White House Scrubs Web Site On The Economy
What a difference a week makes, especially when it comes to the rollercoaster American economy. No where is the impact of looming recession and the near-meltdown on Wall Street clearer than on the White House web site. Just days ago, the site boasted about President Bush's glorious stewardship of the U.S. economy. Now, the White House's economy web page reflects the mad scramble to ward off the twin crises of the housing market and the financial system.
A cached version of the White House web site from March 16, 2008 showed the last vestiges of rosy optimism and unbridled Bush boosterism. (The Google cache has since been updated.) In the upper left hand corner, an elegant animation proclaimed "President Bush's actions are moving our economy forward," "18,000 jobs created in December 2007," "Over 8.3 million new jobs created since August 2003" and "Unemployment rate remains low at 5%."
The usual fuzzy math was there as well, cynically designed as always to sell making President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy permanent:
"The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are set to expire in less than three years. If Congress allows that to happen, 116 million taxpayers will see their taxes go up by $1,800 on average."
Some signs of the downturn were already present as well. Bush's disastrous appearance last week before the Economic Club of New York was front and center. And a run down of the steps being taken to confront the imploding housing market were highlighted as well.
But four days later, the main White House economy web page has gotten an emergency face-lift. The eye-catching animation crowing about Bush leading the economy forward is gone. After the U.S. shed 63,000 jobs in February and new jobless claims this week jumped by 22,000, the text about past job creation became history. And even the verbiage about making the tax cuts permanent has been deleted. And just days after the Federal Reserve intervened with its massive Bear Stearns bailout to halt the building Wall Street panic, the White House web site proclaims:
"The President remains deeply concerned about the housing issue and strongly believes that any government policies must be responsible. Government actions often have far-reaching and unintended consequences. Any time the government intervenes in the market, it must do so with clear purpose and great care."
Fuzzy math, smoke and mirrors. Geez, I must be ok after all.
Why would they do that since herr dubyah's economy is soooo strong!??
Memory hole.
Does this mean we ARE in a "reshesshun"?
The White House scrubbed a web page - can we as a nation scrub the shrub? Let's remove him from office, and get on with healing the damage wrought on our world these past eight dreadful years.
more at my blog...
Don't look at the man behind the curtain. All is well. Spend, spend, spend! War = peace. Poverty makes some of us richer. Don't vote in 2008 or Al Quiada will follow you home.
Enjoy your $600 bribe and shut the fuck up.
Jeeez, doesn't look like ANY surge is working for "W".
weather it be troops or fed dollars, Georgie's grasp of
things is a joke.
No surprise here. The "CEO President" has done to the country what he did to every business venture he was ever involved in.
since the msm can't be expected to know, care, or report on the news we are left w/stephen colbert.
and, thus, i borrow:
how could the percentage of unemployed go down while the economy shed 63,000 jobs?
hmmmmm? mmmmaybe there is some dishonesty afoot? hmmm?
Samson- @ 9:
If I may, the "unemployment rate" has never been the percentage of unemployed people in our country. It's only a measure of recent activity and not a good indicator of larger long term problems. In short, the way it's presented to the public makes it a bogus statistic.
Since a Dem win in November would mean higher corporate and capital gains taxes as well as more Govt. regulation of business, it seems reasonable that the stock market goes or trends up or down in large part whether the business community thinks the Dems will win in November.
The market, which was at around 14,000 dropped to below 12,000, factoring in a Dem win impact on corporate values. Now that it seems more than likely that the GOP (McCain) will win in November -- that is IF Obama stays in and is nominated, enough moderates are deserting to McCain or IF Hillary supplants Obama, enough blacks will be discouraged and stay home or vote against Clinton -- the market has been going back up.
I don't see how the Dems can pull this out and turn things around. And apparently the business community sees it the same way. That is, the stock market is likely the most accurate indicator of what people think because that's where they put money where their mouth is.
Blue Lensman @ 10:
yup
and, like the bogus use of looking at the DOW for economic health, it is just another sad and pathetic way to deceive and trick.
I just watched Richardson endorse Obama. While I watched I was thinking, couldn't bush just retire now and let Obama take the wheel. We have to sit in this ditch until November and no one is going anywhere. Everything is stuck in the mud and bush isn't going to do a damned thing about it. He needs to just go away and let us all try to fix all these messes.
"The President remains deeply concerned about the housing issue and strongly believes that any government policies must be responsible."
Blue Lensman @ 10:
Who changed that bogus unemployment stat? I know my nation has since copied it.
Ted @ 11:
Stocks go down, and so does the price of oil. Go figure. Lose/lose situation.
They need to scrub Bush's MBA brain. A C-grade does equate to a know-it-all, doesn't it?
Bush is boasting about 18,000 new jobs!? Unbelievable. We're losing more jobs than that per month and Bush is boasting about it.
