COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Obama projects a budget for the 2010 fiscal year of nearly $3.6 trillion.


Departing from the free market orthodoxy of his predecessor, George W. Bush, Mr. Obama would aggressively use the government’s powers of spending and taxation to push the private market in new directions.

That means the US Government is going to be spending twice its revenue. It is a social putsch. The deficit will be 12.3 percent of GDP. Government spending will be 27.7% of GDP and revenue 15.4% of GDP. The bureaucracy to do that, and the government union jobs created to service this will be impossible to dismantle.

All of this is dependent on how and who will finance this colossus. I smell blood.

___________________________

Obama Plans Major Shifts in Spending


By JACKIE CALMES NY Times
Published: February 26, 2009

WASHINGTON — Proclaiming a “once in a generation” opportunity, President Obama proposed a 10-year budget on Thursday that reflects his determination in the face of recession to invest trillions of dollars and his own political capital in reshaping the nation’s priorities.

He would overhaul health care, begin to arrest global warming, expand the federal role in education and shift more costs to some corporations and the wealthiest taxpayers.

In a veiled gibe at the Bush years, Mr. Obama said his budget breaks “from a troubled past” and attributed the current economic maelstrom to “an era of profound irresponsibility that engulfed both private and public institutions from some of our largest companies’ executive suites to the seats of power in Washington, D.C.”

Without trimming his ambitious campaign promises, the president projects a budget for the 2010 fiscal year of nearly $3.6 trillion. He says he would shrink annual deficits, now at levels not seen in six decades, mostly through higher revenue from rich individuals and polluting industries, by reducing war costs and by assuming a rate of economic growth by 2010 that private forecasters and even some White House advisers consider overly rosy.

None of the new taxes and other sources of revenue, however, would take effect until the economy recovers, administration officials said.

Mr. Obama’s first budget was light on proposals to cut spending, despite his statement at the White House on Thursday that the government would be “cutting what we don’t need to pay for what we do.” But the cuts he does propose, contrasted against his new spending, underscore the change he seeks.

Mr. Obama would slash about $5 billion in the coming year for direct payments to agribusinesses and farmers with more than $500,000 in annual revenue, and $4 billion in annual subsidies to private banks that make college loans. Instead he would increase spending for government Pell grants to needy students, and for the first time index the maximum yearly grant for inflation.

Those two cuts alone will provoke big fights with the farm and banking lobbies and their supporters in Congress. Republicans and business groups condemned the tax proposals. Robert Greenstein, executive director of the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, praised the budget as “bold, courageous and honest” but acknowledged that it takes on “one vested interest after another, and that will require all of the president’s skills to get through Congress.”


Damn, and there is more...

Thanks George

75 comments:

  1. President Obama proposed a 10-year budget

    ah, Comrades, the New Ten Year Victory Plan has arrived!

    Comrades! We'll fish in the morning, harvest at noon, go to the Opera in the evening. Comrades!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Somewhere in Marx there is a quote something like that, everyman a literary critic, everyman a worker, everyman a scientist, lover, artist, work a little, play a lot....and the State will finally 'wither away'.

    Only when saints are the sole remaining human life on earth.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Let us recall the wise words of Mr. Putin, in effect, "You don't want to do this shit".

    It's an odd thing when you'd almost rather have the Russian as President.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Obama just may be able to undo the damage done to the Republican party by Mr. Republican himself George Bush.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like he's going to give it a real college try.
    There's a real chance he might pull it off. Sometimes, I think it's a certainty.

    ReplyDelete
  6. By the way, we all love the Doug and Bobal show. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think I may have spotted Ash today.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Really!?

    Where?

    Packing a golf bag through an airport?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt, right now. Everything.

    Remember, the President proposes, Congress "disposes."

    About that elebenty bazillion "deficit" for 09': Technically it may be a "deficit" when the government borrows a Trillion at two percent, and loans it out at 8%, and takes stock in the process, but, personally, I have a hard time getting too "het uup" about it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We've yet to plumb the depths of what it would take to get Rufus "het uup!"

    ReplyDelete
  11. Finally, we get FAIRNESS!
    Obama’s Budget Plan Sweeps Away Reagan Ideas
    The budget proposals seek to reverse the rapid increase in economic inequality over the last 30 years.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Them weren't 55 Autos @ the Drive in, al-Bob.
    A closer reading apparently yields that a sign indicated the Drive in had been there since 1955.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "On the jackpine plain, I hunted the bird nobody knows"

    Line from Theodore Roethke.


