"kneecap the Republicans"
Please. American's are opposed tosocialism. You will lose this battle.
And I will laugh.
Posted by pud at December 30, 2008 07:58 PMAfter the freakin' repukes ruined this country all of sudden they want to go conservative on spending! Scumbag McConnell on the Obama stimulus package that hasn't even been presented yet:
"As of right now, Americans are left with more questions than answers about this unprecedented government spending, and I believe the taxpayers deserve to know a lot more about where it will be spent before we consider passing it..."
Let me get this straight. A Senator who oversaw one of the largest expansions in government spending in history is now concerned about spending? According to the CBO, total government outlays under Bush and the Republican controlled Congress from 2001 -2006 increased from $1.8 trillion to $2.4 trillion -- that's an increase of 33%. At the same time -- again under Republican rule from 2001 to 2006 -- the total debt outstanding increased from $5,807,463,412,200.06 at the end of fiscal 2001 to $8,506,973,899,215.23. And now a man who helped to oversee this is complaining about spending? Excuse me?
A note to Senator McConnell. The equation for GDP is simple. Here it is
C+I+E+G = GDP.
In case you are confused, those are symbols. Let's explains those symbols for you.
C - consumer spending. This is now in the tank. Personal consumption expenditures are now negative year over year. Retailers just reported a terrible Christmas. In other words -- 70% of our economy is out of order right now.
I - Investment. This has been neutral for awhile. You may be familiar with the housing bubble? (Actually, you probably just became aware of it because you were probably saying the economy was sound until recently). Well - there was a housing bubble and it has crashed. As a result, total investment has been weak for some time now.
E = net exports. The US runs a mammoth trade deficit, so this ones out as well.
That leaves G -- as in government spending -- to pull us out of this mess. Unless of course you like depressions you dolt.
As always, Main St. is always taking it on the chin, in the rear and screwed sideways with a chainsaw!
These republi-con obstructionist's cannot be shamed into doing what's right, they cannot be bargained with and they never will have the interest of the American people at heart.
The repukes certainly don't have a plan, only disruption.
They are useless, labor blaming crooks!
Our only hope is that a few normal repukes in the Senate will see that this Nation is in the toilet and will support the Obama plan... whatever that plan will be.
Posted by Seven of Six at December 30, 2008 08:19 PMPlease. American's are opposed tosocialism. You will lose this battle.
And I will laugh.
Hey pud-fucker, what planet have you been on... all the republi-con obstructionist's are good for is socialism for their wealthy friends. Never in history has there been more corporate welfare given out... do you recall the latest 750 billion package for Wall St.? Or did you miss that headline?
Posted by Seven of Six at December 30, 2008 08:23 PMSnipe and Run Putz is Baggy.
Posted by Judith at December 30, 2008 09:59 PMThere's not much Obama or anybody else can do. A massive stimulus package? OK, but we're already over $10 trillion in debt. If we keep spending money that we don't have we are headed for default (using some of our Western Hemisphere compadres as role models---Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, etc.)
Posted by howard hughes blues at December 31, 2008 04:12 AMDamn that failed Obama Administration!! Failed policies after failed policies, none of their initiative have passed Congresse, he hasn't even been forced to veto anything by the obstructionist gopper thugs in the Senate.
What's that? Hasn't taken office yet? What the eff is he waiting for, a proper invite and a party or something? Jeebus, on top of everything else, he's a lazy SOB!
Happy freaking New Year Folks, and good riddence to 2008, and loser Bush/Cheney, the worst political leadership EVER.
Posted by Duckman GR at December 31, 2008 05:59 AMCongress is now so completely inept that it cannot write its own bills? It never has been the function of the executive branch to provide bills for the legislative branch to pass on. The roles have been completely reversed, with Congress now in the weaker role, almost to a nonexistant position.
(i.e. "We can't move because Daddy hasn't told us what to do.")
Reminds me of when Paulson first terrorized Congress on the financial meltdown and their response was, "We hope the President comes up soon with a bill for us."
(i.e. "We hope Daddy tells us what to do soon.")
Posted by Bill H at December 31, 2008 06:10 AMDamn that failed Obama Administration!!
I'm thinking we need to start impeachment hearings now, to avoid the rush!
Posted by iamcoyote at December 31, 2008 07:21 AMWorst. President-elect. Ever.
Posted by Thuy Lam at December 31, 2008 09:06 AMJust got back from the Midwest...all anyone could talk about was Shelby and the auto bailout. People are furious. Even republicans see their senators as self-serving. I would guess the GOP has lost the Midwest for a generation.
Posted by allansfca at December 31, 2008 03:59 PMAt least financially, things have got to radically change or everyone regardless of party affiliation will lose.
Our current financial system was for the most part born from the misguided concepts of John Maynard Keynes who believd in inflationisim. In fact it was Keynes who coined the statement "inflate or die". The problem with inflating a countries currency is that eventually it becomes worthless and we're already there. Just as the Roman empire fell, so will the American empire, if we continue on the path of inflation. Rome spread its armies to thin. When the republic came into being, Romes coins were solid gold and silver. By the time the empire had fallen, Romes coins were copper slugs covered with little gold or silver. Sound familiar? Just look at a US quarter or fifty cent piece. You guessed it. A copper slug covered with little silver and more nickel.
Obama needs to undue what the Clinton administration had begun and put an end to sending our manufacturing jobs off shore in a quid pro quo so that foreign countries will inturn continue to purchase our debt in the form of Treasury bills. This is in fact what NAFTA was all about. The US has to begin creating things that the rest of the world wants as a service society won't cut it any longer.
Secondly, after nearly 100 years of existence, it is long past the time to shutter the Federal Reserve which is nothing other than a private banking cartel charging interest to the US taxpayer for loans to keep the game going. At the very least, if Obama truely believes in transparency in government, then the first order of business would be to create a law which compels the Federal Reserve to reveal how they are spending US tax payer dollars. Bloomberg hasn't had much luck with its FOIA request in that regard.
Honestly, I can't even begin to imagine why the Fed has lasted as long as it has other than the fact that those we elect to do the peoples business could care less how our tax dollars are being spent as long as they keep their very comfortable positions of power and isn't this what the entire mess is about?
It is long past the time that we adhere to the principles that our founders laid out for us in the Constitution. That document never called for a central bank but a US Treasry that produced real money backed by real assets such as gold and silver. Not some promisory note that today isn't worth the paper it is printed on. To do otherwise as Keynes had said, " in the end, we're all dead anyway".