Oh, please stop calling it a Fed "bailout" of Bear Stearns. It was a buyout!
Samson- @ 9:
I think only people who qualify for UEI are counted. So if you haven't found a job, and you benefits have run out, or you didn't qualify, technically you are not 'Unemployed.' You're 'Shit out of Luck' and it's impossible to keep statistics on that.
In Thug-speak it's "You don't really want to work because you're a lazy socialist"
Government does not create jobs, private sector does, once we work through this cycle everything will be fine...
chris @ 20:
Tell that to the families living in tents right now.
chris @ 20:
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaha*cough* *choke* *gasp* ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Tell that to the crybabies at Boeing.
what we are witnessing here are events long ago foretold on this very forum: the ultimate meltdown of America as we once knew it, into what it is now - a screwed-up mish-mash known as George Bush's Amerika. FUBAR!!!!
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 16:
Ted,
What are you basing your information on? According to CNN, the stock market historically does better under Democrats than Republicans. Volatility is lower and stocks rise higher.
pissed off patricia @ 21:
Chris is calling Bush a liar! LOL.
Ted @ 11:
the myth surrounding the power of the 'oracle of the market' to see into the future is no longer applicable. (if it ever was *cough* it wasn't)
the business community can't differentiate their ass from a honeydew.
“The President remains deeply concerned about the housing issue and strongly believes that any government policies must be responsible. Government actions often have far-reaching and unintended consequences. Any time the government intervenes in the market, it must do so with clear purpose and great care.”
Like printing more money out of thin air after allowing massive tax cuts for the rich to insure that that the rich have time to pull their money out of the market and Bush has time to escape to Peru after his term runs out and the market collapses .
I think the crash of the market is on its way. The wild fluctuations and the "emergency loans" and the tremendous rate cuts, do not indicate a strong or stable US market. I'm thinking next week or the week after, but not to very long from now, the jenga blocks are all going to come crumbling down.
Gee, I wonder if regulation was a pretty good idea, after all???? Hmmmmm
chris @ 20:
is today a snow day or something?
Something you won't find on the WH website: LINK
iraqhusseinconcilable @ 27:
It will be Paraguay and not Peru.
Ted, are you out of your f*cking mind? Please stop posting this crap. How can you look at the clusterf*ck that is the current market and still be saying that a little regulation will ruin it? De-regulation and lax standards on the lending and credit industry IS WHAT HAS GOTTEN US INTO THIS MESS. There are barons afoot, looting this country. Get it through your thick friggen head man.
Ted @ 11:
What orifice did you pull this fantasy theory out of?
foolme1ns @ 28:
adam smith thought it was.
w/o confidence in the market (which regulation creates for the consumer) the whole thing starts to fall apart.
really, capitalists are their own worst enemies, as their ideology endangers the chances of its success. they need a chaperone to watch over them, lest they destroy their own sandbox.
chris @ 20:
Like the 10,000 employees at Bear Stearns who are going to loose their jobs in the next month while the execs get away with millions in the bonuses they recieved right before the crash? I've said it before and I'll say it again, your an idiot and you need to f*ck off Chris. We don't drink koolaid here.
pissed off patricia @ 21:
In Tenet? Please, I love the way libs over dramatize everything... Some people will fail and be left behind, the American people are so stupid they don't understand the fact that the president does not control the economy. We've become weaker and weaker, nobody is allowed to get their feelings hurt without government rushing in.
31 Alice Hussein :
Sunni, Shite, Paraguay, Peru, what the hell ......
Leslie @ 18:
Actually corporate welfare.
Some people will be jumping ship from perceived failing companies and or industries to safer ones, that explains some 'new' jobs.
So when will the run on the banks begin? That is if anyone has money in a savings acct. any longer.
chris @ 36:
It's 5 o'clock Charlie to the rescue.
Free market my ass!!!! This is costing the American people hundreds of billions of dollars and we are the only ones suffering from it!!!! The CEO's and CFO's all have their platinum parachutes, while we get shit!!!
Radically Moderate @ 33:
BeCareful about injecting rational economic analysis in the debates here, libs don't like that, its all socialism all the time..
pissed off patricia @ 40:
It already did. That's what the Bear Stearns buyout was about. There was a run on Bear Stearns over a weekend, forcing Paulson into the office on a Sunday.
I don't think Bush will find much of a haven in South America... South Americans generally have nothing but contempt for him. Maybe Dubai, where he can visit Cheney every day at Halliburton headquarters.
Whoever said that "government does not create jobs" is an ignorant fool. A huge portion of our economy is tied directly to government spending and another huge chunk is tied to government spending indirectly. Government also influences the general health of the economy which determines whether the private sector can be competitive in a world marketplace and hire people. Idiotic statements like "government does not create jobs" are nothing more than tired old cliches that have been proven wrong again and again.
chris @ 43:
5 o'clock Charlie way off target again.
