I know most of you do not agree with gov't. influence over the private sector but to me these guys damned near sent our economy over the biggest precipice we have ever fallen off of and as it is we are still on the ledge looking up and just hoping to climb back to where we once were as an economic giant in the world. Obama is quoted today as saying these words below and I swear I said these very same words about a year ago on Skybox: "When you see more and more of the financial sector basically churning transactions and engaging in reckless speculation and obscuring underlying risks in a way that makes a few people obscene amounts of money but doesn't add value to the economy — and in fact puts the entire economy at enormous risk — then something's got to change," Obama said in an interview released Thursday by Time magazine.
I won't take up for Wall Street, but my fear is the slippery slope that starts with taking out our anger at the economy by demonizing bonuses on Wall Street, maybe regulating them, maybe taxing them at a very high rate, etc. How long will it be before all bonuses get taxed at some ridiculously high rate, and then how long before salaries are regulated starting with executives but also reaching further and further down the ladder till pretty much everybody is getting regulated. While we are outraged at the ridiculous salaries and bonuses that Wall Street and Bankers are getting or might get, why are we not outraged at the ridiculous salaries that actors and people in the entertainment industry are getting. Why are we not tying performance to salary in baseball, football, basketball. Those guys sign multiyear deals and frequently underperform there after and don't "earn" their salary. It could go on and on.
Terry....let me stop you right there. What that group does has no bearing on whether or not my house will sell....if it does sell will it be anywhere near a reasonable value for what I paid for it.......and even if I find a buyer will they be able to get a loan from a lender? What those guys do had nothing to do with my former company's bank saying to the ownership they had to cut jobs and salaries or else no lending to the company. What happens on Wall Street has a direct affect on Main Street.
Don't mess with me, I'm writing Obama a letter to have him tax the crapola out of Hollywood!! It's an untapped tax source and that will help me, by raising their taxes a ton maybe my taxes won't have to be raised!! George Clooney no more 10,000$ suits, and expensive cars and houses...work for a living dude!! Try dating average women for once!
Dave, it has no bearing on YOUR house in YOUR former economy, but it does have bearing on other people. You are either thinking of this through your eyes only (which is fine) under the guise of 'betterment of mankind' or.... you can't possibly see the end game and finality of where such actions will eventually take us all. I don't believe that as you are way too smart for that.
Corey....allow me to generalize for a moment. I believe if a single industry....the financial industry if you will.....can have a devastating negative impact on the American economy as whole by either misconduct or mismanagement then all means necessary should be enforced to prevent that from happening. All means necessary. If that hurts a few mega-millioniares....probably cronies of Madoff..... playing the bank lottery with complete disregard for the consequences of their actions........ then screw em....we'll find somebody else to do their jobs. The financial laws in this country have worked for 240 years and some of them are downright anti-GOP in their thinking....such as the Federal Anti-Trust Act. There's a law for you that intrudes into the private sector but would you personally be happier if we didn't have it? Would you feel more secure as an American citizen if Standard Oil was THE ONLY oil and gas company and American Airlines was the only airline?
When George Bush took office in 2001 the national debt stood at $5.6 trillion. Eight years later he handed the bataan to Obama and the debt at that point was $10.4 trillion. That is after prosecuting two wars for seven years and generally spending like a drunken democratic sailor on shore leave. After one year in office and counting the after hours raising of the debt ceiling yesterday, the national debt is currently calculated at $14.1 trillion. Now I'm no fan of Wall St. and banking abuses either but do you not see the absolute hypocrisy in Obama's lecturing when he has probably served us with a debt load from which we will never recover? And he is not done yet, not by a long shot. We are so close to national collapse it is humorous to be even discussing government health care.
Dave, there are maybe a dozen or so industries that fit your description and there is one thing that has consistently retarded all of their developments at one point in time or another.. Federal government interference.
Why the difference between bankers and actors? Well bankers are traditionally Republicans. We've seen the administration letting go auto execs (Republicans?) but making sure that auto unions do as well as possible. We've seen a war on oil companies as the administration shoves electric and hybred cars down out throat why? (oil Republican) Insurance companies... (Republican) What motivates these Chicago style politicos..... brute force politics. And they can convince the feeble minded that they are fighting their fight at the same time. But as we saw in Mass. the average American might not be buying it.
Gipper....in what specific way has anyone in the auto industry been protected other than protected from liquidation? George....Obama was handed those two ongoing monetary sinkholes....the two wars.....and he was also handed the Great Recession.....and he would be more blamed if he did nothing to try and pull this country out of that. You know how I feel about Iraq.....and what an expense that has been but it doesn't explain everything. I didn't realize George spent the money he did though.....or took so little in. The Dow was at 6700 in Jan. '09 and now is over 10,000.....( if it stays there who knows?).
How about this for starters? http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/28/autos/clunkers_analysis/index.htm This is a perfect example of how the administration is pissing away money. It kept union members from getting laid off but at what cost?
