I don't see much discussion about how bad the Us economy is doing these days on your board. I guess you guys had to move on to other targets, like Cheney's hunting accident, huh?
Posted by Stats at February 23, 2006 12:46 PM4 dead a day doesn't even make the news anymore. How long till 7 a day doesn't register. Tell me again how great this is all going. Because my lying eyes tell me different.
And no, I am not a Bush hater. Just like I dont hate Great White Sharks. They both do what they do. I hate the syncophants that make this on-going train wreck possible. You knew all this before you yanked the lever. You knew but you couldn't overcome your conditioning. That's why me and Howard Dean hate Republicans. They are weak, and easily fooled yet they have some ill-gotten puffed-up opinion of themselves.
We here are trail-blazers because pretty soon, everybody will hate Republicans.
Posted by at February 23, 2006 12:49 PMsteve.
this is interesting, but note a detail buried in the Newsweek article. the designated defender of the DPS acquisition is Mark Kimmitt, a deputy treasury secretary. could this be any relation to Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt of Abu Ghraib (in)fame??
I don't see much discussion about how bad the Us economy is doing these days on your board.
For the Sharper Image crowd, things are OK. For the Wal-mart crowd, not so good. Nothing's changed except the natural up and down rythem cycle of the market.
But I see your trying to change the disscussion to about the only thing thats not FUBAR. Bravo to you, tell your Heritage Foundation overlords you want a raise.
Just kidding, most likely you're really a pitifull intern, probably at least 40 lbs overwieght from stuffing do-nuts in your pie-hole.
And your snake oil aint selling here.
Posted by at February 23, 2006 12:56 PM
I guess you guys had to move on to other targets, like Cheney's hunting accident, huh?
And FYI, the title of this piece is Quick Hits - Carl Levin Nails Administration Over Ports Deal
Notice how there is not one word there about Cheney, hunting, but this administration is one big accident, so I will give you that.
Posted by at February 23, 2006 12:59 PManon above was me...curse you typekey
Posted by SnarkyShark at February 23, 2006 01:01 PMPress accounts have noted that the UAE’s port of Dubai served as the main transshipment point for Pakistani nuclear engineer Abdul Q. Khan’s illicit transfers of materiel for building atomic bombs as well as the location of the money-laundering operations used by the Sept. 11 hijackers, two of whom came from the UAE.
But the year-old mystery of the truck-bomb assassination of Hariri also has wound its way through the UAE’s port facilities. United Nations investigators tracked the assassins’ white Mitsubishi Canter Van from Japan, where it had been stolen, to the UAE, according to a Dec. 10, 2005, U.N. report.
At that time, UAE officials had been unable to track what happened to the van after its arrival in Dubai. Presumably the van was loaded onto another freighter and shipped by sea through the Suez Canal to Lebanon, but the trail had gone cold in the UAE.
Hey Stats, guess you missed the last paragraph in the post regarding falling average family income under the fabulous Bush economy.
Guess attention to detail isn't a big requirement for the "seven figure" income you were crowing about previously.
Posted by euzoius at February 23, 2006 01:15 PMHave I told you lately how much I hate this administration? And the f***ing Republican Congress? With a burning, impotent rage?
Posted by Via at February 23, 2006 01:16 PMmuckdog has been tellin us how great the economy is for a few years now, and we've been tellin him, yeah, if you're stinkin rich.
Further evidence from the Fed.
And I believe we were hearing about a net savings loss from last year, even as consumer spending continues to go up.
That ain't sustainable, people. And when it crashes, it ain't gonna pretty.
Posted by Duckman GR at February 23, 2006 01:20 PMJohn Snow was AWOL on port deal giveaway because he was afraid of appearing to have a conflict of interest.
From New York Daily News:
Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.
Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/393375p-333478c.html
Posted by Christopher at February 23, 2006 01:40 PM“The more people learn about the transaction that has been scrutinized and approved by my government,” Bush said, “the more they’ll be comforted that our ports will be secure.”
WOW - it's Bush's government !! All this time I thought it was
!OUR! government. In one comment Bush tells us all we need to know about his mindset. It's his government and he'll do what he damn well pleases. As for the public, screw you.
Quote of the Day: "people don't need to worry about security." -- George W. Bush, Feb, 23, 2006
Nearly 5 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and nearly 5 years of hearing Bush tell us that the USA is a nation engaged in "a war against terrorism."