    American Farmers Try Their Luck In Brazil

    Ah, to be young and in love....with farming.
    -----

    Somebody got their ass wiped on that turd chair.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Spotted me hmm? If so say hi fer sure but I doubt it was me. I'm down Tamarindo/Liberia way and from what I can parse they didn't feel that last earthquake which you did. that suggests you are down by San Jose somewhere unless, of course, you are Roving about.

    I'm hanging out with 2 other families in a mansion on a hill. I'll be out in the surf each night at sunset with 5of the 7 kids trying to catch a wave.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The U.S. economy shrank by 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the biggest decline in 26 years, the government reports.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mr. Obama’s blueprint, released on Thursday, commits to cutting by more than two-thirds, by 2013, the $1.75 trillion budget deficit that Mr. Bush dumped on the nation.

    -NY TIMES

    ReplyDelete
  17. It looks like a lot of the elite supporters of Obama will get to walk the walk....

    "All of the proposed increases apply to couples making more than $250,000 ($200,000 for single taxpayers) — about the top 3 percent of taxpayers. None are big enough to derail an economic recovery. And contrary to Republicans’ knee-jerk protests, they impose no outsize burden on small businesses: Most sole proprietors and other small-business owners do not make anywhere near a quarter-of-a-million dollars a year.

    To combat deficits, Mr. Obama proposes to let Mr. Bush’s high-end tax cuts expire in 2011, raising the top rate from 35 percent to as high as 39.6 percent. He would also impose a 20 percent rate on investment income, up from the current super-low 15 percent. And he would reinstate a tax provision enacted by the first President Bush, but undone by his son, that limited tax write-offs by high-income taxpayers for dependents and other expenses, like mortgage interest on vacation homes."

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well, I seem to remember my number was 6,970. Hmm,

    ReplyDelete
  19. http://consumerist.com/5161202/the-worst-food-product-ever-may-have-been-found

    Go ahead. Try and guess what it is before you go to the website.

    ReplyDelete
  20. :) Well I was close. God that's awful.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm beginning to think I was about 1,200 points to the "Optimistic" side.

    ReplyDelete
  22. 'Tis an Obama/Ash market so far this morning--straight down.

    ReplyDelete
  23. AKA: Something rufus might eat.



    I do happen to know, as a collector of antique cookbooks, that those were a not unpopular weekend breakfast item until the 1930s or so.

    And I can almost guarantee that if you're going to find it on supermarket shelves anywhere, it's at a number of Piggly Wigglys down south - where various and sundry potted meat products have never gone entirely out of style.

    I Dig the Pig!

    ReplyDelete
  24. WOW At this rate Rufus will hit his number in the next few minutes. Obama/Ash market for sure, this morning.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The Obama/Ash economy--

    Economy shrinks at worst pace in 25 years...

    Economists question budget's economic assumptions...

    THE $1 TRILLION TAX INCREASE...

    '09 BUDGET SPENDS $11,833 FOR EVERY AMERICAN...

    Gingrich raps 'big-government' budget...

    Boehner: 'Spending barrage' just starting...

    DICK MORRIS: IT'S OBAMA SPREADING PANIC...

    US banks post first quarterly loss since 1990...

    Record Government Note Auction; Unprecedented amount of debt...

    ReplyDelete
  26. In a 11:45 a.m. ET speech at Camp Lejeune, N.C., President Obama will present his plan for a withdrawal from Iraq.



    Could we, ah, maybe withdraw trish's husband sooner rather than later?



    You keep the market deathwatch, bob. I need to shower.

    ReplyDelete
  27. OK, 7071, it tried a little profit taking there, looks like may go lower....

    ReplyDelete
  28. Whoa, heavy uptick now. Gotta shower too....

    ReplyDelete
  29. More pessimism porn (Things Is Hard All Over category):

    Japan’s manufacturers cut production by a record 10 percent in January and household spending plunged, adding to evidence that the economy in its worst recession in 60 years.

    The month-on-month decline in factory output exceeded December’s record decline of 9.8 percent, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. Household spending fell 5.9 percent from a year earlier, the biggest drop in more than two years. [Bloomberg]

    ReplyDelete
  30. Bottom Reached

    And just in time too, with the market tanking nobody's got the money to buy regular toilet paper.

    ReplyDelete
  31. That's disgusting.





