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."

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Bush took US budget from $1.86 trillion to $3.52 trillion in 8 years


Here is Where We Are Today and For 2011 we are Going to $3.69 trillion 




A pie chart representing spending by category for the US budget for 2010
The President's budget for 2010 totals $3.55 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2009. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:
  • Mandatory spending: $2.467 trillion (+30.58%)
    • $977.95 billion (+4.9%) – Social Security
    • $571 billion (−15.2%) – Other mandatory programs
    • $453 billion (+6.6%) – Medicare
    • $290 billion (+12.0%) – Medicaid
    • $164 billion (+18.0%) – Interest on National Debt
    • $11 billion (+275%) – Potential disaster costs
    • $0 billion (−100%) – Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
    • $0 billion (−100%) – Financial stabilization efforts

US receipt and expenditure estimates for fiscal year 2010.

__________________________________

Will the Republicans Cut Government This Time?

It's time for the GOP to walk the walk.

 Listen to Audio Version (MP3)


The Republicans promise less intrusive, less expensive government. But will they deliver? In the past, they have said they would shrink the state, but then they came into power and spent more. Consider George W. Bush's eight horrendous years: The budget grew 89 percent—from $1.86 trillion to $3.52 trillion.
Two Republican House members, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, No. 2 on the budget committee, and Bill Huizenga, a freshman from Michigan, say that they really mean to cut.
"I sure plan to," Garrett said.
I asked him to name three things he'd cut.
He paused for a beat, then said, "We spend about a million dollars for mohair subsidies. We need to eliminate that." We sure do. The subsidies were created to make sure America had enough mohair for soldiers' uniforms during World War I. Yet even though uniforms are no longer made of mohair, my former colleague Sam Donaldson collected subsidies because he once raised sheep and goats on his New Mexico ranch. All farm subsidies are a disgusting scam. Get rid of them.
But the mohair scam is a million bucks. It's nothing.
"So let's go up larger then," said Garrett. "How about foreign aid? (C)ut that out, and you would save around $1.3 billion. Right now, we basically pay federal employees ... who are parts of a union to engage in union activity. How about eliminating those dollars? ... (S)ave about $1.2 billion.
"We have come up with a list of over some $2 trillion."
The ones Garrett named, however, are less than 1 percent of $2 trillion. I understand their reluctance to mention the big stuff, given the political opposition, but when will politicians bite that bullet? They need to!
I'm glad the House leadership has talked about cutting spending back to 2008 budget levels. Garrett said: "Some of us would say let's roll it back even further—to '07 or '06 levels."
Why not? Why not cut back to the first Bush budget, in 2002, before his spending orgy? I never got a clear answer to that. "Let's figure out what constitutionally we must be doing and where we have started coloring way outside the lines," Huizenga suggested. "Two, are (programs) being effective? ... If they are, fund them. If they're not, let's de-fund them."
The Republicans' promised spending cuts are directed at "nondefense discretionary" spending. Fine. Cut that. But "nondefense discretionary" spending is just 15 percent of the budget. The Republicans' pledge leaves out the big stuff: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and what the government calls defense. That's where the big money is.
"Exactly," Garrett said. You could eliminate all nondefense discretionary spending, and you wouldn't solve the problem. You have to go a lot further than that, and that's why we have to touch those other areas."
I pointed out that I don't hear much talk about that.
"Some of us talk about it. You have to touch on each one of these areas and until the American public is cognizant ... that we have to have shared sacrifice."
As a way to get the public involved, Majority Leader Eric Cantor set up "YouCut" back in May—"a first-of-its-kind project ... designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress. It allows you to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the House enact. Each week, we will take the winning item and offer it to the full House for an up-or-down vote."
People voted to eliminate things like federal pay raises and subsidies for Amtrak sleeper cars. But with the House under Democratic control, none of those programs was cut. We'll see if things are different now.
"We'll be able to make those cuts," Garrett said.
I hope so. I wish they'd pass what I call the Stossel Rule: For every new law, Congress has to repeal two old ones.
America is on a path to bankruptcy. It's easy to get bogged down arguing about lots of small cuts, but we'll only make progress by abolishing whole departments and entire missions. I hope the public understands it has to be done.

111 comments:

  1. The only way this gets fixed is…?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ash and T, you have been re-invited to Post at the EB.

    Is Red interested? If so, send us an email.

