63,000 jobs lost in Feb.
By John Amato Thursday Mar 06, 2008 8:27pm
[from Zencomix click for larger] The economy is not doing very well, I see.
The economy shed 63,000 jobs in February, the government said on Friday, the fastest falloff in five years and the strongest evidence yet that the nation is headed toward — or may already be in — a recession.
President Bush acknowledged on Friday afternoon that it is “clear our economy has slowed.” But he said he was confident that the recently enacted stimulus package, which will soon put checks in the mail for millions of Americans, would indeed be the “booster shot” the economy needs.
I watch Kudlow occasionally and a few months ago he could care less about how the dollar was doing. Now, he's yelling that it's all about the dollar. The ecoomy will hurt McCranky more than anything else.
Bush on 10/04 : I love the fact that more and more people are opening up the front door of their home and: Welcome to my piece of property, welcome to my home."
Too bad those homes are being boarded up and Repo man'd.
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104 a barrel.
Don't worry, sleep tight, under the bridge.
Let's hope there will be a bunch of unemployed Republicans real soon.
Commander Cluster Bomb McClintonberman has a great plan to fix the USA economy for good--permanent occupation of Iraq along with a suicide attack on Iran.
I remember my grandparents lecturing me about the Great Depression and how I could never know how horrible it really was for most Americans living on the edge. I think I may find out soon.
Including Samantha Power and Melanie Morgen?
Not to worry GWB says the economy is slowing down. With his record of assessments that should mean we're in for a boom. Wait he also says the economy is sound and will rebound as soon as we get our 600 bucks. We're fucked!!!
People are stealing ATM machines and hijacking meals on wheels trucks no there's no recession.
So I'm in a cab the other day and the driver has some right-wing radio station on. The host is doing 'man-on-the-street' interviews, asking people who they support for pres. Whenever he gets someone who is for a Dem, he spouts in with:
Do you know that if the Dems let Bush's tax cuts expire, you could pay up to $2000 a year more in taxes, for a family of 4 with an income of $50k to $100k a year?
First of all I don't even know if that is true, but lets say its. I wish I could have been on the phone with this jackass, my answer would have been:
Well, you know I love my country, and would be happy to pay $2000 a year if it meant getting a president who could fix the economy, cause I think that between the gas prices, stagnant raises and increasing inflation, I just might make out better off on the deal. Not to mention anyone who would vote for someone to 'save' $2000 is a lowly crappy American anyway.
Rico @ 4:
Let's hope that it doesn't goes the same way as the '30's German depression. Let's not go there!
IdahoMoe @ 5:
Good one! And can someone please explain how the Clinton's could go from not owning a home prior to occupying the White House to a 2007 estimated net worth of $50 million? What's the secret?
Considering that in the 1930's the U.S.A. had plenty of mineral resources, lots of trained-and-regimented manpower, millions of productive family farms, factories that were practically new, and more than 90 percent left of the greatest petroleum reserve anywhere in the world and we still ended up with a great depression I'm not very optimistic.
pray there isnt a depression....
unlike our parents and grandparents, most of whom didnt have much to begin with, most of us have too much stuff, and are used to plenty
this country will not survive another great depression
but as we have killed off our manufacturing, i see little hope for that not occuring
what kills me is listening to my wingnut pals saying that if a dem gets into the oval office, it will all get much worse
how much worse could it get?
7 years of bush policies have set this country on the brink of disaster
while rome burns, the chimp tap dances
and yet, our dem congress kicks back, holds bs hearings, and then rubber stamps everything that he does
we are all so fucked
Rico @ 10:
Figure out a way to get 50 Million people to give you one dollar each.
L.A. Confidential @ 7:
You mean that doesn't happen everyday?
uncle joe mccarthy @ 12:
Let us count the ways.
1. OPEC, rebuffing calls from U.S. President George W. Bush to increase oil output, cited “mismanagement” of the American economy as a major factor driving prices up. Record prices are suddenly creating the sharpest tensions in years between the oil cartel and the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer. Two days after the president called for more oil on the global market, OPEC members, meeting in Vienna, Austria, chose to leave their production levels unchanged, declaring that the market has plenty of oil already. The cartel’s president on Wednesday blamed financial speculators and American economic problems, which have helped lower the value of the dollar, for the high oil prices. After the meeting, oil prices settled above $104 a barrel, a record.
Ragnarok @ 9:
I've heard that THAT will be the model for us - that is what we should expect.
Heaven help us.