    Freakonomics blog:

    Our friends at speechwars.com have put together a really fun tool to help you mine their database of the full text of all State of the Union Addresses (even though this wasn’t technically such an address) as well as inaugurals. It’s a fun way of tracking which issues have occupied the minds of our leaders. The brains behind Speech Wars, Ben Reis, just sent me his lightning analysis of last night’s speech:

    – Obama is the first president in history to use the words “bailouts,” “laundry,” “drapes,” “cyber,” “messes,” and “pandemic” in a State of the Union address.

    – Obama used the word “crisis” 11 times — more than twice as much as any other president. Hoover used it only four times in 1932 during the Great Depression.

    – Obama said “layoffs,” “invest,” and “entrepreneurs” more than any other president.

    – Obama is only the second president to use the words “ferret,” “biofuels,” and “hybrids.”




    He talked about ferrets? I love ferrets.

    ReplyDelete
  32. heheh--in other words, raise taxes on those who make more than I do--

    51% Say Tax Hike On Those Earning Over $250,000 Is A Good Move

    Thursday, February 26, 2009

    Fifty-one percent (51%) of U.S. voters say President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who earn more than $250,000 a year would be good for the economy, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

    Thirty-one percent (31%) say raising taxes on the wealthy would be a bad economic move, while 12% say it would have no impact. Five percent (5%) are not sure.

    At the same time, a majority of voters continue to believe tax increases in general are bad for the economy and tax cuts are better.

    ReplyDelete
  33. We had a left wing professor here with beady little eyes and goatee who everyone called "the ferret" behind his back. He finally went off to save Central America somehow.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Well I guess the ferret must have succeeded, bob, because Central America is indeed still there.





    WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A new national poll indicates that a majority of Americans support President Barack Obama's plan to send 17,000 more U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan.

    And the survey, conducted by CNN and the Opinion Research Corp., suggests that half of all Americans think the United States is winning the war in Iraq, the highest percentage since that question was first asked in a CNN poll in 2004.

    The survey's Thursday release comes one day before Obama is expected to travel to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to announce he'll withdraw most combat troops from Iraq within 19 months.

    Sixty-three percent of those questioned in the poll say they support Obama's plan to beef up U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with 36 percent opposing the move.

    But only 47 percent favor the war in Afghanistan, with 51 percent opposed to the fighting that first began soon after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

    "Obama's plan for more troops wins twice as much support as the surge in troop levels in Iraq won when George W. Bush first unveiled that plan in 2007," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "The Afghanistan plan is more popular than the Iraq surge because the war in Afghanistan is more popular."

    Only 32 percent supported President Bush's move in January 2007 to beef up U.S. forces in Iraq. A similar amount supported the war in Iraq at that time.

    Sixty-two percent say the U.S. can eventually win the war in Afghanistan. That's twice as much as the 31 percent who feel America is currently winning the war.

    "Democrats oppose the war in Afghanistan by nearly 2 to 1. They're asking, 'What's our strategy there? We don't want another Iraq,' " said CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

    "Democrats are apprehensive about Afghanistan, but they're willing to give their president the benefit of the doubt," Schneider said.

    As for Iraq, even though 50 percent think the U.S. is winning the war there, two out of three people questioned still oppose the U.S. mission, with just 31 percent backing the fighting in Iraq.

    "This indicates that the public thinks the surge worked, but that hasn't changed their view of the war in Iraq at all," Holland said. "As a result, nearly seven out of 10 favor the idea of removing most U.S. troops from Iraq by next spring, a proposal that was a key part of Obama's presidential campaign last year."

    The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted February 18-19, with 1,046 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Leave the one we're winning, and where the oil is, and go to the one we can't win, where the oil isn't.

    The strategy of the American people.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Marginalrevolution:

    Counter-cyclical asset of the day: Atlas Shrugged
    Alex Tabarrok

    Sales of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” have almost tripled over the first seven weeks of this year compared with sales for the same period in 2008. This continues a strong trend after bookstore sales reached an all-time annual high in 2008 of about 200,000 copies sold.

    Hat tip to Newmark's Door.

    February 27, 2009 at 10:40 AM


    Reader comment:

    G r e a t...More asshole freshmen.

    - former asshole freshman




    Yeah, buddy. I know *all* about it.