    Currently the following can post their own articles:

    Whit
    Deuce
    Doug
    Desert Rat
    Melody
    Quirk
    Linear

    I think it would be interesting if the new invitees could consider one post per week. Limit it to two if you are so inclined.

    That would give you plenty of time to prepare it. If you need assistance, just post the text, let us know it is up and Whit or I will assist.

    Melody did a great job on her first unassisted post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I might add that I did assist Mel, but screwed it up. She fixed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't see the invite at badinage1@netzero.net.

    I saw two of them earlier and tried them, but they were invalid, seems blogger has a shelf life.

    Your BOB problems would be much lesser if you get me in, because when I have an internet connection I'm omnipresent.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Got an idea, will advise.

    Monday, Tuesday at soonest.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love the smell of neutrons in the morning:

    79. Habu

    For you less than brave souls can you handle this?

    Nuke

    Afghanistan 18 million
    Iran 48 million
    Pakistan 90 million
    Indonesia 161 million
    Syria 11 million

    TOTAL 328 million ..I do believe that would send a message not to F with the USA or any of our friends.

    ReplyDelete
  7. With 20 20 hindsight, one of the most on target questions asked by a public figure was Nancy Reagan's:

    "Kinder and Gentler than who?"

    ReplyDelete
  8. Takes no bravery to propose what will never be.

    Bravery is to be found in proposing the possible, and then to hear the truth you've spoken
    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

    ReplyDelete
  9. In today's World, the easy answer, of course, is Hu.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Habu and WiO should start their own blog.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ...yet some still dream of a Jeb presidency!

    ReplyDelete
  12. If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
    To serve your turn long after they are gone,
    And so hold on when there is nothing in you
    Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

    If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
    If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
    If all men count with you, but none too much;
    If you can fill the unforgiving minute
    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
    Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,


    Well beyond the capabilities of habu the magnificent.

    The blogging entity with no DD214

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

    ReplyDelete
  14. The two State legislators I met with, doug, thought Jeb was the answer to their Latino voter challenge.

    If only they could get him to come out here ...

    I shook my head in wonder, at the depth of their ignorance.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Bushes have replaced the Kennedys as the family dynasty that believes they are entitled to the throne of power.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I missed, or forgot about the thread establishing Duke Nukem's lack of a 214:

    How was that established?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wouldn't it be great to reduce the presidency to where is was in the pre-regal era. Truman or Eisenhower had it about right.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Some guy outed him big time. He researched the net and found at least three contradicting bio's.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh yeah, now my alzheimic mind recalls.

    ReplyDelete
  20. He vanished for a couple of months at Belemont and went to take over maggies farm till he got the boot.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Who was the artillery man, Peter Boston? We went at each other big time.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I think DR deconstructed his resume.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I remember , habu offered $10,000 if someone proved him wrong. The guy started his post with "where is my $10,000 asshole?"

    ReplyDelete
  24. In addition to stirring up the Birthers.

    Another great achievement early on in Abercrombie's Governorship was to raid the emergency Hurricane Fund that we homeowners have paid into since Iniki...

    ...and gave it to the state Unionistas so they could get raises instead of furloughs!

    Our own little DC in PairOdice.

    ReplyDelete
  25. If I'm not mistaken the guy who outed him was an army light colonel who was in Viet Nam three times and then went to the DIA.

    ReplyDelete
  26. 'Rat was very rude to Boston also.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh I would have loved to seen Habu taken down a notch. I already knew he was a fake "CIA" wanker because I really am a Fed and there are little things we know and say that he dinnit.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I had a good relationship with old Habu until him and DR got into their duels and I refused to ban DR, him and Buddy Larsen.

    That was in DR's burka days. Buddy popped in one night and admitted to DR he was wrong. Nice touch that?

    What was the name of Buddy's blog? They threw you out of there didn't they doug?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Tou missed a good one T, it was a work of art, hushed silence at the Belmont.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wretchard never said a word about it.

    ReplyDelete
  31. All that before we got the gentler and kinder 2164th.

    ReplyDelete
  32. That was the pre PJ Simon's blog.

    I was hyperbolic quite often in my youthful blogging daze.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Back in my day we blogged by banging rocks together. That was before these kids like Melody came in with their newfangled You Tubes.

    ReplyDelete
  34. It was obvious we were on the wrong track, in Iraq, when the powers that be would not allow US troops to use any type of intimidation to maintain convoy integrity or security on the streets of that country.