I think Bush may wait until JUST BEFORE THE ELECTION - let the economy completely collapse and then call martial law and cancel the election. I'm such a pessimist right now - the economy is so bad and it's only going to get worse . . . .
*
Rico @ 10:
Write a book and steal the title from Billy Joel.
Alberta is hiring and paying damn good money, if you wanna work in oil.
Concerned"Hussein"Canuck @ 14:
I didn't see ONE homeless person on the streets during Clintons entire two terms. The day after Bush was sworn in people were standing on street corners with signs and a cup.
uncle joe mccarthy @ 12:
Of course it's going to get worse - it's on the verge of collapse now. And it won't be the fault of any democrap - it's the re-PIG-lics who have done this.
Stupid people are very good at denial though.
*
uncle joe mccarthy @ 12:
The chimp dances because he has all the machinery set in place to "replenish the coffers." Do you remember that remark? Sky high oil prices and a world set for perpetual war, all accomplished by a total and deliberate absence of diplomacy during his term, anywhere in the world. How else could he expect to replenish the coffers so quickly after he leaves office?
Can anyone think of a reason not to vote for whoever gets to be the democratic nominee.
bush who was enabled by his fucking parents for his whole life
has no concept what it means to MAKE A LIVING. the only people in
his world who are doing well and living off the poor of this country,
are his wealthy friends. this bastard lives with his head for far
up his ass, that when he blinks, it scratches his throat.
L.A. Confidential @ 19:
Maybe where you live LA, but there have been homeless people for as long as we've been alive, and then some. That never goes away. Worse under Bush? How could it not be.
Wow. Dana Milbank, college friend of recently resigned Obama advisor Samantha Power, just took a big dump on Barack Obama, claiming his "head [was] in the clouds" and attacking him for not standing up for Power. Cripes. Way to be objective, Dana.
You're looking at it all wrong.
You say: "63,000 jobs lost."
I say: "63,000 workers liberated."
Clavis @ 25:
It is nice to see Obama's campaign looking like they are punishing their staff for stupid remarks (true or not)........Hillary should take notes.
Trittydi @ 16:
i agree with you with the exception, bush will declare martial law for any reason and probably after the election to keep the newly elected president from taking office.
i think i am more pessimistic than you.
Trittydi @ 15:
The plan is to keep shoveling paper (fictitious capital) into the markets to keep it "afloat" till they are out in Jan 09.
They may just pull it off but it might be running through dust with the walls and ceilings of the economic house collapsing all around them. It's that close.
Clavis @ 25:
Nasty
What are you going to do with your tax rebate? We'll use ours to pay PART of our family's health insurance premium.
Thanks George, you f*cker!
L.A. Confidential @ 29:
Bushie is shovelling something. Not sure about the paper part, but he is definitely shovelling something for the last 8 years.
Joementum @ 26:
LOL there you go. Free at last!
Ron @ 22:
Yes.
And you'll never guess who's claiming "tax credits" just for "creating" jobs of a purely "make-work/fake-work" nature, laughing all the way to the bankers @ the expense of the vulnerable in need of work, but unlikely to obtain same all the more....
L.A. Confidential @ 33:
Indeed, free to die in the gutter. ;)
Speaking of Voodoo Trickle Down Economics BSers that almost bankrupt a nation!!!
Rico @ 34:
Well, spit it out.
Ragnarok @ 9:
We got a 30's German plan for education, German plan on consolidating the brown people in a secret camp with torture, German plan for stripping your civil rights for national security, and German plan for state control media and propaganda, So far we seem to be following the 30's German plan quite nicely.
So much for the Iroquois nation plan for the Democracy of our country.
Don't worry all......just pick up the phone and dial a friend and say Al Qaeda over and over......then wait and you'll get visited....taken away to a warm resort...meals are free...oh and the showers?
WASHINGTON — The White House says President Bush will veto legislation on Saturday that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding _ a technique that simulates drowning _ and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.
Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the United States' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad.
"The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives," deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday.
The unemployment rate is actually far higher than they claim it is. One factor is only people who qualify for unemployment benefits and are actively looking for work are counted as unemployed. It is not actually a count of people who are unemployed. Another factor is that the Bush regime changed how employment figures are calculated to count people who are underemployed or employed only part time as employed. Much of the so-called employment gains over the last 7 years have been people who are under-employed or are just working part time. Even with that, we have seen the Corporate Media trumpet paltry job gain figures of a little more than 100,000 jobs per month when it really takes 300,000 or more to keep up with the population that is entering the job market.
paranoia @ 39:
The only thing now needed is wiretapping.......er? Oh boy!!!!
