Buzzflash
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Mixx it!
Reddit
When it comes to the media, we hear a lot of talk about a conservative-liberal divide, or the thoroughly discredited idea of a liberal bias. But the divide worth paying attention to is between those who are represented (and listened to) in media coverage, and those who aren't--namely the powerful, and then everyone else.
A revealing new study on media coverage of the economic crisis--released Monday by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ)--shows that little attention has been paid to how the worst collapse since the Great Depression impacted ordinary Americans. PEJ examined 9,950 stories that ran between February 1 and August 31 on television, radio, cable, newspapers and online. It found that a whopping 38 percent were focused on three topics--the banking industry and its bailout (15 percent), the stimulus package (14 percent), and the US auto industry (9 percent). In contrast, housing, including the subprime crisis, mustered only 6 percent of the news coverage, as did unemployment. (The PEJ study points out that "The percentage of Americans who were looking for but unable to find work actually outpaced the attention the subject received in the press.") Reporting on "retail sales, food prices, the impact of the crisis on Social Security and Medicare, its effect on education and the implications for health care combined accounted for just over 2 percent of all the economic coverage."
There was also a significant geographical bias to the coverage. Seventy-six percent of the stories were focused on either New York (44 percent) or DC (32 percent). Even coverage of the auto industry--only one-sixth of those stories came from Detroit, two-thirds from New York or DC! And stories on labor issues and worker layoffs--the people most severely affected--accounted for less than 1 percent of stories on the auto industry.
Finally, the report points out which voices the media was listening to. Government officials drove nearly one-third of the stories, business leaders just over one-fifth. Ordinary citizens and union workers combined acted as the catalyst for only 2 percent of the stories about the economy, PEJ writes.
If we were a vibrant democracy we would hear a fuller range of people's voices--not just the angriest raging at town hall meetings, but the quiet (or sometimes not so quiet) despair of the jobless, or those losing their homes, or unable to pay the bills, or choosing between food and medicine. The Nation has continued to keep a focus on these voices and others, just as it has throughout its 144 years.
Some of the articles that come to mind are Kai Wright's cover story on the mortgage crisis in which he writes, "We hear a lot about the big picture of the mortgage crisis. But [Veronica and George Gallon] reveal what it looks like in the micro." Naomi Klein looks at grassroots uprisings around the world against contemporary deregulated capitalism, and her article co-written with Avi Lewis focuses on direct action against layoffs by workers. John Nichols wrote an excellent piece on the impact of the crisis on state and local government budgets and services, and another on autoworkers in Kenosha, Wisconsin. William Greider wrote about the potential impact of the crisis on Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.
As we face the prospects of a jobless recovery, The Nation will continue to push alternative ideas and proposals to promote a people's recovery--and report on the stories of people whose lives hang in the balance.
Share this article
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on whats in the news and whats not--but should be.
RSS
Dear Katrina vanden Heuvel of the Nation:
I have heard your comments on Mourning Joe and The ED Show.
When you stated that "We need to declare a National Emergency" about jobs creation you were 100% on the mark.
Even the polls indicated that JOBS are the number 1 Issue.
Why are they even discussing Afghanstan? The problems are right here in America. We have done enough for the rest of the World.
I'm a graduate of the University of Illinois and did a stint at RPI before returning to the St. Louis area.
This Stimulus is not enough and the current one is so mired in red tape that literally nothing is moving. Pres. Obama's worst enemy is inside D.C. D.C. is hampering the Stimulus Jobs/Education and the States' are siphoning off money instead of helping those for whom the money was intended.
I know people who received 26 weeks of unemployment and were cut off when it ran out in Illinois - Pres. Obama's home state. Their minimum wage job paid more than unemployment. They had to take the minimum wage job. Then the company just left the country. Gone.
We hear so much about Wall Street Bailouts and how all the Banks got theirs (for Mergers and Axquisitions). It was in Newsweek Mag. and Katrina, those Bankers who received Bonus Checks were smiling about it because of their arrogancy. They got their Stimulus but where did those who really needed it, like for jobs and education?
In Illinois, we have seen almost zilch of the stimulus money. Some major colleges and universities are cutting up to $10 Million from Student Aid.
No wait a minute, I thought that was what the Stimulus money was supposed to prevent?
Sincerely and keep on those MSNBC and ED Show's. Someone has to talk for the disenfranchised people - and I'm a University Graduate.
Sincerely,
Walter Earl Roper University of Illinois
email: roperw@uisalumni.org
(p.s. I have emailed the White House and Sen. Durbin of Illinois. Personally, I think their getting slammed by email and mail. Obama can't wait till 2010. By then, it will be too late.)
Posted by roperw at 10/06/2009 @ 4:08pm
Boys eat your heart out, the -Lady in Chief- turns the big 50 years old tommorow, and she is as smart and sexy as ever.
Happy 50th Birthday Katrina!!! XOXO
Posted by a_bakr at 10/06/2009 @ 4:20pm
KVH should be listening to the voices that create jobs, not those that whine because of personal financial incompetence!
"Publisher Steve Forbes says that the U.S. Treasury is crushing venture capital firms with "burdensome new regulations," as part of the administration's plan to reform financial markets.
These "obtuse" plans also run the risk of inhibiting innovation in America, choking off much-needed funds for start-up firms which create new jobs, Forbes says.
"Even though most venture capital outfits are relatively small and rarely, if ever, use debt, the Treasury wants to apply a bewildering array of rules similar to those for investment advisors and banks" writes the publisher and investor.
"Thus, instead of focusing on funding the next potential Apple, Microsoft, or Oracle, VCs will have to devote considerable time and resources to filling out disclosure and compliance forms."
Forbes believes that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is offering nothing but a "lame excuse" when regulating venture capital, as Geithner reckons that leaving out venture capitalists would be a form of discrimination.
"Alas, there's more at work here than pigheaded logic," writes Forbes.
"This Administration truly believes that the private sector is a destructive, unguided missile that needs the constant and close supervision of Washington politicians. Without it we'd be subject to more disasters like the current financial crisis."
As a result of the proposed new regulations, Washington, in effect, would like investors to have to go through the equivalent of an environmental impact statement before their monies can be used by start-ups.
Posted by BigPasture at 10/06/2009 @ 4:40pm
"Entrepreneurs, executives and investors cannot be left to their own devices," Forbes notes. "Washington doesn't like the idea of venture capitalism because VCs and the entrepreneurs they fund create and do things without anyone's permission."
Others seem to agree about the state of VC funding.
A report in the Wall Street Journal indicates that small venture capital firms are now "pooling" resources, rather than flying solo."
Credit is drying up even more after the "Porkulus spending bill" which address nothing for the benefit of small businesses which represent 50% of GDP and even more of the jobs market! Now they want to throttle venture capitalist just to exercise governmental control over sectors they have already punished because they ignored small business and its workers!
Posted by BigPasture at 10/06/2009 @ 4:44pm
Posted by roperw at 10/06/2009 @ 4:08pm
The stimulus was not a stimulus, but a payback for the election. Govt can't create jobs, it kills them..it can set up conditions for job creation by getting over burdoning regs, high taxes and beaurocratic idiots out of the way...
and it can cut taxes on business and individuals...but this cabal in Washington is doing none of this, so don't expect a recovery that includes economic growth,wealth building, expanstion of small busines, sustained long term growth or job creation...
what you can expect is money that would be flowing from the job creaters going into the stock and commodity markets as they rise in value from our currency being killed, inflation coming, and rise in demand for commodities in China and other growing economies, and simple protection from higher costs of doing business here from cap and trade nonsense to carbon tax potentials to "tax the rich" lunatics...
in short...
if you majored in Humanitys, arts, English, Ethnic studies of any flavor, or any other non science degree...you screwed your parents out of their money...
for you are ...
unemployable...evidence? your "begging" post to KVH and your pleading for "govt to do something for you with stimulus"...ie..other peoples money going to you.
your best stimulus?
HUNGER......
get off your ass,
school is out,
real world straight ahead.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 4:50pm
Happy B'day KVH.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:12pm
if you majored in Humanitys, arts, English, Ethnic studies of any flavor, or any other non science degree...you screwed your parents out of their money...
Reasonably successful English majors:
Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) Alan Alda (actor, writer) Russell Baker (journalist) Dave Barry (humorist, writer, actor) Joy Behar (writer, comedienne, co-host of "The View") Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (television writer/producer "Designing Women", "Evening Shade") Gwendolyn Brooks ("We Real Cool") Carol Browner (head of the Environmental Protection Agency) Edward Burns (actor, director, producer, writer) Brett Butler (actress, writer, comedienne) James Cameron (director, editor, producer, screenwriter of "Titanic") Johnny Carson (talk show host) Chevy Chase (comedian, actor, writer) Tom Clancy (writer) Mario Cuomo (former governor of New York) Joan Cusack (actress) Matt Damon (actor, screenwriter) Vin Diesel (actor, director, producer, screenwriter) David Duchovny (actor, "X-Files") Michael Eisner (Walt Disney CEO) Harrison Ford (actor) Jodi Foster (actress, filmmaker) Kathryn Fuller (World Wildlife Fund CEO) A. Bartlett Giamatti (President, Yale University and Commissioner of Baseball) Allen Ginsberg ( "Howl") Heather Graham (actress, model) Cathy Guisewite (cartoonist of "Cathy") Mary Hart (co-host of "Entertainment Tonight") Joseph Heller (Catch 22) Don Henley (singer, songwriter, musician, environmental activist) David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) Chris Isaak (songwriter, singer) Famke Janssen (actress, model) Catherine Keener (actress) Stephen King (novelist) Kris Kristofferson (singer, songwriter, musician, actor)
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:17pm
(cont.)...
