The strongest economy in the world

**sabang** · 20-10-2011, 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Americans blame government for the economy.

Perfectly fair- because it is government that was and is supposed to regulate the banking sector.

**Boon Mee** · 24-11-2011, 06:32 AM

For all those tax & spend liberal moonbats who still believe in Kenysian Economics.

A total failure

**misskit** · 24-11-2011, 07:12 AM

There was an article in Foreign Affairs Magazine this month regarding why the rich are getting richer. This is one paragraph from the article describing the economy of America now.

This is what the political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson call the "winner-take-all economy." It is not a picture of a healthy society. Such a level of economic inequality, not seen in the United States since the eve of the Great Depression, bespeaks a political economy in which the financial rewards are increasingly concentrated among a tiny elite and whose risks are borne by an increasingly exposed and unprotected middle class. Income inequality in the United States is higher than in any other advanced industrial democracy and by conventional measures comparable to that in countries such as Ghana, Nicaragua, and Turkmenistan. It breeds political polarization, mistrust, and resentment between the haves and the have-nots and tends to distort the workings of a democratic political system in which money increasingly confers political voice and power.

Why the Rich Are Getting Richer | Foreign Affairs

**Boon Mee** · 24-11-2011, 07:53 AM

Getting government spending under control - owing 15 trillion bucks is not the road to success. Another downgrade on this debt seems inevitable after the so-called 'Super Committee' failed - due of course to the intractable tax & spend Democrats.

**Boon Mee** · 24-11-2011, 12:48 PM

Why did the Super Committee fail?

Ongoing Democrat malfeasance that's why!

January 25 – In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposes freezing “annual domestic spending for the next five years.” This freeze would lock in elevated spending levels (24 percent non-defense discretionary, not including stimulus) and produce an estimated $3.8 trillion in deficits over the period in question. Subsequent analysis revealed that, because the White House shifted and hid new spending, non-defense discretionary spending would actually increase even further next year.

February 14 – President Obama proposes a budget with $8.7 trillion in new spending (CBO’s re-estimate actually finds $9.6 trillion in new spending).

February 15 – The House of Representatives begins debate on a bill that would cut spending by $61 billion. President Obama promptly issues a veto threat.

April 11 – Press Secretary Jay Carney: “We should move quickly to raise the debt limit and we support a clean piece of legislation to do that.”

April 13 – President Obama delivers a speech where he lays out a “framework” that he claims will lead to $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10–12 years. In reality, using OMB’s own numbers, deficits under the “framework” are $3.2 trillion higher than the president’s own fiscal commission.
April 15 – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passes its budget, which cuts $6 trillion in comparison to the President’s budget.

April 19 – S&P assigns a negative outlook to the U.S. credit rating, signaling at least a one-in-three likelihood that the agency will lower the nation’s long-term rating.

May 1 – Total federal spending since President Obama took office reaches approximately $8 trillion.

May 11 – Austan Goolsbee, chair of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, says it is “quite insane” to tie spending cuts to the debt limit increase.

May 17 – Chairman Conrad continues to delay the unveiling of his latest secret budget, announcing that “I’ll say something later — not today, probably… There are a lot of conversations under way.”

May 18 – Majority Leader Reid says it would be “foolish” for Senate Democrats to offer a budget.

May 19 – Chairman Conrad announces he will not reveal a budget to the public until after the Gang of Six produces a proposal.
May 25 – The Senate rejects President Obama’s budget by a vote of 0-97.

May 23 – Senator Schumer, when asked why there is no alternative to the House-passed budget, answers, “To put other budgets out there is not the point.”

May 26 – GOP Senators join Ranking Member Sessions in asking Reid not to break for the Memorial Day recess until Senate Democrats bring forward a budget so the Senate can fulfill its duty.
June 7 – Even some Senate Democrats become anxious about their party’s lack of a budget.

June 29 – Chairman Conrad tells Politico, “Senate Democrats have reached an agreement on a plan — just now — and we’ll be putting that out sometime soon.” (Note: the plan was never made public, but a leaked outline revealed that it contained as many as $2 in tax hikes for $1 in spending cuts.)