I heard on the msm that the ceo of countrywide was knee deep in the BS and now is trying to dig himself out of by saying all he did was for his family.
I think he should be on the street corner selling pencils like those that he told that they could afford a house and questionable loans. instead he'll keep his houses and all that money of course the investigations on the hill are just a show for the masses ( those that watch) just like all investigations go no where.
If I had the damn government rebate check, I would be able to get a bottle of wine. The Great Depression is always about the cheap wine jones.
15 years of NAFTA and the like, and there's not enough good paying jobs left in this country. We ain't seen nothing yet. This is just the tip of the iceberg that's looming ahead.
Ron @ 22:
Yes. Preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States of America against ALL enemies both foreign and domestic, so help me God.
There is no one currently running (save perhaps Ralph Nader) who I would trust to take that oath and MEAN IT. Especially when one considers that McCain, Hillary Clinton and Obama have all ripped the heart out of our Constitution with their support of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Patriot Act, the bogus "9/11 Omission Report", The Military Commissions Act (which deep-sixed habeus corpus), torture, spying on the American people etc. etc. etc.
And there you are.
Oh, and P.S. Here's the return we are getting for our hard earned tax dollars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=667SaGS-Jqg&feature=related
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=6244&aid=
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=11017&aid=
http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=8149&aid=
Snowball @ 41:
You got it.
Which matters most? 63,000 lost jobs or the word "monster"?
Ron @ 38:
Well it's off topic but since you insist...The reason would be that I perceive that electing a certain democratic nominee is highly likely to lose us once again hard, fought-back majorities in both the House and Senate in later off-year elections simply because of her uncanny ability to polarize just about everybody and anything.
Snowball @ 41:
Your correct in my opinion. Besides, the employment report is just one piece of data that came out. We have been seeing a whole list of continuous economic bad news for some time now. None of the Government's economic data should be taken as accurate. In fact, if the numbers for a given piece of data show a downturn you can bet that its probably much, much worse. The numbers they produce (I.E. unemployment, employment figures, CPI, PPI, etc.) will and always have been skewed or altered to show improvement and stability in the economy. Every Government does the this same thing.
Abbybwood @ 46:
So, does that mean you are going to vote republican? You know that Nader will never win the election.
If there is Anything that will sink McAngry it is the Economy, although his anger is also a problem since quite a few Military Higher-ups have come out and said he's a hothead.
But truth is, the American public is all about materialism, and that takes money. So if the public pocket-book is getting dusty inside THAT will be what unseats the GOP and this time they can't blame it on the Democrats spending.
Ron @ 22:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/07/house_fisa/index.html
Can you say, something smells? Oh ya, it does.
unsurebtwilling @ 43:
I watched the hearings today on c-span. That guy is a total snake. None of his own homes are in foreclosure. Yep, he has more than one mansion.
Tax cut will fix this!
Vote, schmote:
http://www.hd.net/drr227.html
And:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GzPXer7946E
And truth be told, in my heart (after 40 years as a hard core Democrat) I still support Ron Paul and the principles of liberty, a money supply based on silver and gold (as mandated by the Founders), limited government and a non-interventionist "military" foreign policy....the very same military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned us about....and we ignored him. Now at our own peril.
Rico @ 49:
God that's wrong, and the real answer is easy. Bush has "Fucked Forward" the next President. Might as well vote McStain as he is the one I would most like to see have to take the screwing (would have preferred Guiliani of the Mittster). Barack and Hillary are basically good people. They don't deserve what's coming.
Keep in mind, if you are working part time or under-employed, i.e. working 35 hours a week (that is, less than 40), or are fired (many employers will find a pretense for firing you instead of laying you off), to my knowledge, you do not qualify for unemployment benefits. Therefore, you are not counted as unemployed when you lose your job. On the other hand, they do count you as employed as long as you keep your job. Funny how that works.
Ron @ 22:
Commander Cluster Bomb McClintonerman, says that we should vote for John SIDNEY McCain, if Obama gets the nomination. She has this fixation with the phone ringing at 3AM. I say, if it is 3AM, and the phone rings, it is likely to be Monica.
Perino: ‘White House Has Been Very Forthcoming In Putting Forward LIEs’
...I meant NIEs. My bad.