Tommy Lee Jones (actor) John Mahoney (actor, Marty on "Frasier") Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) Toni Morrison (Beloved) Paul Newman (actor, food entrepreneur) Joyce Carol Oates (You Must Remember This ) Conan O'Brien (talk show host, writer) Randy Owen (singer, songwriter, musician) Joe Paterno (football coach, Penn State) David Hyde Pierce (actor who plays Niles on "Frasier") Christopher Reeve (actor, writer, director) Sally Ride (astronaut) Geoffrey Rush (actor, director, playwright, musician) Susan Sarandon (actress) Fred Savage (actor from "The Wonder Years") Diane Sawyer (broadcast journalist) Martin Scorsese (director) Marty Shottenheimer (Former coach of Kansas City Chiefs) Paul Simon (songwriter, singer) Sting (singer, songwriter, musician, actor, environmental activist) Steven Spielberg (filmmaker) Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodor Geisel (children's author) Amy Tan (Joy Luck Club) Brandon Tartikoff (television executive) Clarence Thomas (U.S. Supreme Court Justice) Emma Thompson (actress, producer, screenwriter) Grant Tinker (TV Executive and Producer) John Updike (Witches of Eastwick, Rabbit at Rest ) James Van Der Beek (actor from "Dawson's Creek") Harold Varmus (Nobel laureate in medicine, Director of National Institute of Health) Barbara Walters (broadcast journalist) Sigourney Weaver (actress) Eudora Welty ("A Worn Path") Pete Wilson (former governor of California) Reese Witherspoon (actress) Bob Woodward (journalist, writer of All the President's Men) Renee Zellweger (actress) Source Note: The English Department of Mississippi State University and the English Major's Hall of Fame at California State University, Bakersfield provided most of the names on this list.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:18pm
"Happy B'day KVH."
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:12pm
She can get her AARP membership now.
Posted by Benchrest at 10/06/2009 @ 5:19pm
...and best of luck to the "Humanitys" (sic) majors, too...
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:21pm
Very kewl Benchrest.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:29pm
I have a humanitys major in my immediate family, lost his teaching job, but decided to join every orchestra and symphony, and play every gig, and he's doing it by the skin of his teeth, but...he's doing OK. So Jomamma, put that in your bellybutton and play it.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:32pm
Hollywood braced for budget cuts By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles
Published: October 6 2009 19:34 | Last updated: October 6 2009 19:34
".."Greenlighting any film is becoming more and more difficult [because] the cost of making movies has risen," she says.
Top talent will continue to command a premium price, according to Barry Katz, president of New Wave Entertainment, which represents stars such as Dane Cook.
"I can guarantee you that the big stars aren't going to take a pay cut," he says. "Studios need them to bring in the audiences."
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:18pm
Good to see your google talents are spot on and to note all the succesful actors who majored in Humanitys...
So, would the ratio of successful actors against total Humanitys, english,et al grads be about the same as...
oh...
say the number of NBA success stories ratio to the number of kids who want to play in the NBA...?
Schnell...think real world..and schnell
The above quote is the response the good actors have when told movies will be cut back and less spent per movie made...good to see they are in tune with the slow down and cuts in pay REAL WORLD workers and familys live in...
think movie prices shopuld go up to make any of the dipdhits on you list don't lose their $20 million a picture not matter if the movie makes a profit or not?
Google again..for my advice and truth to " roperw " the beggar, is even MORE pertinent, after you prooved my point for me....
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 5:33pm
...and best of luck to the "Humanitys" (sic) majors, too...
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:21pm
They will need it...
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 5:34pm
And he has never begged for ANYTHING in his life Jomamma, the hubby also is in the arts and is still working, and making enough to supplement ME!
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:35pm
Hey KVH, help solve the economic crisis by hiring me. I'll post blog comments for food! I have a humanities major (see, I can even spell it correctly, I'm a great speeler! (no, no aut0-spellchecker I speel!)) that I paid for by showing up for U.S. imperialism in Iraq. Please, please....support the troops - namely me!
Posted by srjenkins at 10/06/2009 @ 5:42pm
I have a humanitys major in my immediate family, lost his teaching job, but decided to join every orchestra and symphony, and play every gig, and he's doing it by the skin of his teeth, but...he's doing OK. So Jomamma, put that in your bellybutton and play it.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:32pm
Your post proves my point..no demand for him/her in the earning world to generate a great salary. Just survival..they didn't think ahead when they chose their path, no forethought.
Having said that, good for him/her. He/she has what is neccessary to get something done on his/her own...
I celebrate him/her...(a little PC there).
what I am pointing out since it flew either over or through your head, is that there is no recovery on the way and if you have not prepared yourself to thrive in the world Obama is trying to change the US into his vision, a disaster even bigger than Bush(both of them) started,(dependacy for the majority, success for the rest of us), you will not survive...
and the tsunami of worthless degrees coming out of our universitys are any indication, no one is hireable... should the economy improve in 10 years, or should a need appear in the current dire situation, no one will be hird for good paying jobs.
Have SCHNELLERJUTZ google the number of engineers and science majors coming out of China and Indian schools each year...my "guess'?
That number is greater than all the US grads combined...
As a result..
any guess where the high payning jobs are gonna be or the innovations gonna be in the next 2,5,10, or 20 years?
It aint gonna be Hollywood or in the Journalism field...
My God..don't you people on the left see the trend?
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 5:48pm
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 5:34pm
Yeeeeeeeah. We need dat hi fallutin, book-learnin'? Who ever thunk that readin' them there books help a fellar? Shoot, I read one time that steel float. Everyone know steel don't float. That's when I gave up on readin' for good. Too many idears in them that wouldn't make anyone any money.
Hot tip: It's fine to crack on the cost of education. It's fine to argue that college is basically a system for creating moderately-functional indentured servants for corporations. But to crack on a liberal education and book learnin'? That's stupid.
Posted by srjenkins at 10/06/2009 @ 5:48pm
Thanks Jomamma, scary times for both of them, but they are doing what they have to do and learning life lessons to boot. They are both he's.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 5:50pm
You've overlooked astronaut Sally Ride and Nobel medicine laureate Harold Varmus, I see.
Just because you're an UNDERGRADUATE ENGLISH MAJOR you are not precluded from having ENOUGH SCIENCE CREDITS to go on to med school or grad school in the sciences, or whatever.
I just don't get the reference to Obama in this context, either. I thought he was encouraging kids to stay in school, last I looked.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:56pm
Sheesh.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 5:58pm
schnellerheinz, agreed and agreed.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 6:03pm
Schnell.
I dont understand the Hollywood example...
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 6:15pm
True, most won't ever make it to Hollywood, or, I agree, the NBA. But you've got your other examples, too, like Joe Paterno or Sally Ride, who just happened to be undergrad English majors and went on to other things.
It's just that, nowadays, I can't think of many fields where you come out of school and don't need finishing to fit a particular job. I'm living here in Detroit, and we're crawling with unemployed engineers. Saw one the other day, 35, former automotive engineer, opening up a donut shop and being featured as a local success story on local TV.
Sure, they "want" engineers all right---as long as they're under 30 and at the LOW END of the salary scale.
Everything's tough right now.
Posted by schnellerheinz at 10/06/2009 @ 6:49pm
Happy 50th, Katrina. And many thanks for your advocacy on behalf of honest working Americans.
BTW, I majored in Computer Science (at Ohio State) and it was a waste of my money - paying tuition to study obsolete technology and then having to learn actual job skills on the job like everyone else. I got more out of studying the classics - books hundreds or thousands of years old by geezers like Thucydides and Shakespeare - than from studying hardware and software that was ten years out of date. Buyer beware!
Posted by samcrossett at 10/06/2009 @ 6:50pm
Schnell and samcrossett, exactly, the real world awaits and hopefully those who went to college can get a job period. I have a kid in the arts and a kid in engineering, they both are doing OK, but in this economy both have had to struggle way more than when I was their age. The economy sucks, and at this point I'm not encouraged.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 6:55pm
madame vanhalen noodle,
i wish thee a merry fiftee!
you know,
some estimates of the total baleful-out top
"ERRORS
A word or url was too long, and has been broken up."
**
see, it won't even fit as numbers,
23 trillion dollars.
that's a lot of solar panels.
oh, well.
OBAMAGARCHS UNITE!
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 8:12pm
Schnell and samcrossett, exactly, the real world awaits and hopefully those who went to college can get a job period. I have a kid in the arts and a kid in engineering, they both are doing OK, but in this economy both have had to struggle way more than when I was their age. The economy sucks, and at this point I'm not encouraged.
Posted by Denise29 at 10/06/2009 @ 6:55pm
JM's real point was that you make your own future. You don't waste time crying about how tough the world is.
We used to produce adults in this country.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/06/2009 @ 9:14pm
There is nothing 'wrong' with a Humanities degree. Just don't do it for money.
The main problem with this administation is the lack of business experience on the staff. These people have no clue to what makes a successful business and until they get people to give good advice, this economic hell will continue. Eventually people will get tired of this BS and demand, dare I say it, 'change'.
Posted by pyeatte at 10/06/2009 @ 9:55pm
Happy birthday KVH.
All of you needing jobs please beware. I am a small businessman and have been most of my working life. I run a pay roll and have insurance for my employees. These tax rates are killing people like me!!! As my business increases in value each year, I get taxed on the increase in value, but I am not that liquid!!! The taxable income is not cash in my pocket. The value I am paying tax on is going to grow and sustain the business so that I can continue to employ. I am one of those bad people that has a taxable income of over $250,000 per year, but that just a number in a box called "taxable income" on my return. It is not cash in my pocket!!! A lot of employers like myself are getting sick of this.
Posted by Ron2009 at 10/06/2009 @ 9:56pm
Posted by Ron2009 at 10/06/2009 @ 9:56pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Have faith in the leftist who hate capitalism! ( they will never get why you started the business) They are for the Obamanations income equalization socialist ideas and think you should make LESS than your employees as you don't actually physically produce a product yourself. You should just be glad they let you own the business and be happy with your net worth increases! Maybe they will help you unionize it and take it away from you using our tax money so you will learn to be grateful for the experience!
Posted by BigPasture at 10/06/2009 @ 10:20pm
"For small business borrowers, there are three problems. First, the fundamentals of their businesses have often deteriorated because of the length and severity of the recession--making many less creditworthy. Second, some sources of funding for small businesses--credit card borrowing and home equity loans--have dried up as banks have responded to rising credit losses in these areas by tightening credit standards. Third, small businesses have few alternative sources of funds. They are too small to borrow in the capital markets and the Small Business Administration programs are not large enough to accommodate more than a small fraction of the demand from this sector."
William Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 10:24pm
HOORAY!