You are scum Chris, and borderline sociopathic... I'm leaving this thread.
chris @ 43:
Yes, our whole country is enjoying the fruits of your repug brand of "rational economic analysis". Some of us just prefer to call it blatant corporate pandering.
No, what I meant is when will we hear of little banks being tapped out because their customers are worried about the money they are holding for them in savings accts.
The stock market sure did shitty under the last Democratic administration... oh, wait... never mind.
Leslie @ 44:
Precisely. Citigroup, Bear Stearns and that piece of the Carlyle Group. The runs have already begun. There are also investment firms who have told investors that they can't take their money out of their firms right now. That is a banking failure.
Tax cuts actually increase revenue. I've heard Hannity say it.
So if we eliminate all taxes, wouldn't that then eliminate all deficits?
pissed off patricia @ 49:
Dunno. There are some protections in place since the Great Depression, such as FDIC. But if the government is broke, what are the odds they could make good on promises? Borrow it from China?
We don't know how much damage there is...but we'll find out in the next few months.
chris @ 36:
You're 1/2 right Chrissey, the president doesn't control the economy. His policies affect the economy.
Funny how Bear Stearns is being bailed out by the GOVERNMENT... in other words, they are accepting socialized charity, paid for by you and me.... so the CEO's and the top brass get to keep their multi-million dollar "compensation packages" and walk away knowing that the government will make sure that the whole game doesn't come crumbling down too hard.
In the meantime a poor working man can't afford health insurance for his family... that's our "Christian nation" that the Republicans always talk about.
What I'd like to see is someone figure out the actual unemployment rate.
To make it look like the rate is better than it is, (and at times tried to claim better than under Clinton) they stopped counting the people who's benefits had run out. I want to see what the unemployment rate is using the exact same system as under Clinton. Lets get the real numbers.
This creative accounting is nothing new. It is also used in:
Counting wounded/killed troops in Iraq. If they got shipped to Germany then died in the hospital there then it doesn't count
Counting killed Iraqies due to civil war/insurgency.. If shot in the forhead then it wasn't sectarian violence, it was a simple murder.
chris @ 36:
So you are saying the Bushco just met with the feds before the big bailout just to talk about sports? Are you saying the big bailout does not use tax payer money? Would the deal have been made without the Bush administrtions welfare payment?
Leslie @ 53:
I don't think the FDIC has enough money to cover the losses. The regulations and laws since the Great Depression have been so softened and overturned since Reagans administration until now as to hardly exist any more at all. We can only hope, but I don't have a lot of confidence.
chris @ 36:
Tenet you mean tents, dont they teach proper English at Regents !
and Americans ARE living in tents in New Orleans and other places,
some is due to disasters and failure by gov to sort the mess out, some due to homelessness due to evictions.
btw the 'weak to the wall' philosophy is cruel and mean and typical of your average 'trickle down' Republican,
humans deserve a minimum standard of living and a few safety nets.
So when your portfolio is worth less than the toilet paper its printed on, your paper round job is outsourced,
and your mom evicts you from her basement for not paying rent,
come back and cry on our shoulders you Teenygopper you.
sofla @ 55:
It's welfare of the worst kind. Handouts for the rich, stupid, greedy and lazy. It is the most undeserved welfare of all.
What is the real rate of inflation if you include fuel and food along with all other goods?
Exactly Leslie. I don't trust them to make good on FDIC. When was the last time this administration kept their word on anything that involved us regular folks? Bush has no reason to worry about the financial market because like this god awful invasion, he'll just dump it off in the next president's lap.
chris @ 43:
Message for ya chrissy.
sofla @ 55:
In Britain corparate execs can get done for running a company into the ground, with jail sentences and financial penaltys etc,
Oh to see the day when the SEC goes after those 'bonuses' and confiscates them, and the DOJ goes digging into their cooked accounts.
sofla @ 50:
Be careful about injecting rational economic analysis in the debates here. Cons don’t like that, it's all fascism all the time.
Only 18,000 Jobs? if memory serves, the economy has to create 120,000 jobs monthly keep up with people entering the work force, not simply those who were forced out.
And i really wish the media would report the truth on the 5% unemployment they always claim, as it never takes it to account those who couldn't find work in 6 months are are no longer counted as the unemployed, but rather cynically, as "no longer looking"
chris @ 43:
Yes BeCareful you don't lose your tiny, tiny projector injector while you masterfully debate with your analycyst, lol.
Ron @ 54:
*CLAPS* YEA!!!! I've finally managed to educate a lib!!! I agree his policies do affect the economy, that been said I do NOT agree with neither a corporate or tax back bailout...... the market can self correct..
chris @ 68:
5 o'clock Charlie lost his way again.
