Thursday, September 25, 2008

Soon To Be Infamous Statements

Remember these:

"I have great, great confidence in our capital markets and in our financial institutions. Our financial institutions, banks and investment banks, are strong. Our capital markets are resilient. They're efficient. They're flexible." -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, March 16, 2008

"Our policy in this administration -- laws shouldn't bail out lenders, laws shouldn't help speculators." -- President Bush, May 19, 2008

"Our economy has continued growing, consumers are spending, business are investing, exports continue increasing and American productivity remains strong. We can have confidence in the long-term foundation of our economy...I think the system basically is sound. I truly do." -- President Bush, July 15, 2008


Got any others?

Republi-Con Reality

9/11, Iraq, secret prisons and torture, Katrina, North Korea, Iran, budget deficits, etc., no matter, it is always someone else's fault. Is it just me, or are Republi-Cons (members of a group formerly known as the GOP) delusional?

My favorite quote is by Ayn Rand:

"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality."


Reality is catching up with the Republi-Cons.

The Great Palin Has Spoken

In just her third interview in three weeks (hope she's not breaking a sweet), Palin, who I predict will dubbed the Accidental President if something should happen to her 72-year old running mate, said this about the bailout rescue bill:

"Not necessarily this, as it’s been proposed, has to pass or we’re gonna find ourselves in another Great Depression. But there has to be action taken, bipartisan effort — Congress not pointing fingers at this point at ... one another, but finding the solution to this, taking action and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.”

Did this women graduate with a degree in communications-journalism? Has anyone actually seen the diploma?

Did I say that her running mate is 72-years old?

All hail the Great Palin!

Would Be Funny If It Wasn't So True

More bailout humor:
  • Editorial cartoons:
  • Ed Stein, The Bailout, Simplified,
  • Ann Telnaes, Robbing Us Blind,
  • Pat Oliphant and Bruce Plante on Bush and Cheney's mission accomplished.
  • Lat night humor:
  • Stephen Colbert on the bailout: "This is one of the most important, irrevocable economic decisions we will ever make. Let's make it in a state of panic."
  • Jon Stewart asked John Oliver: "Is this economic icing, then, sort of the turd icing on this administration's [expletive]-cake, if you will?"
  • Jay Leno: "Oh, more bad news from President Bush. Remember those rebate checks from a few months ago? He wants them back. Yeah! We need to give that money to rich people on Wall Street. They need it more than you do!"
  • Jimmy Kimmel: "President Bush made a farewell speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly. You know, the President is not an eloquent speaker, but I thought he spoke quite powerfully today, especially at the end of his speech when he looked out at all the delegates representing all the nations of the world and . . . said, 'Can we borrow some money?'"

The Joke's on Us

An email (with a few changes) from a friend:

What was the reason given for developing the Department of Energy during the Carter administration? We have spent multi-billions of dollars in support of this agency and I am willing to bet not one person who reads this will remember the reason given. It was very simple:

"Promoting America’s energy security through reliable, clean, and affordable energy."


Don't believe it.... read their mission statement.

Now, haven't they just done a bang up job of fulfilling their mandate??

In 2008 the DOE budget was $24.2 billion. Money well spent, NOT!

Note: For years, I've advocated GRAC, the Government Reform and Realignment Committee, to reform government.

Con Job by the Republi-Cons

Have you received an email claiming that Democrats created the financial crisis and referencing an article at Bloomberg? This is just Republi-Con (new name for the group formerly known as the GOP) propaganda in an attempt to rewrite history.

First, the author of this article is Kevin Hassett, an adviser to McCain's camapign. Hassett, you might remember, wrote a book published in November 2000 titled Dow 36,000, in which Hassett and James Glassman argue that "that stocks have been undervalued for decades and that, for the next few years, investors can expect a dramatic one-time upward adjustment in stock prices. Why? While Wall Street has focused on valuation measures such as P/E ratios, it has virtually ignored how stocks can work as cash engines."

Undoubtedly he was asked to write this piece by Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager. Davis was paid $180,000 by Freddie Mac, even though Davis did not do much substantive work for the company in return for the money. Guess Davis is trying to earn his pay now.

The S.190 bill was sent to committee in 2005, by, yes, that is right, the Republi-Cons. McCain didn't even join the until 10 months after it was sent to committee. And it was never considered an important bill, only four senators joined in the bill.

Finally, not two months ago McCain said he was for less government regulation.

I once admired John McCain. But he has bought into the main stream Republican hypocrisy, and as typical for Republicans, can't accept responsibility.

UPDATE: Davis was also paid $30,000 a month from 2000 to 2005 by the so-called Homeownership Alliance, an advocacy organization that he headed and that was financed by Freddie and Fannie to fight regulation.

The Bailout is a Bad Idea, Part III

Another idea worth considering:

But something needs to be done:

McCain is a Whiner

McCain suspends his campaign?!! Why all the whining about the economy, isn't it all just 'mental.' Let's ask Phil Gramm, McCain's former economic adviser.

It's a ploy because McCain is slipping in the polls.

I also suspect that McCain is attempting to cancel or postpone the VP candidate debate because Palin isn't ready. First McCain claims that he must return to Washington and suspends his campaign. Next he wants to postpone Friday's Presidential candidate debate. Finally, he will suggest rescheduling Friday's debate to next Thursday, when the vice presidential nominees are scheduled to face off.

Mission accomplished, Palin stays in an undisclosed location.

UPDATE: Told ya so, McCain wants to cancel the VP debate.

It's Déjà vu All Over Again

Does this economic crisis remind anyone else of the rush to war with Iraq? See