    That and the early denial of the Iraqis holding local elections.

    Both those issues exemplified the fact we had become lost in the desert.

    Where did Osama go, because he never was in Iraq.

    Tillman saw the truth and died for it.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "That and the early denial of the Iraqis holding local elections."

    ...and the abrupt dismantlement of the ongoing implementation of the plan to pay to keep the Iraqi Army from turning into insurgents.

    Garner was told to leave,
    ...he did and they did.

    (turn into insurgies)

    ReplyDelete
  36. Buddy thought US military presence was enough.

    He was mistaken.

    Actions were required, action that the US military would or could not take. They developed a doctrine that was destined for failure.

    As has occurred.

    Former members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution, Iraq now rule the roost, there in Iraq. Iran is in ascendancy, still.

    We got our asses whipped.
    While never losing a battle.

    The challenge, then and now, is not military.

    ReplyDelete
  37. The young Marine that was sacrificed to save the Minaret lost his battle.

    ReplyDelete
  38. ...coulda been Lab Rat's son, for all we know.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Petraeus supposedly has dialed back 'Crystal's neutering of the troops.

    9 years after they all fled out of the open barn door.

    ReplyDelete
  40. There are no Islamic Armies on the march.

    M1A1 Abrams and B2 Stealth bombers are not the answer to the Geo-political problems we face.

    But they are the tools we have in the box. Our priorities did not shift, with the changing realities.

    The Soviet Union is dead.
    Charlie is now a social capitalist.

    Morphing from Charlie Chi-com to Charlie Chi-cap.

    Under US influence and guidance.
    Another round of success for the Russell Company acolytes.

    ReplyDelete
  41. DR
    What you are doing with the mustangs, bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  42. It looks as though we're going to follow the Brits into austerity budgets. I should say that "right now, it looks that way." Not long ago, many were saying that capitalism had run amok and more nanny state could put the country back on the rails. Their ebullience was short lived. Now, the Keynesians are despairing that spending cuts will keep the economy mired in a Japanese-like nether world of no growth and no solutions.

    Don't like the political and economic climate? Give it a few months.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Very fetching on that Elephany Chief!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Joshua Landis: Syria and Iran Killed Hariri But George W. Bush Is To Blame.

    Bush is to blame for not rolling up Syria when we should have, as they were transhipping terrorists and weapons to kill our troops.

    The Lebanon Mess

    ReplyDelete
  45. Whit: Now, the Keynesians are despairing that spending cuts will keep the economy mired in a Japanese-like nether world of no growth and no solutions.

    The alternative is to keep racking up a trillion dollars in debt every seven months, and get downgraded by Moodys to Portugal status.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Unless the economy makes some unexpected gains, the unemployment numbers could get significantly higher when first the states, then the Feds begin to pare back on spending, staff and salaries.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Oh, you like my new ride? I like to sit higher than the surrounding traffic. Believe it or not, he gets more MPG than a Hummer.

    ReplyDelete
  48. "Bush took US budget from $1.86 trillion to $3.52 trillion in 8 years". Obama has bumped it up to $3.69, not much if the budget was in balance.

    Revenues have tanked and there is no federal mechanism to reduce their spending. I honestly believe we have at least 50% too much government. Cutting it 10% should be no big deal, but you have to go across the board to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  49. You ought to take him out on the trail with DR.

    ReplyDelete
  50. What about 3% across the board annual reductions for five years.

    Also, start closing military bases around the whirled. Maybe even go for 5% cuts in military spending for five years.

    ReplyDelete
  51. We've got federal employees chasing horses, and burros around in a helicopter. We're way out of control.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Yeah, raise taxes on old, retired farts in Havaii.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Hollywood is the only area to experience growth in SOCAL last year...

    The Maroons finally lowered taxes on film production.

    ReplyDelete
  54. That kinda rhetoric could lead to violence, Rufus!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Well, Rufus, they've got to manage all that land they own, don't they. Besides, anybody with that much land must surely be rich enough to afford a few helicopters.