Proud2bHumble Hus(in)sein @ 67:
Chris will not get it. Hi 2b.
Some unemployed people I doubt they are counting are all the people from other countries who are here and who were employed by construction companies during the building boom. Those people are most likely not filing for unemployment as many of them were not citizens via papers. There were tons of them here in south Florida during the housing boom and now they are just gone. I have no idea where they went or what they are doing.
A national CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 60% of respondents think economic conditions in the United States will be "good" next year, as opposed to the 75% who think the economic situation is "poor" now. "Most people realize that the economy has cycles of ups and downs," said Wachovia economist Sam Bullard. "Fortunately, the last two recessions were some of the shortest on record, so in 2009 we should be pulling up out of this."
Riiiiiiiiiight. Oil at $110, gold at $1000. Fortunately the last two recessions didn't have junior running the ship of state. Anyone that thinks this will be a short duration recession should sell everything they own and put it in the stock market now. While stock prices are still, you know, a real bargain....
chris @ 68:
Another fact Crissey, you did not educate me on that. I've known that for years before I had the displeasure of reading your stupid analtsis.
chris @ 68:
You can usually clear that up with some topical cream and antibiotics, but I really suggest you stop hangin' with Mr. Foley, or at least quit talking with your imaginary friend, Ben Dover Libertardian, lol.
Ron @ 73:
Oil when down and the stock market went up, I did not see you guys thanking Mr. Bush, now why is that?
Ron @ 70:
Just having some fun giving him and his arguments the appropriate level of attention and respect, hehe.
;-}
chris @ 75:
You really should stay out of the bushes till yer a little older and better equipped to deal with it, chrissy. Better stick to wieners for the time being - go with what ya know, ya know?
lol
chris @ 75:
I will thank Boosh when oil gets down to what it was before he took office.
chris @ 68:
Markets don't "self-correct" you dork... if that were so, the investment bankers and stock traders wouldn't be waiting like addicts for a fix every time there is a rumor that the Fed will lower rates... they would just go on their merry knowing that tomorrow will be a better day. Government is intrinsically a part of the market and its actions are critical in maintaining its balance or throwing it into a deep funk. You put waaaaaay too much faith in "Pure Capitalism". Regulation and government oversight are critical to a healthy market and a healthy economy.
Don't forget that the unemployment rate doesn't count the "under-employed" either. People who have lost higher paying jobs and are now working lower wage jobs just to pay their bills.
I was advertising for an administrative assistant position paying $13 an hour and I can't tell you the number of college grad and even master's prepared people I had apply because they simply needed a job, any job.
Proud2bHumble Hus(in)sein @ 77:
God,Jesus, jump up Christ boy, what are you doing behind that bush?
"Markets don’t “self-correct” you dork… if that were so, the investment bankers and stock traders wouldn’t be waiting like addicts for a fix every time there is a rumor that the Fed will lower rates… they would just go on their merry knowing that tomorrow will be a better day. Government is intrinsically a part of the market and its actions are critical in maintaining its balance or throwing it into a deep funk. You put waaaaaay too much faith in “Pure Capitalism”. Regulation and government oversight are critical to a healthy market and a healthy economy."
Socialist!
No but seriously, that theory is so f*cking retarded its pathetic. Everytime someone brings that up I shout "BUT WHERE IS HUMAN GREEEEDDD FACTORED INTO THAT EQUATION!"
sofla @ 79:
You're using too many big words and complicated ideas. You'll confuse Chris.
Why can't we scrub Bush and Cheney? Impeach NOW!
foolme1ns @ 58:
While idiots like Chris and Ted try to spin this into a political commentary by the market on the 2008 election, their lack of understanding of politics is only exceeded by their complete lack of knowledge of economics.
This was a classic case of deregulation of the financial institutions with the removal of an act that was put in place after the crash of 29 to act as a "firewall" against banks and brokerages getting into predatory lending practices in real estate and asset inflation of their associated bonds and securities.
This is an old scam with new icing. The first time was the Savings and Loan crisis in the early 80's that was brought on by another stunning piece of deregulation of banks done by "Deregulatin' Ronnie."
They pulled out a vital piece of post depression bank regulation then and it resulted in the collapse of the Savings and Loans and the government did a $160 billion dollar buy out with tax payer dollars to stop them failing.
This time the scam was even bigger and the Fed has shelled out $600 Billion dollars so far to bail out the banks and brokerages to try and avert a collapse of the US and Global financial institutions.
This was a bank run that was caused by margin calls, where the banks themselves began demanding more collateral for the loans they have out there and we saw the collapse of many large funds. The Carlyle groups $600 million dollar hedge fund did go under and their assets were liquidates as an example.
