Black Monday in stock exchanges in Europe and Asia

Which do you think?

 

Let's be honest about the proposed $800 (or more) "rebate":
It is the administration's bribe to get a few million stupid saps to vote Republican in November.

 

poin, this is why the Iraq War is such an economic problem.

And for Bush to make the offhanded comment that he could see it going another 10 years?

Is it any wonder the markets are tanking?

 

This thread has a better chance of ending well.

If your kids aren't speaking Mandarin or Farsi, they are going to be doing the laundry of those who do.

 

Good thing I get free Rosetta Stone software, huh?

JFC.

 

The war is an incalculable disaster, on several fronts.

But without the war, this country would still be running at unsustainable debts. Just not sustainable. Watch that 60 Minutes piece. The healthcare prescription bill alone is going to cost untold trillions.

Bottom line that no politician will say, is that through social security and especially medicare and prescription drugs, we have promised so much more than we can ever deliver. Lets see Hillary, Obama or McCain say that.

Giving $800/person back (just that much more in Treasuries to sell to the Chinese since this country runs at a deficit of ~ a billion dollars a day) is just a stupid cherry on top of a moronically stupid sundae.

 

Poin, I ask this as a relatively uneducated man when it comes to economics: What's the solution?

More productivity from our work force? (I know some of us waste too much time on the Internet, me included.)

Wholesale elimination of entitlements? Note that entitlements were created in the wake of the Depression, which makes it ironic that they could lead to another one.

 

It's evolution people.

America had a good 230-something year run. It's over. How do you say manifest destiny in Mandarin?

 

Telling people no. No to entitlements. No to your grandma's prescription drugs. No to federally funded housing. No to much of welfare. No to rebuilding Iraq. No to being the worlds policemen. Massive tax increases for the obscenely wealthy (the $39 billion in bonuses that went to the big 5 financial institutions last year? 50% tax after a certain threshold). Stop corporate tax welfare. Stop offshore tax havens.

Government spends what it takes in - how about that for a novel idea?

What are the odds of even one of the above being promoted by a politician?

Nil.

We are fucked.

 

I saw Walker on Colbert or Stewart, I forget which, and he scared me then. Watching this 60 Minutes is above and beyond that. Frightening indeed.

 

I don't agree with everything on your list, because social programs are a pittance compared to what this country does for corporations.

But politicians won't talk about such things until 1) we change the way campaigns are financed; 2) re-assign every member of the shit-for-brains Washington press corps to the lifestyle and entertainment desk.

 

A simple 'no' to bureaucratic waste keeps granny on her meds - and fed and clothed and housed. 'No' to about half the defense budget pays for Social Security in perpetuity. Neither of those will ever happen.