Majority in U.S. Would Back Attack to Prevent Iran Nuclear Bomb
By Janine Zacharia
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- A majority of Americans are skeptical that diplomacy with Iran will succeed and say the U.S. should use military action if necessary to prevent the Iranian government from developing a nuclear weapon.
A Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey released today found 61 percent of Americans would support a military strike.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 10:29pm
Posted by pyeatte at 10/06/2009 @ 9:55pm
Yeah, that's right. Getting business consultants to come in and give advice is really hard for the President of the United States who is sequestered with people with "humanitys majors" who just fell off the turnip truck.
Do you people even believe your own bullshit?
Posted by srjenkins at 10/06/2009 @ 10:31pm
The main problem with this administation is the lack of business experience on the staff.
Posted by pyeatte at 10/06/2009 @ 9:55pm
hahahaha!
they're business experiencing up your wazoo, fool.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 10:32pm
hahahaha!
they're business experiencing up your wazoo, fool.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 10:32pm
If only they acted like they have experience.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/06/2009 @ 10:44pm
oh, they have experience.
that is why they are robbing you (and me) blind.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 10:51pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 10:51pm
They robbing you all the way up in Canada FZ? They must be very experienced to work it like that!
Posted by srjenkins at 10/06/2009 @ 10:57pm
robbery takes many forms.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 11:07pm
Before joining the public service, Carney had a thirteen-year career with Goldman Sachs in its London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto offices. His progressively senior positions included co-head of sovereign risk; executive director, emerging debt capital markets; and managing director, investment banking. He worked on South Africa's post-apartheid venture into international bond markets, and was heavily involved in Goldman Sachs's work with the 1998 Russian financial crisis.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 11:09pm
Here is how the Obamanation and Demoncrats are helping the people now!
Nearing the finish line of the health care marathon in the Senate Finance Committee during the wee hours on Friday morning , Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.) sponsored the "wrap-up amendment" that stealthily gutted important Republican amendments to the "conceptual draft" of a bill that were agreed to or voted through in committee. This wrap-up amendment passed 13-10 on a straight party line vote, allowing Democrats to vote favorably on some high-profile issues, only to pull them back substantially under the cover of darkness in the wrap-up.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking Republican on the Finance Committee voiced strong concerns over this last-minute maneuvering to eviscerate protections for seniors, veterans and the shrinking number of folks who still have a job in the days of Obamanomics.
"These changes need to see the light of day," Grassley said. "Americans considering what this health care proposal means for them deserve to know that Medicare prescription drug premiums would probably go up, veterans' access to health care would be diminished, and workers' wages could be garnished in the midst of growing unemployment and a prolonged recession, in order to pay for other spending in the health reform bill. The issues behind seniors being subjected to higher premiums in Medicare Part D also emphasize the reason why it's important for senators to have actual cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office before being asked to vote on major policy changes."
Posted by BigPasture at 10/07/2009 @ 12:20am
The wrap-up amendment expands powers granted to a brand new Medicare Commission endowing these bureaucrats with the ability to raise premiums on Medicare prescription drug coverage at will. Democrats had worked out a deal with hospitals in secret negotiations over the summer to exempt them from the extensive plans for cuts in Medicare rates. This "carve out" would exempt hospitals from these reductions but the CBO estimated the provision would add $11 billion to the overall cost of the bill. No problem for Dems, just rack up another $11 billion in stealth cuts to Medicare for an offset.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) offered an amendment that was agreed to in the committee markup without objection to shield veterans from increases in the cost of their medical care and reductions in access to treatment. In the wrap-up amendment, Democrats voted to gut the veteran protections, without the customary consultation to the amendment's author, reducing the amendment to mere instructions to the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct a study of the cost of veteran health care specifically including the cost of their medical devices and brand name medications. More cost cutting measures at our veterans' expense.
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) sponsored an amendment to safeguard the work force from reductions in wages as a result of the bill's staggering increase in taxes, fees and assessments on employers. The committee voted unanimously to adopt Enzi's amendment protecting employees and, again, the wrap-up amendment transformed the wording into a requirement for the Secretary of Labor to perform an inconsequential study on the issue. It matters not what working families can afford. Democrats need to pay for their socialist power grab.
Posted by BigPasture at 10/07/2009 @ 12:20am
The gutless Democrats in the Senate supported Medicare and veterans and wage protections in the very public amendment vote tallies, then stripped those very same protections in stealth. The depth and breadth of the fraud and deception being perpetrated on the American people by this government takeover of health care is simply breathtaking.
Posted by BigPasture at 10/07/2009 @ 12:21am
Katrina, why don't you discuss Obama's refusal to consider a second stimulus package?
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 12:23am
Katrina, why don't you discuss Obama's refusal to consider a second stimulus package?
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 12:23am
--We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.--
OK... I think we're ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Its time to get serious... and we are.
This country is brimming with talent... and we've been twiddling our thumbs with pointless political posturing.
Let's focus that unspent 60 per cent of the 'stimulus' on retooling America! Our future is a shared future... but as Americans we must take care of our own by reestablishing our peacetime manufacturing base... and keeping it in this country... rather than selling it off for assets soon dwindled... jobs outsourced... valuable trade skills forgotten... inspired working ethics ridiculed... inventiveness mistrusted... factories shut... tools unknown...
The means of production are more important than we thought... for they are the 'staying power' of any national economy... and we can 'own' our future again.
Posted by ttr at 10/07/2009 @ 01:32am
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/06/2009 @ 11:09pm
Your insights are not well served by (just my opinion) your writing style - short, whimsical, drive-by, puer, vague, bit of better than thou but diluted your Zen cutesy flair, and cut-paste compensation.
I wonder how all this, how holding back from making the necessary effort to flesh out your views - for others - serves you Frosty because it's certainly a rigid style albeit with the delightful non-rigid Zen / paradox veneer. Whether whether you could care more about how clear your making yourself - to others. Or if you are sort of maxed out at this goal as it is.
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 04:43am
Repubs like to defend sweatshop dictatorships by defending 'free trade' - to defend corporate tax loopholes by defending 'small business' - to defend war profiteering by advocating 'a strong defense' etc.
One wonders how many of the marchers on Washington attended 'socialist' public schools or state colleges, or availed themselves of 'socialist' public libraries. And are any of these 'anti-socialists' willing to admit that their 'success' in life is attributable in large measure to being white?
If I started a business at my age (50), I know in advance that medical insurance would be out of the question. I've already taken a pay cut this year due to the depredations of Maine's monopoly medical insurance provider - so staunchly defended by our 'moderate' Repub senators.
Posted by samcrossett at 10/07/2009 @ 05:12am
We used to produce adults in this country.---Posted by antisocialist at 10/06/2009 @ 9:14pm
Of course, Larry, the time frame when YOU considered us to be "producing the most adults"...
you had 10 year olds working in coal mines!
They DID grow up fast in the pits.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 07:18am
BTW, Happy Birthday Ms vanden Heuvel....remember 50 is the "new 30".
((Hope that wasn't too invariably meanspirited, bleak or eager to knock down anything good!))
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 07:21am
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 04:43am
I love Frosty's posts. As someone who has made the "effort to flesh out [my] views", I think responding as FZ typically does is more appropriate to a forum where real dialogue rarely occurs.
Most people here want to broadcast their views. If that is the objective, why not be economical about it as FZ is?
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 07:25am
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 07:25am
FZ is my "buddy" (in whatever sense such a term applies in this forum) and though we've gone "round and round" on occasion, I think he's a good guy....but his views ARE usually unstated, typically because his ideas for "how to fix things" are quite unrealistic.
He's basically a Utopian, dreaming of us all living as he does...the "bohemian musician" stereotype buying only "locally grown food" and wearing fair trade clothing or something knitted by a "co-op" established in a renovated factory building in downtown Ottawa.
Oh, after of course returning to pre-World War-I defense spending and abolishing any federal reserve system and going back to the gold standard.
And therefore like all Utopians, Left, Right, Whatever...never satisfied, always complaining, and dismissive of anybody not as 100% cynical as he is.
And I speak as someone who enjoys good cynicism...just not a steady diet of it.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 07:38am
DuNcE-Haven't heard of these "new" regulations you are speaking of,are they tied to the $40 trillion of derivatives that seemingly disappeared. Just wanted to check with you because Obama's Administration has quite a tilt towards the business community. Are you now supporting the common man. What happened did you drink the wrong cough syrup? After 6 months Enzi and Bunning woke up with amendments. The most laughable committee bill in recent history. Let's throw it out and work off of the other 4 to make the bill.
Posted by whatozz at 10/07/2009 @ 08:06am
in the words of prime minister obama:
well,
um.....
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 08:18am
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 04:43am
i'll try to be more verbose.
’’’’’’’’
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 07:25am
NEW COKE!
FZ is my "buddy" (in whatever sense such a term applies in this forum)
yep.
and though we've gone "round and round" on occasion,
like wheels on a bus....
I think he's a good guy....
pay forward.
but his views ARE usually unstated, typically because his ideas for "how to fix things" are quite unrealistic.
as unrealistic as fence sitting.
He's basically a Utopian,
hardly.
dreaming of us all living as he does...
well, mr. ben et al. are taking care of that.
the "bohemian musician" stereotype
uh, that's a quadratype. i think "frugal grandmother" is closer to my reality.
buying only "locally grown food"
all the while putting wendy's workers on the unemployment line. ever eaten pawpaw?
and wearing fair trade clothing or something knitted by a "co-op" established in a renovated factory building in downtown Ottawa.
actually, i dress quite well.
Oh, after of course returning to pre-World War-I defense spending
SAVE FLINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and abolishing any federal reserve system and going back to the gold standard.
gold is useless. the fed is robbing us blind.
And therefore like all Utopians, Left, Right, Whatever...never satisfied, always complaining, and dismissive of anybody not as 100% cynical as he is.
are you satisfied, or do you enjoy propping up lloyd blankfein?
And I speak as someone who enjoys good cynicism...just not a steady diet of it.
life is awesome. ever eaten pawpaw?
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 07:38am
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 08:36am
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 07:38am
Margaret Mead came to mind: "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
FZ's views may be unstated, but they aren't too difficult to figure out. I also think that your criticism boils down to where to draw the threshold of the possible. Where you draw that line is dependent on a number of factors, such as your time scale, geographic concern, your subjective feelings (appetite for change, attitudes about the world, social environment, etc.), and so forth.