Snowball @ 58:
It might depend on the state. In IL if your employer is willing to extend unemployment benefits to you, you can get them. We give them to everyone we fire as it is easier than having to fight to decline them. I don't know how it works other places
Sidney Scooter III @ 59:
ya know,I've had about all I can take on this Clinton bashing.
.Do you really think that's what she meant?Have you stopped and thought about it,or, have you just gone on some kind of knee jerk reaction.Have you even considered that she knows she can kick McCain's ass in the general election.I'm sorry,but, your comment is ridiculous.(edited)
I think the Fed is approaching a rock and a hard place. If they don't lower interest rates, the economy tanks. If they do lower interest rates, the dollar tanks. Seems to me they're going to lower interest rates further. I wonder how much longer foreigners are going to purchase our debt at low interest rates, without consideration of dollar devaluation.
Channel 4 (Britian) had a show where they said something about the mortgage fiasco being followed by a larger "Credit default swaps" fiasco. We'll see.
Fanon @ 61:
I think it depends on the ethics of the employer, not the state. I've had jobs that worked either way. Some employers never pay their unemployment insurance hoping that they can let employees go without them applying for benefits. I know, been there, done that. Many small businesses do it. The employer gets a slap on the wrist for doing it when they are caught and have to pay up. It's a gamble for them, but one many are willing to take.
I'm still trying to figure out how that $600 is going to make such a dramatic turn for the better on the economy. I live in Ohio and it wont even pay my entire gas bill!
Marcus Aurelius @ 57:
They are the lesser evil! I wouldn't vote fore one of them if it wasn't because of this crap two party system.
R2K @ 55:
Yes, that will once again be the mantra. That always plays out well with the voters but makes little to no fiscal sense. I've never seen a Government maintain its current spending on programs while simultaneously cutting off or reducing its main source of revenue (I.E. tax cuts). The only way that this can be legitimately achieved is if the Government is already running a surplus which obviously is not the case with this Government.
There are of course, more sneaky ways to maintain the Government's massive over spending though. One method is simply to borrow the money and add it to the nation's debt. The U.S. Government, as everyone knows has been doing that for a long time now. Another method is to simply "print" up the money to cover those lost revenues. By doing this, the Government, through its central bank debases its own currency and creates inflation. When the consumer buys the goods at those higher prices the business records a larger than usual profit. When tax time comes around those businesses record that larger profit on their returns and the Government's tax revenues increase.
mudshark @ 62:
Your comment is the only one that is a logical response. We won't win the Whitehouse if we can't quit hating each other's candidate. I wanted Edwards and now I would prefer Obama but I will vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination. Another 4 years of repug will only mean more of the same or worse. Remember, we have to win huge majorities in the house and senate also.
REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER 123:
Fri 3/7 11:00 PM--HBO High Definition - EAST
Fri 3/7 11:00 PM--HBO - EAST
Sat 3/8 01:00 AM--HBO2 - EAST
Sat 3/8 02:00 AM--HBO High Definition - WEST
Guests: Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, Jeremy Scahill, Jacob Weisberg. HBO's politically incorrect muse Bill Maher hosts this cutting-edge, live talk series. (TVMA) (AC,AL)
Rico @ 10:
Probably more legal than Obama did it since they were being heavily and unjustly scrutinized.
REM comes to mind. "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!"
Ron @ 68:
Supreme Court nominees! Say it over and over. Supreme Court nominees!
P.D. @ 71:
I was thinking of Devo's Freedom of Choice.
Fanon @ 72:
Yep!....
hat tip to Snowball,she's been the one driving that message.
mudshark @ 73:
Or 'We're on the Road To Nowhere'
Fanon @ 72:
The list is soooo long.
Fanon @ 72:
Absolutely!
Yes, Republicans and their Libertarian cousins will proclaim loudly that tax cuts will stimulate the economy. This is just B.S.. Wealth percolates up, it does not trickle down. The very people who are most likely to spend on goods and services are those who make so little that their taxable income amounts to naught. The best way to stimulate the economy is to tax the richest among us and funnel that wealth to the lowest income bracket by government spending on jobs programs that give people work experience and disposable income that can be spent on goods and services. This in turn, leads to greater business opportunities in the private sector. Keynes had it all figured out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics
Many Americans smile each time they see an increase in the equity value of their broker accounts due to the Dow making new highs month after month. This gain in wealth is an illusion second to none because there is one important number that is missing from monthly statements. It is the real value of the Dow after factoring in the collapse of the U.S. dollar global purchasing power parity index. What the American public sees each month is the value of the nominal Dow, which is an illusion of wealth.