    There's too damn much Federal Land!
    _______________________________

    Rat, I thought the $$$ numbers were really bad on trying to do anything with those wild horses.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Sun., Jan. 23, 6:30 PM ET CBS
    AFC Championship
    New York Jets vs Pittsburgh

    Sun., Jan. 23, 3:00 PM ET FOX
    NFC Championship
    Green Bay vs Chicago

    Jets go to Pittsburgh seeking third straight road win to reach Super Bowl
    By Associated Press

    Three teams -- and three of the NFL's highest-profile quarterbacks -- have represented the AFC in the past seven Super Bowls, a trend that can continue Sunday at Heinz Field with a victory by Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
    Don't expect the New York Jets to be intimidated.
    The sixth-seeded Jets have gotten through Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to punch a ticket to their second straight AFC title game, leaving Roethlisberger's Steelers as the last obstacle to their first Super Bowl appearance in 42 years.
    With rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez and rookie head coach Rex Ryan, New York was a surprise participant in last season's conference championship game, a 30-17 loss in Indianapolis.
    Matchups to watch
    Want to know what will determine who advances to Super Bowl XLV? Gil Brandt has the answer as he breaks down the key battles in the conference title games. More ...
    The Jets were among the favorites to win the AFC heading into this season, but the same couldn't be said as they entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed -- a path only the 2005 Steelers have taken to a Super Bowl victory.

    Bears, Packers meet with trip to Super Bowl on the line
    By Associated Press

    The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have met 181 times in the NFL's longest standing rivalry dating back to 1921.
    Only once have they played with this much at stake.
    Chicago hosts Green Bay in the NFC title game Sunday in the teams' first playoff meeting since Dec. 14, 1941.
    The Bears' 33-14 victory over the Packers at that time put them in the NFL title game, and a win Sunday will accomplish a similar feat. While there's sure to be mention of the rivalry between franchises with a combined 48 Hall of Fame players, the history between Chicago and Green Bay takes a back seat to a Super Bowl berth being on the line.
    "You just look at our history and it does have a respectful tone, but it can be nasty also," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "It's going to be a physical game. We don't like each other.
    Matchups to watch
    Want to know what will determine who advances to Super Bowl XLV? Gil Brandt has the answer as he breaks down the key battles in the conference title games. More ...
    "Believe me, there is not a whole lot of love for us coming (from the Packers)."
    The Bears (12-5) won the first meeting this season Sept. 27, taking advantage of the Packers' team-record 18 penalties for a 20-17 victory at Soldier Field. Chicago had a chance to knock Green Bay out of the playoff picture in the final week of the season, but the Packers held on for a 10-3 home victory to earn the NFC's sixth seed.
    Aaron Rodgers now has Green Bay (12-6) one win from joining the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers as the only No. 6 seeds to play in the Super Bowl. After throwing for three touchdowns in a 21-16 victory at Philadelphia in the wild-card round, Rodgers went 31 of 36 for 366 yards and three TDs last Saturday in a 48-21 win at top-seeded Atlanta.
    Rodgers, who called last week's performance possibly the best of his career, has a 125.0 passer rating over his last nine games with 22 TDs and two interceptions.
    "Aaron is playing as well as anybody has played that position and he's doing an excellent job spreading the ball around and getting it down the field," Packers center Scott Wells said.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Always before, we would "grow" our way out of these jams. What if the cost of energy doesn't let us "grow our way, out" this time?

    ReplyDelete
  58. Smedley Speaks:

    "Could the Fed go broke?
    The answer to this question was 'Yes,' but is now 'No,'" said Raymond Stone, managing director at Stone & McCarthy in Princeton, New Jersey. "An accounting methodology change at the central bank will allow the Fed to incur losses, even substantial losses, without eroding its capital."

    The change essentially allows the Fed to denote losses by the various regional reserve banks that make up the Fed system as a liability to the Treasury rather than a hit to its capital. It would then simply direct future profits from Fed operations toward that liability.

    This enhances transparency by providing clearer, more frequent, snapshots of the central bank's finances, analysts say. The bonus: the number can now turn negative without affecting the central bank's underlying financial condition.

    "Any future losses the Fed may incur will now show up as a negative liability as opposed to a reduction in Fed capital, thereby making a negative capital situation technically impossible," said Brian Smedley, a rates strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and a former New York Fed staffer.

    "The timing of the change is not coincidental, as politicians and market participants alike have expressed concerns since the announcement (of a second round of asset buys) about the possibility of Fed 'insolvency' in a scenario where interest rates rise significantly," Smedley and his colleague Priya Misra wrote in a research note.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Energy, household debt, the real estate market, high unemployment, low wages, high prices.

    Where to begin? Where's the reset button?