WTF? Now all is well because he wants his pals to enjoy the spoils that will come from this port deal?
Bush is guilty of treason and belongs in a Federal prison.
Posted by Christopher at February 23, 2006 02:02 PMAnd how good is the Bush economy? Well, it is so good that the average family income in 2004 fell 2.3% from the 2001 figure. That's how good the Bush economy has been for American families. Don't believe me? Check the Federal Reserve. And how much have costs gone up in that period?
This report tells the true story. The Feds are confirming the true impact of trickle down vodoo economics. If income growth is below the inflation rate, most of us know families income is actually declining.
The is no need to rationalize corresponding corporate and special interest income, compared to 2001 (especially big oil). Bottomline, the republicans are about helping the special interest exploit the public and destroy the republic.
Posted by at February 23, 2006 02:11 PMI above post was by me.
Posted by smooth at February 23, 2006 02:12 PManon, yesterday it was this zinger:
"I can understand why some in Congress have raised questions about whether or not our country will be less secure as a result of this transaction," Bush noted. "But they need to know that our government has looked at this issue and looked at it carefully."
That's right, Congress needs to know that "our government" has looked at it carefully. Not that Congress is part of "our government."
Christopher, you missed the best part of that quote (via marshall):
"And so people don't need to worry about security. This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America."Posted by at February 23, 2006 02:48 PM
Speaking of 'Snow' jobs...the polls on the economy are inaccurate. Since the "medicare overhaul", most folks on FIXED incomes have been hit with soaring percription costs and copays. On a tight shoestring, this may mean cutting back of FOOD and HEAT costs (which, even reducing energy use, the costs went up so its a wash), and for whatever the reason is for being on medicare(not), wholesome food and adequate heating/airconditioning can make a big difference in one's lifespan. The chimp admin sends a strong signal in that respect... Can't work and pay taxes? then drop dead.
Don't want my terrosit buddies to secure this country? then you're the enemy and a terrorist, Drop dead.
Nice use of the contrary to fact subjunctive: if we were concerned (as in If I were you) -- but we're not concerned, so na, na, na.
Posted by Brian Boru at February 23, 2006 03:10 PMBush Administration = MOTHER OF ALL CLUSTERFUCKS!
Posted by angryspittle at February 23, 2006 03:34 PMI found this CNN Money article full of tibits. One of my favorites that explains even further.
While the median income rose 1.6 percent, to $43,200, after adjusting for inflation, median wages fell 6.2 percent.
How many times have we heard, but inflation is in check bs emanating from certain people who endorse the Cheap-Labor Conservatives of this current crop of Corporate cronies and their henchman that are running things and feel that their profits trump issues dealing with national security.
Posted by emal at February 23, 2006 04:49 PMIt's a good thing you folks don't work in government, because you simply don't understand how anything works.
Do you think that Bush, Snow, and everyone else sits in on every single decision there is? They are mere mortals, not robots.
If you check up on the history of the CFIUS, you'd see that almost none of the notifications to that committee result in notification to the president or a 45-day investigation being launched.
In fact, from 1997-2001 only 4 investigations were conducted based on a total of 333 notifications to the CFIUS. Only one of them resulted in the president actually having to make a decision (since the other 3 dropped their plans after the investigation was launched).
The CFIUS is conducted at the staff level, with the Office of the Treasury acting as the secretariat of the CFIUS, not just the Secretary of the Treasury himself.
Maybe you guys should actually do some research before spouting off with a bunch of nonsense...
As far as economic stats go, the average income is completely useless in telling us how most Americans are doing, but people often use this stat as if it is meaningful on its own. It's not, because it is highly dependent on whether or not rich people have lost a lot, gained alot, or if there are thousands more poor people.
Let's say you have 1,000 people. 999 of them make $20,000 per year, the last guy makes $2M per year, for a total of $21,980,000 which gives an average of $21,980. Now let's say that those 999 people all go down to $15,000 per year, and the rich guy goes up to $7M. Now the average income is $21,985. As you can easily see, the average income tells us nothing about how people are actually doing. It could also be on the flip-side of this. Let's say the rich guy gets nailed in a lawsuit, gets jailed, or just loses all his money. Now the guy only makes $150,000 per year. The other 999 catch a break, and go up to $22,000. The average income is now $22,128. It barely rose, even though most of the people had their wages increased by 47%.
