Economic Stuff

The Republicans continue to sicken me.

I hear they're out there complaining about how slow the stimulus is as far as reviving the economy that their guy ruined. They're complaining about President Obama not being able to have everyone fully employed yet. They're nothing but complaints.

The weird thing about this is so far they're getting exactly what they wanted. We all know 100% the Republicans didn't want the economy to revive, and they still don't. So it's a bit of a theatrical act to have them on TV complaining when they're getting what they actually wanted.

They're essentially traitors to the rest of us. For their short term political gain they want the United States to go down the tubes. But then when problems continue on, they're right there with their continual crocodile tears. I for one am not fooled.

I believe we could back up the tape and see that the Republicans didn't think anything needed to be done to fix the economy. Maybe cut taxes, the same old Bush prescriptions that got us in this mess.

The guy from wherever, Boehner, what? Ohio? went back home and said the stimulus wasn't doing anything in his state. Like zero. Then they found out with was $50 million or something already, and he needed to admit he had it wrong. Stinking jokers.

As for the Democrats in Congress, I wish they would be on the same page. Why is it that we can take control of Congress and have our side fighting like cats and dogs? It's ridiculous. Get this stuff done. Fix the economy, get health care right, etc., and people will reward you. Some of these creatures need to be replaced, of course, but to do it is harder than saying it.

Boats And Pets

There was an interesting article the other day somewhere -- the NY Times, I believe -- about abandoned boats. These were fancy boats and somewhere where they have water, so I'm thinking it could be the ocean area to the east.

That's a problem I had never imagined could exist. It never occurred to me that someone would just abandon a boat. File off the identifying numbers and name and ditch it, whether by sinking it or just leaving it stranded on the bank.

There was something about them being too expensive to sell. Whatever. Sell it for 20 bucks to someone. At least you get 20 bucks and it's legal; it's someone else's problem at that point. Just because you're not going to get $100,000, it's still 20 bucks.

What a weird thing that is, because of the current economic crisis.

The other thing I saw -- and this one I don't remember anything about where it was -- was about pets being dropped off or given to shelters. Because they can't afford them again, I'm thinking. It has to happen, I suppose. Poor things.

I was thinking of the economy today when I needed to go buy pet food. A big sack of cat food (which lasts quite a while) for $12.44. Six 4 packs of wet cat food at $1.36 per pack. A box of wet dog food for $7.28. It adds up. But they give us love.

Republicans Pessimistic On Economy

Have I ever mentioned how repulsed I am by Republicans, especially the Republican crooks in Congress and government? My feelings haven't softened up any, and things are getting worse for them the more they rag on President Obama and wish our country down the drain. Disgusting bunch.

Now we have this bombshell from the NY Times: "G.O.P. Wary of White House Optimism on Economy." That's right. Big surprise. They don't see any good in any policy unless it's their own slipshod party making the decisions. If Bush twiddled his thumbs and shredded the Constitution, that's no problem. But if anyone else makes a decision with the idea of improving things for the general well being of the country, the Republicans are right there with their big wet blanket. Maybe that's the big tent they always say they have. A big wet tent that looks like a big wet blanket and performs the same function.

Here's the lede to the story:

A top economic adviser to President Obama said on Sunday that she was confident that the economy would begin to rebound this year, a message starkly contradicted by Republican leaders who expressed doubts about the growing deficit.

They don't say "We hope so!" "Wouldn't that be great!" "More power to him!" "People will be suffering less now!" Nothing like that. They simply "starkly contradicted" it, expressing doubts, talking it down, lest things improve and we get the country back on track. Filthy, vile bunch of ne'er-do-wells.

We need people in this country to be on the same page. Enough political gamesmanship. Let the common good be something held in common. There's plenty of progress to be made and plenty of credit to go 'round. But no, if you're suffering in this bad economy, to the Republicans that's great news!

To Catch A CEO

It seems like there's enough shenanigans going on at these big businesses, people getting disgusting amounts of cash for doing a bad job, that it's ridiculous. What kind of company pays people like this? And where can I apply? I could use a job like that, somewhere where I need a fleet of wheelbarrows to transport my Christmas bonus home.

As far as the latest public outrage goes, through bailing them out with borrowed taxpayer money only to have them turn around and give bigger bonuses, it's in the headlines in really big print. So that means everyone's even more outraged, lest each of us misses an opportunity. Probably the biggest problem with it is they're doing it right under our nose. Now we're worrying whether someone's contracts are being upheld. I think that's a good thing, to keep contracts. But if they would have been completely out of business without the help, at that point it seems like company survival and the country's economy are more important. I know if I wrecked my father's car one day, then said, "But you promised I could use the car next Saturday," he'd probably have said that indeed was his promise, but since you wrecked the car there's nothing left to drive!

We need to get Chris Hansen of "To Catch A Predator" fame to set up a house somewhere and lure these CEOs out, so we can catch them on film. Put out the word on an internet business chatline that there's some cute bonuses looking for a good time. Then they show up at the house, someone calls out that the bonuses need to slip into something more comfortable, then Chris pops out of nowhere to ask them, "So what are you doing here?" He would go on to explain, despite their many objections that they had no evil capitalist intent, that it didn't look good for them. "I got the transcript right here. And the bonus clearly said it was 14 billion." Nah, that doesn't make any sense.

