Thursday, January 29, 2009

After billions of dollars in concessions to the GOP... a party line vote.

It still passed, yet not a single Republican voted for it.

Redonkulous.

Can we tell them to fuck off now? I hope Obama gets a shot at strengthening the package back to full strength before it gets signed into law, cause I don't buy that this watered-down bill would do jack.

OKAY.... I'm calming down...

Here is a great link to sooth my worry: "Obama Versus the Republicans: Chill Out, He's Got This" by Bob Cesca.









6 comments:

Anonymous said...

as of yet, i haven't seen a single thing in the bill that would actually help the economy. this is a democrat omnibus bill for all their pet projects that they've been itching to get through for the past few years. could it be the republicans are right? stay away from the huffington post. i suggest getting a subscription to the economist or businessweek, you'll find much less bias and partisan bickering and more "follow the money". there's truth in money.
i'm not a republican nor have i ever voted for one.

Jay said...

Thanks for your comment anonymous.

I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the package, though I can understand it. I think it is the foundation of a solid bill with little pork and good intentions. Though some of the "pet projects" as noted by GOP leadership seem to be frivolous at face, they do have a purpose, thought I agree with a progressive/liberal/whatever bend on them. As this was principally written by Reps. Pelosi and Obey, I'd expect it to morph and strengthen.

My beef with the GOP is their part line vote. I watched the entire debate streaming off C-SPAN yesterday leading up to the vote, and I was alarmed at the vapid rhetoric. It was clear that this was political theater, which is the last thing we need.

I agree with you the Huffington has a distinct bias. I suggest everyone ready a mix of conservative and liberal media (included the magazines you note) to get a balanced opinion. No single news source will cut it.

Thanks so much for your comment!
Jay

Anonymous said...

while it may be a solid bill, i don't think it addresses the core issues right now which is getting the banks to loan money and fixing the mortgage crisis. i'm in no way defending the republicans. part of the problem is that the country is essentially bankrupt, and that's not just because of bush, we've never had a surplus. the gov. presents one set of enron'd numbers to the public but also maintains the real picture in a separate accounting. the notion that clinton handed bush a surplus is fantasy. typically, china and japan are happy to lend us cash but they can't or won't anymore. this means that to spend a trillion or two we can't borrow it so we have to print it. thank you fdr for taking us off the gold standard to allow us to do that. bad imho. when the gov. prints money like that it causes inflation and devalues the dollar. bad for us but allows foreigners to buy up the country. by next year we'll be paying $8 for a gallon of milk and will wonder why. that's why our parents are always saying money went further back in their day. i guess what i'm saying is that it seems like we really only have one shot at this and that package has to be laser focused on getting the banks lending again, cleaning up toxic loans and stopping the foreclosure orgy. i don't see that focus in the bill. what it looks like to me is a massive transfer of power from the private sector/us to the gov.. that can't bode well.
c-span rules.

Jay said...

Hi again,

I think they have a way to go on the bill. They do seem to be aware of the toxic loans, and have been discussing the concept of the "Bad Bank" to reclaim the bad debt, with the intent of selling it off later for a break-even or better result (like in the 80s). This concept seems to have advocates and naysayers. I don't think any help for the banks should be given until we have a leash on them.

Your comment on older generations saving money is a good one, as it brings to light one of the main issues we have now... the amount of money adjusted for inflation to purchase the same goods is way different now. We love it when the value of our homes shoot up (when they did) but that went along with everything else. We are now at the point where college is out of reach for many Americans, and retirement seems like a pipe dream.

On the gold standard issue, well, I dunno. I think it was Nixon who did the dirty work on that one, not FDR. I believe he was trying to pay off the Vietnam war by doing that. Anyway it's not too different from George Bush's "guns and butter" theory where tax cuts could come during war time. Those parents of ours sacrificed during the war, giving money, materials and labor to the cause.

We were told to shop.

I find it ridiculous that the GOP comes to us now claiming expertise over the economy. I hired Obama to do what he thinks is right, not give me a tax cut. I don't need that. I need a real economy!

Thanks again for your comment. Please comment further when you agree or disagree, It makes this a better blog.

very best,
Jay

Anonymous said...

1933 fdr took us off the gold standard,1971 nixon made it permanent.
the american consumer drove the whole world's economy over the last 20 years or so, all done on credit, of course, but it did work until now. profit is where a real recovery would happen. the gov should start by cutting the payroll and corporate taxes immediately and drastically, it's the fastest way to get money in the hands of the people that need it.
i think japan and ireland are very instructive here. japan: gov. micro-manages economy = 10yrs of depression. celtic tiger: gov. cuts spending 7% of gdp, cuts payroll and corp. taxes = unprecedented wealth and growth.
the way i look at it, the gov caused the crisis we're in, no matter how you look at it you can always trace one issue or another back to a gov. action. now i'm supposed to believe that that same gov. is going to solve the problem by spending a trillion or more of our dollars that it doesn't even have. i just can't see that happening, in fact, i have a really ominous feeling that i'm not enjoying. i want obama to be successful but it's congress that's really going to make or break us and both parties are going to make a mess of this in their own special way.

Jay said...

Well put. Only problem with deductions in those taxes are reserves we may need. Perhaps we take back the $ from the banks!