June 29 – Sessions renews call for the Senate to remain in town to deal with its budget and debt ceiling work.
July 1 – Sessions and Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch ask the president to reveal, in detail, what his deficit reduction plans actually are. No response is received, and the president’s February budget remains the only plan he has ever put on paper (thus the only plan that can be estimated by CBO) and shared with Congress or the American people.
July 8 – On the 800th day since Senate Democrats passed a budget, the unemployment rate rises to 9.2 percent (the third straight month above 9 percent).

July 19 – Amid continuing calls for the president to reveal what spending cuts he actually supports, Carney says that “leadership is not proposing a plan for the sake of having it voted up or down…”
July 22 – At a press conference discussing his position on negotiating a debt limit increase, President Obama declares, “The only bottom line that I have is that we have to extend this debt ceiling through the next election, into 2013.”

August 2 – Following passage of the debt limit increase package in the Senate, President Obama calls for America to “live within our means” immediately before advocating a further increase in government spending, framed, as usual, as “investments.”
August 3 – Government borrowing tops 100 percent of GDP as the U.S. accumulates $4 trillion in gross debt under President Obama, well above the 90-percent threshold identified by economists Rogoff and Reinhart as when debt harms economic growth and brings down job creation.

August 5 – S&P downgrades the U.S.’ credit rating from AAA, the first time the nation has had less than the top rating since receiving it in 1917.

September 8 – Shortly after the passage of the debt limit deal and the spending cuts that went with it, President Obama that stimulus spending depresses long-term economic growth.
September 18 – President Obama unveils a deficit reduction plan that he claims will reduce deficits by $3 trillion through a combination of tax increases, war savings, and other spending cuts. But a Budget Committee analysis reveals that, thanks to a number of budget gimmicks, the plan would reduce deficits by only $1.4 trillion and would rely entirely on tax increases.

October 14 – 900 days pass since Senate Democrats last offered a budget plan.

November 7 – The Congressional Budget Office reports that total federal spending increased in Fiscal Year 2011 by $145 billion over the previous year’s level.

November 9 – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claims that Democrats didn’t pass a budget when they controlled both chambers of Congress because “Republicans would have filibustered it,” but as she should know, budget resolutions can’t be filibustered.

November 11 – As the supercommittee continues its tense negotiations, President Obama departs for a nine-day trip to Bali, Indonesia, and Australia.

November 13 – Supercommittee member James Clyburn, the House Assistant Democratic Leader, says that a draft Democrat proposal has been outlined. A Budget Committee analysis estimates this outlined proposal to contain a dramatic tax increase-to-spending cut ratio of 4:1.

November 16 – On the 931st day since Senate Democrats offered a budget, the U.S. gross national debt tops $15 trillion.

November 18 – In search of common ground, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey puts forward a draft proposal with both spending cuts and tax revenue. Democrats summarily reject the offer.

November 21 – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg chides President Obama, saying that “It’s the Chief Executive’s job to bring people together & provide leadership. I don’t see that happening [with the] #SuperCommittee”

November 22 – President Obama places multiple calls, over the course of the month, to European leaders regarding their countries’ debt problems. Meanwhile, Jay Carney says it was “absolutely not” a problem for “him not to have been as involved” with the supercommittee negotiations.

Heh...good faith negotiations, eh? Throw out all these tax & spend Democrats!

Source

**OhOh** · 24-11-2011, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by sabang

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Americans blame government for the economy.

Perfectly fair- because it is government that was and is supposed to regulate the banking sector.

An excellent article on why the lack of government regulation and oversight is causing a lack of faith in the US marketplace.

CME: "No Customer Has Ever Lost A Penny....." in [Market-Ticker]

"It is not clear at this point point exactly what happened with MF Global. But this much is quite clear -- the rapid transfer of open positions to other firms along with the cash margin deposits held on behalf of customers to guarantee trades did not happen in a reasonably-expeditious (like "right now") basis when MF Global failed. Some customers were forced to come up with a second margin deposit and if they were unable to do so their positions were forcibly liquidated. Significant amounts of that margin money appear to have disappeared outright, despite the fact that it is the CME's job to guarantee performance through the enforcement of margin deposits. Indeed, they call these margin requirements performance bonds -- because they are."

