Tejanablonde Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Well, apparently, the state I live in isn't getting a freaking thing. Some of the projects, like the St. Louis MetroLink expansion seem to be useful and needed. Others just give me a huge "?" when I look at them. Like the mentioned "people movers." Seriously. WE don't' need people movers in a recession. Tell the obese fat-asses of America to move their butts a bit faster and burn some calories while trying to catch their connecting flights. My take on this involves the Austin Texas expenditure. I was in Austin a year ago. The tag reader was ALREADY in place. What a lot of rot. Who else knows what lard is packaged for our "consumption". Alright, I'll play devil's advocate: we know what is wrong... what do we do to (constructively) fix the problem? Any brilliant answers out there? Enlighten me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Some of the projects, like the St. Louis MetroLink expansion seem to be useful and needed. Others just give me a huge "?" when I look at them. Like the mentioned "people movers." Seriously. WE don't' need people movers in a recession. Tell the obese fat-asses of America to move their butts a bit faster and burn some calories while trying to catch their connecting flights. My take on this involves the Austin Texas expenditure. I was in Austin a year ago. The tag reader was ALREADY in place. What a lot of rot. Who else knows what lard is packaged for our "consumption". Alright, I'll play devil's advocate: we know what is wrong... what do we do to (constructively) fix the problem? Any brilliant answers out there? Enlighten me. I remember the last time I was at Universal Studios in FL, they have these moving sidewalks that help you move from one part of the park to the other in quick fashion. But people are just standing in one place as though it were an amusement ride or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUCK'EYE' DOC Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Alright, I'll play devil's advocate: we know what is wrong... what do we do to (constructively) fix the problem? Any brilliant answers out there? Enlighten me. I'd say for the government to quit interfering in the free market and let capitlaism play itself out. This government interference is making things worse. Look at the stock market implosion. Quit giving our tax dollars to every company with its hand out. Quit funding the pork. Get line item veto to edit the pork out of these humongous bills that congress sneaks its pet pork projects into. Stockholders need to stand up to the huge bonuses for the CEO's poor performance and make them accountable. Raise interest rates for savings accounts so people have incentives to put their money in the banks so they in turn have more money to loan out (basic principles of banking). Impose stiff fines and jail penalties for the CEO's of the mortgage companies that recklessly and greedily gave the loans to people who had no jobs. Give incentives (not just hand over the money) to banks that work with the homeowners to keep them in their houses, or perhaps dis-incentives for those who don't! I'm just getting started. End of rant for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Just say for shits and giggles we give every working American $100k x 250,000,000 What is that? $250 billion I think that would be a much better way to stimulate the economy. And a lot cheaper. edited for bad math Damn! my calculator must be broke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrum Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Just say for shits and giggles we give every working American $100k x 250,000,000 What is that? $250 billion I think that would be a much better way to stimulate the economy. And a lot cheaper. edited for bad math Damn! my calculator must be broke One guy on the radio said that if we gave one million dollars to every citizen of the United States then that would only be 250 million dollars. When he was finally convinced what that would really cost he just went: 'DOH!!' But I like your idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manderlyh Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I think that the government DOES need to stop trying to "fix" these companies. Yes, I worry about the future of my home with the bad economy and our mortgage being due every 1st of the month, but really--all we're doing is giving private companies money to spend. This money isn't really helping us because individuals aren't benefiting. I saw on the news today that Micron Technology, a major employer in Boise, is laying off 2,000+ employees. Not good. On top of things like our state government slashing jobs, Micron letting 2,000 people go in the capital city of Idaho, this is not good. I'm honestly worrying about getting a job. Thank GOD my boyfriend's got a pretty-economy-proof job, and that he can pay our house payment and basic bills on his salary alone if worse comes to worst. (Knock on wood.) I also thank GOD that our cars are paid off, so we don't have to worry about paying THOSE bills. Edited to add more--apparently, I'm being a bit finicky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 One guy on the radio said that if we gave one million dollars to every citizen of the United States then that would only be 250 million dollars. When he was finally convinced what that would really cost he just went: 'DOH!!' But I like your idea! Yeah I think that would be more like $10K The $8K credit for first time homebuyers is a good idea if the banks would get up off the money "WE" loaned them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manderlyh Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 ^exactly. My boyfriend and I were talking about the whole foreclosure situation today. He said something like, "if these people would have taken a few minutes more to really learn what the situation on their home loans were, they wouldn't have gotten themselves into this problem to begin with." I then shot back something like: "well, many lenders explained the ARMs to the customers, and the customers just assumed the banks would allow them to refinance for a lower interest rate when the ARM got too high to handle." It's kind of the truth--at least with the people I've talked to who have ARM mortgages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 What a lot of people don't realize is, if you have been in your house more than 3 years you can sell and buy a new house under the first time buyer status. Ofcourse you have to be able to sell in this economy then secure the new loan. edited to say that when the economy was good I wouldn't take out an ARM, that's like buying your house with a credit card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manderlyh Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 ^I agree. There really were a lot of people who bought houses with an ARM that did so because they probably wouldn't have been able to buy otherwise. Like I said before, when we bought our house, a friend of my boyfriend's was really encouraging him to look into the interest only loans. I sort of flipped when he mentioned it to me so casually. I pretty