Let’s do a Dow “real money index” reality check. Simply take the Dow nominal value, which is what someone sees in his or her monthly statement and multiply it by the U.S dollar trade-weighted index. Before we do this, please make sure you are sitting and prepared for a disturbing piece of reality. In 2000, the Dow top was 11,700 nominal x 1.24, which was the dollar trade-weighted index. This equals 14,508 global purchasing power parity (GPPP) points. In 2007, the Dow at 13,500 nominal multiplied by a dollar index of 0.81 equals 10,935 GPPP points. That’s a 25 percent real stock market decline.
Ummm. Huge majorities? You mean all the filibustering and BlueDog Dems? Do any of You actually watch Congress or just assume a D vote means progress?
republicans famous line when talking about democrats their the party of tax and spend.Well since george broke the bank with his war.Like Cristy Whitman threw New Jersey into debt.Both will take the attention of democrats to get both under control.To, do will take some higher taxes to pay for the George and Whitman's blunders.And the public short on memory will fall for the republicans montra.When they accuse the democrats of tax and spend again.
Tin soldiers
"He joined up to get a job
And show he wasn't scared
Swapped boy scout hat for army cap
At the age of 17 he was forced to choose
Now at the age of 21 he's in Catch 22"
Sounded appropriate.
i remember reading a factoid once that said: when the republicans get in the jobs always go out of Ohio.
mudshark @ 74:
I'm a guy, but I dig the chicks man, so I'll take that as a complement.
Yer right, the Supreme Court is the most important factor in the next Presidential elections.
Cheney: "We're in the last throes of this economic downturn"
Crys @ 65:
It won't, in my opinion. That $600 or so is just a vote buyer or a hand out. What it may do (and the Government hopes this will be the case) is increase the GDP by a small margin right before the election. In other words, businesses will record higher profits and the Government will take in more revenue.
For the little guy on the street, with inflation roaring through the economy, it will have little effect. By the time those checks arrive in the mail the prices of all goods and services will have increased further and cost him more. That $600 will not last long and the public will demand even more of it.
I am with the comment above. I only trust Ralph Nader to help get the US back on track. If there is an all out depression before the elections, I think he would have a good chance. I wish people would start seeing that he is a good man and wants more for his fellow citizens.
Snowball @ 84:
sorry,I swear I thought you were a chick.MY BAD i'm really sorry,but this is the first thing that made me laugh all day.
at any rate,He's the one that's been pushing this message.LoL.
Thousing problem had now become the employment proble. It's called contagion. Back in August we were told that the credit crunch was "contained". This is anything but contained. I'm not sure Bird Flu could have enveloped the entire world so quickly, and now I realize just how close this "contagion" has gotten to the doorstep of the U.S. Treasury. This process started with 2 Bear Stearns hedge funds in August of last year, moved on to other brokers, banks, and bond insurers. It has affected homeowners, corporations, states and municipalities, other countries' financial systems etc. It has also affected Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. These are both Agencies of the government with mandates to provide lending to the residential mortgage sector in the US. Fannie was a $70 stock last year that now trades at $22. Freddie was $68, now $20. So much for a "contained" problem!
The fact is, the entire world is entrapped in this web of financial goo. Fannie and Freddie both have implicit backing by the Treasury. I would guess, that in the not too distant future, we will see just how far this backing goes. The bottom line in this chapter is, does the Treasury give a full bailout to Fannie, and Freddie? Another question is DO THEY HAVE THE ABILITY to bailout either or both? These, and many other questions are going to be asked, and asked very shortly! This whole mess is knocking on the US Treasurys' door right now. The $64 Trillion [actually $640 Trillion] question is, how much longer before it lands squarely, and with all its' weight, on the Treasurys' lap. The Treasury bond market will tell us. It will give us notice, not much, but it will tell us. When we see the longer end of the Treasury curve start to gag and gasp for air, the endgame will have begun. So far the credit markets worldwide have frozen solid, the US $ has tanked, the stock market [minus the oils, golds, and other commodities] is gasping for air. The last straw will be the Treasury market. When the marketplace begins to refuse Uncle Sam borrowing privileges, get out of the way. When the credit quality of US bonds are questioned, a new currency of choice will begin to appear. This new currency will have, clearly and legibly minted on it, and understood by all, "in GOLD we trust". Clear and simple, we are experiencing an implosion of credit. Gold and Silver are the only currencies past or present, that are not also someone else's liability. Since they are not liabilities, they cannot get sucked into the black hole of dead credits! When people begin to seek immunity, they will chase the only currencies immune to credit collapse. Gold and Silver.
