Will the antics never cease?

I don't believe any of the crap I hear from the Government, my employer, nobody. "Just trust us" is all of the BS I keep hearing. I heard that for Iraq, I've heard that for this financial mess created by the greedy bastards that are charging 21% interest rates. On and on. I haven't seen any justification or evidence to lead to me to believe the right thing is getting done for the economy. We still seem to tie our financial well-being to our real freedoms and I think that's a mistake.

It isn't that I don't want to trust people. I actually still do trust people, real people that is. Companies and governments hide behind contracts, emails, call centers and especially fine print. I'm watching one of my friends try to keep his house. He's a brilliant woodworker, probably one of the best anywhere. Yet the bank is trying to foreclose on his home, eventhough it burned down, he was divorced and his carpentry contracting has gone to exactly zero. All in one year.

I could go on about my own experiences however I am a little leery of discussing them in a blog. I am still livng them and frankly, my employer is fairly punitive, they wouldn't hesitate to fire me in a NY Minute.

So let's leave it at this: maybe before everyone starts saying how bad everyone else sucks we try to walk a mile or two in their shoes. It'll change your perspective.

I know this is an old line but it is one that most of the CEO's of our country seem to have found elusive: Do unto others as you would have them to unto you....

Marc

Obama's Afganistan Policy Is Wrong

The generals asked for 30,000 more troops to fight in Afghanistan, and Obama gave them 17,000. That was a mistake. Afghanistan is a quagmire, another Vietnam/. What is the exit strategy? What form would victory take? Meanwhile we bomb and kill innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan, further enraging the people against up and risking further destabilizing nuclear armed Pakistan. Obama is merely continuing down the same road as George Bush.

When will the progressive left begin to denounce Obama's war mongering?

The answer in Afghanistan and Pakistan requires a multi-national diplomatic and economic approach. As was the case with Vietnam and Iraq, there is no military solution.

Jim

The Stimulus Plan and Bailouts are jokes

Let me warn you, this is a bit of a rant. It seems as though our politicians are fixated on quick fixes. Hell, if a Nigerian Prince sent them an email saying he had $100 billion he needed to get out of the country and all our congress needed to do was send $2 million bucks, I think we'd be seeing half these idiots on the front steps of House prattling on about why they sent money to Nigeria....

The only way to get out of our current mess is to admit some mistakes and attempt to get everyone in our country working. Oh yes, and maybe we should put a few more dollars into education....

Let me ask you dear internet folks, what shred of evidence have you seen that will lead anyone to believe that pouring money into AIG or Citigroup will yield a single new job for American workers?

I happen to agree with Dave Ramsey. At the beginning of this mess, Dave Ramsey said we shouldn't give out a dime in bailout anything. We can't track it and Citigroup can't seem to track it either (except when their executives check their paystubs). Citigroup sure will punish you (but good) if you miss a credit card payment though. They seem to know where every dime is for every loan they've ever made. We are throwing money away dear taxpayers.

There is no oversight. There is no goal and more importantly, I don't know where all of this cash is going. Yet it is going to people who are supposed to know exactly where it is going (bankers).

This whole thing is a scam and I pissed the whole Obama administration is buying into this utter bullshit. It's all a quick fix that isn't fooling the other 19 countries in the G20. And it shouldn't fool you either my fellow Americans. We shouldn't be borrowing money from our kids, we shouldn't be trusting these Wallstreet motherfuckers any farther than we can throw them and we shouldn't be spending money on savings banks or fucking with Afghanistan.

Banks and brokerages were never supposed to co-pollinate. Banks are supposed to be safe places where people put their money and it gets loaned out to do real things like build homes and schools. It was never supposed to be a fucking casino!

By the way everyone, the market to market legislation seems to be flying through Congress. You do know that this is every bit a clusterfuck like the Gramm-Lilley act, right? Market to Market is great for businesses that do financial speculation and is incredibly bad for people that have to value assets those businesses purchase. Just an FYI....

Obama, is this what we have to look forward to for the next four years? This isn't why we elected you.

The bottom line of this rant - No quick fixes folks. Everyone needs to have a job. And the Nigerian guys that send out all of those spam rip off letters also happen to work near or around Wall Street!

Marc

Hint - maybe it's time we stop buying imported shit from China and Singapore built by slave labor? Maybe our government should put some trade sanctions in place? Maybe our government should start to tax the shit out of companies that build all of their shit in slave labor countries? Maybe the government should take scumbags like AIG and just plain grab them by the balls and put them out of business (or let them go out of business). Enough already.