    ReplyDelete
  37. We're not leaving the one we're winning - unless some new definition of leaving is a 50K stay-behind. I'll have to check my American Heritage Dictionary.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Despite a sluggish forecast for the overall high-tech industry in the near term, alternative energies technologies are expected to grow at a 40% annual rate through 2012, and semiconductors used in these applications will see a comparable growth, according to a report Semiconductors for Alternative Energy Technologies: Opportunities and Markets, recently published by The Information Network.

    Renewable, alternative energy technologies continue to grab the attention of private industries and world governments. Semiconductors are used in these technologies to convert the energy or power to something functional, such as converting solar energy into electricity.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/123180-alternative-energy-stimulus-provides-opportunities-for-semis?source=feed

    http://snipurl.com/crg69

    ReplyDelete
  39. Earnings for the quarter ended were strong, but FSLR's future outlook was even bleaker than I had imagined. Unfortunately I was not short the stock, but anyone that was short or held puts fared very well - shares fell $30, nearly 22%.

    FSLR's executives had many troubling things to say - the economy is tough, the solar business is tough, and they expect it to get tougher in the near-term. According to the company, up to 15% of 2009 shipments could be at risk of "customer default." To make up for waning corporate credit, FSLR is even financing or taking stakes in projects (rather than simply selling panels) which complicates their business model and casts even greater doubt on their future prospects.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/122765-first-solar-strong-earnings-bleak-outlook?source=feed

    http://snipurl.com/crghq

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yup, I see the headline--

    Obama to extend Iraq withdrawal timetable; 50,000 troops to stay...

    ReplyDelete
  41. Dedicated legislation has been at the core of some of the most impressive regional growth stories in alternative energy, most notably in Germany with the Renewable Energy Sources Act or in California with the various legislative solar initiatives. On Monday, the Canadian province of Ontario became the latest jurisdiction to join the fray as lawmakers introduced the Green Energy and Green Economy Act. Why should investors care? Because such legislation has been at the core of some of the most impressive regional growth stories in alternative energy.

    As a bit of a backgrounder on Ontario, there is currently about 800 MW of installed renewable power capacity (~95% wind) in the province with around 2,500 MW under power purchase agreement [PPA] and scheduled to be brought into commercial operations in the next few years.

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/122752-ontario-green-energy-act-what-can-alt-energy-legislation-do-for-investors?source=feed

    http://snipurl.com/crgs5

    ReplyDelete
  42. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett has some explaining to do.

    Berkshire Hathaway Inc, his insurance and investment company, is in the midst of one of its worst stretches since Buffett took over the company in 1965.

    Berkshire's shares have lost close to half their value since December 2007. Investment losses have piled up as stock markets tumble. And tens of billions of dollars are at risk on derivative contracts that depend on stocks rising. For now, they are not.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE51P4QC20090226

    http://snipurl.com/crh3q

    ReplyDelete
  43. We're not leaving the one we're winning
    ==

    It is my imagination, or it is that you're preoccupied with absolute rubbish?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Well, we're neither fully leaving, nor are we or did we "win".

    The Tribes in Anbar, they still rule Anbar, score at least one for the Iraqi Insurgents over the US, in the area of Iraq where most of the insurgency was focused.
    The Insurgents won.
    We are still behind on the marketing, tranforming the 1920 Brigades into the Sons of Iraq was a tad more complicated than changing the Press Releases.

    While many here in the US bought the spin, Mr Maliki has yet to be sold the new Bill of Goods.

    ReplyDelete
  45. From the folks at RCP

    **President Obama
    *The president will announce the withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces by August 2010 during a speech at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. "The 19-month timetable marks a historic juncture in an unpopular war that has proven enormously costly to America and defined the presidency of George W. Bush, Reuters reports. A senior admin official: "The president will announce that the current combat mission in Iraq will end on August 31, 2010. At that point, the remaining forces in Iraq will undertake a new mission, a more limited mission."

    *New York Times reports that he'll make the announcement with the blessing of John McCain. The former presidential candidate joined other Republicans at the White House last night, and left "reassured that the president's withdrawal plan is responsible and reasonable."


    So, there you have it, the Republican standard bearer has laid on his approval: "reassured that the president's withdrawal plan is responsible and reasonable."
    All those that voted for 'Maverick' McCain can rest, reassured that the man they thought best suited to guide US in War and Peace is satisfied that "the president's withdrawal plan is responsible and reasonable."

    Enough said about that, for now.

