are we in a recession?

[brokerboy]

he is desperate the last speech was begging companies to hire people and drink his kool aid. the truth is he has to release the pain on wall st and america but he will be killed for it. he can't keep his job and do it because doing that means admitting your wrong plus admitting you worsened the problem and dragged out the recovery.

Quote from denner:

Half the time I attribute the past 4 years of monetary policy to his dogmatic ideology that he wrote about back at Princeton..i.e. his "expertise" in The Great Depression and how not to repeat the same mistakes. The other half the time I seriously consider that the guy is under so much pressure from the guys pulling his strings that he literally has no option but to "follow the script", i.e. pump assets so aggressively to help out the financial institutions that are sitting on boatloads of dead real estate.

I think that he really believed his own bullshit back in 2008-09...that 60 Minutes interview 2 years ago showed a man who still thought he had some semblance of control, that there would come a time where he would pull back the reins and reduce the balance sheet...but as he has seen, each and every time there is even a HINT that the Fed isn't going to be all out turbodrive accomodative, the equity markets swoon. Each iteration has to be bolder, bigger, more open ended...and even then it's losing its efficacy.

 

[denner]

Quote from toc:

And the reasons behind this are? why would behind the scene powers want to stop a US President from reducing the debt.

Either you are truly naive OR you really don't understand how the economy works. (Mind you, the "status quo" economy of endless credit expansion and ponzi economics).

 

[achilles28]

Quote from TGregg:

It's a common thing to see people make that choice with one exception, it also harms the chooser in the long run. Choice of path might be tobacco, narcotics, meth, booze, parking right next to the door to McDonald's three times a day, etc. Heck, look at the obesity epidemic in the US. People can't make the right choice between a third Big Mac or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Problem is, we've provided so many safety nets that (to paraphrase PJ O'Rourke) "We live in a whiffleball universe." Nothing bad really happens to us anymore. We do not have serious consequences to our actions, or at least not as serious as they used to be. As a result, we spend less time trying to figure out what might kill us and more time trying to figure out what feels really good.

Best post on the thread. We're pussies. The debt underwrites our addiction to feel goodism. Reality is for chumps. Accountability, for losers. Why worry when UE benefits pay out for 99 weeks? Or long-term disability, in perpetuity? Throw in some food stamps, housing vouchers, and you're good to go. Heck, you could even write a few rap songs about it and become a millionaire. Accountability is no longer a virtue in our society. It's a needless liability. That's why America is fucking done. Washington, the FED, the Treasury, nobody will stand up to the hoards of zombies who want their bennies. Not to say bureaucrats are fighting the good fight. They got their feted, greasy snout just as deep in the trough as the voters do. Channeling trillions in bailouts and war money to their corporate donors.

The People get the Government they deserve. Look at Ron Paul. Only 5-10% of the republican vote. The rest of the Country are a bunch of idiot, cowards who couldn't give a shit. Nobody wants the pain. They just want unending handouts. This will end real fucking bad because the money doesn't exist to pay for it. Unbelievable.

 

[toc]

Quote from denner:

Either you are truly naive OR you really don't understand how the economy works. (Mind you, the "status quo" economy of endless credit expansion and ponzi economics).

USMC has taken the oath to protect their country from all enemies and threats, external or internal.

Once it is determined that no one in washington is doing a thing to tackle and reduce the debt, the military will take matters into its own hands.

Remember, military does not really know how the economy works.........and it really does not care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[oldtime]

I like food stamps and medicaid. Those are benefits nobody in their right mind should argue about. I keep to myself and don't know much about my neighbors, but I do know I don't want their kids to go to bed hungry. And when your son invents an airplane (like we all did) and jumps out of a second story window and breaks his leg, I don't want you to have to decide if you are going to take him to the doctor based on how much it is going to cost.

The other things we can argue about.

 

[achilles28]

That's all fine and dandy, but you recognize that on average, each household pays in ~114k into medicare and gets out ~355k? That's a ponzi scheme. Sorry, you're generation was stupid and didn't plan for the future. But why bring down the entire country?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corne...-vs-what-you-will-get-maybe-veronique-de-rugy

 

[oldtime]

Quote from achilles28:

That's all fine and dandy, but you recognize that on average, each household pays in ~114k into medicare and gets out ~355k? That's a ponzi scheme. Sorry, you're generation was stupid and didn't plan for the future. But why bring down the entire country?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corne...-vs-what-you-will-get-maybe-veronique-de-rugy

wasn't talking about medicare, I think that should be eliminated.

was talking about medicaid, which is a program I'm willing to pay for to insure the poor can go to the doctor if they need to

and I think 50% of all US citizens should quailfy for it, and also food stamps

 

[achilles28]

Quote from oldtime:

wasn't talking about medicare, I think that should be eliminated.

was talking about medicaid, which is a program I'm willing to pay for to insure the poor can go to the doctor if they need to

and I think 50% of all US citizens should quailfy for it, and also food stamps

That's great, but where do you get the money for that?

The Federal Government needs to cut ~1.6 Trillion just to run a balanced budget.

Even if you gut the DoD (~500 Billion), there's still a cool Trillion that must come out.

 

[oldtime]

Quote from achilles28:

That's great, but where do you get the money for that?

The Federal Government needs to cut ~1.6 Trillion just to run a balanced budget.

Even if you gut the DoD (~500 Billion), there's still a cool Trillion that must come out.

I have plenty of money, they can take a little more if it means helping the poor, as long as they keep expenses well under control.

 

[achilles28]

Quote from oldtime:

I have plenty of money, they can take a little more if it means helping the poor, as long as they keep expenses well under control.

A tax hike on the rich doesn't go very far. Rescinding the Bush tax cuts results in about 200 Billion, per year.

So that's 1.4 Trillion we still have to cut? From where?

That's the point. Liberals don't think their way through problems. They feel their way through problems. They want a security blanket for every person in the country yet have no idea how to pay for it.