So, my take on it is that you are looking at what changes can be made today, this election, this Congress, and so forth. Whereas Frosty seems to be looking at systemic problems and is doing his bit to make the world better for, perhaps, his child or grandchildren.
In short, you're talking past one another - forest for trees, trees for forest style. That's not uncommon - and there is valid criticism in play in both directions.
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 09:26am
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 08:36am
Frost, what you call "fence sitting" I call "realism".
Ralph Nader will never be President of the United States, Kucinich never Speaker, and Feingold never Senate Majority Leader as well...
nor will Elizabeth May likely be your P.M.
Do we work with that reality...or keep pining for it and say "Nothing less will do"?
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 09:30am
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 09:26am
Gandhi said "Whenever I despair, I remember that the way of truth and love has always won. There may be tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they may seem invincible, but in the end, they always fail. Think of it: always."
But he didn't say it happens overnight...or even over a few election cycles. Or that we should accept "nothing less than perfection" until it does.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 09:33am
Can Mask really think Obama's record as President thus far puts him in "the way of truth and love"?
obama is far closer to bush than he cares to admit.
Posted by urmygyro at 10/07/2009 @ 09:38am
>> If we were a vibrant democracy we would hear a fuller range of people's voices <<
We are not a real democracy, because the average guy is usually not in the headlines?
Is Shakespeare not the great dramatists of England because his plays are not about the generality of people but about kings and dukes?
We remember the various People's Democratic Republics and shudder. God help us if our democracy were to vibrate to Katrina's standards.
Posted by Pirovano at 10/07/2009 @ 09:44am
Money is not a problem for wars and invasions for the Government. And for the revival of the bankrupt financial institutions also.But nothing or very little for the common people .
Posted by Dastu11 at 10/07/2009 @ 10:05am
Yeah, well, that was all part of the strategy. Labor reporters' have gone the way of the dodo bird. Those that report on the "economy", actually report on finance and they get their information from "highly placed sources" on Wall Street and in Washington.
Since newspapers began consolidating ownership there has been an extreme bias toward business news at the expense of working people. Cable "financial news" programs have exacerbated the problem. You have to wonder if that isn't one of the reasons readership has dropped.
Posted by Buddy33 at 10/07/2009 @ 10:19am
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 09:33am
Ah, Mask. Your perfection line while quoting Gandhi is very funny. Gandhi also said:
"Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs."
Care to argue that this is not a view based on "nothing less than perfection" or that Gandhi would have approved more compromised measures such as fighting back or even fleeing to another country?
His attitudes toward the Holocaust is perhaps the most striking example, but I could have drawn examples from anywhere: his work in South Africa to the Salt March to his attitudes on partition that were instrumental in his assassination. Gandhi was definitely in the "nothing less than perfection" camp when it came to the question of non-violence.
Quote is from George Orwell's "Reflections on Gandhi," Partisan Review, Jan. 1949
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 10:19am
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 09:26am
thank you. i realize that many of the things i "fight (type) for" are unobtainable, but hey, humans are less stupid than they used to be.
while i am hoping for a better world for my son et al., i kinda want a better world for you and me, too.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 09:30am
some people said the negroes would always be slaves.
now, one of them is prime minister.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 10:26am
Is Shakespeare not the great dramatists of England?
Posted by Pirovano at 10/07/2009 @ 09:44am
well, he sure learned you a hole bunch.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 10:30am
Katrina, why don't you discuss Obama's refusal to consider a second stimulus package?
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 12:23am
Because the first was not a stimulus package, but a pay off to those who supported him..and resulted in no job creation..and it wouldn't..it is not possible.
It won't work...by design....it is designed to create more Democrats...look at the thousands lining up for your money in detroit...
$3,000 a piece just for living in Detroit.....what will that stimulate?
Any job creation or just a hand out in exchange for....?
Think another round opf checks will show up, say, around...election time? Detroit and Michigan has been run by Dems from top to bottom...proof enough that their policys do not work and to run them out of office?
You fill in thenblank
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:01am
Dear Katrina,
Upon the celebration of your 50 th b-day perhaps this would be the perfect time for you to smarten up . The media is not liberally biased??? Are you living in a cave dear? As for the housing crisis perhaps you should restudy the basic principles of supply and demand, which was thrown out of balance by 2 your liberal idols Dodd and Franks , who insisted home loans be given to folks who had absolutely no chance of paying them back . We find ourselves in a jobless recovery mainly because only 14 % of the stimulus funds have been spent so far ( the rest being held back for election year paybacks) and the fact that your liberal friends in congress saw to it that more than half the funds in the bill are stimulating their cronies pockets rather than directing them to the small business owners who are responsible for the majority of job creation in this country . The saying goes with age comes wisdom but im sorry to say Katrina you are not showing that to be true . Happy Birthday
Posted by limoman at 10/07/2009 @ 11:25am
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:01am
well,
the u.s. economy has been run by republicans for 30 years....
let prosperity reign!
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 11:34am
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:01am
Funny, the stimulus has actually worked pretty well. It was never designed to make up for all lost output, or stop all job loss. That was apparent from the moment it was passed and was the exact basis for criticisms by Joseph StIglitz or Paul Krugman, just to name a couple. Last quarter businesses had quite an influx of cash, but they still didn't hire. The "recovery" (just a blip before a second decline) has been completely disconnected from the lives of ordinary Americans.
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 11:40am
Posted by srjenkins at 10/07/2009 @ 10:19am
Not arguing in favor of Gandhi's pacifism, srj. Merely pointing out that he did cite a historical truth.
Those who refuse to see the progress of America, even the progress of Man, in fits and starts of course, are perfectionists who will never be satisfied...
despite the fact that the "dead man's hand" of history is on their side and EVENTUALLY, the "dreamers" do get what they want. (see below)
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 10:26am
Exactly my point, Frosty.
But pre-Civil War, what if some 1860s version of a blog had had an idealistic Canadian musician telling us
"Ha! That Lincoln is a phoney. Emancipation Proclamation is a cheap stunt...when will he insist his Party puts a Negro on the ticket for the 1864 election! Another false promising politician!!!"
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 11:58am
Think another round opf checks will show up, say, around...election time? Detroit and Michigan has been run by Dems from top to bottom...proof enough that their policys do not work and to run them out of office?
You fill in thenblank
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:01am | ignore this person | warn this person
See Chris Hayes on Bailout in 8 Minutes.
Hayes doesn't seem real optimistic - and he basically says if Bama's voodoo doesn't work, he is toast along with Dem majority. Pressure is on. Bama is going to need bribe money for 2012, but likely he is going to need Treasury Notes to stuff into cracks of the dam that is breaking apart before that time.
Our foreign creditors, including members of G20 are already trying to wind up their "stimulus programs" and restrict liquidity by raising interest rates. Australia just did. Bama sure is in a pickle. No jobs recovery, and he can't let G20 take the dollar down more.
Going to be interesting.
His stimulus program is going to be "cut short" by the "second economy" I am afraid - that economy being Wall Street. And as we seen to date, when WS says jump, Bama says how high.
Now, let's see what he does with Afghanistan and Iraq before the election. Foreign creditors calling the shots now on our monetary and fiscal policy.
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 12:03pm
Buddy33 spoke of the demise of labor reporter. Much blame has to go with labor itself for acquiescingly accepting the idea that global competition requires lower expectations, environmentalism will kill jobs, & the biggest threat of all, especially as outlined by the pistol belt wearing crowd, the threat of the communist/leftist conspiracy.
We know what happens when, as before the Great Depression, shoe shine boys were buying stocks & into the Horatio Alger myth. The bubble always bursts.
Look at all of the rank & file now holding profit sharing entities of low value as a major part of their retirements. Too bad they didn't retire at 30.
These must be some of the people thinking they're riding the coattails of the bailed financial sector. Good luck.
Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2009 @ 12:07pm
But he didn't say it happens overnight...or even over a few election cycles. Or that we should accept "nothing less than perfection" until it does.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 09:33am | ignore this person | warn this person
What horseshit you peddle Mask. Don't offend Ghandi.
"Change You Can Believe In"
Yeah right, that implies that a century from now, things "may" be different.
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 12:11pm
These must be some of the people thinking they're riding the coattails of the bailed financial sector. Good luck.
Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2009 @ 12:07pm | ignore this person | warn this person
The second and final Ponzi scheme. This time, it will be for good.
Once interest rates rise, "the grand illusion" will be revealed.
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 12:16pm
Not arguing in favor of Gandhi's pacifism, srj. Merely pointing out that he did cite a historical truth.
yeah, like this one*:
"God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts."
Those who refuse to see the progress of America, even the progress of Man, in fits and starts of course, are perfectionists who will never be satisfied...
refuse to see progress?!? MY KNOWLEDGE IS GOOGLEPLEXIAN!
despite the fact that the "dead man's hand" of history is on their side and EVENTUALLY, the "dreamers" do get what they want. (see below)
not "dreamers", but "pullers" or, if you wish, "wakethefuckuppers".
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 12:36pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 10:26am
hey, that's me.
Exactly my point, Frosty.
never!
But pre-Civil War,
"By 1790 the abolition movement was gaining credence in Canada and the ill intent of slavery was evidenced by an incident involving a slave woman being violently abused by her slave owner on her way to being sold in the United States. In 1793 Chloe Clooey**, in an act of defiance yelled out screams of resistance. The abuse committed by her slave owner and her violent resistance was witnessed by Peter Martin and William Grisely.[10] Peter Martin, a former slave, brought the incident to the attention of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. Under the auspices of Simcoe, 'The Slave Act of 1793," was legislated."
what if some 1860s version of a blog had had an
it was called idle gossip back then.
idealistic
idealistic? ha, i was super happy when my car insurance went down five bucks a month.
Canadian musician telling us
"Tin soldiers and Nixon coming", quoth the raven
"Ha! That Lincoln is a phoney.
compareth thee lincoln for obama? mark thy words...
Emancipation Proclamation is a cheap stunt...
cash for clunkers?
when will he insist his Party puts a Negro on the ticket for the 1864 election!
i didn't know larry summers was black...