    ReplyDelete
  60. Here's one man's market advise.

    Short the automakers. I don't care what kind of technology they develop, they will not last long with their current price points.

    When they can find a job, college grads are being hired at rock bottom starting salaries. Most consumers have been deeply affected by the bursting bubbles and Credit Crisis. The consumer may continue to go for luxury goods but the "second largest purchase" will increasingly be seen as too big a burden.

    ReplyDelete
  61. 19. starling
    Teresita @ 17 said “Everyone on the planet will be little brown-skinned dark-haired beauties like Wretchard and myself.”

    As a black American now living in the capital of Scandinavia, I sure hope your vision of the future 500 years hence does NOT come to pass. The people here may be the most attractive and industrious and civic that I’ve ever seen or lived amongst. I don’t like their politics so much but as a population or “race”, they are terrific just as they are. The world would lose something very special indeed were that to change.

    ReplyDelete
  62. There's little, if any, advantage in purchasing a home anymore. More people will be content to rent and they'll want to be closer to employment. Cars will be increasingly seen as a liability.

    Rental Car Companies may be an interesting investment.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Whit will have us all traveling by Elephant.

    ...if he ever seizes the levers of power.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Michelle is Blackie O...

    Barrack creates a Shuttle hOle

    ReplyDelete
  65. "Pound Sign #?*!"

    Dog-tired
    Yeah, I'm wired
    Uptight-er than an a-string
    About to break

    Tail-draggin'
    A little ragged
    Hangin' by a thread
    That's startin' to fray

    Just in case there might be
    Little ears around
    I won't say it
    I'll just spell it out

    I feel like pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point
    Don't give a blank
    And a whole lot of other

    Choice words I can't say
    Today I feel like
    Pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point

    Hung-over
    A lot closer
    To ringin' death's door
    Than I was yesterday

    Head-achin'
    Hand-shakin'
    Badly in need
    Of a shower and shave

    Yeah, I know I'm lookin'
    A little rough
    The least I can do
    Is clean my language up

    I feel like pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point
    Don't give a blank
    And a whole lot of other

    Choice words I can't say
    Today I feel like
    Pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point

    I think I partied
    A little too hard last night
    Let's see here now
    How do I put this right?

    I feel like pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point
    Don't give a blank
    And a whole lot of other

    Choice words I can't say
    Today I feel like
    Pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point

    Don't give a blank
    And a whole lot of other
    Choice words I can't say
    Today I feel like

    Pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point
    Percentage sign, at symbol
    Back-slash, squiggle-thing

    Pound-sign, question mark
    Star, exclamation point

    ReplyDelete
  66. I was sifting through some old posts this morning looking for something specific and came across this comment.


    "I’m here!! Your thoughts are important to me. They make my house a better place."

    I read it three times. Because thoughts like that somehow put things into perspective. They seem to make things right and the things that aren't don't always seem to matter.

    ReplyDelete
  67. The Main thing is to remember that the Main thing is the Main thing.


    We kept the banks open, now we've gotta

    Get People Working.

    ReplyDelete
  68. During the Depression we built roads, dams, levies, schools, court houses, elecricity infrastructure, National Parks, and arms for Britain, France, China, and Russia.

    Today, we need to build Ethanol refineries, wind farms, solar farms, and electric infrastructure.

    ReplyDelete
  69. "We kept the banks open, now we've gotta

    Get People Working."

    By transfering wealth from the people to the banks.

    ...as if that was a good thing.

    GE is classified as a bank, to share in the booty.

    Government Electric now in the Big House.

    ReplyDelete
  70. And, we need to build those projects using American Products, and American Labor.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Doug, you need to read up on the Depression. Get some idea of what happens when the Banks go down.

    ReplyDelete
  72. I'm not a big fan of Jeffrey Immelt, but, other than allowing GE to get away with not paying taxes, we haven't lost a dime on our help to General Electric.

    ReplyDelete
  73. You need to read about Japan.

    Zombie Economy

    ReplyDelete
  74. ...just eliminated GE's competetors.

    So as to consecrate Government Electric as the supreme (crony capitalist) competitor.

    ReplyDelete
  75. I know most of us are just mad at the goddamned bankers for "screwing the pooch" to start with.

    Of course, I'm mostly mad at myself for not seeing the deal coming, in spite of warnings by a lot of people.

    I didn't realize we were in serious trouble until it became obvious that the stinking rating agencies were giving AAA to the most vile, worthless shit written in the history of the universe.

