you just don’t know how to actually put out facts instead of talking points, do you?
Glad you’re happy with that. It was $2.43 a year ago. What an improvement, eh? Oil and commodies started going *majorly* going up 1-2 days ago… and along with them will go the prices at the pump and our utilities. In fact, at today’s $83 per brl, compared to the $30’s per brl in Jan of last year, you should be thoroughly embarrassed at your “stable” comment. Get a grip.
I believe Aye cleaned your clock for you on the “equally” strong reduction in unemployment over a seasonal hiring season. Still no comment on all those living on extension not included, I see. An inconvenient fact.
Now there’s a laugh. Never believed it was a pandemic. That was an Obama/Sebelius/CDC fear-mongering talking point. And you again prove you slithered out from under a rock by suggesting I wished for such. It is not my kind screaming for population control. Look to your own back yard.
You may also want to remember that despite all the fear-mongering of pandemic from YOUR eunuch in chief, antidotes were unavailable for all but a chosen few until after time proved that the pandemic scare YOUR president and cohorts proclaimed was pure bullshit. Good thing those death panels were thwarted by their own lies, eh? Over a year of warning, and they still couldn’t provide their own shots in time except for a few.
Housing? As I said, talking to someone who lives on LSD about economic analyses is like pissing into a nor’easter. Just you wait, ‘enry ‘higgins, just you wait. Time will evolve into reality, and you will have no other choice but to try to make up new lies to pass on.
In the meantime, the rest of us who’ve been trying to prevent this from happening… ala stop increasing the taxpayer risk, debt and interest on that debt… will be cursing you to your grave. May the strongest repercussions of what you refused to help stop lie in your own backyard.
Well, let’s see… how much time did BLOB get us to waste today?
More than his idiocy was worth to be sure.
B-Rob, The Pretender is the TEMPORARY resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I have better than 29 YEARS invested in keeping Pseudo Intellectual phonies like You
Safe. Running my ranch back home brings me more income than Military pay as an O-6.
I pay more taxes in a year than you most likely make in a year and have seen residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come and go based upon elections. My Rank is Permanent.
Over almost 3 decades I deployed to places where Foreign Policy and Diplomacy poorly conducted fell on it’s ass because of poor judgment, bad decisions and ideologies based upon ignorance on the part of clowns in office. I don’t need a lecture from you on any subject.
Get over it Jocko. Obama is a phony and a one termer. Why was I recalled to Active Duty from Retirement if the Boy Wonder and his Band of Idiots had things so well in hand?
Things are not so well in hand here and no, it is not Bush’s fault. It was a hesitancy, lack of priorities, failure to take sound advice from Professionals that marks Obama as a rank amateur and a Pretender in all of the 57 States and abroad.
You don’t have to answer that. I know the answers and You quite frankly don’t.
Otherwise you would be running something other that a keyboard.
Really?
Hmmmm……
Dayum!
Don’t you just hate it when the facts get in the way of a good story?
Well, let’s see what’s really happening vs. your blathering:
From the eager water carriers over at AP:
Let’s see what the spittle flecked fellationists over at the New York Times have to say shall we?
I’m sorry….What were you saying again?
Gas averages $2.91 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, B-Rob. So how is it that you paid a little more than 30 cents less than the national average? I don’t know, but it leads me to believe that it is you who might be the one fudging numbers for your own benefit. As for food, gonna have to disagree with you there. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a loaf of bread cost on average a little over $2.00 (Buck 97 without taxes, which vary by state) in 2009. Hard to believe that it was around $1.10 to $1.50 circa 1998 to 2008 according to the same source. Also, you’re confusing the market with the overall economy. Either that, or you’re changing the word from market to economy in all the recent news article about the rising market we’ve been seeing.
No, the United States economy is still not doing well. The market for December of 2009 had an “upswing” because of the holidays. People spent their money, and as a result, money began to circulate through the markets causing a spike in their numbers. And as our nations history shows, we can have a good market and still have a bad overall economy. As for the unemployment rate, it went down by a little bit, but it wasn’t anything significant. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad some people found work during the holiday season. However, a .17 percent reduction in unemployment during the holiday season is kind of small compared to that of other years, and would hardly be considered an easing of unemployment. Well, at least the members of the United States Congress won’t think so, and for very good reasons.
Overall, most companies are still laying people off. Recently, their was an article in Time magazine covering people who got laid off of work before the holidays. In it, Brenda Schultz, a manager of a U.S. postal service store in Mobile, Alabama discusses her disappointment with having to lay off some of her employees two weeks before Christmas. I just want to clarify that, the USPS is beating many other mail couriers in the market, yet still cutting hours and people. My point being with this story is that many businesses are still cutting their number of employees, and cutting the hours of the workers that they’re keeping. Besides, most places like the USPS are usually happy to hire extra hands in terms of part-time employees and seasonal workers. Yet, they haven’t been doing so this year (including the holiday season, which is unusual) for the most part, and they don’t have plans to do so for at least two or more fiscal quarters. So there is a good chance that the .17 percent might be in vain because the unemployment rate might go back to 10.17% or even higher.
Sadly, some economists do not think employment will make a full recovery until the year 2013, and if this comes true, that will lead to many other obstacles that we will have to face as Americans until then. Take for example how employment and the value of our dollar may impact one another. For each of the past four months, the U.S. dollar has reached a new 30 year according to the San Bernardino Chronicle paper released during the week of December 12th, 2009. At the same time, our performance as a nation to create jobs hasn’t been so good, and the average unemployment rate for 2009 loomed at around 9 percent or higher.
I am not trying to be a nuisance by complaining about anything. I know that there are many nations going through much more difficult circumstances economically, as well as in other ways. I am grateful that I can still continue a good education, have clothes on my back, and food that my family can share. However, despite the fact that there’s good news coming out of this country every week, I can’t possibly concur with you that the economy is “easing.” Mainly because everything that I had read overwhelmingly indicates otherwise. Healing? Hopefully it’ll happen very soon, but it may be too early to tell.
Ryan, kudos to you for again expressing yourself well, with eloquence, and taking a courteous high road to boot. You’re a better “mankind” than I am. I have little patience with those bent on turning us into a Euro-socialist country because they believe it superior. The very notion of such is an assault on our foundation. Dare I say it? Yes… UN American!
BTW, oh emerged snake from under rock… you never weighed in on Europe, and how well you think your Euro-socialist countries are doing.
But then, it’s likely you never knew… being limited in your news searches. Unlike you, many of us see both sides, while you remain tunneled visioned on those that fit your ideology, and worship your back yard community organizer eunuch in chief hero.
Old Trooper… love hearing you remind those educated attorneys that Oval Office occupants are merely temporary stewards. We always hope they’d know… but then I guess that’s expecting too much.
BTW, Aye… allow me to thank you for @ putting into “pictures” the info for the reading challenged, like billy bob, that I have put into so many posts INRE the economics and housing forecasts. Truly you are becoming a “clocksmith” for cleaning the clocks of so many “parrots”, as Mike says.
Guess I should just make my future posts nothing but pictures, eh? We must, after all, appeal to the lowest common denominator. And our Chicago law school grad, billy bob, is a perfect example of such. LOL