**Boon Mee** · 03-12-2011, 06:12 AM

The Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.
January 3rd, 2007 , the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress:
The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77
The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%
The Unemployment rate was 4.6%
George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB CREATION!
Remember that day...
January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee.
The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy?
BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES!
THANK YOU DEMOCRATS (especially Barney ) for taking us from 13,000 DOW, 3.5 GDP and 4.6% Unemployment...to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOES!
(BTW: Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie -starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy). Barney blocked it and called it a "Chicken Little Philosophy" (and the sky did fall!)
And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? OBAMA
And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie?
OBAMA and the Democrat Congress, especially BARNEY !!!!
So when someone tries to blame Bush...
REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007.... THE DAY THE DEMOCRATS TOOK OVER!"
Bush may have been in the car but the Democrats were in charge of the gas pedal and steering wheel they were driving the economy into the ditch.
Budgets do not come from the White House.. They come from Congress and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party.
Furthermore, the Democrats controlled the budget process for 2008 & 2009 as well as 2010 & 2011.

Just a reminder, like, who got us in the current mess, eh?

**Hampsha** · 03-12-2011, 06:26 AM

So Boonme why do you approve of the 7 trillion dollar bank bailout that the OWS people are against? You and your Republicans are cheering it. Isn't that hypocrisy? Explain yourself on this. It just doesn't make sense for you to be so pro- bank bailout?

**Boon Mee** · 03-12-2011, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by Hampsha

So Boonme why do you approve of the 7 trillion dollar bank bailout that the OWS people are against? You and your Republicans are cheering it. Isn't that hypocrisy? Explain yourself on this. It just doesn't make sense for you to be so pro- bank bailout?

Don't put words in my mouth there Hamp - I've never been a 'bank bailout' guy. Free markets for me.

**Hampsha** · 03-12-2011, 06:31 AM

There's a lot of evidence in the other thread that you seem to be against those who are against these bailouts.

**Boon Mee** · 03-12-2011, 06:45 AM

Originally Posted by Hampsha

There's a lot of evidence in the other thread that you seem to be against those who are against these bailouts.

'Too Big To Fail' upon 20/20 hindsight is probably the wrong way to have addressed the crisis. The chips should have fallen where they may and we'd be out of this mess a lot faster.

In related news:

as bank customers are lashing out at large institutions in a way that hasn’t been seen since the early days of the financial crisis. Fed up with rising fees, a flood of foreclosures and strict lending requirements, they are pulling money out of big banks and depositing it in community banks and credit unions.

…From stall tactics to unexpected fees and awkward conversations, other customers of big banks are running into …snags when trying to move their money elsewhere.

…When Ray Parente decided to pull his money out of Wells Fargo & Co. last month, he was told that he would have to discuss the decision with a personal banker at his local branch in Orange City, Fla.

…customers who want to close their accounts are being encouraged to explain their decision and read a flier that outlines ways in which the bank has helped communities.

Rather than wait in a long line to see the banker, Mr. Parente went to a teller window and withdrew all his money—except for two cents.

**misskit** · 07-12-2011, 04:46 PM

Corporate America Is Sitting On The Solution To The Jobs Crisis: Report

WASHINGTON -- Corporate America is sitting right on top of the solution to the nation's employment crisis, according to a new report from a group of University of Massachusetts economists.

If America's largest banks and non-financial companies would just loosen their death-grip on a chunk of the $3.6 trillion in cash they're hoarding and move it into productive investments instead, the report estimates that about 19 million jobs would be created in the next three years, lowering the unemployment rate to under 5 percent.
Corporate America Is Sitting On The Solution To The Jobs Crisis: Report

This is an interesting report. The authors suggest taxing banks on their excess reserves to encourage freeing up money.

**Latindancer** · 07-12-2011, 09:03 PM

Thanks, Misskit. I've just quoted your last post in the "$7.7 Trillion Dollar Bailout: The Real Financial Collaps" thread

This is a pic of ONE trillion dollars in double-stacked pallets of hundred dollar bills. To get an idea of the scale, there is a person standing at the bottom left corner. Three point six would be staggering !

**Minnie Maugham** · 07-12-2011, 10:58 PM

Why should any US company invest its cash in anything (like expanding and thus hiring more folks) when obama's govt policies have killed the business climate? ie, the red tape and costs created by the EPA, healthcare & union thugs to name a few. It's not only banks that have billions in cash on their books.
Do you applaud Boeing for investing in a new plant in S Carolina, a right to work state? And the unions & the feds attack it for doing so?
Spread the wealth to the do-nothings and guess what, nobody will have any.

**Boon Mee** · 09-12-2011, 11:08 AM

The form of slavery known as socialism isn’t around the corner — it’s already here.