Joe O. @ 86:
For those of You old enough to remember,McGovern in the 68 election proposed the same gimmic. See election results. It's crumbs for the peasents while corperatons get unholy gobbs of money.
mudshark @ 88:
I am not going to let you guys(?) forget this. :D
And I've read that Supreme Court argument before....You take good notes, muddy! ; )
David Hawes @ 90:
Let them eat cake!!
Well we know one thing, being scappy middle class people I hope we have the tools to survive. Think of the elitists, you know. The type that can't go one day without their lattes. Being pessimistic, I can't let anything go to chance.
Joementum @ 26:
I was one of those 63,000 , I feel much better now knowing I was liberated , what a blessing eh ?.
Fanon @ 92:
Have you seen the price of cake,lately? Maybe I'll bake one for all of You.
Funny thing is that at my age, a young 52, a military vet, and Obama supporter, and never, ever, having voted for a Republican in my lifetime except maybe once a long time ago for a young Senator Heinz in Pennsylvania, I now find myself totally repulsed by Hillary Clinton, her campaign, and her tactics.
And I'm finally beginning to understand and appreciate the political philosphy of those I once despised and never before understood...those who choose not to particpate in the political process. It all suddendly makes sense to me. Citizens really have no control or power in this country. Finally accepting that now brings a strange sense of physical and mental relief and peace to me.
Andy K @ 91:
!
David Hawes @ 95:
Well, the price of the milk and eggs will kill ya.
Rico @ 96:
Your mouth to My heart.
Fanon @ 98:
Who said I'd put milk and eggs in it? Hee heee.
For those of You old enough to remember,McGovern in the 68 election proposed the same gimmic. See election results. It’s crumbs for the peasents while corperatons get unholy gobbs of money.
Almost right. yes it's crumbs for the peasents, but the only reason your getting it is so that those who are in elected office can stay there in their cushy positions and say....see, we're doing something to make your life easier while praying that you'll vote the idiot back into office. If you want to beat them at their own game, don't spend what you get back in the rebate, but save it instead or better yet, invest it in real money that never losses its value. gold and silver. Hold off on buying that piece of junk you really don't need. Wait before buying that shirt or dress. Might sound un American, but spending way beyond our means either in our personal lives or in government, sooner or later is going to catch up to you. The only difference is that our government can print all the money they want and we can't. The bigger problem, is that the more they print, the higher inflation will go until you reach that magical point called a DEPRESSION and then get to start the process all over again.
Well, the FDIC is hiring. A relative of mine just got a pretty good job as a bank examiner- they're gearing up - looks like they're anticipating a whole bunch of banks to collapse.
I must say I'm amused by the continuing back and forth about Clinton vs. Obama > McCain. I'm pretty sure that IF I vote, I'll vote for whoever is the democratic nominee. Really, though, just sit back a minute and understand that none of them can/will do anything that pull us back from the mess that is about to happen. All three have been part of the lead-up to the problems - they've DONE NOTHING while in Congress to stop the power grab of our Unitary Executive (and his sidekick "the Evil One"), they've done nothing to support the dollar or change our trade policies or keep corporations from wholesaling our economy to foreigners. Why do yu think any of them will be changing their tune? Just Like Georgie, they all tap dance to the same music.......
David Hawes @ 100:
Then you'd better make brownies ;)
Andrew @ 89:
What is the value of all of the gold held by the US government, and what does that work out to per person? Silver?
And what makes gold and silver so valuable? Wheat- that's got real value, as do rice, sugar, salt, cattle, potatoes....Seems to me that the value of these metals rise and fall at whim, too.
Andrew @ 101:
Noooow Yer getting it.
Amitola @ 102:
......and that's why John named this blog CROOKS & LIARS.! #;}
Fanon @ 103:
Excellent! Brownies IT IS!
P.S. The Snowball moniker is a reference to Orwell's 'Animal Farm.' It has other implications as well: A snowball also gathers mass as it rolls downhill and makes an excellent projectile for knocking off top hats. I'm a big advocate of semiotic depth and layered meanings. I really miss my gravatar.
Snowball @ 108:
Did it make you look.....manly? ;)
David Hawes @ 107:
ya know I ate a brownie one time and I like felt good for two days? I think it was two days. Anyway I loved that brownie and it Loved Me.
These "economic stimulus" deals are absolutely stupid. They do absolutely nothing.
