Is This What You Voted For?

By James Kwak

In What’s the Matter with Kansas? Thomas Frank described how the Republican Party was able to take advantage of the conservative, values-focused, evangelical-driven movement to come to power–and then paid lip service to the priorities of the “base,” instead pursuing policies that helped established business interests and the rich. On a national scale, this was one major reason why conservatives became so disillusioned with George W. Bush.

It’s no surprise to anyone that this is happening again, only substituting “Tea Party” for “evangelical conservatives” and “United States” for “Kansas.”

Spencer Bachus, the likely new chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has announced that he is planning to use whatever powers he can to gut the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Why? According to the Financial Times, Bachus “expressed concern that shareholders of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase will be hurt because the banks will be less profitable.”

So one major effect of the Tea Party movement will be to further enrich Wall Street banks and the bankers who work there. (Which, I guess, is consistent with the common Tea Party insistence on reducing taxes for the rich.)

Is this what you voted for?

(If not, Mike Konczal reminds us that tomorrow is the deadline to submit comments on the implementation of the Volcker Rule.)

82 thoughts on “Is This What You Voted For?”

  1. So my choice of parties is between “owned by Wall Street” and “totally owned by Wall Street”?

    But ignore that. Just pick a side, and start sniping!

  2. Simple human nature.

    When there is upside, everybody likes to think that they too can be rich (statistics say otherwise – income and class stagnation…) When there is downside, everybody of means calls themselves “middle class” (which statistics also call a lie… $200k earners are not middle class).

    But then people will also call any statistics “lies and damn lies” ( or something like that….)

    Nemo – :lol: [sorry, laugh out loud :) ]

  3. The political monopoly of these two parties limits the expression of the opinion ‘granularity’ which is actually more characteristic of the population.

    This allows the sort of political fraud which BOTH parties actively engage in (and that the book cited above so well describes):

    Get elected on issues that are entirely unrelated to those which guide their governance…

    This is very happy news for a corrupt financial sector and further abets their interest no matter which ‘side’ wins any particular election.

    I believe the following is a necessary tool (and catalyst for others):

    The Commons-dedicated Account*

    *A self-supporting , Commons-owned neutral network of accounts for both political and charitable monetary contribution… which for fundamental reasons of scale must allow a viable micro-transaction (think x-box points for action in the Commons). The resultant network catalyzes additional functionality for co-ordination of other ‘social energy’ utilization. (If desired, It’s also the most neutral and ultimately politically viable method for the public finance of elections.)

    Enabling simple networked citizen lobbying… most essentially liberated by making an online political ‘micro-transaction’ easily feasible for the User… (without burdening it with the transaction costs which currently keep it off the table of consideration)…

    catalyzes a network of accounts that, in turn facilitates opportunities for enormously reducing the costs of campaigning while bringing candidate selection closer to the people.

    (The political micro-contribution, even where only occasionally useful, drives the creation of a stable universally distributed network of primary importance for scaled association and decision.)

    It may not be immediately clear why this DOES NOT encourage polarization but rather its opposite…

    Why Politics MUST be Localized
    http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2010/10/why-politics-must-be-localized.html

    Empowering the Commons: The Dedicated Account (Part I)
    http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2010/08/empowering-commons-dedicated-account.html

    Political Fundraising: Act Blue, Facebook and the Missing Network Imperative
    http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2010/08/political-fundraising-act-blue-facebook.html

    Personal Democracy: Disruption as an Enlightenment Essential
    http://culturalengineer.blogspot.com/2010/06/personal-democracy-disruption-as.html

    LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/culturalengineer

    Demo & FAQ http://www.Chagora.com

    (I’ve just been issued a patent by the USPTO on the core contribution mechanism)

    Developing a capable electorate involves much more than any single innovation can satisfy… however some innovations act as catalysts for greater change. This is just such a catalyst. While it may seem paradoxical… this is a lever which in time will (I believe) REDUCE the amount of money in politics, LOWER the costs of campaigns, AND lead to the development of a more responsible electorate.

    Capability ENABLES Responsibility…

    (Pssst… that’s why when people feel essentially disenfranchised and helpless they scapegoat and polarize.)

    P.S. The political micro-contribution along with other system benefits and capabilities encourage the User to then use this system for ALL contribution political AND charitable…

    I’m not going to write a hundred page piece here but that, in turn leads to some real opportunities for this enterprise… and especially for it’s users…

    From a Cultural Anthropologist turned entrepreneur.

  4. It’s like something out of a Camus essay.

    The bankers almost brought down the entire economy, the government saves the economy and in the process bails out the bankers, the public revolts (ostensibly over the bailout) and then elects people who…wait for it…want to do everything in their power to protect the bankers.

  6. This has worked out *exactly* how the ‘pubs and teabaggers wanted it to. They’ve manipulated their followers in to believing that the crisis was 100% the fault of Fannie/Freddie and the Dems’ push to open lending up to more people. They have literally convinced them that AIG, Bear, Lehmann and the rest were all *victims* of the Fannie/Freddie fiasco.

    I’ve had this discussion with several conservatives who were, according to my estimates, bright enough to understand a lot of what I’ve learned here. So I share with them, and get a lot of venom spat in my face the moment I challenge them with the thought that maybe they’ve bought in to a lie.