But this is far from over... there is a huge commercial property aspect to the subprime mortgage disaster that is also about to go pop and then all hell will break lose again. That is why a former Fed Vice chair made these remarks:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGnGoiVO0304&refer=home
Let Binder's statement sink in a bit:
“He has taken extraordinary measures, things that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression,” said former Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder, a Princeton University professor. “He’s working overtime, literally and figuratively, to get this panic under control. But so far, it’s not under control.”
The foreclosures are going to mushroom in April, May, and June on residential properties and as the recession deepens and stores and businesses close up shop the commercial properties go pop...
That is what is going on behind the curtain... the bank failures were what triggered the depression in 1929, not the stock market crash and if they can't stop them... kerrrrSplat!
miss_kitty Hussein @ 22:
Go read Economics 101...KEYNESIAN economics 101.
The Laffer Curve, supply side...and all the other half baked "back of a napkin" faux economic "theories" are dead...and good riddance.
Liberal AND Proud @ 86:
"red? wat is this red you speak of? That is whot rush and focks r 4" - chris
"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists." - Ernest Hemingway
Let’s use some logic. The Bear Sterns financial deterioration was so rapid that it threatened a daisy chain of major bank failures. This is because a fire sale of Bear derivatives in illiquid markets would have required other institutions to mark their derivatives to a newly discovered market price considerably below their mark-to-model price. On a Sunday afternoon the situation was so desperate a shot gun wedding was hastily arranged at 94% discount to the previous Friday closing price. If you receive such a pittance for your shares of Bear Sterns it is the same as the company going bankrupt as far as the shareholders are concerned. So clearly the rescue was NOT for the shareholders, but there was a burning urgency to do it before Monday morning. They were staring into the abyss again!
The rescue was similar to the LTCM bail-out in that there was a looming systemic risk. I am also wondering if there wasn’t another similarity such as a very large gold short position? Now if the game of the Central Bankers is truly to stabilize markets and prevent systemic failure then you would think that in the aftermath of coming back from the abyss they would want a tranquil mill-pond environment in the markets. Any major dislocation could have unwanted consequences and again threaten to collapse the system.
So what is happening in the precious metals and the commodity markets? We know that the massive sell off in gold and silver was NOT small investors thinking that the Bear bail-out had made the world so safe that they could now jettison their gold! The sell off was induced by the shorts and the ring leader of the shorts is the Gold Cartel. The Cartel is the agent of the Federal Reserve and the US Government. Why would they want to induce a massive market dislocation instead of low volatility when the system has just been on the edge of collapse? They know the highly leveraged hedge funds on the long side of precious metals and commodities could go belly up and set off another string of bankruptcies. The only logical conclusion is that they have no choice. They are now more concerned about saving themselves than saving the system!
Take a deep breath and absorb that statement. If I am right the consequences are profound. It means that this induced sell off is a last ditch attempt for the Banking Cartel to cover as much as possible of their short position. They do not give a damn what the consequences are. They of course can not cover all their shorts but they are trying to defuse as many bombs as possible.
The implications are huge and will mean that by the very nature of the operation it will not last long because there is a lot of competition for the long side as they are not the only ones who realize the extent of the systemic problem.
sofla @ 79:
THey are waiting like addicts because thats what our government has trained them to do, Dem's trained the people to do it and Republicans trained business, it does work, take a damn econ class..
Commodities increases were another "bubble" and they are falling and the dolar is advancing... but if you read my post above... the worst is yet to come and we are far from out of the woods...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGnGoiVO0304&refer=home
Wall St. Firms
Perception: Extraordinarily well managed firms with adequate margins and eagle-like financial foresight.
Reality: Like commodity traders: Greed-driven half-crazy traders who try to slice off as big a chunk for themselves as they can without going to jail.
chris @ 75:
Very simple Chris, profit taking and Peak Oil. Investors took their money off the table for the weekend.
Mike the Canuck @ 92:
This Chris guy is exactly the kind of idiot the big traders love to toy with before they consume them head first at some point.
chris @ 89:
You are coming here like addict because that's what trained pubmonkeys do, it does not work, but its damn fun laffin at such a persistant contardianfucknut pretend it knows wtf it's talking about, lol.
L.A. Confidential @ 93:
Both the Subprime bank meltdown, and its $600 Billion dollar bailout... so far, and the Savings and Loan Melt down of the early 80s and its $160 Billion dollar bailout were caused by deregulation of the banks and brokerages...
So what do Ted and Chris come on here hawkin'?... of course more deregulation!
Why even bother arguing with idiots... unless your computer games are busted or your just plain bored on your day off.
Rasputin @ 95:
Give them the attention and respect they deserve - I do, lol.
(Actually, you guys made great points re the current gaping hole we're heading for, for any lurking swingers out there. Thanks. I've just had enough of these tools today, lol.)