Say every person (including retired people, who probably need the money more right now) in American got $1000 from the government this April. Even if they did spend that money and the economy picked up for a little bit, that short spike in the economy wouldn't last longer than a month or two and the money spent doesn't go to the same middle or lower class people who spent it. The money goes to the marxist elite who either hoard it in off-shore tax shelters, or if they, by some chance, do expand their businesses, only create more minimum wage jobs where people can't get proper benefits or live at a healthy income.
The conservative economic plans fail every single time. When will the conscum learn that these pseudo-libertarian, free market economic systems just do not work.
Fanon @ 109:
Actually, it was a sow, so no.
Rico @ 96:
I understand what you're sayin.And only a fool would say your wrong.
But...,right now,your voice is being heard.
There are some issues with HRC,granted.
But now more than ever,our voices are being heard.don't give up.this is what we've been waiting for.
Zenrage @ 111:
Oh come on! They work just swell-for certain people.
I'll be waiting for my brownies. I'm off to the airport.
"Marxist elite"!!??
What the heck does that mean?
Snowball @ 58:
No, you can be fired and collect unenployment benefits, but the former employer can challenge your claim. If they fired you for stealing, you probably don't receive unemployment benefits. If it's over personality, that's a different animal.
I used to work for a guy who would just get people to quit. Most of those people deserved to be fired for just being lousy at their jobs. But they quit, and he saved the company the costs of both paying the benefits and the legal costs of challenging a claim.
ps- I didn't get forced to quit. I just did. I could go back. But I won't.
Fanon @ 115:
Watch out for flying brownies. There's some bad weather out there. Happy landings. Peace.
David Hawes @ 118:
I like brownies.
in any kind of weather.
Andy K @ 117:
Sorry, forgot to mention that 36 hours is the cutoff line. Right now that's what I'm scheduled(though I often get 40 hours-just not scheduled that way- in a week when we've got big projects), and I'm full time.
That's another favorite tactic: Get you to quit so you can still claim them as a job reference and don't have to explain that gap on your resume.
Snowball @ 116:
Trying to remember what Marx said about Marxists....I'll find it....
Either way, the boss man still has you over a barrel.
Andy K @ 117:
I dare ANYBODY here to say they got unemployment benefits by being fired/quit.
Snowball @ 116:
It means that the economic teat known as "Trickle-down Reaganomics" that conservatives have been suckling upon for the last 30 years or so is nothing short of Marxist Communism under a conveniently different name. A elitist economic class that hoards all the wealth and answers to no one, take their fill of the resources and only after they've had their fill do they send down table-scraps to the working class.
In Russia, the elite was a corrupt military organization. In the USA, its a corrupt corporate conglomerate. That's the only difference.
Ever wonder why Gorby and Reagan got along so well?
Andy K @ 104:
I don't have the exact figure but gold is somewhere around 8,000 tons and silver is about 150 million ounces. The problem is that the private banks that control the Federal Reserve have a strangle hold on what are supposed to be free markets and our elected officials are in bed with them. You might ask your elected officials why the US Congress says that our gold is only worth 442.50 an ounce when the rest of the world says it's worth over $930 an ounce. That's a big disconnect.
David Hawes @ 114:
Yeah, the 1% who control 40% of the wealth.
well?
moniker @ 48:
Looks like a job(s) for Monster.com...
Sorry about the typo.....I don’t have the exact figure but gold is somewhere around 8,000 tons and silver is about 150 million ounces. The problem is that the private banks that control the Federal Reserve have a strangle hold on what are supposed to be free markets and our elected officials are in bed with them. You might ask your elected officials why the US Congress says that our gold is only worth 442.50 an ounce when the rest of the world says it’s worth over $930 an ounce. That’s a big disconnect.
That should be $42.50 an ounce according to Congressional weights and measures.
Zenrage @ 127:
Bingo
David Hawes @ 99:
...but, but if you guys don't do as you are told. The Republicans win!
Same shit, different asshole.
Tyler Durden @ 132:
Correct. Exactly why I am (after 45 years) not voting for Prez this year.
Zenrage @ 125:
Hey, I'm a fan of Gorby. He's a true statesman. If the Russians had chosen him over that guy they could have a vodka with Yeltsin, they'd probably have a real social-democracy by now without the ex-KGB oil oligarchs. In another way your right: Fascism/Conservatism/Libertarianism is Socialism for the economic elite and the Iron Fist for the rest of us.
in answer to your other question as to why gold an silver are so valuable, That's easy. You have to pull them out of the ground unlike our dollars which only require someone turning on the power to the printing presses and having a set of plates.
