February 26, 2009

DN Column - The Great Hypnotist

I was stumbling through a really unconvincing column about how climate change is happening now, not waiting for a children and grandchildren, and we need to take our heads out of the sand and do something about it before we ruin the world (so more) blah, blah, blah. Then the President came on television and isn't he such a helpful soul? He gave me something to write about. One job down - 8,999,999 to go.

Oh, and check out the first comment. I really hope that is a joke, in which case it's a pretty damn good bit of satire. But I suspect it's not and I feel really bad for the person who holds that much hate and delusion inside. I will hold them in my heart during meditation, right next to the Westboro Baptist Church, and send them all my best karma and I hope everyone else will do the same.

Obama’s speech makes another believer

Also, read Kyle's Liberal professors don’t make left-leaning students and Sarah's Lifestyle changes reveal true friends. What a talented bunch!

Enjoy!

5 comments:

john said...

Obama makes me sad. These "stimulus packages" will NOT help the economy. The jobs created will be few and far between. Investors make jobs. The government has never been able to employ a significant part of the economy since WWII. If the "stimulus packages" were actually going to do ANY good, Wallstreet would know it and stock prices would go up. What these $2,000,000,000,000 of spending will do is saddle the economy with a bigger government interest payment. That hurts the economy, just like paying credit card interest hurts a person's budget. And THEN, he has the nerve to say he is going to cut the deficit. Oh, my, God.



Sorry for the rant, but if I kept it inside, my head would explode.

wolfie185 said...

Good articles. I agree with you on trying to be bit sceptical with Obama, I like him but I am not ready to erect a statue in my yard to him quite yet but man oh man is just an amazing relief after 8 years with the ESL president, said it before and say it again it is go nice to have a president who is articulate again!!

Monica said...

No worries. I'll just have to respectfully disagree.

You should check out the statistics on the last recovery program this government launched, circa 1932. Worked. Not overnight, mind, which no one is promissing now. It was a long hard slog, but it was progress. Same thing happened on a smaller scale with the oil embargo and Iran War in the 1970's but good ol' Jimmy pulled it out by creating the Department of Energy and tighter regulation. Then Reagan came in, claimed there wasn't any problem, went for laize faire capitalism, and bingo! - recession. Welcome to the 80's. The fact that life was good under Clinton wasn't just a happy coincidence.

As for "Wall Street would know," I trust those folks even less than the politicians (which is probably silly because at least they are honest about their greed). Wall Street is populated by a bunch of screaming hysterics who faint (or sell) at the first sign of blood. Their over-reaction is what over-inflated the price of oil a few years ago and now that same over-reaction (in the opposite direction this time) is under-cutting the markets. That's why it's called "speculation," hey?

But I have hope, and not because Obama told me too. Human beings are kinda like cockroaches - too damn resilient for our own good. We'll survive.

john said...

The Great Depression ended because of World War II. We build an ungodly huge war machine which put people to work. The war also burned to slag the rest of the world's infrastructure. We then made money rebuilding it after the war(with no competition).

"Wall Street" is anyone who wants to invest. I was referring to the Dow Jones Average. It is millions of people deciding if the economy is going to do well. At the moment, people are not willing to bet their own money on a recovery in the near future (<6 months?).

I have hope for the future, I just wish government would stop with the spending.

Monica said...

Saying that The Great Depression ended with WWII is absolutely correct, but it also neatly sweeps aside any progress that was made between 1932 and 1940. During those eight years there was considerable progress. Unemployment went down, home ownership went up, manufacturing recovered.

It also neatly ignores exactly HOW the United States managed to be the only country to come out of WWII wealthier than when we went in. Two reasons: 1) with the exception of Pearl Harbor, the USA was not attacted and 2) MASSIVE GOVERNMENT SPENDING - not just on the war itself, but also after. The factories that build the war machine were all paid for by the government and bassically given away afterward. The GI Bill sent thousands of troops to college - spending - and VA mortgages helped them buy homes - spending - the Eisenhower Interstate Highway Act started the largest public works project in the history of the world, which is still underway - spending.

And for eight years, we've had deregulation and tax credits and for eight years we gone down and down. It really started under Reagan when he began deregulation, then Bush I, and then Clinton still had a republican congress so, while he did balance the budget, he wasn't able to roll back all of what Reagan had done.

When I say Wall Street, I'm also talking about the Down Jones. Those people have no idea if the economy is doing well, nor do they care. They are just in it for their very narrow self-interest. Which is what makes them suceptible to panic and rumor-mongering.

Look at Warren Buffett. He's like the lone voice of sanity. He's saying "yeah, it's crap, but we'll come back" and he's taking the time to invest - which is why his companies, like Berkshire Hathaway, Gieco, GE, etc. are all doing fairly well, even though their stock is down with everyone elses, their business is still good.