Another false promising politician!!!"
plus, that's rio's punctuation. plus, i never believed the promises. let's just say i felt a shift of 4.7% towards justice (in the broadest meaning you can imagine) coming. all i see is focusgroup wiggly wobble.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 12:36pm
*probably
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 12:36pm
** hero of the day.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 12:36pm
YourJoMamma:
We "humanitys" majurz mite be havin a hard tyme fynding werk but at leeest we no how to spell.
We also do not take delight in the misfortunes of other people. That empathy is something we learned reading literature.
Posted by Citizen54 at 10/07/2009 @ 12:38pm
Citizen54
noice
Posted by emile duBois at 10/07/2009 @ 12:40pm
well,
the u.s. economy has been run by republicans for 30 years....
let prosperity reign!
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 11:34am
Only if you call Democrats, Republicans.
Republicans ran the House for 12 of the past 30 years (1995-1997. All bills of revenue originate in the House of Representatives. Democrats have run the House for all but 12 years since 1954. That is 43 years of Dem control.
In the Senate, it is more divided, but not by a lot. Since 1954, the Dems have controlled the Senate for 39 of the 55 years.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 1:08pm
Frosty, you live for Utopia, you'll never get it.
OV is right...maybe 100 years from now, you'd get EVERYTHING you want, but you'll likely be dead by then after spending your life complaining that it hasn't arrived yet.
OV is wrong though that nothing changes until 100 years have passed though.
20 years ago, Barack Obama would have stood virtually no chance in hell of being elected President even as a Republican. (Yes, yes..."he IS one now"...see how predictable you've become?)
45 years ago, Barack Obama couldn't have gone to any school he was able to in states like Virginia and North Carolina....states he won in 2008.
65 years ago, Barack Obama wouldn't have been allowed to EAT in a diner in South Carolina...must less been allowed to campaign for the Democratic primary in one.
and 100 years ago, OV's time-frame?, Barack Obama could have been hanged from a tree in many states for "fun"....and nothing been done about it.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 1:33pm
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 1:08pm
Larry, since the discussed time-frame is 30 years...
are you now somehow discounting the "effectiveness of Reaganomics from 1981-1992"....or the "Gingrich Congress" in the 90s....or Dubya and the GOP Congress from since then????
Can't have it both ways. Both "our economic model is the only one that works and is proven to" AND "It's never been really tried for the past 30 years".
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 1:35pm
Larry, since the discussed time-frame is 30 years...
are you now somehow discounting the "effectiveness of Reaganomics from 1981-1992"....or the "Gingrich Congress" in the 90s....or Dubya and the GOP Congress from since then????
Can't have it both ways. Both "our economic model is the only one that works and is proven to" AND "It's never been really tried for the past 30 years".
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 1:35pm
Thirty years goes back to Carter not Reagan if you are going that route.
My point was that the Democrats have controlled Congress for most of the past 50 years.
Yes, Reagan was able to get some changes implemented and those few changes were substantial. but He was limited by a Democratic Congress. Read his diaries and you might learn something.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 1:40pm
Frosty, you live for Utopia,
no, i don't. perfection does not exist ('cept maybe in math). i live for pawpaws, my family, dragonflies....
you'll never get it.
nope.
OV is right...maybe 100 years from now, you'd get EVERYTHING you want,
nope. i imagine they'll still be some slaves somewheres.
but you'll likely be dead by then after spending your life complaining that it hasn't arrived yet.
this is my complainaphone. i prefer to eat.
OV is wrong though that nothing changes until 100 years have passed though.
everything is constantly changing. the status quo is impossible.
20 years ago, Barack Obama would have stood virtually no chance in hell of being elected President even as a Republican.
playing the race card? let's talk economics.
(Yes, yes..."he IS one now"...see how predictable you've become?)
so, you admit it? two sides of a one sided coin. wiggly wobble, i tells ya'.
45 years ago, Barack Obama couldn't have gone to any school he was able to in states like Virginia and North Carolina....states he won in 2008.
and now he gets to appoint timmy geithner!
65 years ago, Barack Obama wouldn't have been allowed to EAT in a diner in South Carolina...must less been allowed to campaign for the Democratic primary in one.
and now the people of south carolina don't even have a clue as to who larry summers is.
and 100 years ago, OV's time-frame?, Barack Obama could have been hanged from a tree in many states for "fun"....and nothing been done about it.
and now he gets to do that at bagram....
"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 1:56pm
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 1:40p
larry,
greenspan has you spun.
paul volcker had balls.
paul volcker saved america so reagan could ruin it.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 1:58pm
HUMANITYS AND EHS!
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 1:59pm
and now,
if you'll all excuse me, i'm going to wal-mart to get myself a snuggie.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:04pm
"..i live for pawpaws.."
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 1:56pm
"The fruit is a large edible berry, 5 to 16 cm long and 3 to 7 cm broad, weighing from 20 to 500 g, with numerous seeds; it is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown. It has a flavor somewhat similar to both banana and mango, varying significantly by cultivar, and has more protein than most fruits.
The fruits are quite popular, but the shelf life of the ripe fruit is almost non-existent, for it soon ripens to the point of fermentation." (wikipedia)
ah ha.....
mmmmmmmmmmm..........mangos...
Posted by Benchrest at 10/07/2009 @ 2:05pm
pawpaws kept lewis and clark alive.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:09pm
and 100 years ago, OV's time-frame?, Barack Obama could have been hanged from a tree in many states for "fun"....and nothing been done about it.
Posted by Mask at 10/07/2009 @ 1:33pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Ah....so that is "change you can believe in."
I thought it was going to be something more.
Some argue that BO is our first Jewish president too.
Nice call by David Axelrod. Trot out a black guy.
"Well if we can elect a black president, what is to stop us now."
I think you are underestimating the "black vote." They were expecting substantive change, not just "feel good" change.
I am expecting that we haven't heard the last of Farrakan, and 2012 is going to show us just how far we have come as to racial issues when blacks look at Bama's record rather than his skin color. Jewish "liberals" are going to have "astro-turf" this one very hard (again) to keep the black vote in line. And, I don't think Repubs are going to be runnin a racist 2012.
'Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away'
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 2:10pm
and a Shoshone named Sakajawea...
Posted by Benchrest at 10/07/2009 @ 2:11pm
if you'll all excuse me, i'm going to wal-mart to get myself a snuggie.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:04pm | ignore this person | warn this person
check out new electric ones by Sunbeam - very good when you don't have enough food in ya to generate bodyheat, but the electric company hasn't turned off the juice yet.
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 2:12pm
i want one of those snuggies like the folks at goldman got.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:14pm
she knew were the pawpaws grew.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:15pm
she knew were the pawpaws grew.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:15pm
touche'
i was going to mention that they ate beaver too, but it sounded crass.
Posted by Benchrest at 10/07/2009 @ 2:25pm
and she was stuck with muskrat.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:29pm
i want one of those snuggies like the folks at goldman got.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 2:14pm | ignore this person | warn this person
right you are frosty.....but you won't find those at Wal-Mart....lol....
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 2:32pm
Is a 13yr old Somali Raider with an AK47 adult enough for you, or would you rather he pull himself up from his bootstraps some more before you show him respect.
You need to kiss FDR's ass, he wasn't a socialist, he sure as hell wasn't a traitor to his class, he's the greatest capitolist this country has ever known, he saved it from the valley of death. Fickle minded, do the math son.
Posted by a_bakr at 10/07/2009 @ 2:57pm
frosty zoom, muskrat reminds me of an ad we had in the home town paper a few years back, had a "musk rat" jacket for sale. Wanted to send it to Leno, OK enough off topic, back to "its about the people".
Posted by Denise29 at 10/07/2009 @ 2:59pm
Posted by Benchrest at 10/07/2009 @ 2:05pm | ignore this person | warn this person
have you tried mamey or sapote?
Posted by emile duBois at 10/07/2009 @ 3:24pm
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 12:16pm
That old cartoon with Garfield clinging, claws embedded in the back screen door & the lady of the house tosses a loaded dishpan out. A drenched Garfield turns his head & exclaims, "Old habits die hard."
Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2009 @ 3:54pm
Happy Birthday Katrina! As we watch the credit based economy hit once more the point where it is no longer sustainable at home, it might be quite revealing to take a look at the previous exercises in creating such a system abroad by the IMF. It is quite obvious that from that perspective there was an expectation that an end was in sight. A run to the finish line, or more appropriately described as a grab what you can as fast as possible before the bottom falls off, greedy, frantic race with no consideration for ethical, moral behavior... and no oversight at all in spite of the plain view picture was the rule. Reminiscent of Enron's fall on a national scale. I suppose we would be rewarding Enron with huge bail-outs had it's demise occurred a few years later than it did. What could we do to get out of this absurd economic trend? I would risk a notion that could easily be ridiculed as naive but which has been effective in other countries faced with such corporate take overs: Give incentives to small, local businesses and start restructuring community based economies that serve the individual rather than exploit the working class. That would be a start. Health reform based on eliminating the unethical overpricing of medical care would also help to establish a strong human resource, the base of any economy.
Posted by Gustav at 10/07/2009 @ 4:12pm
"have you tried mamey or sapote?"
Posted by emile duBois at 10/07/2009 @ 3:24pm
"The fruit is eaten raw out of hand or made into milkshakes, smoothies, ice cream and fruit bars. The fruit's flavor is variously described as a combination of pumpkin, sweet potato, and maraschino cherries with the texture of an avocado. Some consider the fruit to be an aphrodisiac"(wikipedia)
no sir,
but i will, it sounds great.
Posted by Benchrest at 10/07/2009 @ 4:25pm
usually when you buy mamey it's hard, but it will ripen. do not cut until soft. I make batidas, also known as smoothies, and homemade gelato.
in a grasp for relevance in all this war talk, mamey has antiseptic qualities and was used on battlefields to treat wounds.
Posted by emile duBois at 10/07/2009 @ 4:52pm
"Old habits die hard."
Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2009 @ 3:54pm | ignore this person | warn this person
Indeed they do.
I can see it now -
"And no black man has ever been elected to a second term as President of the United States".....
Posted by OneVote at 10/07/2009 @ 5:08pm
Happy birthday KVH. You are one of the rare ones; highly intelligent, of deep moral commitment & very pleasing to look at. Happy 50th!