The lunacy of all of this is that our elected officials tell us to go our and spend your paycheck and your rebates to help the economy, but it was over spending and mal investments with no savings at all that got us into this mess. Gold and silver have been the only real store of value that man has known for over five thousand years and there is no paper currency that has ever survived that long because the temptaion by governments to print more of it is always there.
Andy K @ 104:
I'm not sure about the exact figures regarding the U.S. Government's golld and silver holdings. In fact, that to is suspect. From my understanding there hasn't been a physical sighting of that gold for several decades. The Government simply put out a release each year saying that they have audited it.
From my perspective the value of silver, gold and other precious metals always remain constant though they fluctuate in price like all other commodities due to the rise or fall in the dollar's (or other currencies) purchasing power. The other commodities you mentioned are also a store of value but only for a short period of time. Corn and wheat for example rot. The true value of precious metals is due to the fact that they can not be created, do not degrade, and maintain their purity even though they may have been buried for thousands of years. Since the beginning of man gold and silver were seen as money. Heck, its even mentioned in the Bible. Judas was not paid to betray Jesus will 30 paper dollar bills. He was paid to betray Jesus with 30 silver pieces.
Tyler Durden @ 132:
I beg to differ. http://thomas.loc.gov./ .compare all the candidates,and see for yourself.
None of these candidates are saints.
but there voting records say something.
Snowball @ 134:
Words words. It's all the same shit. Bend over commense fucking.
David Hawes @ 124:
I know someone who was a bad manager at a bad pizza shop. She got canned because she couldn't increase sales- sales volume actually decreased. But she wasn't canned for stealing or being drunk on the job. She didn't sabotage business by being shitty to customers. She had a hard time hiring good staff. She was always short staffed during the rushes. She was just a bad manager.
The owners stupidly tried to challenge her unemployment benefits, but when all they could come up with was that she was simply ineffective, she got her benefits.
Andrew @ 135:
Exactly. Our own founding fathers knew this because they experienced it when they tried to fund the Revolutionary War with paper money that was backed by nothing. They eventually printed so much of it that it became worthless. Hence the term "not worth a Continental".
"What's with the negative vibes man"
I really loved that line.
Donald Sutherland in Kelly's Heroe's
Andrew @ 135:
My first question(s) were the ones I consider more important: What's the value of the US gold and silver reserves, and what does that work out to per person?
Andy K @ 139:
Too bad i don't live in your state. I'm over 50 and of course I am 'overqualified' for any job in my field of work.
David Hawes @ 138:
Fucking is good shit man, it's what the human organism has been evolved for. You should try it sometime if you can find a willing partner.
Andy K @ 142:
That's a good question and perhaps you have the time to do the math to figure it out. However, if the government says that whatever gold we have is only worth $42.50 an ounce while the rest of the world say otherwise, we're getting the short end of the stick.
meanwhile,
back at the ranch.
yeah, we're in for a slowing down period inthe economy.Some of the guys I work with,sheet metal,electricians,stone masons, and such are saying things are looking slow for the future.And being where I'm at,that speaks volumes.
Snowball @ 144:
ummm....I've benn fucked in the ass by employers,Life and happenstance. I was homeless for 2 years. I still have My dignity-after a fashion. I'll pass on Fucking. My ass is still sore.
Zenrage @ 125:
Huh?
Trickle down economics: Apples
Marxist Communism: Oranges
Anyhow, "trickle down" is the new and improved "supply side" and has been around for far longer than the past 30 years.
The guided age, the roaring 20s, the 80s, and the clusterfuck of the past decade. All share the same characteristics: A Randian wet dream, implemented by a bunch of Viennese drop outs who believe in the invincibility of deregulation, unmitigated greed, and social darwinism as the main cylinders for their supply driven economy. This shit is always force fed to the masses by long periods of conservative rule. And without exception, these periods always end up in catastrophe.
But you would think people would learn, right? Nope, once the shit level subsides after years of hard work and sacrifice by the masses, the greedy assholes would bitch and moan because they want to have another go at their libertarian utopia.
tey this Andy K. break 8,000 tons down to ounces and then multiply that ouce figure by $980.00 per ounce. That should put you in the ball park. Personally, my calculator doesn't go that high.
David Hawes @ 147:
My regards. It sucks to be unemployed. Good luck and best of wishes to you!
Just tryin' to keep the thread lively, no real offense meant.
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