--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bettyblue109 <no_re...@...> wrote: > > your quote: "left behind by the Bush administration and its rubber > stamp GOP controlled "culture of corruption" Congress."....I am in my > mid 50's. Since I became more aware of what has been going on in the > world (since my early 30's) I have observed congress/government etc to > be self serving and corrupt, not just Bush and the republican > congress, but democratic congress's as well. They are all on the take, > they fail to "really fix" anything, (ie; social security), nor do they > ever "delete" a government program or subsidy once it has been put in > place....why? because all they care about is being re-elected..... You > could say the system is broken.
The Republicans broke some records this time with examples like the multi-billion dollar Enron criminal operation, the far reaching Tom Delay and Abramoff fun times and the fallout from that and other scandals, but not to forget the 'accomplishments' of the Bush administration with Iraq, Katrina, the environment, science, the US Constitution, the rule of law, the open door to the Christian Right wackos, overt homophobic bigotry, the politicizing of the DOJ and almost every agency of government, the imposed Christianization of the military by the loonies, the billions of dollars thrown away in corrupt no bid recontruction Iraq contracts .......... My God, I could fill a page. But the biggest damaging thing they did was to virtually eliminate any fiscally sound, responsible oversight over their cohort sponsors in the Corporate financial operations of America's economic machine. And they indeed did leave us with the global economic crisis we face today. > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rflex@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bettyblue109 <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > > > Is it Miss Do.Rflex or Mr Do.Rflex, "That's a similar attitude to > > > those whose 'expert' economic back ground got us into this mess in the > > > first place. The same kind of in-it-for-the-wealthy 'experts' who > > > fought tooth and nail against FDR's New Deal spending...." > > > > > > Actually 300 million Americans got us into this mess in the first > > > place, we all lived way beyond our means since 1980. We all borrowed > > > too much, too much debt... And the housing mess was certainly created > > > by congress, Clinton and Bush by putting pressure on banks to make > > > subprime loans so that everyone could own a house, even if they could > > > not afford to make the payments. And of course Greenspan's easy money > > > did not help either. Derivatives, off balance sheet SUV's, CDO's also > > > contributed to mess. > > > > > > VP Joe Biden said the "stimulus" has a 70% chance of > > working.....which> really means it has a 50% chance of working. It is > > laden with pork and> programs that are wasteful, and it has aspects to > > it that are> beneficial. If you recall LBJ's great society in the 60's > > and early> 70's.....Ten years later, the "misery index" -- the > > unemployment rate> plus the inflation rate -- was 19.9, heading for 22 > > percent in 1980. > > > > > So this Obama stimulus is not a sure bet and I would bet anyone that > > > before years end he will be back again for Stimulus part 2 because > > > this one that got passed last week is off the mark and its effect is > > > too far out into the future.... the stock market is a voting > > > mechanism, and it has dropped approx -10% since the bill got passed, > > > so that is a vote of no confidence in the bill and the current "fix > > > it" proposals out there.... > > > > > > I'm sure Obama, with the advice of his team, will do whatever he can, > > including any necessary additional stimuli or other means to mitigate > > and turn around the catastrophic disaster left behind by the Bush > > administration and its rubber stamp GOP controlled "culture of > > corruption" Congress. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rflex@> wrote: > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bettyblue109 <no_reply@> > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > "Stimulus Package" what a bill of goods the American people > > have been > > > > > sold.....it is not a "stimulus", it is plain old government > > spending, > > > > > they call it a stimulus though....excuse me, I have a degreee in > > > > > economics and have studied it for 30 years....what are they > > > > > "stimulating"?.......they missed the target by miles....but its > > > > > politicians "hard at work".......telling us what they want us to > > hear! > > > > > > > > > > > > That's a similar attitude to those whose 'expert' economic back > ground > > > > got us into this mess in the first place. The same kind of > > > > in-it-for-the-wealthy 'experts' who fought tooth and nail against > > > > FDR's New Deal spending. The same kind of thinking found with the > > > > obstructionist right wingers who ran the GOP economic titanic we > face > > > > today. > > > > > > > > [NOTE: Stock market crash was in 1929 under Republican President > > > > Herbert Hoover. FDR was inaugurated in 1933.] > > > > > > > > > > > > Here are some hard facts: > > > > > > > > The New Deal worked, worked well, and worked quickly. > > > > > > > > The economy had hit rock bottom in March 1933 and > > > > then started to expand. As historian Broadus Mitchell > > > > notes, "Most indexes worsened until the summer of > > > > 1932, which may be called the low point of the > > > > depression economically and psychologically."[18] > > > > > > > > Economic indicators show the economy reached nadir in > > > > the first days of March, then began a steady, sharp > > > > upward recovery. Thus the Federal Reserve Index of > > > > Industrial Production hit its lowest point of 52.8 in > > > > July 1930 (with 1935-39 = 100) and was practically > > > > unchanged at 54.3 in March 1933; however by July 1933, > > > > it reached 85.5, a dramatic rebound of 57% in four months. > > > > > > > > Recovery was steady and strong until 1937. Except for > > > > unemployment, the economy by 1937 surpassed the levels of > > > > the late 1920s. The Recession of 1937 was a temporary > > > > downturn. Private sector employment, especially in > > > > manufacturing, recovered to the level of the 1920s but > > > > failed to advance further until the war. > > > > > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal > > > > > > > > - U.S. Gross Domestic Product 1929-1941 - > > > > > > > > See chart: > > > > > > http://images2.dailykos.com/images/user/363/Depression_GDP_output_1.gif > > > > > > > > http://snipurl.com/cxnm2 > > > > > > > > > > > > Total employment in the United States from 1920 to 1940, excluding > > > > farms and WPA. Data was obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau > > > > Statistical Abstracts and converted into SVG format > > > > > > > > GRAPH: > > > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Employment_Graph_-_1920_to_1940.svg > > > > > > > > http://snipurl.com/cxnsn > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rflex@> > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > "The banking system often has been characterized as > > parasitic. The > > > > > > > metaphor is appropriate on more than one plane. Most people > > > think of > > > > > > > parasites simply as leeches, draining nourishment from the > > > host. But > > > > > > > biological nature is more complex. In order for parasites to > > > succeed > > > > > > > they must first numb the host's pain-warning system so that > > > they can > > > > > > > get a foothold. They then take control of the host's > brain. The > > > > trick > > > > > > > the host into believing that the parasite is part of its own > > > > body, and > > > > > > > indeed even its child, to be nurtured, protected and given > > > > preference. > > > > > > > They turn the host into a zombie. So the problem we are facing > > > > is not > > > > > > > "zombie banks," but the ability of Wall Street to create a > > zombie > > > > > > > economy." -- Michael Hudson. Read More: > > http://tinyurl.com/dync4n > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The stimulus package arrived with the price tag and on > roughly the > > > > > > schedule Obama had set for it. > > > > > > > > > > > > "The president's job approval percentage now ranges from the > > mid 60s > > > > > > (Gallup, Pew) to mid 70s (CNN) not bad for a guy who won the > > > > > > presidency with 52.9 percent of the vote. > > > > > > > > > > > > While 48 percent of Americans told CBS, Gallup and Pew that they > > > > > > approve of Congressional Democrats, only 31 (Gallup), 32 (CBS) > > > and 34 > > > > > > (Pew) percent could say the same of their G.O.P. counterparts." > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/opinion/15rich.html?_r=1 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Gallup - February 27, 2009 - Obama Approval Rating *Increases* > > > to 67% > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.gallup.com/poll/116224/Obama-Approval-Rating-Increases.aspx > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