Watch this SHOCK video about our government's "cradle to the grave" entitlement society.

**Minnie Maugham** · 10-12-2011, 12:03 AM

Here's the Tea Party's budget in detail.

http://blogs.freedomworks.org/files/TeaPartyBudget.pdf

Oh, and I just heard that Kimberley-Clark is shutting down its plant near Seattle and firing 700 union workers. Guess the potential takeover company (Atlas) decided it wasn't going to overpay a bunch of union thugs. "Ya, my dad worked here 35 years, my brother 25, blablabla. Just not fair right before Christmas." Look to your union leaders for the answer.

**Boon Mee** · 10-12-2011, 11:38 AM

CBS Poll: 75% Say Country Headed In Wrong Direction, 66% Have No Idea What Obama Wants To Do If Reelected

CBS Poll: 75% Wrong Direction, 66% No Idea What Obama Wants To Do If Reelected - YouTube

And there are those of you who will vote for this POS again?

Pathetic...

**misskit** · 19-12-2011, 12:07 PM

Nearly Half of Americans Below Poverty Line or Low-Income

New figures show hunger, poverty and economic decline are increasing at record levels across the United States. The Census Bureau reports nearly half of Americans have either fallen below the poverty line or are classified under the category of "low income." The number of low-income residents is at 97.3 million, coupled with 49.1 million in poverty, for a total of 146.4 million. The figure marks an increase of four million over 2009. Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference of Mayors reports all but four of 29 major cities saw an increase in requests for emergency food assistance between September 2010 and August 2011.

Nearly Half of Americans Below Poverty Line or Low-Income

**OhOh** · 23-12-2011, 08:24 AM

Christmas Gifts for a Collapsing America

"Homelessness Starter Kit, $29.99.

For the myriad who were hustled by a bank into an impossible mortgage, then foreclosed upon. For the long-retired yet taxed right out of their own homes. For recent college grads who are jobless, of course, and too dispirited to return to their parents. Or for those who were simply laid off for no good reason and are now roofless, here’s a perfect gift for this holiday: Two pieces of cardboard, one to lie on, and one to create a begging and/or protest sign. As a bonus, we’ll include a list of suggested messages, completely free: WE ARE THE 99%, PREGNANT AND HUNGRY, I HAD A STROKE, I AM A WAR VETERAN, OCCUPY EVERYTHING DEMAND NOTHING, etc. For a Magic Marker, please add $1.99.

Military Contractor Gear, $499.95.

For that aspiring mercenary in your family, now he can get off his couch and terrorize terrorists, without leaving his parents’ home even. Armed with a knife, grenades, M9 pistol and the latest Kalashnikov, the world’s most reliable infantry rifle, not that toy gun, M-16 piece of crap, your hired soldier can foray into his backyard and blast nasty holes into his dog, cat and lawn furniture. Emboldened, he can venture into adjacent properties and kick down his neighbors’ doors in the middle of the night and splatter them if they resist, or even if they submit. There’s no need for your deranged warrior to be bummed out over the end of the Iraq War, since he can bring all of that exciting carnage home. Kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out later! Bored with nightly mayhem, your military contractor can even step on an improvised explosive device (at $79.95 extra, with only one needed, trust us) and feel the thrills of having his lower half, at least, shredded. Real life hired-guns don’t get Purple Heart, but we’ll ship you an authentic looking one, at $4.99 extra.

Big Sis Sex Doll, $65.99, with $9.99 for handcuffs and $29.99 for TSA uniform.

Tired of Janet Napolitano rummaging in your pants? Now you can get into hers. This is no generic, almost life-size dummy with the usual, traditional orifices in more or less the right places, or even that rarified, glasses-wearing and Emily Dickinson-quoting vinyl girlfriend. No, Siree! This is the Secretary of Homeland Security in face and person, her unique body shape extraordinarily rendered by a world-renown, Chinese artisan, a classmate and rival, no less, to the sculptor of that hulking and fug ugly MLK statue on the Washington Mall. Spiffy in your TSA outfit, you can intone on your very first date, “This is merely procedural, ma’am,” as you legally insert your creepy claws inside Janet’s business pants and fondle her pubis, buttocks and more, with no foreplay whatsoever. Why waste time? Like any sane person, she will squirm, grimace or even curse in a realistic, battery operated shriek, AA cells not included, but should Janet resist your patriotic, post 9-11 molestation, you can harden your voice and growl, “I’ll send you to Guantanamo, bitch!” before you handcuff her and get really funky. Fun over, you can waterboard Janet’s face and gently wash her body with warm water and soap. Deflated, she is compact enough to store in a back pocket until the next airport patdown and/or enhanced interrogation technique session.