Probably my favorite anti-CEO remark these days is this one, that we can "fire them." Ha ha. If I have a job where I just made $40 million, please, go ahead and fire me. What ever will I do next?

Obama's Reviews

I think Obama is getting pretty good reviews as president. I'm not reading any right wingers, because I know they can't be satisfied. Somehow they were satisfied with that criminal rat we had for eight years, but get a competent, honest guy in there and they can't be pleased.

It's getting to be the theme that the Republicans are obstructionists. I read it in my local paper today in an editorial. I like it when it takes root like that. We have a national crisis and all they can say is "No." It's funny, though, that now we have the spectacle of Republican governors who were opposed to the stimulus but are put in the position of not taking the money (against the likely wishes of their state) or taking the money (and looking like full blown hypocrites.) It's no coincidence that the Republican governors thinking about running for president next time are the ones dallying with the idea of refusing the money. I love it.

Personally I liked the idea someone in a comment floated that the law could have been written to send the money to whichever states had their representatives vote for it. As it is, they're reporting at Talking Points Memo, there are representatives out there who are taking credit for the extra cash for their districts even while they voted no! Something like that ought to be shouted from every rooftop. Look at these hypocrites!

To me, Obama is looking better everyday, and I already liked him a lot. And the Republicans are shrinking, shrinking, shrinking ... hopefully to the point that they wither and blow away entirely.

McCain's Loss Such A Blessing

John McCain used to command some respect in a bipartisan sense. Then he decided to run a desperate campaign based on lies and the politics of personal destruction, and of course the respect dried up.

Yet, President Obama (then President-elect) reached out to him, and just like all through the campaign, was gracious to the point of being nauseatingly so, as far as I'm concerned. He called McCain in, let him sit in a nice chair, then said nice things about him. McCain sat there in a nice way. He's a lot like a delinquent child. As long as they sit quietly they seem pleasant, but it never lasts long.

Now, with the economy ("The fundamentals of our economy are strong") completely tanking -- and there's an obvious need for bold leadership, to get this stinking thing raised from the dead -- McCain is only there with carping, complaining, and the usual venom that comes from his mouth. At least in the campaign he was usually just the Old Man Shaking His Fist Against The Clouds. Now he's back hoping to sink the entire country.

What a blessing McCain lost. As he has shown since Jan. 20, he's not looking for something new, something that might help. He voted to continue the Bush economic agenda, even after eight years of proven failure! With all the disgusting things that happened under Bush's mismanagement, McCain says Let's have more of the same! This is what we could have had had McCain become president!

So thank God John McCain didn't win the presidency. No, really, thank God: "God, thank you that John McCain did not win the presidency. We are so much better off with Obama."

Stimulus Drags On

We've gone a long way from potentially having the bill on Obama's desk on Inauguration Day ready to sign. That's what I was looking for. Little did I know how overly optimistic that way. But why was it suggested and mentioned several times if it were outside the realm of the possible?

Instead, time drags on. The Republicans have all the glee of being obstructionists. They're in government for the purpose of -- no one knows exactly, except everything they touch tends to disintegrate. They're obviously not in power with any intention of actually doing anything good for the country. They showed that clearly in the Bush years, when they aided and abetted his criminality. Why anyone would vote for any of these Republicans is beyond me.

But now we have a stimulus bill through the Senate, thanks to three Republicans. If we had Al Franken on board like we should have they still would have needed one Republican, leaving Lieberman out of the equation. And yet that doesn't end it, because now we have to take it to conference and iron out the differences, blah blah blah. And I heard that Arlen Specter was threatening that he wouldn't support anything different from what he already voted on. That guy is such a twerp, as we've seen time and time again over the years. He's up in 2010, and it'd be nice to see him lose.

At this point, it seems to me we ought to pitch our support behind Obama and let him do what it takes to get us out of this mess. No one else is in a position to do it. Certainly not the Republican naysayers, bellyaching all the time. Their big idea -- more tax cuts for the rich -- we've already tried.

The Roaring 2000s

Here's an interesting blurb from a book I saw at Goodwill, a prediction that a guy makes. The book is called "The Roaring 2000s" by Harry S. Dent, Jr.

"Dent identifies opportunities, explores trends, and makes concrete predictions. Among them are: A Dow that will reach at least 21,500 and possibly 35,000 by the year 2008."

This book is no longer there; someone bought it. All I took away was this photo, wondering what went wrong.

Maybe George W. Bush and the Republicans in Congress had something to do with screwing it up.

McCain: Changing The Subject

McCain Fiddles While Rome Burns

McCain's the big expert on the economy, right? I know he said he didn't know anything about it, but then later his always-truthful advisers said he did. So naturally I had to go with their opinion since I figured he was probably just being modest.

Well, maybe he is actually dumb as a post on the economy, just like he said. Here's a great quote, that McCain wants to study, to investigate what the problem might be. But Barack Obama knows what the problem is and promises to fix it.

WSJ: Obama rejected McCain’s call this morning for a national commission modeled after the bipartisan panel that investigated the 9/11 attacks as a desperate ploy, labeling it “the oldest Washington stunt in the book.”

“You pass the buck to a commission to study this problem,” Obama said, rejecting the measure as unnecessary. “We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that get us out. I’ll provide it. John McCain won’t.”

So McCain wants to fiddle about, kick the can down the road, submit himself to the rigors of on-the-job training. But Obama's ready to work, day one.