;-}
Economic and corporate growth and profits in the 1990's can not be attributed to Clinton, unless you say that Clinton and Hillary facilitated the Reublican takeover of Congress (House of Rep) for the first time in many many years WHICH IS WHY THE MARKET ONLY AT THAT POINT WENT WAY UP.
Moreover, the 1990's benefitted from the peace dividend earned by GOP and Reagan winning the Cold War over the USSR, enabling the defense reductions and budget surpluses of the 1990's.
And finally, Clinton was FORCED to move to the right on economic and welfare reform issues etc. by precisely the GOP takeover in Congress.
Ted @ 97:
Amen brother, thank you Reagen for busting up Unions and lowering the tax rate.......
Ted @ 97:
Ted's Econ Math Dissertation:
Ted: It's actually tomorrow in Tokyo. Do you realize that there are people alive here in Minneapolis who are already dead in Tokyo?
Ted: Any man who hasn't fooled around in 18 years of marriage isn't normal.
Lou: Ted, I was married for 26 years and never fooled around!
Ted(giggles): Oh, 26, sure, but not 18.
-----------------------------------------------------
Gotta go...will check back...please leave a massage ;-}
“Last word, freak.” - Melvin Udall
out
;-}
Ted @ 97:
And the GOP congress in the later half of Clinton's term served up the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Acto of 1933 in 1999... this opened the door to the subprime lending abuse that has resulted in the current bank failures and buyouts by the Fed.
Bush, however, kicked the door wide open to the predatory lending when he invoked a law dating back to 1863 in 2003 to have the OCC sue the state of NY in Federal court and nullified all of the state laws against predatory lending.
He used this in his 2003 Presidential campaign speeches, "We are the ownership society and more people own homes now than ever before. You see we have the "haves" and the "have mores." But this was built on a ticking time bomb of debt and the flood of cheap imports were used to mask the fact that real wages were not only stagnate but when adjusted for inflation... had fallen.
You make a fundamental mistake thinking that all Dems like Clinton... they don't and his support of the GOP congress in passing NAFTA and his co-operation with the GOP congress in 1999 to repeal Glass-Steagall are reasons that Hillary lacks wide spread support.
chris the new Paul Welston @ 98:
And you can Thank Reagan for the "bubble" economy that has led to the current economic meltdown of subprime and the Savings and loan meltdown as well.
The current has been pulled back and guess what... Reagan's bullshit economics was indeed "voodoo economics" after all!
PS... Its Reagan... not Reagen! ;-)
Well, what else could one expect from a lying, blood-thirsty, wannabe dictator. It's not the first time the WarPigs have scrubbed the White House website of their deceptions. He has not only hurried our own country to ruin on every level imaginable, but has also destroyed Iraq and is directly responsible for the deaths of 4,000 of our military and unknown thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. When George's time comes, as it does for all of us, and if there is a Hell...Saddam Hussein will have good company.
I think it is safe to assume that the Bush Administration will ensure that the CPI, PPI, etc. will be even more rigged in the future. At some point, they will probably only count dog turds in the CPI because that will be about the only thing that hasn't gone up in price. They will exclude everything else that is going up in price and will claim that since dog turds haven't risen in price inflation is in check. Some people will probably still believe that to.
After 28 yeaars, trickle down poverty has finally reached it's zenith - the 2nd REPUBLICAN GREAT DEPRESSION! And all the right-wing talking heads and paid professional liars, will never put it back together again. Let the curtain fall on movement conservatism. Good riddance!
Joe O. @ 103:
I know a couple of them guys! But even they are beginning to notice the fecal smell of GOP economic policies.
Mike the Canuck @ 92:
I agree Mike. That is exactly what is happening. Oil hasn't fallen as much as gold or silver so there is still the global oil supply and demand issue to contend with. The metals sold off due to profit taking and being over bought. The metals were due for a correction. The Fed's moves are good for now but they will end up creating more inflation down the road and this will be hard to ignore. The Fed will then have to raise those rates. I've heard predictions that we could see double digit inflation across a whole host of sectors possibly as soon as the fourth quarter. Besides, this whole real estate mess is just starting. There will be a lot more write downs and profit losses. This real estate mess took years to build and it will take years to unwind.
Sieg Hieliburton!!
The government's always been involved in the economy.
Henry Clay, a distant uncle of mine, tried to divide the country into economic regions with the north industrial, the south agrairian, the Mid-West and West minining and farming, and frontier building. It never became official US policy but in effect became what happened. That pretty much doomed the South long before the Civil War.
The railroads were pushed by the government, presumably by early lobbyists, despite the resistance of the canals, and stage-coach companies, and regional farmers. The former two resisted because it was government subsidized competition and the latter because it meant giving up tracts of precious farmland to the new rails. Eventually the railroads got the lands they needed pretty much free, or a deep discounts due to the Federal government sweeping up what they needed through Eminent Domain.