much threatened to live in my car and buy my own house--without him if he did that! #lol# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzldoc Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 I worked extra OT and sold my P/U Truck to come up with a down payment because you can't borrow that money. My folks were in no position to gift any monies either. I think it's people like us that are infuriated with these bailout schemes Really makes it hard to do the right thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstickbonzo Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 It certainly makes it easier for people to take advantage of the system when its now a proven fact you don't have to worry about anything because the government will eventually bail you out if you fuck up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmie ray Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 It certainly makes it easier for people to take advantage of the system when its now a proven fact you don't have to worry about anything because the government will eventually bail you out if you fuck up. Remember the kiddie story about the grasshopper who jerked off all summer, that got bailed out when the bad weather hit - by the ants who busted their little asses the whole time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cryingbluerain Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 An 87-Year-Old's Economic Survival Guide http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris..._survival_guide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bong-Man Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=...mp;pageId=85243 Relax folks....He thinks we're in good hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TypeO Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Talk about hedging your bets... Cautioning that he's likely to be more wrong than right, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the U.S. economy was expected to return to growth late this year and 2010 would be "a year of recovery." The Fed chairman nonetheless distanced himself from his own forecast, acknowledging that predictions to date have proved woefully inadequate. "The outlook for economic activity is subject to considerable uncertainty, and I believe that, overall, the downside risks probably outweigh those on the upside," Bernanke cautioned. That's comforting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomper Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Talk about hedging your bets... That's comforting. I understand the stock market is all about taking risks, but headlines I saw yesterday after the 250 point rise said things like "Bernanke saves Wallstreet!", or words to that effect. Spectacular!! After the day before it dropped about the same. Take me to your leader! The above quotes show me how idiotic the swings in the market are. It's like the reservations Bernanke speaks of are ignored. I like to be optimistic too, but let's get real. Basing prices on speculation, not reality is misguided. And as I type the DJIA is down 91 points as of 10:00am eastern time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomper Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Excuse me, the DJIA has just dropped another 49 points in 9 minutes since I posted previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TypeO Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Dogbert for President! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepyep Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanna be drummer Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 The warning signs were there. The Democrats apparently just didn't want to look, so long as people were living outside their means Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternal light Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Handing Back The Handout-Why One Bank Is Giving Back Its $361 Million TARP Bailout WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US government is warning banks that its deposit insurance fund could go broke this year as bank failures mount. The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila Bair, in a letter to bank chief executives dated March 2, defended the FDIC's plan to raise fees on banks and assess an emergency fee to shore up the fund and maintain investor confidence. news.yahoo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rover Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Jon Stewart of the Daily Show dresses down Jim Cramer of C-NBC's Mad Money http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/...pisodeId=220533 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cryingbluerain Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 The liberals want to blame this financial mess on the Republicans, but this whole mess started from the "Community Reinvestment Act" that pressured banks into affirmative-action lending to those "government-sponsored enterprises" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who bought up all the resulting subprime loans and repackaged them as "investment grade" securities. The greasy thumb-prints of government were all over this fiasco from beginning to end. And guess who was on top of it all? You guessed it - Barney Frank - and now he stands up there like he's going to solve your problems, spending more of your earnings.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bong-Man Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Why the GOP Should Shut Up Six out of the top 10 Senate earmark hogs are Republicans. By Timothy Noah Posted Thursday, March 12, 2009, at 5:49 PM ET Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., wants you to know that he voted against the $410 billion spending bill President Obama signed into law on March 11. His fellow Republicans "tried to cut the bill's cost. Our ideas would have saved billions of taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, every one was turned aside." Well, not every one. According to this spreadsheet prepared by Taxpayers for Common Sense, the spending bill incorporates 53 ideas put forth by McConnell himself in the form of legislative earmarks. Far from lowering the spending bill's cost, they increased it by $76 million. Compared with his fellow Republicans, McConnell is a relative piker. Here is a list of the Senate's 10 biggest earmark hogs, based on dollar amounts in the spending bill: 1. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.: $474 million 2. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.: $391 million 3. Mary Landrieu, D-La.: $332 million 4. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa: $292 million 5. David Vitter, R-La.: $249 million 6. Christopher Bond, R-Mo.: $248 million 7. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.: $235 million 8. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii: $225 million 9. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.: $219 million 10. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa: $199 million http://www.slate.com/id/2213556/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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