The last straw for the Republcian "economic theory" has fallen...

[johnnyrocket]

...tonight. It's over, their crappy theories are GONE, evaporated, you can't argue for them anymore. You can try, but you'll look like the immense fool that you'd be.

Today is the first of the rest of this country's economic future, and these criminal corporate gangs who stole dollars from all hardworking Americans...with current and future debt. Leveraged to infinity with absurd phantom collateral to "back up" these "assets".

There's nothing left to leverage, there's no assets there...there is literally no 'there' there, there NEVER WAS.

That's because our government let these criminals go loot our collective wealth, and run with it...


...and at this point, there's not even the empty bag left, to be holding.

[Hokie]

1. September 15, 2008

The day that Reagonomics died.

I was just ready to post when I read yours. I fear that this week is going to make us forget Sarah Palin.

[wanpete]

3. that may be the most positive thing out of this whole week, and that is really sad.

but this may just be what it takes to wake some people up out of their long nap of stupidity.

[samsingh]

9. what am i missing? What happened?

[tblue]

11. Look here

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/business/15lehman.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

[samsingh]

20. wow - it seems though that the market could go either way

relief at some conclusion or panic at future uncertainty.

[tblue]

24. No, sweetie. I don't think so. But I like your optimism. Here's another link:

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6256.html

Chilling.

[samsingh]

35. this is scary.

[truedelphi]

42. Boy even the opening paragraph is chilling

"Despite attempts made by Greenspan and Bernanke, there is no way to avert the payback period that has been building for over two decades. Over this stretch, America has consumed much more than it has produced. As a result, both consumer and federal debt have ballooned to record levels. And now, the payback period is upon us. The bailout buffet won't end with Fannie and Freddie. There's a lot more where that came from because the “Fed's food court” remains open, as does that of the U.S. Treasury. In fact, the autos are in the process of being bailed out with $50 billion in “loans.” I expect the airlines to also receive some form of a bailout as well."

Of course, the really sad thing is that the average working Joe and Josie did not want to be consuming more than they produce. They didn't ASK that the jobs go overseas. And when the "experts" told them that jobs going overseas was a good thing - as it meant they could be re-trained and do more important work that welding automobiles together for $ 28 bucks an hour, they didn't believe it, BUT WHAT COULD THEY DO??

And then there was the job re-training, but lo and behold, by the time one got through the re-training, those jobs were dried up.

So now Joe and Josie, and all the rest of us, know that we were right all along. But since we were not the ones labelled experts, and since the COngress critters and Senators could care less about the stupid low life middle inocme person's situation, we can only hold onto the slightly smug satisfaction of watching the high and mighty as today they tumble down and down...

Tomorrow (or next week or next month) there will be no satisfaction. Just the empty shelves at the store. Just the hope that the local police can still respond if looting breaks out.

America according to Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush: THE USA turns into Romania in twenty five years.

[JDPriestly]

30. If the market had the ability to recover, it would have done so

following the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That was supposed to satisfy the doubters. It didn't. That's because there are no jobs left. They've all been outsourced, that is all the ones that pay enough to live on have been outsourced. We're left with a few good jobs for the lucky, a lot of low-pay jobs filled by immigrants a good number of them illegal, and a lot of unemployed but qualified workers. The middle class borrowed on their homes during the early Bush years. Bush borrowed our treasury into bankruptcy in order to fight the Iraq War and feed his megalomanic dreams of heroism. And here we are. You are simply wrong, samsingh. This ball of wax is only rolling one way and that's downhill.

[JHB]

38. Don't get your shovels out to bury it just yet...

...zombies don't fall for good until you separate the head from the body.

[snot]

2. Yes: so much for the self-regulating free market. nt

[liberalmuse]

4. This day has been scary.

I found out from my ex this morning, a big Bush supporter, that he was laid off 5 months ago. He had this job for 19 years and is now on unemployment. He was in the computer industry, and was making a lot of money. It was a shock, to say the least.

My daughter's birthday was yesterday, and she told me she was going to tell her dad she only wanted one thing, for him to vote for Obama. I hope he does.

I'm stunned at all the bad financial news today. The only thing that comes close is the crash in 1987, and we know what party was in charge then. This is scary. Even I underestimated 'Pigs at the Trough: Part Deux'. Republicans should never, ever, ever be allowed to lead this country. Ever.

[tomp]

43. that's right, the democrats had noting to do with it. nt

[sharesunited]

5. You may be onto something there. But you need to go slower. The hangman's rope is only now strung.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Republicans have been conducting a "going out of business" sale

on US assets for over 25 years. They really started the outsourcing of our manufacturing base in the 80's when they let companies like GE get away with it without any repercussions. George HW Bush continued it and they took down the S&L's, unlocking lots of money from the middle class. Gramm opened the floodgates with the repeal of the banking laws that separated the lending and speculation in 1999.

Now you know why Bush pushed like hell to privitize social security. These guys saw the liquidity crisis coming and hoped that they could paper over it a few more years by using social security deposits to keep the ponzi scheme going.

[tblue]

13. Please explain

"they took down the S&L's, unlocking lots of money from the middle class"

I'm not being snarky. I just really wanna understand so I can be more conversant as I'm campaigning. Thanks!

[Old and In the Way]

33. Here's a good synopsis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_Loan_crisis

Lots of rich Republican bankers made a killing on this one (see also Keating 5 and El Dorado Savings).