Even paper currency was controversial. Greenbacks as they were called were favored by farmers and small businesses seeking to open up small loans, but were resisted by larger groups that sought precious metal coins with inherent worth. Paper money became so useless during the Confederacy and even the Yankee money, that it's surprising it didn't disappear, but the government needed them to rebuild the South.
Our banking system is always teetering because of the lack of a national banking system, after World War I the addition of the Federal Reserve as just a bandaid over the decentrailized banks, and banks as investment institutions that Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 sought to prevent (since revoked in 1999).
Meanwhile if someone finds themselves in poverty the government says it's their moral failing, and the government has no real control of the economy.
If that was the case they shouldn't give such tax breaks to the wealth in the name of trickle-down economics.
I'm getting tired of being pissed on.
iraqhusseinconcilable @ 37:
Bushco is confused about Sunni and Shia, it would seem.
Paraguay has long history of being a sanctuary for war criminals and Peru doesn't.
I don't know how they would want to start now.
Alice Hussein @ 109:
I understand Paraguay has they suspicions on the sexual orientation of Uraguay.
"We have a strong dollar policy."
“The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are set to expire in less than three years. If Congress allows that to happen, 116 million taxpayers will see their taxes go up by $1,800 on average.”
How this really works is 111,000,000 see their taxes go up $100. The other 5 million will have to pay their fair share again. Poor, poor billionaires. Don't you just feel so sorry for them. They pay SOOOOOO much in taxes. They should probably just kill themselves......
"Finally, an MBA president," some chimed in.
"The ($600) cheques are in the mail."
If you lose your job and don't get a new one fast enough, they stop counting you as unemployed. Then there are all the people who lose a job and end up with a job with less pay and benefits. Hey your employed, going down the toilet, but employed! Government statistics are perfect for crooks and liars.
Ted @ 97:
You pulled this post from the same orifice that you pulled post #11 from.
Your personal bias over substance is the trademark of Repug lightweights. Rote memorization has served you well.
Ted , time for your medication .
Just to be clear ... the government did not "bail out" Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns is dead. Shareholders, and employees with BSC stock in their trading or retirement accounts are left with zilch. That's not a bailout.
chris @ 68:
double negatives... cannot spell or doesn't even know how to spell the word he/she uses: their, they're, there; been, being, etc. etc. etc. go back to school!
When will the disciples of Milton Friedman realize his playbook did not work in South America, Central America, and Indonesia and it does not work for people of the US. It only works for the benefits of the wealthy and the corporations. The Bush Administration and Reps in Congress have run this country on Friedman economics and what we have now is the results.
Wow...they're BRAGGING about a monthly job creation of 18,000 new jobs? When it takes about 150,000 jobs just to absorb new entrants to the workforce?
>> When will the disciples of Milton Friedman realize his playbook did not work in South America, Central America, and Indonesia and it does not work for people of the US.
Shhhhhhh
It worked great for us liberals / socialists.
But then conservatives have always been good for the socialists.
All you need is for the cons to get their hands on the economy and then it's only a matter of a few years before the public is begging us to straighten out the economic disaster the cons leave behind.
Hoover, Nixon, Daddy shrub, Baby shrub and to a lesser extent Eisenhower.
All classic conservative economic retards that ushered in Dems.
Thanks guys.
BTW the 8.3 million jobs figure is a lie.
Here's the real figures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobs_created_during_U.S._presidential_terms
Shrub has created about 6 million jobs.
The worst on record since WWII
Jimmy Carter created almost twice as many in half the time as you can see from the same link.
>> Economic and corporate growth and profits in the 1990’s can not be attributed to Clinton
Notice the total lack of any proof or back up.
Just another conservative born loser flapping his ignorant lip in the breeze.
Government does not create jobs, private sector does, once we work through this cycle everything will be fine…
Tell that to the families living in tents right now.
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Recessions happen, because economic expansions happen. Up cycle, down cycle. Telling that to people living in tents, does not help them, but it is reality. Everybody loved the boom, but every boom is followed by a bust.
Every bust is followed by another boom.
Both government and the private sector create jobs.
BTW the 8.3 million jobs figure is a lie.
Here’s the real figures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.....tial_terms
Shrub has created about 6 million jobs.
The worst on record since WWII
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The major boom was in the 1990's. The following decade is not going to be the same as the previous one.
The 1990's boom was like that of the 1920's. Remember what followed the 1929 stock market crash?
The housing bubble pushed back the day of reckoning this time. After a boom like the 1990's, job creation should be poor in the following decade. Since it took a housing bubble to create jobs, regardless who would have been president the last 8 years, job groweth woud have been the worst since WW2. It's the phase of the cycle, stupid.