In the article there was this: "Still, auto sales contributed heavily to the economy's expansion in the third quarter, adding 1.7 percentage points to the nation's gross domestic product growth. " .....and this.... "It is unfortunate that Edmunds.com has had nothing but negative things to say about a wildly successful program that sold nearly 250,000 cars in its first four days alone," said Bill Adams, spokesman for the Department of Transportation. "There can be no doubt that CARS drummed up more business for car dealers at a time when they needed help the most." Doing something was better than nothing and watching the car industry go down the tubes completely.....unless you think we just didn't need to save the industry and we should shelve all of that manufacturing capability and go all in with the Asians and Germans. One thing about the Asians....if they didn't have the US domestic industry as a competitor you would see less and less commitment from them to contribute to our economic base by buying US made parts and operating US based factories. If we HAD to buy cars from them because of no other alternative we would be screwed. And if the Big Three liquidated.....you had better make plans to retire in Birmingham, Mi. because you would never sell your house up there. As it is now you will never again see the value in your home that you would have seen 3-4 years ago.
Dave, if you didn't learn anything else this week you should have learned that the average American with a stake in the game recognizes runaway spending when he sees it. Four weeks ago no one had ever heard of Scott Brown and nobody in Vegas would have given odds on his chances of success. Bush abandoned conservative prinicples of fiscal responsibility and made it possible for this clown to be our current president. Obama has abandoned the US Constitution and what you saw in Mass this week is just the tip of the iceberg. I am more convinced than ever that Obama will be known as the "Father of American Conservatism". Not by intention of course.
What crap. If you want to really "save" the auto industry you have to put Americans back to work. Now in office over a year and the administration has had nothing but terrible unemployment numbers. They demanded a quick vote for a "stimulus package" to "jolt" the economy and it did NOTHING unless you think pissing away 3/4 of a trillion dollars is something positive. Manufacturing companies are unsure if cap and trade will pass. If it does their energy costs will soar and they will lose even more competitiveness on the world market. The additional taxes coming to pay off all these extravagant programs like cash for clunkers also creates uncertainty in the business community. Look at how banks now face new taxes thanks to the latest populist maneuver by a White House feeling its approval rating sinking like the Titanic. Health care insurers, pharma companies, Wall Street all have to be wondering what the future will hold. Today, if you work for Fannie and Freddie your future is cloudy because Barney Frank suddenly got religion and want to do away with them. Banks arent' lending to businesses, they're lending to the government. They get money almost interest free and then make guaranteed interest from treasuries. It's probably the only think keeping inflation from rearing it's ugly head now. So far the only thing the administration has done in response to the business climate is blame Bush. Time's up.
Well.....there was a lot to blame there Gipper. Granted though the American public wants to see some progress and is starting to demand progress. I feel the same ........because as a country we must have progress. It's been a year for Obama.....which is really a short...short time to fix all the problems that he inherited. The scary part to me is that if what happened in Mass. happens enmasse and we go back to the GOP side why do I think results will be any better than the 6 years Bush had with a GOP majority congress to work with? This sh*t didn't happen overnight. Those 6 years were devastating to the economy with regard to the mess Bush left last Jan.
Must be a long list I am certain Gipper. Some things....like the Dow for instance.....have improved. There are others that are in a better place today than last Jan. but much, much work obviously needs to be done and hey....Obama isn't my guy.....I wouldn't have voted for him but I hope he gets a chance just like I would be pulling for McCain because we need good things to happen. One other comment......if my healthcare expenses and cost of coverage tripled under 8 years of W do you think it would triple again under another 8 years of GOP rule? At that point I don't think any Americans would have healthcare coverage.... not in any emploment sector other than maybe the top 5% of wage earners in America who could still afford it.
Look, we all know that tort reform would help reduce health care costs. So why didn't the compassionate Democratic congress include it in the health bill? Why don't they pass such a bill without it being in a comprehensive health care bill? If they were half serious about really reducing health care costs, that would be a simple effective start. The reason is simple, they've caved into special interests. They don't give a crap about the cost of your health insurance. The sooner you realize that the better off you'll be. Oh wait, might as well blame Bush.
Gip actually just touched on something that I wanted to mention here. How much more expensive is it today to: -own a car -own a house -travel -start a business -go to the dr -insert whatever you want here all because at some point, some asshole said.... 'there outta be a law' which eventually led to some inane legislation being passed which forces mandatory coverage or regulations on any number of aspects regarding the above which has driven up the cost itself. Why are those things necessary? Did they really prevent anything? Did they really help? Does the long term cost outweigh the benefit of your short term security?
Do we trust implicitly those who provide those products and services Corey to keep us safe? Should we become another China? Speaking of China.....I think if you took a good look at some industries you might find that global investors are so much more a part of who we are today in American business and they are resposnible just as much as local investors in the pressures to produce ever growing profits...sometimes at all costs. It's those foreign investors I really don't trust as having our best interests at heart....in fact I don't think they could give a rats ass about our safety and wellfare. It's a different world we live in today.