Posted by Sorelish at 10/07/2009 @ 5:11pm
KvH: ".....the report points out which voices the media was listening to. Government officials drove nearly one-third of the stories, business leaders just over one-fifth...."
Hmmm....with the Gubbers accounting for 1/6th of the economy and growing rapidly, and "one-third of the stories", my extrapolation says that when the Gubbers are 1/4 of the economy, they'll account for one-half of the stories; perhaps more since by then, Legacy Media will likely be on the Fed's payroll....
There's the Utopia in the making....for a bunch of you loons!
Posted by Happy at 10/07/2009 @ 5:45pm
Is Shakespeare not the great dramatists of England?
Posted by Pirovano at 10/07/2009 @ 09:44am
well, he sure learned you a hole bunch.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 10:30am
ROTFLMAO!
Posted by Stephen_Carver1 at 10/07/2009 @ 5:47pm
Yes, Reagan was able to get some changes implemented and those few changes were substantial. but He was limited by a Democratic Congress. Read his diaries and you might learn something.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 1:40pm
Larry, you capitalized "He" when speaking of Raygun, not the Almighty. And while I would usually subscribe this to the theory of a typo, in this case, I'm not so sure since you rarely, if ever, show any real Christian charity to your fellow human beings (especially the liberal ones), but you always come out swinging in the defense of Raygun.
Posted by Stephen_Carver1 at 10/07/2009 @ 6:02pm
larry,
greenspan has you spun.
paul volcker had balls.
paul volcker saved america so reagan could ruin it.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 1:58pm
FZ, your ignorance about Reagan is right at the top of the charts.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 6:03pm
Larry, you capitalized "He" when speaking of Raygun, not the Almighty. And while I would usually subscribe this to the theory of a typo, in this case, I'm not so sure since you rarely, if ever, show any real Christian charity to your fellow human beings (especially the liberal ones), but you always come out swinging in the defense of Raygun.
Posted by Stephen_Carver1 at 10/07/2009 @ 6:02pm
it was a typo.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 6:49pm
BTW, I majored in Computer Science (at Ohio State) and it was a waste of my money - paying tuition to study obsolete technology....
Posted by samcrossett at 10/06/2009 @ 6:50pm
OSU is not exactly an academic powerhouse! Hell, I sure didn't know OSU had a computer science dept.! Georgia Tech did and had state-of-the-art `stuff' that help launched Atlanta's tech sector! OSU obviously had a fourth-rate CS program but first-rate football `stuff'!
Posted by Happy at 10/07/2009 @ 6:55pm
life is awesome. ever eaten pawpaw?
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 08:36am
Had pawpaw today, before you posted, for the first time. Synchronicitycity. Frosty, a mentor's-maxim I try to abide is no one's 100% wrong 100% of the time. You use terms 'pull' and 'wake up'. My comment was sent through the ether net in the spirit-ground of "hope this doesn't sound 100% wrong", and then some! I think I and others could benefit a lot if you actually did more of the 'pull' and 'wake up', or a more proactive, initiatory, specific, substantial form of it. Even in this very cool thread on this very topic, your style/views/motivation, whatever, with some very kind and deliberative, constructive comments from Mask - whatever, you stick to the whimsical/follower/lots of 'neither this nor that' thing. Very Aikido and cool.
That's cool. Still cool.
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 7:12pm
life is awesome. ever eaten pawpaw?
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 08:36am
cut-paste errors repaired:
Had pawpaw today, before you posted, for the first time. Synchronicitycity. Frosty, a mentor's-maxim I try to abide is no one's 100% wrong 100% of the time. My comment was sent through the ether net in the spirit-ground of "hope this doesn't sound 100% wrong", and then some! I think I and others could benefit a lot if you actually did more of the 'pull' and 'wake up', or a more proactive, initiatory, specific, substantial form of it. Even in this very cool thread on this very topic, your style/views/motivation, whatever, with some very kind and deliberative, constructive comments from Mask - you stick to the whimsical/follower/lots of 'neither this nor that' thing. Very Aikido and cool.
That's cool. Still cool.
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 7:41pm
Kathleen, happy 50th! You've done wonderful things with the magazine, and your commitment to social justice is the sexiest thing about you!
I guess all the usual right wingers all agree, since they appear to be getting - well - a little hot under the collar, if you know what I mean....
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/07/2009 @ 8:05pm
if you majored in Humanitys, arts, English, Ethnic studies of any flavor, or any other non science degree...you screwed your parents out of their money...
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 4:50pm
Hmm, explains the general lack of erudition: the ignorance of history, the lack of critical thinking - all picked up from a liberal arts education.
Wait, that's the problem: instead of calling them "liberal" arts, we should call them "wealth creating" arts!
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/07/2009 @ 8:17pm
Larry, you capitalized "He" when speaking of Raygun, not the Almighty. And while I would usually subscribe this to the theory of a typo, in this case, I'm not so sure since you rarely, if ever, show any real Christian charity to your fellow human beings (especially the liberal ones), but you always come out swinging in the defense of Raygun.
Posted by Stephen_Carver1 at 10/07/2009 @ 6:02pm
it was a typo.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 6:49pm
- forgivable, he was aroused at the time
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 8:22pm
Cockburn's column alone is worth the subscription.
Posted by a_bakr at 10/07/2009 @ 9:18pm
Posted by Happy at 10/07/2009 @ 5:45pm
Don't stop there, the logical extension of this argument is right around the corner. If the source of these stories are coming from the government, which has Democratic President and Congress, then what is this saying? Could it be that Democrats bear zero resemblance to a socialist movement?
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 9:23pm
sapote?
Posted by emile duBois at 10/07/2009 @ 3:24p
which kind -- chico, negro, blanco, domingo, or amarillo?
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 9:51pm
FZ, your ignorance about Reagan is right at the top of the charts.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/07/2009 @ 6:03pm
not as high as your denial.
blame reagan.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 9:54pm
- forgivable, he was aroused at the time
Posted by winyahn at 10/07/2009 @ 8:22pm
now, wait a second. now you're using my style ;]
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 9:57pm
GREEN SHOOTS!
"Natl. Assoc. of Manufacturers annual trade survey reports signs of upturn; while slump in trade and employment has been sizeable, current favorable signs include reasonable level of inventories, wage scale generally holding, labor peace, and optimism found in survey sent to members: prospects for winter were called excellent by 2%, good by 18%, fair by 59%, and poor by 21%. J. Edgerton, President, criticizes "emotional proposals" advocating govt. solutions for unemployment as unworkable, praises Smoot-Hawley tariff as moving tariffs away from politics."
wsj, october 7th, 1930
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 10:02pm
If anyone wants to get a clear picture of what's happening to the economy just google Michael Hudson.
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 10:17pm
If anyone wants to get a clear picture of what's happening to the economy just google Michael Hudson. Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 10:17pm | ignore this person | warn this person
If any one wants to get a clear picture of the economy just look at the dollar collapsing, unemployment arounds17%, Obama posting a deficit of $1.4 trillion so far JUST this year, the world dumping the $ as a reserve , and the only activity is the sound of the money printing press and lunatics on the left demanding more spending on free health care.... Plus all the states run by Dems are broke and ruined, stimulus is described as $3000 handouts in Detroit and the job creaters are heading off shore to weather out the Obama and Congress after another election IF there us anything left to return to.
Tip, things are right on track comrades.
You dont have to google anything Take a look out the window and into your check book....
And celebrate with those here the value of non science degrees.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 10:32pm
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 10:32pm |
Posting a bunch a stats in a vacuum without attempting to contextualize them is not an argument. Try again.
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 10:54pm
Posting a bunch a stats in a vacuum without attempting to contextualize them is not an argument. Try again.
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 10:54pm
If you can't see the picture of our economy and the direction it is being driven now...and youn think those little stats are in a vacum, then there is no hope for you, if there ever was any...
just chew on this...
So far this year, Jan to Oct...Obama spent $1.4 trillion......and the year isn't over...and next uear it will be more...and all this money is being printed or borrowed...and your fellow non vacums here want to spend MORE....
and you think I need to try again?
I'll type slow...there will be no recovery with this load. No job creation. No small business growth, and they produce the entire economy....
maybe for you there is one bright spot...the govt will grow and hire more people...unionised, of course..
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:11pm
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:11pm
We both know that the figures are accurate, but cramming as many as possible into one post is not making a coherent argument. And what does this have to do with Michael Hudson?
Posted by nkurland at 10/07/2009 @ 11:16pm
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:11pm
blame reagan, another victim of the humanitys:
"After high school, Reagan attended Eureka College, where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, majored in economics and sociology, and was very active in sports, including football."
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 11:35pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/07/2009 @ 11:35pm
I just haven't taken you seriously for a long time. And don't see any chance of doing so in the future. And as you should have noticed, you provide more entertainment than serious thought provoking posts. They are one line simplistic fragmented hit and runs as another pointed out. We all know you are a socialist who hates any conservative thought, probably because you understand so little about it.
You should spend more time trying to earn a living and not have your fellow Canadians carry you as you spew ridiculous advice and ad hominems about the US.
Your wife and children deserve a chance at a real income and life on a normal level with more attention from you...or they too, will be stuck with $12k a year...and when the progressives are done here in 2 or 4 years...that amount will be so low because of inflation that you will be in deeper trouble than you are now..only by then you will realise it.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:50pm
They are one line simplistic fragmented hit and runs as another pointed out. We all know you are a socialist who hates any conservative thought, probably because you understand so little about it.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:50pm
Who is lecturing whom about "hate"?
"Conservative"?
Your lack of any education in history or critical analysis is showing. You should try a liberal arts education.
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/07/2009 @ 11:57pm
I just haven't taken you seriously for a long time.
kinda like grammar, huh?
And don't see any chance of doing so in the future.
thank god.
And as you should have noticed, you provide more entertainment than serious thought provoking posts.
read shakespeare.
They are one line simplistic fragmented hit and runs as another pointed out.
IT'S THE DMV'S FAULT!
We all know you are a socialist who hates any conservative thought, probably because you understand so little about it.
we all know, do we? john, i am far more conservative than you could ever be.