[tblue]

37. Thanks, bud!

[Ikonoklast]

39. Yep. They saw this coming.

They NEEDED Social Security in order to cover the retreat, and then loot that on the way out.

When a class of people have declared economic warfare on the government of the United States, they should be tried for treason.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. It couldn't have happened at a worse time...

For the repuke bastards either. Here it all is, etched in granite and writ large and plain. Here is what happens when you deregulate everything in sight and trust thieves, scoundrels and sociopaths to be honest and mitigate their basest behaviors.

There must be a Truth & Reconciliation Commission after Dear Leader is gone. One with subpoena powers and one with the power to refer cases to the newly reconstituted and scrupulously honest DoJ, led by a real person of the law and justice, to bring indictments where needed. We must have justice for these egregious actions. Not golden parachutes.

For if they do not address this, then the social fabric of this nation, everything it says it stands for, will be destroyed in the eyes of its people. The lid will come off and terrible things happening in our streets will be as common as the sunrise.

One more thing: The Democrats have to draw a very straight and very bright line between Reaganomics, Republicans, Deregulation and this mess. Over and over again. Incessantly. Hammer home that all McCain has said he wants to do is continue these failed and destructive policies. Hoist him on the petard of his own statements and say "He wants to continue and extend THIS??!!". Hammer it hard, hammer it constantly, fly the black flag: No prisoners, no quarter.

Come tomorrow, the battle will have been well and truly joined. The stakes could not be higher.

[samsingh]

10. what happened|? what did i miss?

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Lehman brothers is gone, Merrill Lynch was bought by BOA

AIG may be next in the block

And the wheels have come off the cart

[samsingh]

17. isn't Merrill's purchase going to stablize things and make their

stock rise in the morning by $10/share?

[nadinbrzezinski]

That's the hope... but I would not hold my breath

tune in to CNBC... this is getting nasty already

[samsingh]

21. okay - thanks for the info

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. That's the hope... but I would not hold my breath

tune in to CNBC... this is getting nasty already

[Mojorabbit]

27. read this

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/opinion/15krugman.html

[Waiting For Everyman]

23. Completely agree!

[JDPriestly]

31. I'm with you, Tandalayo

[Historic NY]

8. didn't Gw Sr. call it voodoo economics........well the pins are working now...

"no trickle down soup for you".

[progressoid]

14. Yeah.

It's pretty sad when you can look to GHWBush as someone with foresight.

[madrchsod]

15. "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

i can only wonder what my parents would think of what is happening today. i wonder if they ever thought that their children and grandchildren would live to see another depression.

[tblue]

25. and Republicans.

[LooseWilly]

34. The next question, of course, is if we'll see another New Deal...

... not to mention have politicians called pinkos posthumously over it again...

[Firespirit]

45. Yes, we will be faced with the choice of the early 30s...

Do we repeat what we did in that crisis, or do we repeat what Germany did?

Obama is not FDR (and McCain is not Hitler), but he's the best we've got right now. Biden's past support of the bankruptcy bill is deeply troubling to me in light of all this, and I hope he has seen the light. On the plus side, Biden -- like Obama -- knows what it is to be middle class, at least, and I can forgive a political figure for a bad vote if they make a turnaround.

The root of every single economic problem that we have is that people aren't making enough money to survive and have had to resort to debt. Wages, wages, wages -- and benefits. The money has trickled up for years and years, with little of it even trickling back into the federal government, as these multimillionaires have entire firms that invent creative ways to hide money from the IRS.

Taxing the hell out of the people who have been looting America for 30 years is a start. They made the damn mess, so they have to pay the biggest price to fix it.

Penalizing the hell out of companies that move jobs overseas is another thing that must be done.

And there really ought to be caps on how much profit speculators can make buying and selling stocks for necessities -- things like energy (the big one) and food. The speculators drive prices of essentials out of the reach of Americans. Gambling is not a legitimate force of "supply and demand" and it pisses me off that it has influenced prices.

There also needs to be an updated antitrust law and very specific usury laws that make it illegal to charge 30% interest on a debt.

Would Obama and Biden do all this? I don't know. I believe they would do some of it, though, and that is a lot more than can be said for McSame/Failin'.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

16. Dow futures... -329 at this time. Yikes.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

19. now -351

[HCE SuiGeneris]

26. - 360 I think it's trickling down...

[Jack Rabbit]

28. It's trickling down. Yep. Or, as we used to say in the Army . . .

. . . shit rolls downhill.

[Jack Rabbit]

22. Can we go back to calling it "Reaganomics" now

With its contribution to statistical flim flam known as the Laughter Curve?

[johnnyrocket]

36. McCain-Bush-Palin economics works.

[FVZA_Colonel]

29. But they'll still try and blame this on the Democrats.

"That damn, do-nothing congress!!!"...


:sarcasm:

[HughBeaumont]

41. And we'll be right there to debunk that silly myth.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/votedforchange.asp

[JDPriestly]

32. This is the time to read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine,

if you have not already read it.

The Bushies are setting up a crisis, hoping average people will feel desperate and take to the streets -- so that the government can crack down on the "extremists." That's the way they do this. Read the book if you have not done so already. It is the ABCs of fascism, and we are seeing the first steps of a takeover right now.

Also, volunteer for Obama as if your life depended on it.

[adamuu]

40. how's that deregulation working out now? n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. bump