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George Bush has been in office for 7 1/2 years. The first six the economy was fine.
A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.
4) the DOW JONES hit a record high--14,000 +
5) American's were buying new cars,taking cruises, vacations overseas, living large!...
But American's wanted 'CHANGE'! So, in 2006 they voted in a Democratic Congress and yes--we got 'CHANGE' all right. In the PAST YEAR:
1) consumer confidence has plummeted ;
2) Gasoline is now over $4 a gallon & climbing!;
3)Unemployment is up to 5.5% (a 10% increase);
4)Americans have seen their home equity drop by $12 TRILLION DOLLARS and prices still dropping;
5)1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
6)as I write, THE DOW is probing another low~~
$2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR STOCKS, BONDS & MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS!
just posted this in another thread but it's still relevant.
As we decide who to vote for - let's all try and understand at least one
common issue - basic bar stool economics.
Econ 101
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten
comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it
would go
something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every
day
and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one! day, t h e owner
threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said,
'I'm
going to reduce the cost of your daily beer b y $20. Drinks for the ten
now
cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so
the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what
about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide
the
$20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized
that
$20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from
everybody's
share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid
to
drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to
reduce
each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out
the
amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%
savings)
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
T he eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued
to
drink for free. But once outside the restaurant the men began to compare
their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed
to
the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar,
too.
It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back
when I
got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat
down
and ! had bee rs without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,
they
discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between
all of
them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our
tax
system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit
from
a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and
they
just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking
overseas
where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
Also check these:
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122463231048556587-lMyQjAxMDI4MjI0MzYyMzMyWj.html
and
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122455099434052597-lMyQjAxMDI4MjI0MjUyNTIwWj.html
As someone who remains to this day neutral (only people I really dislike in this election are Palin and Biden) on the basis that I hate this whole system we've developed (bi-partisan voting has rendered the whole process useless and ridiculous), I tend to find democrats more obnoxious. Thats not to say that republicans cant be assholes either. But in the midst of an argument, Ive had far more dems try and make personal attacks or flip out if i started to disagree with them. There are actual psych studies out there (cant remember the source, ill find it later from my class notes) that prove that dems are a) more unhappy with.... everything. Not just politics. and b) tend to argue more violently. Ironic I suppose.
That being said Im very interested to see what transpires. If things go to shit Im movin to whistler.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- You have to wonder if we are too high on ourselves, that we're setting ourselves and our soon-to-be president up for a fall.
The good news is that we can worry about it later.
If you think Wall Street didn't want Barack Obama to win Tuesday, you've probably been listening to the business media too much. You've probably heard that Republicans are the real friends of business, and that the market was building in a discount because a tax-and-spend Democrat was ahead in the polls.
Well, a Republican is sitting in the White House today and business is not exactly thriving.
The bottom line is that Wall Street is really not all that different that the rest of America that voted for Barack Obama to be the next leader of this nation.
Wall Street is worrying about reform and what it might do to profit. It's worrying about preserving a way of doing business and about how the new model will work. Americans are worried about their jobs, their wealth and the direction the country is headed.
They are similar problems, but not the same. They do, however, require the same kind of candidate. It's the candidate that electorates usually choose in times of crisis: the one who best conveys strong leadership and most importantly: confidence.
Losing confidence
During the past 18 months of deep economic tumult, the ultimate cause of failures and losses in the financial world was confidence.
Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers weren't felled because they broke some set of rules. It wasn't that they upended the investment banking business model. They collapsed because their clients, customers, investors and lenders lost confidence.
The toxic securities held across Wall Street -- the mortgage-linked derivatives that have brought storied firms such as Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley to their knees -- aren't worthless because they aren't producing returns, it's because investors have lost confidence in them.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? The mortgage giants were brought down by investors who had lost confidence and would no longer accept returns that the government-sponsored entities would pay on their bonds.
As the dominos of doubt kept falling we began to question one another. It was a recipe for panic. On Aug. 11, the S&P 500 Index closed at 1,305.32. Less than 10 weeks later, on Oct. 27, it stood at 848.92 - a decline of 34%.
If that's not a panic driven by a lack of confidence then there's still hope McCain can win California.
Drastic measures
Many Americans may not understand exactly why Wall Street needs a $700 billion bailout. They may not understand why its financial institutions are failing and need to be nationalized like in some Eastern bloc state in the 1950s.
But they do know that they don't have to know what credit default swaps are if they have a smart, optimistic president who surrounds himself with smart people. The thinking goes, if the smart guy is positive we can make it through this mess, then I am too.
Wall Street is looking for the same thing. Individual donors on Wall Street would not have contributed more than $11 million to Obama through Oct. 19 if they thought the guy would do them in with draconian taxes. Obama received 43% more than McCain from the securities and investment industry, according to Federal Election Commission data.
In the end, this election was about confidence. Obama inspired it. His opponent, Sen. John McCain, didn't really come close. This is no slam against the Republican nominee. Either of these guys would be an improvement on an administration that couldn't change with the times.
Neither candidate has spelled out the painful measures that need to taken to shore up the financial system. The omission is understandable. Voters don't want to hear that the budget won't be balanced or that the healthcare system isn't suddenly going to become plentiful and cheap for everyone.
That's OK. The know-how to do the job is important, but faith can move mountains+karma
seriously, drew, i like you and respect your knowledge, but honestly, your act is tiring. like this kid said, you don't know anything about most of the people you claim superiority over. you need to accept that people come from different lifestyles and the basis of their arguments are, in most cases, well placed due to where they are in life and what's best for them. your opinion isn't wrong, it just fits you.
i could be any kind of theorist i wanted and study up as much as you do, write papers, make it my major, whatever. poli science isn't my major, but if it was i'd have the information you convey here X10 at my fingertips; as do you i'm sure. your well-spoken and educated demeanor only get's you halfway, and believe me, you've earned all 50%, but it's not enough.
sooner or later you have to start accepting other people's opinions. the people who prance around demanding "Fuck Obama, NObama, etc.." deserve to be descredited, but so do those who cry out the same about McCain. (i won't even go into the reasons about 10 people i know said they voted Obama)...but whatever.
anyways, enjoy your throne for the next 4 years...i'm sure you'll savor all of it, and i hope you and the rest of America made the right choice, i really do. but stop claiming and shooting down any agrument that even teeters on crossing yours; it's arrogant, close-minded and most of all, old.
Ummm....
rape?
