2/5 Really Obama? Really? "This recession might linger for years. Our
economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach
double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some
point, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO REVERSE," Obama wrote in the newspaper
piece titled, "The Action Americans Need."
\_ Nice selective quoting there. That's what he is saying we need to
prevent, not what is going to happen. Here's the two sentances
RIGHT BEFORE THAT. "Because each day we wait to begin the work of
turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their
savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession
might linger for years."
\_ I wasn't selectively quoting. He's claiming if we don't pass
this bill, the USA will end. What a moron.
\_ If nothing is done, will the things that he suggests come to
pass? Possibly. His stimulus package may not be a silver
bullet, but it will be doing something.
\_ Ready, Fire, Aim!
\_ Sure, fair point: doing something dumb is as bad/worse
than doing nothing. Still doesn't invalidate what he
said.
\_ It's pretty funny to hear Republicans talking about
cautious policy (c.f. Iraq) and fiscal responsibility
(c.f. pretty much everything).
\_ Iraq wasn't exactly "incautious" -- but yes, the R's
have certainly not been the party of small gov't
lately.
\_ You think that Iraq was carefully thought out?
\_ No, if the government sits on its collective hands, we
won't go into an IRREVERSIBLE tailspin. "His" stimulus
package is a crap sandwich of every earmark from the House
and Senate, only 3% goes to "shovel-ready" projects, and
less than 1/4 will be spent in 2009.
\_ It would help your case if you hadn't taken his
words out of context to start with. As it is your
credibility is, shall we say, low? Hell you
couldn't even be bothered to make it clear you had
cut off the first half of the sentance you were
quoting.
\_ "We may not be able to reverse" includes the possibility
of reversing it.
\_ No, that is not the plain meaning of the words he used.
You are too stupid to bother with explaining the
obvious meaning too, though.
obvious meaning though.
\_ There are plenty of non insane respected economists, not waaay to
the left or waaay to the right who really believe that if some
massive stimulus action is not taken soon we are really seriously
in for a long deep depression. You could argue that is just how
free markets work and that a depression will simply finally cut out
all the fat, make us more competitive, and really prove that FDR's
massive expansion of gov spending and LBJ's great society brought
us to this point, but my point is, many believe the danger is real.
The Fed is and was REALLY scared. What is your plan to avoid
economic ruin, or is your position that we shouldn't do shit?
\_ How many of them predicted our current situation? When we're
talking about make-work projects and protectionism, I get all
itchy worrying that we're headed right back to the beginning of
20th century.
\_ Yeah, that would be terrible. Let's tear down the Golden
Gate and Bay Bridges while we're at it. -tom
\_ Their "stimulus" is only possible via huge borrowing, which is on
top of the already huge borrowing that we've been doing for
many years. That itself could lead to economic ruin and in
any case is a long term burden.
The fed should have been scared a long time ago.
Is the answer to just keep doing what we've been doing, only more
so?
\_ "what we've been doing" is throwing billions down a rathole
in Iraq while cutting taxes on the wealthy. I'm all for
stopping both of those things. -tom
\_ When the market is willing to loan the government money at
near-zero interest, NOT running a deficit would be
irresponsible.
\_ ok. what are the alternatives? tax cuts? Bush has done plenty of
that. I don't know how you are going to convince me tax cut is
going to work this time. *IF* you are a true free-market type,
you would totally let GM, Ford, Bear Stern, Bandk of America,
Citibank to die.
or you are the type who supports "socialize the cost," asking
the tax payers to buy those "bad asset" so banks can be free of
their responsbility of making bad investments? |