    ReplyDelete
  76. I used to repeat ad nauseum:

    Spread all that wealth among the people instead of directing it to the too big to fail crooks, and this mountain would be the molehill it could be.

    But they didn't.

    Repeating Japan's mistakes ad nauseum.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Anyway, the fact remains that the Main Thang, right now, is to get people back to work.

    ReplyDelete
  78. No anger toward the government?

    ...I forgot,
    socialism will solve most of our ills.

    So to speak.

    ReplyDelete
  79. The main way to get people to work is to get government out.

    NOT growing government to "improve our health"

    ReplyDelete
  80. Doug, this continuous rant against "socialism" is inane, and tiresome.

    All Great Economies/Societies are "socialist" to some extent. We're "Social" animals.

    ReplyDelete
  81. I hope the Packers beat the Bears. Why you ask? Because us North Texans don't want nobama to come to the super bowl and make the traffic worse than it will already be.

    ReplyDelete
  82. What The Heck Happened to the Anti-War Movement?

    After Nobama got in they said, "Those are OUR Predator drones"

    ReplyDelete
  83. Funny how we don't hear much about GITMO anymore either... even though it is still open for business.

    ReplyDelete
  84. There's not a Dept of the Federal Government that couldn't stand a 10% Budget cut.

    The biggest problem in any bureaucracy is an ever-escalating "chiefs to indians" ratio, or as Gates puts it:

    Brass creep.

    ReplyDelete
  85. If you really thought that a Dem. Gov. was going to "release" the birth cert. you should probably keep your day job.

    ReplyDelete
  86. All this bitching about Banks and such I'm surprised I'm the only one here who has expressed any anger at the Facebook Goldman deal -

    - Americans couldn't take part in the private offering!

    I find it outstanding that Goldman, who benefited so handsomely in the government bailouts now handles a private Facebook offering and won't allow Americans to buy in because it could violate American Securities Regulation.


    I never did see that invite Deuce.

    On a more important note - I find the main page to be virtually unreadable.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Today, there are 40 four-star generals and admirals -- one more than in 1971, during the Vietnam War, even though the number of active-duty troops has shrunk by almost half.

    ReplyDelete
  88. .

    On a more important note - I find the main page to be virtually unreadable.

    That's what happens as you get older Ash.

    on the other subject..

    The IPO's are one more deal rigged for the big guys.

    I tried to get in on the GM IPO through Fidelity. I was looking to buy about 2500 shares. I met the minimum amounts for funds and for trades and they accepted my offer to buy but I ended up with zip.

    Although I knew the answer, I called them anyways and asked why I wasn't included. The lady I talked to started giving me the usual broiler plate spiel when I stopped her and said, "What you are actually telling me is that I wasn't one of your bigger customer, right?"

    Surprisingly, she came right out and said "Yes".

    You can't fault them for being honest.

    As it turned out the GM deal wasn't that great a deal anyway. The only thing that ticks me off is that now I get an e-mail everyday offering me some new IPO for companies I've never heard of.




    Rat, I would also like to commend you on the work you are doing with the horses.

    Good man.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  89. Chomsky: November’s Republican takeover of Congress ‘a death knell for the species’

    US gives $65 million in aid to China. Why?

    ReplyDelete
  90. Well put Rufus:
    You often cross over to the inane and tiresome when you repeat a government lie about how we are going to profit from one cronie capitalist fraud, or another.
    I commend you for coming right out and defining away the difference between socialism and free market capitalism, however.
    Might as well be frank about what you and the Feds are feeding us.
    I will post below an outline of the BS we are being fed wrt my FED link above regarding the latest lie piled on their mountain of larcenous BS.
    ...it's all good, of course, and black is no different than white, right?