DON'T THEY UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN YOUR UNEMPLOYMENT RUNS OUT YOU ARE NO LONGER A STATISTIC? THEY COUNT THAT AS YOU NOW BEING EMPLOYED. TELL THAT TO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH NO JOBS AND NO MONEY, LIVING ON SPOUSE'S INCOME ONLY. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE ON ONE INCOME TODAY.
I wonder why the press/media glossed over this goofball's experience and qualifications back during the runup to the 2000 GE. Thank you MSM, repug mobs, and the SCOTUS for landing us on this hard rock. If we had any semblance of a democracy that rat-face twerp wouldn't have been allowed to drap us down, in every sense of the word. It's all smoke and mirrors, all secrecy, all of the time with these criminal incompetents. How in heaven's name did this happen to us?
You Clinton loyalists out there, kindly tell us what the great leader did to create the 22 million jobs he's claimed to have created. Sure the Internet was aided along during his tenure, but that alone could not possibly have created 22M jobs. He has no legacy that one could point to, or I should say apart from his sexual expliots, there is nothing concrete that one could say that he accomplished. He gave us these trade agreements that have led to the disappearance of our manufacturing base. He also gave us the big 5 media houses after he changed the rules on broadcasting that allowed the same owners of different media, in the same market. Thank you Bill Clinton, you schmuk. Obama was right when he said that meither Nixon nor Clinton altered the trajectory of our nation. Clinton was just basically following the path set by that dumb POS, Reagan.
How about Democrat investigation of Bush's alleged insider trading of Bear Stearns securities?
George W Bush attended the Economic Club of New York meeting on March 14, 2008 where he practically danced a jig with Henry Kissinger and was so up-beat that you had to conclude that he was verily "the cat who ate the canary." What would make George W Bush so happy? The economy sucks, there are record foreclosures, his poll ratings are in the upper 20's and the prospects of Republicans holding White House, House and Senate are very slim. So why so happy?
Could it be that George W Bush did what he does best - cheat? His whole personal history is full of "getting away with it."
Now the specifics:
1) Please look at the video of George W Bush at the Economic Club of New York 03/14/2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFzEPyWa7OA
2) Then read the CNN article dated 03/17/2008 regarding JP Morgan's buyout of Bear Stearns at $2/share:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/03/16/stearns.morgan/
3) This past Tuesday, when Bear Stearns was trading around $65 a share, there was huge put volume in the March $30 strike.
Over 55,000 contracts traded that day at an average price of 15 cents a contract.
http://www.thestreet.com/s/who-traded-55000-bear-30-puts-tuesday/newsana...
4) Note the highly unusual option trading on Friday March 14, 2008 where 17,000 March $25 puts traded at $7/sh:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=686026799
5) Now Bush has a history of insider trading in Harken Energy:
http://www.thetruthaboutgeorge.com/special/harken.html
or
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020722/leopold20020718
6) Lastly, on March 17th after the $2/share sellout was announced, George W Bush was far more reserved with reporters:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/03/17/VI20080317...
Bottom line, George W Bush had the means and the motive to trade on the insider news that Bear Stearns would be bought out by JP Morgan at $2/share on March 16, 2008. The 55,000 March 30 puts cost only $825,000 and netted a profit of $137,500,000.
Nice profit for a days work.
But then conservatives have always been good for the socialists.
All you need is for the cons to get their hands on the economy and then it’s only a matter of a few years before the public is begging us to straighten out the economic disaster the cons leave behind.
Hoover, Nixon, Daddy shrub, Baby shrub and to a lesser extent Eisenhower.
All classic conservative economic retards that ushered in Dems.
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The same can be said in reverse. By the way, Hoover was the father of The New Deal. Hoover intervened in the economy. You might check out the great Depression to see just how well Roosevelt did. He was not an economic genious, either. The Great Depression did not end by 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938-there was a recession that year. But put the blinders on.
Actually what Clinton and Gore did for the economy was to help set up the context for an expansion. He did not really attack industries with investigations as someone more leftists might've. He did help pass NAFTA to help increase exports until the Republicans basically hijacked it to make it more about out-sourcing. Gore with his Reinvention of the Government got rid of reams of unneccessary rules controlling the conduct of business that were passed by Quayle's Council For Competitive Fitness. And additionally, by trying to float ALL boats with the economy he made the consumer stronger and thus made businesses more profitable in the long-run.
I'm in the money
The days are sunny
I got a lot of what it takes to get along
The wealthy over-suck
The poor are handed stuff
The middle-guy.....pretty much just fucked
MY SOLUTION.... i can get rich so i have to get lazy... earn without working... stay in a company as the deligated dead-weight...
THIS IS MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION
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