    ReplyDelete
  46. AP
    Economy shrinks at fastest pace in 26 years
    Friday February 27, 12:14 pm ET
    By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
    US economy shrinks at faster-than-expected 6.2 pct pace in fourth quarter, worst in 26 years

    ' WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the U.S. deeper into recession.

    http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090227/na_us_economy.html?.v=7

    http://snipurl.com/crje6

    ReplyDelete
  47. Citi on Friday said it had reached a deal with the government, in which the government will match -- up to $25 billion -- private investors in converting preferred shares into common stock.

    The move led to some speculation that Bank of America (BAC Quote - Cramer on BAC - Stock Picks) could also eventually work out such a deal.

    Citi shares were falling 35.4% to $1.59. BofA shares were off 15.6% to $4.49.
    ==

    Some more porn for Princess Casserole.

    ReplyDelete
  48. The REQUIREMENT to take part in ending innocent lives.

    Obama Set to Undo ‘Conscience’ Rule for Health Workers
    The rule, adopted by the Bush administration, granted protections to health workers who refuse to take part in abortions.

    ReplyDelete
  49. 7062.93 -119.15 (-1.66%)

    Next week forward to breach the 7,000 barrier! Down to 6,970 and below!
    --------

    Moscow is certainly jumpin' with jazz fans this weekend. Buses, people all over.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Lawyers: ACORN Destroying American Elections

    Friday, February 27, 2009 2:34 PM

    By: Rick Pedraza



    WASHINGTON -- Activist group ACORN is subverting America's election system by using fraud and corruption to mislead poor, minority communities, and the media is complicit in the effort, an organization of Republican lawyers claims.


    “[ACORN’s] antics include embezzlement, cover-ups, document destruction, misuse of taxpayer funds for political purposes, voter fraud, campaign finance violations, and non-profits abuse,” said Heather Heidelbaugh, a Pittsburgh attorney and vice president of the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA).


    “Most of us think ACORN is all about trying to conduct massive voter register drives, but that’s just a ruse,” Heidelbaugh said as part of a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday. “What ACORN is trying to do is change the very core of what America is. And they’re using poor people and people of color to do it.”


    The group discussed ACORN’s track record of election fraud, which is concerning considering the group is the largest grass roots organization in America with 170 affiliated organizations. Despite a series of complaints of voter registration fraud by ACORN representatives, however, the mainstream media is reluctant to report on the group’s transgressions, RNLA officials say.


    Heidelbaugh, who in October of 2008 tried a preliminary case on behalf of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee alleging voter fraud, misrepresentation, violation of the equal protection code and due process by ACORN, claims the New York Times refused to go with a story brought to the court about a woman who testified in court about Barack Obama’s link to ACORN.


    “If somebody testifies in court, under oath, and tells the truth and has evidence, certainly then the truth will come out,” Heidelbaugh surmised. She then brought the court transcript to the CNN investigative reporter covering the court case.


    “I was interviewed by a CNN reporter with a camera at the trial. It [the story] never got out,” Heidelbaugh said. “I was later told, ‘We’re not going with this story; it’s a game-changer.’ ABC World News tonight? Same story. This is the failure of our democracy. This is the failure of the mass media to enforce our First Amendment.”

    ReplyDelete
  51. The mediaa does not "enforce" the 1st Amendment, no wonder she was passed over as not ready for Prime Time. Her basic premises are contrived of misplaced authorities as well as responsibilities.

    The Press in the US is partisan, always has been, always will be. It is the freedom to present that partisan viewpoint that is protected. The 1st Amendment is not a "Fairness Doctrine", nor a requirement to present The News, "Fair and Balanced". To think that it is, that's just plain wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  52. There was a discussion at Sean Hannity's website the other day pertaining to this posted survey:

    What kind of revolution appeals most to you?

    1. Military Coup

    2. Armed Rebellion

    3. War for Secession


    Many people commented; few actually voted. But number two won out.

    At another website, commenters suggested expanding the options:

    4. Invite Extraterrestrial Invasion

    5. Raise Undead Horde

    6. Proposition Langley

    7. See if that Chalabi guy's busy

    The possibilities are potentially limitless.

    ReplyDelete
  53. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Who's takin' the first shot at Sheriff Joe's deputies?

    Wouldn't want to be them.

    There is no Gen. James Mattoon Scott readily available to mount a coup d’état.

    Nor will there be.

    We all liked Ike, maybe General P will play that part, but General P, he'd be no 'Conservative', either.