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  91. 70. Subotai Bahadur
    #22 Doug

    I think the loose English translation is:

    1) If anyone was dumb enough to believe any economic statistics coming out of the Federal government up to now; future belief after this is indicative of having crossed the line of Darwinian no return.

    a) The Federal Reserve absorbed most of the bad loans and economic losses that corrupt and stupid Too Big To Fail financial entities accumulated.
    b) They used the supposed “profits” from the bad loans and worthless financial instruments to buy up T-Bills and run up $14 Trillion in additional national debt in 2 years. Note that there WERE no profits.
    c) Right now, the Federal Reserve is the second largest holder of T-Bills, right behind China and Right above Japan.
    d) They are counting the un-repayable debt they have purchased with non-existent profits off worthless loans as assets constituting fractional reserves to back the issuance of yet more inflated Federal Reserve Notes, which will be used to buy more of the un-repayable debt to keep the Ponzi scheme going while the government finishes destroying the private economy.
    e) They have reached the point where even by their own less than transparent accounting system, they cannot cover up the losses; so for appearance sake they are changing the rules so that all the losses belong to the US Treasury and not the Federal Reserve [which technically is not part of the US government]. All losses now belong to the government [read taxpayers] which will cover them by issuing more T-Bills, which will be bought by the Federal Reserve and used to create more money to buy the next round of T-Bills that have to be issued to cover the additional losses that now belong to the taxpayer. At least until things break down totally. Clear as mud. Note that nowhere in this is there anything that will get the economy going again, or cause more jobs to be created. But a lot of TBTF banks will be making money off of the interest and fees, and a lot of that money will be going to politicians’ coffers.

    I believe that a military term is appropriate. FUBAR, Bravo Easy.

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  92. Former Spy With Agenda Operates Own Private C.I.A.

    WASHINGTON — A venture by Duane R. Clarridge shows how the outsourcing of military and intelligence operations has spawned legally murky clandestine operations that can be at cross-purposes with America’s foreign policy.

    ---

    Over the past two years, he has fielded operatives in the mountains of Pakistan and the desert badlands of Afghanistan. Since the United States military cut off his funding in May, he has relied on like-minded private donors to pay his agents to continue gathering information about militant fighters, Taliban leaders and the secrets of Kabul’s ruling class.

    Series Page »

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  93. So Now Obama's Pro Business & He's Gonna Fix The Economy. Yeah & O.J.'s Still Looking For The 'Real' Killer...

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  94. .

    In 2008, we were left with a lot of the hard choices that we all now berate.

    Some of the things that were done were (in my mind) unavoidable like the bank bailout. Others could be debated like the GM bailout. I think it actually helped rather than hurt.

    Regardless of what was done with regard to the markets over the past couple of years or whether it was necessary or not, there is one basic question. Who is responsible for getting us into this mess in the first place?

    The answer seems pretty clear to me.

    It's easy to blame the unions for doing what unions do. It's easy to blame business for doing what they do, maximizing profits. It's easy to blame Frannie, and Freddie, and Sally, and the rating companies, and AIG. But who is the enabler that allows these guys to get away with it?

    It's the federal government. They establish the laissez faire rules that reward companies for moving jobs overseas. They set up the tax policies that keep them from coming back. They hire guys like Immelt to keep things rolling along. They fail to enforce the rules they have on the books. And they look for ways to water down the ones they have. They write laws into the books allowing public service unions (when we already have a civil service code). In fact, they encourage them.

    They encourage risk taking and inhibit saving. They spend money they don't have. They fail to create an industrial policy that puts us on a level playing field with the other nations of the world. They preach fair trade but act otherwise. They argue for an expansion of commercial treaties but refuse to sign the ones that might actually be to our benefit because of political reasons.

    Their foreign policy is based on hypocrisy and/or stupidity and is costing us trillions.

    Bush. Obama. Dems. GOP. It makes no difference. Deuce's post points that out.You can bitch about the unions, big business, the rating agencies, et al, but nothing will happen until the enabler changes.

    .

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  95. Obama to Push for New Spending in SOTU as GOP Demands Deep Budget Cuts

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  96. Q is correct. The winning party in 2012 will be the party that places priority on job creation by eliminating the advantages of not using US labor.

    The gross amount of the Bush budget
    has not gone up much under Obama. The deficit has because tax receipts have gone down.

    Government spending always leads government revenue. The programs become entrenched and when there is a shortfall in tax revenue, there is nothing self correcting in the spending level.

    The Democrats will not support spending cuts that will cut employment and with Obama back up to a 50% approval rating, the American public may not support it either.

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  97. The GOP should start up with a policy of increasing wages for the middle class and expanding the middle class in the private sector. That will not happen with companies like GE, led by the dreadful imelt, manufacturing state of the art high tech products in China.

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  98. Dmitry Medvedev wants to get Russians to stop drinking.Thats nothing, Ms Obama wants to get Americans to stop eating.

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  99. but one can remember who what when or where....hmmm

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