Now imagine if we threw billionaires into the mix...
Now of course, the median income would have been $20,000 at the outset, $15,000 after that, and $22,000 in the end. This is a much better indicator of how most people are doing.
The fact that the median income, adjusted after inflation, rose by 1.6% from 2001 to 2004 would seem to suggest that most people's income went up. However, the raw numbers might tell a completely different story.
Statistics are a dirty game, and I see it being played here.
Not to mention that the economy really started getting going again in 2005.......
Posted by Seixon at February 23, 2006 08:56 PMSnow scares to poop outta me. NOTHING that guy says is anywhere near truthful - more so than any other "official" in this sham of an administration. Unless you posess the "Official Snow Blows What He Means Not What He Says" manual, you'd better watch out.
I would never base any financial decision on what he says. He tries to manipulate the markets with tough words and rumors instead of actually letting them be "free" and admitting their policies do not work. Once we have Personal Education Accounts, Personal Health Accounts, Personal Retirement Accounts, Personal Burial Insurance, Personal Subsidies for Tax Breaks for the Rich Accounts, and Personal Wage Deflation Insurance Accounts - they will not be happy.
Did I hear that Bush just found out about the port deal three or four days ago? Who the hell runs this country? We might as well run it like a freaking committee! All these WORTHLESS board members can get together a few times a year and set policy...
That time is coming if we continue down this muddied road we're on...
Posted by Dishwashing Engineer at February 23, 2006 08:59 PMSeixon, that's such a pre 9/11 mentality you got there!
And your point about lies, damn lies, and statistics, misses the point. If income is increasing, but wages are decreasing, that just tells us that the rich are getting more and everyone else less.
And if the median only goes up 1.6% in FOUR years, it's pretty clear where all the wealth is going. And it ain't my way.
Lets say you start to slowly max out your credit cards, say a thousand dollars a month. Well, you've just boosted your spending money, it looks like you've got more cash on hand, you go out to dinner every week at nice restaurants, lease yourself an expensive car, etc.
Economically, you're doomed.
Looked at our national debt lately? Deficit spending mean anything to you? Corporations have all this money but they don't know what to do with it, just heard that yesterday on CNBC. Those tax cuts bush rammed through Congress? They aren't helping. They just made the rich richer, and did nothing to help the economy. Capacity is still in excess, but productivity is up because people are working more, for less after adjusting for inflation.
You can tell me that the economy is better all you want, but the facts don't support you.
Posted by Duckman GR at February 24, 2006 05:45 AMBecause they are fundamentally dishonest, the Reactionary Right cherry-picks everything----from the economy to the Worre on Terra.
Yep, information as basic as average family income is a wholly misleading concept--damn lying statistics! It's utterly meaningless!! It should be illegal for lib'ruls even to mention it----it undermines, er, the troops! and our morale!
The WHOLE of an issue or problem is never examined---only those elements that support their clown administration are considered.
Posted by euzoius at February 24, 2006 06:01 AMAnd Stoogeon, why exactly do you think the Federal Reserve wasted its time calculating this "completely useless" average family income statistic?
And then reporting this meaningless statistic in its consumer survey?
Just more incompetent guv'mint, I guess. Brain dead bureaucrats!
Posted by euzoius at February 24, 2006 06:17 AMWow, the least Seixon could have done is given credit to the 4th grade math book he used here for these examples of the words "average" and "median"....but I guess over at all those winger sites he frequents and links to he is used to keeping it so basic for them to understand such terminology.
Yes Seixon, and if you repeat the mantra "the economy is getting better" 3 times and click your heels you'll end up Oz....and after you do that if you end up here and post well then it means you were wrong.
Posted by emal at February 24, 2006 07:03 AMSeixon is too typical as he is willing to repeat a few talking points and defend private profets for the GOP elete that is harming America.
What the right doesn't understand is that a lot of people, including America's largest demographic, voters under 35, are paying attention to this issue and are seeing that the Republicans will shamelessly put the private interests of their leaders over the public good.
A lot of today's conservatives were created by the "excesses' of the left in the sixties. Right wing excesses are forming a reaction as we speak and it will show up in future elections.