    ReplyDelete
  55. War for Secession?

    What State is ready to go it alone?

    ReplyDelete
  56. Lee County, Ft. Myers; median home price falls below $100K
    The median price of an existing single-family home in Lee County fell to $94,900 in January — a 59 percent drop from a year ago. The number of sales was 758, which is 124 percent more than the 338 recorded a year earlier.
    @ Ft. Myers News Press | Posted: 02/27/09 at 0320 EST
    Marco Island median home prices drop 62 percent in past year; biggest fall in Florida
    The median price fell to $200,000 for homes sold in January. That was down 62 percent from a year ago, when the median price was $529,500. In Marco, there were 26 home resales in January. That was down 16 percent from 31 a year ago. Marco saw a more than 50 percent drop in condo sales last month. There were 18, compared to 37 a year ago. Median price fell 19 percent to $333,300.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Are you humor impaired? The whole damned fantasy is ROTFLMAO hysterical.

    Hence, numbers 4-7.

    ReplyDelete
  58. We all laugh in our ways, trish.

    Of course it is hysterical and hyperbole, why else the reference to Gen. James Mattoon Scott and not Smedley Butler.

    ReplyDelete
  59. 4. Invite Extraterrestrial Invasion

    Unbeknowst to most of you folk, this has already been done, and responded to, but I can't give details yet.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I think both Hawaii and Alaska could make it alone, for different reasons. Whether they'd be able to make escape velocity I don't know.

    ReplyDelete
  61. U.S. Sees Serious Threat in Mexico Drug Violence

    FBI Agent Shot During Round up of Drug Suspects

    Drug Gangs On Rampage, Kill 20 Near U.S. Border

    Calderon: We're Cleaning House in U.S. Border City

    Drug Cartels Exporting Bloody Mayhem to U.S.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Study after study over the past several decades has shown how countries that spend more produce less, while nations that tax less produce more. Obama is doing it wrong on both counts.

    Obama Declares War On Anyone That Does Anything

    Kudlow

    ReplyDelete
  63. 2. Eggplant:


    I’ll preface by saying that I know diddly about economics and finance. Having said that, I find this world wide recession/depression thing to be very scary. IMHO, it’s quite likely that the American stock market could go into free-fall (market capitulation) after the Dow drops below 7000 (that could happend next week). I believe the main reason why our economy has not been seriously hammered was due to the sudden drop in petroleum price. If petroleum were to suddenly spike to over $100/barrel then the whole economic house of cards could collapse. That scenario could easily happen if the Iranians or al Qaeda played a trick in the Persian Gulf (why haven’t they done this already?). Now add to this uncertainty about the world’s economy that we have Obama as President (Thanks! MSM). IMHO, there is no logical reason at all to have any confidence in the US Federal government with Obama as President and Pelosi as Speaker of the House. We really are in the situation where the doors are all locked, there’s a big puddle of gasoline on the floor and some dimwit is standing in the middle of it holding a burning match.


    The good outlook seems to be that China and the USA are sort of wedded to one another--Chimerica.

    Ameriyuan, yuero, yuamero

    ReplyDelete
  64. The neosexual is a male distinctive for his masculine qualities and who at the same time can be sensitive and emotional. This is a hybrid of a patriarchal man and a metrosexual. The neosexual is an emotionally developed individual who instinctively understands the needs of modern-day women.

    Modern Women Sick Of Metrosexual Men, Switch To 'Neosexuals'

    from PRAVDA

    That fellow that screwed himself to death after 12 hours of it, he must have been a 'neosexual'.

    Now he's a 'postneosexual', having given his all for the 'needs of modern women' whom he 'instinctively understood'.

    ReplyDelete
  65. neosexuals are physically strong and sexually substantial.

    Seventy-two percent of the polled women said that they would prefer a strong and confident man who knows what he wants.

    Eighty-five percent confirmed that they would be easily tempted with a passionate kiss of a strong man.



    Sounds like they don't want to sit around and talk about poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  66. There's a new term coming into use these days, too. The 'agrisexual'.

    The 'agriculturalsexual' is an 'agrisexual' who reads poetry, and 'plows a deep furrow'.

    ReplyDelete
  67. I’ll preface by saying that I know diddly about economics and finance.
    ==

    Average True Range is deceasing and bottoming on the weekly charts. My guess is, this means we've made a bottom.

    ReplyDelete