Home Slot Machine, $199.99.

With offshoring, American factories are crumbling. Once the makers of high-quality merchandises, Americans now merely service or hustle each other, whether in investment banking, at street corner shell games or in casinos. Forty-one states now boast glittery gambling emporia, with these springing up even in an old church or a disused steel plant. It’s not farfetched to imagine a day when there are poker, blackjack, roulette and mahjong tables near each home. They’ll have to be within walking distance, of course, since Americans will be too broke to afford car or gasoline. Hell, it is probable that there will be a slot machine installed outside each dwelling, even of tarp or cardboard, where the mailbox used to be. The government won’t deliver your letters, since the postal service has long gone out of business, but it will stop by regularly to collect coins from your personal gambling contraption. Why not leap into the future, my friend, by having a slot machine right now in your living room? If you still have a living room, that is. Day or night, you can compulsively stuff your dwindling income into this cartoon-decorated steel box, then crank its handle without consequence. As in a real casino, your money will be magically transferred to unseen persons elsewhere. This mindless toy is tough enough to endure repeated kicks, bangs or even an atomic bomb, without showing any of your disappeared moolah. With each $200 spent, however, it will spit out a 25-cent coupon, to be spent at the supermarket of your choice."

Although aimed at the US reader this type of comment applies to many other countries.

**importford** · 23-12-2011, 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

CBS Poll: 75% Say Country Headed In Wrong Direction, 66% Have No Idea What Obama Wants To Do If Reelected

CBS Poll: 75% Wrong Direction, 66% No Idea What Obama Wants To Do If Reelected - YouTube

And there are those of you who will vote for this POS again?

Pathetic...

thank God there were no Presidents with better results in the past....

**importford** · 23-12-2011, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

Getting government spending under control - owing 15 trillion bucks is not the road to success. Another downgrade on this debt seems inevitable after the so-called 'Super Committee' failed - due of course to the intractable tax & spend Democrats.

luckily there were no spending Republicans in the past.
or the Bush Tax cut perhaps....

**Boon Mee** · 31-12-2011, 06:55 AM

Obamanomics: Only 55% of Americans Between Ages of 16 And 29 Have Jobs

As the train wreck rolls on...

In 2008, the youth vote helped sweep Barack Obama into office. Americans 18-29 spread the word on social media, energized fundraising and went to the polls. In 2012, the youth vote is moving on and throwing those omnipresent “Hope” bumper stickers and t-shirts in garbage bins.
Not because of apathy. Not because another candidate generates more enthusiasm. Not because of his character. Not because they think voting is pointless. The 18-29 vote is up for grabs in 2012 because youth can’t afford cars to put bumper stickers on and those t-shirts are worn out from too many days sitting on the couch unemployed.
The sobering reality: just 55.3 percent of Americans between 16 and 29 have jobs. And earlier this year, Americans’ student loan debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time ever.
Rather than develop a lasting initiative to help young unemployed Americans, the President launched “Greater Together” — a campaign tool that offers community forums rather than jobs. Rather than provide a bailout to those crushed by the burden of educational loans, his student debt relief program was pathetic — only reducing interest rates by a measly 0.5 percent.

But, but, it's really all Bush's fault in 3..2..1!

Have the youth given up on Obama? – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

**importford** · 01-01-2012, 12:38 PM

Only 55% of Americans Between Ages of 16 And 29 Have Jobs

Obama took office in january 2009

Could you provide some numbers before 2009????
otherwise yes, 123 Bush did it with his crazy wars,
pure waste of money,....
mission accomplished?????
his crazy tax cuts , his spreading the wealth TO 10% OF THE POPULATION,....

so yes indeed,
1,2,3 Bush did it

**HansuMan** · 01-01-2012, 04:42 PM

Here's a reality check

Communist Goals (1963)

also see,

Will Global Financial Demolition Lead To New World Order?

rabbit hole runs deep folks,

**barbaro** · 03-01-2012, 01:07 AM

Presidents don't have an effect on the national unemployment rate.

It's very complicated.

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