You should spend more time trying to earn a living and not have your fellow Canadians carry you as you spew ridiculous advice and ad hominems about the US.
how does it feel to be carrying goldman and jp?
Your wife and children deserve a chance at a real income and life on a normal level with more attention from you...
dude, i work very hard to pay for my wife's full time university tuition. watch where you tread.
or they too, will be stuck with $12k a year...and when the progressives are done here in 2 or 4 years...
progressives? what planet do you live on?
that amount will be so low because of inflation that you will be in deeper trouble than you are now..only by then you will realise it.
you need to read this:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/ 10/deflation-threat-what-deflation-threat.html
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/07/2009 @ 11:50pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 12:02am
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/07/2009 @ 11:57pm
Hate? I spent years in advanced Poli sci courses and years in calculus along with a few statistics classes...had a good time...then switched to Chem and Bio....refused Med school...
they are CLASSES, NOT REAL LIFE FIRST HAND EXPERIENCES..CLASSES.
From what I've read of your posts there is nothing new, challenging, or interesting to really carry on...it more entertaining.The useles mention of my studies should wake you to the uselessness of yours...
its what one DOES with the knowledge and experience one receives.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 12:08am
Good night Frosty..dream on and dream well.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 12:10am
jm,
you really should read mish...
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 12:18am
Hate? I spent years in advanced Poli sci courses and years in calculus along with a few statistics classes...had a good time...then switched to Chem and Bio....refused Med school...
they are CLASSES, NOT REAL LIFE FIRST HAND EXPERIENCES..CLASSES.
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 12:10am
It's obvious you had a "good time" in the classes, and lack the real life first hand experience.
So, do the capital letters mean you're - er - "climaxing"?
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/08/2009 @ 12:39am
So, do the capital letters mean you're - er - "climaxing"?
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/08/2009 @ 12:39am
Intelligently put...
Out of school, what...2 years?
My 18 year old as more common sense than you demonstrate here...my god man....are you a teacher in public school by any chance?
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 12:49am
you really should read mish...
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 12:18am
Unfortunately, you have to be a subscriber, but Foreign Affairs has an excellent article on this very topic in the September/October 2009 issue by Barry Eichengreen: The Dollar Dilemma. Bottom line - its highly unlikely that the US dollar will be replaced by another currency as the leading world currency any time soon, however, as the rest of the world expands economically, its inevitable that the relative importance of the US economy to the rest of the world will decline. Note that the renimbi is not a convertable currency. Besides "directed lending", China does not have the appropriate level of transparency or convertability to function as a viable replacement. The euro, right now the most viable option, is hampered by a lack of heterogenity in the European Union. Its predicted that the euro will expand as an international currency from its EU base gradually, in much the same way the pound sterling once did. The author concludes that competition in international reserve currencies is not a bad thing - it will likely force a greater degree of discipline on national economic strategies, enhancing investor confidence.
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/08/2009 @ 12:57am
are you a teacher in public school by any chance?
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 12:49am
Unfortunately, I can not claim to be a member of that proud and honored profession.
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/08/2009 @ 01:01am
Saw the bumper sticker today....thought it was just a Sean Hannity throwaway line, but it's real-
"What Would Reagan Do?"
Immediately reminded me...aren't these the same people who say that WE think Obama is a "Messiah"???
Okay, then....what was the ORIGINAL version of that phrase....who did it cite instead of "Reagan"....and isn't HE considered a "Messiah" by about a billion people world-wide?!??!???
The Right has now turned Ronald Reagan into a secular political religion.
Posted by Mask at 10/08/2009 @ 07:41am
"What Would Reagan Do?"
Posted by Mask at 10/08/2009 @ 07:41am
a) make deals with the mullahs
b) double federal debt
c) waste billions on impossible weapons systems
d) bloat the federal bureaucracy
e) invade helpless backwaters
f) make more deals with the mullahs AND paramilitary death squads
AND
g) ban offshore drilling (heheh)
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 08:10am
don't forget FROSTWIN'S LAW:
"the deeper a righty-tighty gets in a hole, the more probable the effigy of st. ronnie will be thrust forth."
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 08:11am
Jomama has been posting this anti education drivel here for years. it's still stale nonsense.
Posted by emile duBois at 10/08/2009 @ 08:31am
Unfortunately, I can not claim to be a member of that proud and honored profession.
Posted by Dwight Wall at 10/08/2009 @ 01:01am
You should be....you epitimise indoctrination..
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 08:55am
Jomama has been posting this anti education drivel here for years. it's still stale nonsense.
Posted by emile duBois at 10/08/2009 @ 08:31am | ignore this person | warn this person
Not true...it ain't edjacation I protest...its the fact that there ain't no edjacation goin' on there....
you know this...
turn out little liberals with no clue as to how the economy runs, how wealth is created nor how to earn a good living for ones self without claiming some sort of govt help owed to them because they are some kind of victim, most likely form the white guys. The schools have become indoctrination centers for the liberal cause where free sppech is great unless you disagree with the indoctrinate positions, then you are shouted down, especialy in the higher levels..it is a union shop home to dem fund raisers and a home where one is paid based on time there and not what one actualy does there or if it has any real value.
To hire anyone out of these istitutions(perfect name) one must put the potential hiree into remedial reading and math..otherwise, all one gets in someone who can't make change if the power goes out at the till, or one who can handle.."Fries are up!!"....
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 09:07am
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 08:10am
Yep...number 1 on your list is my favorite.
Would love to have asked the person with the bumper sticker "Okay, so should we ask 'What Would Reagan Do?' when it comes to ...Iran?"
and if they (typically) say "Hell, yeah!"....say..
"Oh, you mean....'sell them missiles and funnel the profits into a slush fund for drug runners'?"
Posted by Mask at 10/08/2009 @ 09:25am
oh, jm, you are such a humanitease.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 10:09am
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/08/2009 @ 09:07am
Ah, of course. Good ole' conservative logic at work here: if they disagree, they must not know how the economy works, if its a public institution its necessarily infested with "lybruls." Nothing overly simplistic about that.
Posted by nkurland at 10/08/2009 @ 10:32am
Posted by nkurland at 10/08/2009 @ 10:32am
Psssst.....Don't ask him about mail carriers!!!!
heheh
Posted by Mask at 10/08/2009 @ 11:23am
Our present capitalist economic, social and political system is a victim of its own success. With the robotic and electronic revolution well under way we are replacing manual labor as we know it. And that is not a bad thing. If we can get machines to do the back breaking work in the factories, mines etc. then that should be a plus for humanity. But unfortunately they haven't figured out how to get the robots to buy back what they produce. And with a system still based on the premise that you have to have a job to earn a wage to buy the necessaries of life and there are no jobs....you have an irreconcilable contradiction. The profits and market system can no longer function to meet the needs of the majority of society. With Globalization there is an evening up process with the spread of the technology. And rather then bringing the rest of the worlds workers up to the living standard we have enjoyed...our standard of living is being driven down to theirs. I used to think it was a big conspiracy by the elite but now I believe that every economic system has its own objective motion and laws. They think that if they just throw more of our taxpayer money at the problem it will go away. Democracy in this country has been reduced to merely casting a vote. Every 4 years they let us decide which of their leaders is going to mislead us for another 4 years. To enjoy the fruits of democracy the average person would have to have access to the tools of democracy. Television, print, radio. The only folks who have that access are the millionaires and billionaires. Michael Moore is right in demanding economic democracy. The democratic right to a job, house, food, healthcare and that elusive right to human happiness. You can call it socialism, communism, or a duck. Bring it on!
Posted by daymonjhartley at 10/08/2009 @ 3:44pm
The democratic right to a job, house, food, healthcare and that elusive right to human happiness. You can call it socialism, communism, or a duck. Bring it on!
Posted by daymonjhartley at 10/08/2009 @ 3:44pm
You wouldn't mind showing us where those rights are in the constitution?
Posted by antisocialist at 10/08/2009 @ 3:51pm
Might be time to amend the constitution. Antisocialist as a screen name kind of tells your story.
Posted by daymonjhartley at 10/08/2009 @ 4:06pm
2 Sentence-I talked to a couple of people last night who thought we were in for 2-3 tough years. Who cares about the Constitution stupid? Get off of your gray horse and think how good things are for "you". Good for you ,if you get sick you are solid in your commitment to holistic medicine. Are you an aberration ,of course you are. The common man is who you have lost touch with. It is surprising considering your life's path but maybe you stay off the stage when interacting with your flock. Realtor's in Twin Cities say there is a 4 year supply of $500,000 homes for sale. This wasn't really caused by lower class minorities was it? This is just a symptom of the economic mess we are in. We bailed out the banks and how was the favor repaid? Bonuses are back ,credit card interest rates are going up, and credit is tighter. So when conservatives post comments about government takeovers on this venue and don't seem to care about the screwing we are getting it makes me wonder how they think.Perhaps that is it they don't.
Posted by whatozz at 10/08/2009 @ 6:39pm
This is just a symptom of the economic mess we are in. We bailed out the banks and how was the favor repaid? Bonuses are back ,credit card interest rates are going up, and credit is tighter. So when conservatives post comments about government takeovers on this venue and don't seem to care about the screwing we are getting it makes me wonder how they think.Perhaps that is it they don't.
Posted by whatozz at 10/08/2009 @ 6:39pm
But I was also against the bank bailouts. I try to be consistent in that regard.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/08/2009 @ 7:00pm
Posted by whatozz at 10/08/2009 @ 6:39pm
But I was also against the bank bailouts. I try to be consistent in that regard.
Posted by antisocialist at 10/08/2009 @ 7:00pm
For newbies like whatozz, should clarify & broaden opposition to all conservative posters....the `regular' Righties were universally opposed to the bank bailout that started w/Paulson under Bush! Bush's last fuckup & McCain's lost the Election due in part, to supporting the same!
Posted by Happy at 10/08/2009 @ 7:18pm
You are right about the bailout. When arte we going to figure out this tailspin? You must travel in your work and speak with "travelers" The (For Rent or For Lease) signs are every where residentially and commercially. Concentration of wealth is not a good thing. Has it helped us in the banking industry? Have consumers been helped by it in the health insurance sector? How about newspapers as conglomerates? Of course that is a game of hedge fund and corporate raider guys that strip the money out for themselves. Mitt Romney come to mind?
