Fancy Assed Ways to Say "Fuck It"

Tale of two Republicans: For Sanford, it's worry, worry worry about how his state (all states) can sustain the mandates contained in the stimulus bill. The " federal strings attached." Pawlenty's state has already implemented those provisions. Hmmm Keep in mind, neither of these characters will rule out the possibility of running for President.

Pawlenty's figured out a rationalle whereby he can take the money, but as a sort of protest. He doesn't say so directly, but he thinks the feds owe his state this money. For Sanford there seems to be something intrinsically evil about (democratic) spending.

"Creative Destruction." I Wikied/Googled this term the first time I heard it and haven't come across anything linking it to Adam Smith, but it's out there again. Let everything go bankrupt, including the automakers. "bust the unions" "sell off the pension funds" Not said in those words, but the point was made by Pawlenty. Somehow this doesn't apply to banks and brokerages and corporate execs, who sit in the shade thinking of ways to make money with money; it only applies to manufactures and other blue collar industries. Somehow, magically a phoenix will rise from the ashes.

Granholm gets cut off when she starts making the point of this country heading in the direction of "Manufacturing nothing."

Governors like Granholm are going to get crucified by conservatards as being nothing more than money grabbers, no matter what they say about envisioning Obama's stimulus bill as a bridge to try to get us to a more active economy. In the meantime, people are hurting in numbers we haven't seen in decades. Sanford makes a lot of noise in opposition, Pawlenty makes excuses, for taking money to help them. Anyone wonder why I call these people and their party Refuckyoucans? ??? They don't care; they just express their disdain differently.

(WOW.... Juan Williams steps out of his "Man Servant" attire (a black Alan Colmes?) and calls a spade a spade regarding the NY Post's Obama/chimp cartoon, while Brit the Shar pei Hume and Billy Blood Lust Kristol excuses it. Face it, the stimulus is Obama's bill, no matter who actually typed it up, just like the devastating tax cuts of the last 30 years are Reagan's and Bush's. The NY Post is calling Obama a rogue chimp, on the attck, who needs to be shot. (see my comment over at Firestarter's))

(Another WOW: Ahnuld on Snuffallupolous: Give the people what they want, such as health care, even if it goes against your personal principles. Is he really a republican? I know he's not stupid.)

The nation is where it is, the economy is where it is, as a result of Refuckyoucan, conservative, Greenspanian, voodoo, policies. Bullshitiousness and douchebaggery: Industries can regulate themselves. Greenspan was SHOCKED to learn that the banks could not. Theoretically.... yes. It IS in the best interests, theoretically, to produce a good product, to give good service, to satisfy customers. Unless you're a shareholder; they're customers of a different color. Good service to them means getting a big dividend.

In order to satisfy buying customers, industry must invest and spend. To satisfy shareholder customers, industry must cut corners and save. Hence ship jobs to China, Vietnam and Indonesia where labor is dirt cheap or the Marianas Islands and import Chinese as slaves. And give tax breaks for the "cost of investment" in doing so. To sell this shit as a benefit to consumers, harp on the notion that higher, meaning any, business taxes will increase prices, while ignoring the FACT that NO ONE lowers their prices when production costs decrease.

What has happened in the past eight years, and actually it began with Reagan, is that investors have become the customer in terms of government financial policies, not the buying public. The end result of these tax and business policies were that the last pool of capital left in this country was the equity people had in their homes. If there was no equity, it was created artificially by cheapening money and deregulating credit and loosening qualifications for mortgages to get people to refinance their homes. In the meantime, these same policies allowed people who were totally unqualified to apply for and get loans to buy homes. While it was the equity they were after, they also got toxic loans. Two separate issues.

The equity as was intended, got spent. It DID create jobs... in the service and retail sectors. Manufacturing continued to move and stay overseas. But the effects of spending home equity are temporary, and the effects have run out. So what we have now are people with refinanced houses, no equity in them and no way to pay for them because they have no jobs. NEW toxic assets added to the other ones: the toxic loans.

Enter the smoke and mirrors of mortgage (bad loan) backed securities, derivatives, credit default swaps, and other fraudulent cover ups (Ponzi schemes) cooked up by the ban-sure-vest ment industry. That anyone, anywhere would be surprised that the economy is where it is is ludicrous. I understand being desperate, but what the fuck do people expect to happen when millions run out of money?

Interest Only Loans. I couldn't believe such nonsensical entities existed. And I couldn't believe people would be so unscrupulous as to sell them. What if the price of the house goes down? DUHH!!! I know the only way I could be convinced to accept such a thing would be that I was lied to or defrauded in some other way. Or just be desparate to have shelter: Sign the loan or live in a crate? I'd sign the loan. Knowing I'm leaving someone else holding the bag.

When you boil down all the financial finnegglings of these past months, their true intent is to protect these bag holders. And it's all been insured at every step of the way with money that never existed. NOTHING is being done to protect the buyer. "Let the buyer beware." EVERYTHING being done is to protect the investor. "Let the buyer be... bailed out?"

Oooooo.... Nouriel Roubini and Paul Krugman face off against George Dubya F Will. School house time.

George is doing his best to not be ridiculed by people who know what the fuck they're talking about. Almost funny as I watch him squirm and seethe as he swallows his conservatard cliches. Shit... I kept watching and waiting for Will to show what an ass he can be and I missed the sensible shit from Roubini and Krugman.

Bobby the Exorcist Jindal. You want to live in a "Republican Paradise?" Move to Louisiana. This fucker's crazy. "I just have a fundamental difference with this package." I can't take money to help people if it differs from my personal political philosophy: Cut (capital gains) taxes.