Posted by whatozz at 10/08/2009 @ 7:26pm
Ron Paul or Pat Buchannon? Certainly not Ron Reagan, after all he got his ass kicked in Angola by Castro.
Posted by a_bakr at 10/08/2009 @ 7:31pm
Well Droop you are consistent,if you personally get money you are in favor. If you do not personally benefit it bis bad. If a minority benefits it is really bad. If you can lord it at a minority's expense it is great. You like your place in the Southern caste system.
Posted by whatozz at 10/08/2009 @ 8:09pm
Posted by a_bakr at 10/08/2009 @ 7:31pm
Although Angolans probably wouldn't call it winning.
Posted by nkurland at 10/08/2009 @ 9:34pm
mccain lost because he doesn't have a clue....
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 10:29pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/08/2009 @ 10:29pm |
and don't forget picking a Veep who never read a magazine or newspaper.
Posted by Mask at 10/09/2009 @ 07:36am
sorelish,
One of the biggest and most successful scams ever was 401k plans that channeled retirement money into stocks, and it's still going on. The supply-side of the economy is being force fed while demand languishes. When retirement money goes into deposit institutions more money is available for demand, and interest rates are held down.
Posted by Buddy33 at 10/09/2009 @ 10:33am
Posted by Buddy33 at 10/09/2009 @ 10:33am | ignore this person | warn this person
when the stocks were soaring, those 401ks were just fine.
Posted by emile duBois at 10/09/2009 @ 11:52am
In other news, after agreeing to ditch a provision of the proposed CFPA that would require the financial industry to offer "plain vanilla" financial products, the administration justifies the proposed agency on the grounds that it will prevent banks from using "ridiculously confusing contracts."
Posted by nkurland at 10/09/2009 @ 6:01pm
Buddy33
Good site for comparing 401K versus profit sharing. Have neither myself. Put everything into my used book biz. Lot of books, little money.
http:/www.edubook.com/reitirment-planning-401k-versus-profit-sharing
Posted by Sorelish at 10/09/2009 @ 6:33pm
Droopy- Be realistic it was one of a long line of screw ups . You are being nice to yourself,It was one after another. The Nobel Prize is simply a turning of the page from darkness to the light.
Posted by whatozz at 10/09/2009 @ 10:27pm
Homosexuals for Reagan UNITE!! @ the Nation website.
Posted by a_bakr at 10/09/2009 @ 10:35pm
Cockburn Rules. Bitches.
Posted by a_bakr at 10/09/2009 @ 10:43pm
Akbar, nice that you could piss on your foot and mouth at the same time. You know that is a bovine disease don't you?
Posted by whatozz at 10/09/2009 @ 11:05pm
It's time to form a 150,000,000 member consumer's union. The time for hoping the system will eventually work, or having faith in American resilience is gone. If you import lead toys- out of business. If you union bust- out of business. Fail to ethically manage investments- out of business. Bribe an official- out of business. A system like this isn't just possible, there is no other possible outcome. It's a matter of when.
Posted by Milhaus at 10/10/2009 @ 12:55am
Happy birthday, Katrina! I think your article on A Peoples Recovery as well as the recent Pew Research Center's study are very timely. Never before peoples awareness of what is happening with economy and how U.S. govt. policies help to get out of recession were so essential not only for Americans but other nations as well. However, there is strong suspicion that President Obama's major economic advisers are set to continue bankrupt neoliberal policies. Speaking at Bloomberg conference on Friday L. Summers claimed that economy is showing "substantial return to more normal conditions" and implied that business (presumably, meaning Big Business) has alredy returned to busines as usual. At best, this is wishful thinking because the U.S. economy, excepting Wall Stret and multinational corporations, is still in a very grave situation. This was a subject of my lens (www. squidoo.com/phil-stillcan) last wee. I like Squido, a social website run by a small team of dedicated and hard-working people. They did publish my lens but did their best by minimizing its visibility by rating it at zero level. A very reasonable decision. Why jeopardize the portal and irritate advertisers, ANA, AAAA and AAF, who sympaties are well known, when a Russian oldfart, possibly a die-hard commie, dares to criticize US economic policies and frightens people with a Great Depression II? I think same considerations made Squido to put "Under construction" my lens published in August. This was a hoax about the supremacy of money I wrote in 2005 that became very topical now. I beleive my case proves again that all publishers who critically depend on ad money are self-censoring coverage of socially sensitive issues. Should you blame them for that? Hence, the PEJ findings. Felix Goryunov, Moscow
Posted by Hohonya at 10/10/2009 @ 04:24am
Yes Katrina it is about the people and when the president stops listening to the Chicago political hacks, Emanueal, and Axlerod... his inner circle of power and two of the most evil people on earth...maybe some of the concerns of the "people " will be heard or discussed by this administration.
The "hacks" are only concerned about power and if the president was really the great communicator that apparently is given credit for he would be speaking more about those concerns and an effective plan to addrses them. Instead he has been focused on power consolidation and use of the crisis to expand his base. feeding trillions of dollars to his base voters BUT NOTHING into the true base of the economy which everyone agrees is small business. So why not talk about this and the plite of the little guy? He can't because it will bring obvious focus to this fact and that this administration is purposley ignoring the the job generator of our nation. Small business...and small business is not BIG government...thus we are the enemy of this administration and are only voice can be heard on the streets..we will tea party until our voices are heard and he and the cronies are gone.
Posted by Obamunut at 10/10/2009 @ 07:40am
sorelish,
One of the biggest and most successful scams ever was 401k plans that channeled retirement money into stocks, and it's still going on. The supply-side of the economy is being force fed while demand languishes. When retirement money goes into deposit institutions more money is available for demand, and interest rates are held down.
Posted by Buddy33 at 10/09/2009 @ 10:33am | ignore this person | warn this person
Buddy 33: What are you talking about...401k money goes into public stock companies who get recapitalized, grow their business, hire people who buy things ,pay taxes ( so Obama can grow big government), and even start their own businesses..its amazing how you libs are so completely out of touch with the real world..i guess you all live in an idelogy filled la la land....
Posted by Obamunut at 10/10/2009 @ 08:51am
"If we were a vibrant democracy we would hear a fuller range of people's voices--not just the angriest raging at town hall meetings,"
I have to say that if we were not a vibrant democracy the outcry of the silent...who are represented in these meetings would not have been heard. It is an insidious notion to even say that these outcries are not part of our democatic process..its actually...ridiculous or a complete refusial to acknowlodge, the young, old, unemployed sick and government abused citizens that attend these meetings. it is simply put an outcry of big government taking more and more from all of us no matter of our status and deciding for us where our hard earned resources will go...more often than not under this administration ot the historical out of control growth of all all knowing and all powereful government who has done nothing to produce any meaningful job growth or opprotunity...only a predisposed growth of their idelogy and power base...at the expense of the everyday citizenry...your comment was pure nonsense
Posted by Obamunut at 10/10/2009 @ 09:07am
Emile,
A house built on sand crumbles to the sea, and so does a consumer driven economy with declining wages.
In 2008 median income dropped from 58 to 50,000.
Posted by Buddy33 at 10/10/2009 @ 10:01am
Well Buddy< look for the medium income to drop to record low levels this year because Obama is driving the value of the dollar to record lows ( on purpose)....and FORCING all work in this country to be under union control...Unions who are 50to 60 % less productive tha non union services.... Buy a boat soon Buddy...you will need it on your voyage out to the the Sea of Obama
Consumer driven economy...what do you want then a facists run economy? I know you are hoping Buddy but we will be throwing the facilitator of your dreams and his political support out in the street starting in Novemeber
Posted by Obamunut at 10/10/2009 @ 10:15am
if you majored in Humanitys, arts, English, Ethnic studies of any flavor, or any other non science degree...you screwed your parents out of their money...
Posted by YourJomamma at 10/06/2009 @ 4:50pm
Actually, a lotta us libruls paid for our liberal arts ejacayshun working full-time summer jobs (factory jobs, in my case) and held part time employment during the school year doing something else. With that education, a lot of us have worked in management and run our own business.
On the other hand, back in the day, we paid a mere $20 an ounce for weed.
Frosty, meanwhile, is just plain, comic relief to counter the utter spew that comes from certain "conservative" blowholes who can't lower themselves to contribute a few extra tax shillings for, say, health care, but never met a war they didn't like, as long as it was in the "name of god."
Every time you try to talk down to him (her?) you make Frosty look better; yourselves, worse.
Posted by kennyboy at 10/10/2009 @ 10:24am
Yomama might appear to be posting what appears to be an anti education rethoric as some libs indicate here. What is really at issue "with the time honored proffession" is that it has slowely become an indoctrination platform for left wing ideology. So for the legally paying taxpayers...obviously doesn't include or Treasury secreatry or head of the House Ethics committee, Rangle, our tax dollars are paid for left wing propraganda while our kids come out of school with science skills equal to a third worls nation.
Civics and American history is no longer thought. If you don't think so think again? Polls now show children can no longer find the US on a map, as they are thought about gays, 2 mommies and 2 daddies, transgenders etc you name it. In the mean time math and science is ignored and the only people attending MIT and Cal tech are foreign students from Asia.
This is a technollgy driven world and as long as the knuckleheads on the left keep driving their corrupted political agenda we will continue to see the dumbing down of America. Exhibit #1 is the recent election of Obama...it doesn't get any dumber than that. Exhibit # 2 are these editorials.
Posted by Obamunut at 10/11/2009 @ 07:46am
Ms vanden Heuvel: When are you going to admit that you were badly mistaken to support Barack Obama for President? When will you admit that you and others who call themselves "progressives" should have supported an independent rather than any Democrat? Progressives who support a losing candidate whom they have reason to trust make a more effective political force than those who, as you did, vote for a possible winner based on their hopes.
Now progressives are divided. Some, like you, still hope. Others have no focus, no spokesperson for their point of view. All they can do is sign petitions to politicians who don't give a damn.
Posted by goedel at 10/11/2009 @ 09:43am
certainly. but this si what we are faced with.
when the stock market recovers, and it will eventually, those 401ks will likely too recover.
Posted by emile duBois at 10/11/2009 @ 09:49am