    Make no mistake: they didn’t just plan to get elected. They made sure that once they ARE elected, they can do all the favors for the banks that they want to, and their followers will keep them in power. It’s truly monstrous what they’ve done here… but I do have to stare in dumbfounded awe at how well its worked out for them.

  7. The bottom line remains, if the economy doesn’t improve, President Obama should not be surprised if he is out in 2012 – regardless of challenges to his left and right of the Democratic Party, not to mention possible independent runs of Michael Bloomberg of NY and Sara Palin.

    People think Palin would not have a chance in the general election, but that is what Harry Reid thought before Sharon Angle tied with him in the polls. Harry, like the President, underestimated how angry and totally pissed off voters really where because it was less about Sharon Angle’s wacky politics than it was about what Harry Reid symbolizes. Harry should be writing profusely, thank-you notes to the Hispanics and establishment Republicans who got turned off by Sharon Angle’s lunacy. Like the other two major parties, neither is the Tea Party movement, a monolith:

    http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/election/tea_party_economics_101028/ – GERSH: Many in the Tea Party are also concerned about what they see as the cozy relationship between big business and big government. Six out of 10 tea partiers say the government shouldn`t have bailed out Wall Street or the auto makers, a much higher percentage than the national average. And then there is this big economic institution — the Federal Reserve. After the election, the Fed is expected to launch a new round of asset purchases to fight deflation. Known as quantitative easing, that policy is likely to be very unpopular with Tea Party candidates who are expected to win their races next Tuesday.

    KIBBE: The Fed has gotten very politicized. And quantitative easing, from my point of view, is code for TARP two. We`re going to do a second round of bailouts.

    GERSH: The true test of whether there is such a thing as Tea Party economics will come after the election, when it`s time for the candidates who do end up here to turn their campaign rhetoric into legislative reality. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.

  8. I’m curious to see the response of the Tea Potty rank and file if things get worse for them. Major ifs: the Fed QE2 has a positive effect and/or Fox/Rush etc. can continue to pin all blame on Obama. If these don’t happen then it could get interesting.

  9. They will continue to pin everything on Democrats, liberals, socialists, Marxists, and communists. Their followers will believe it come hell or high water.

  10. The media universe, from which almost everybody gets all of their information about the outside world is owned and controlled by a handful of billionaires and their millionaire flunkies. In this universe the billionaires are the heroes and their millionaire minions do God’s work by offshoring jobs and gutting the middle class, and anybody who complains is a bad person. So there’s nothing to be “in dumbfounded awe” of.

    Most people do not read, they get all of their news from TV and radio. Most people do not have a college education, and most of those who do don’t have a graduate degree except perhaps an MBA, and so are narrowly trained in only their vocation, and most have never had a course in economics. Also the economics that’s taught in school is freshwater/free market baloney.

    Ask yourself: what would your understanding of current events be if you were not educated and never read? Where would you get your news? What would be going on in your mind? There’s a reason for everything.

  11. The post is correct, but don’t forget that we’ve learned since the inauguration that we have two sets of tribal ignoramuses who insist on voting against their interests for elitists who only want to strip and enslave them.

    For example, they both labor under the grotesque delusion that Obama and the Democrats are “progressives” rather than corporatist criminals. The only difference is that one group applauds that delusion while the other deplores it.

    So alongside What’s the Matter With Kansas we need What’s the Matter With Massachusetts or wherever the heck liberals come from.

    Massachusetts – ground zero for predatory corporatist Obamaromneycare, where they just passed a ballot measure demanding Single Payer, thus disproving three lies of the Obama hacks: 1. that this kind of “reform” works at all, 2. that it can be built upon, 3. that in the absence of it, people want the fraudulent “public option”.

    No – having experienced the deadly boondoggle firsthand, the people of Massachusetts want Single Payer. Period.

  12. “You’ll never go broke underestimating the American public.”

    Justice for all, equal chances, self-reliance as a member of a virtuous community, fighting the good fight. The belief that in the USA these are possible dies hard. But it must die. We can account for how after Nixon and Watergate the country became even more corrupt. The GOP and its allies are the loudest scheisters. They have ruthlessly exploited the flaws in the constitution.

  13. In all but one election since 1948, the following rule has worked:

    – If the unemployment rate rises in 2Q of the presidential election year, the incumbent party loses decisively. (Note: In 2008, unemployment rose 0.5% in 2Q, a big increase by historical standards. This enabled the Democrats to take a historic risk on Obama.)

    – If the unemployment rate falls in 2Q of the presidential election year, the incumbent party wins decisively.

    – If the unemployment rate is steady in 2Q of the presidential election year, the incumbent party loses narrowly.

    The one exception was 1956, when unemployment rose in 2Q but Eisenhower was re-elected anyway. Two anomalies that year: First, the unemployment rate was low to begin with. Second, the 2Q rise was slight, and was reversed in 3Q and 4Q.

    Conclusion: Obama’s re-election prospects will hinge on unemployment trends in 2Q12. I think he’s going to need extra-good numbers then, because as a black man he needs extra performance to win a national election.

  14. i suspect that if the economy doesn’t improve that O won’t be the only one out. he will be joined by the GOP from the house and Democrats from Senate. and they have barely a year to get started on it. and almost no chance of accomplishing it with austerity being the rule.
    this will become a failure isn’t an option for the GOP and Democrats.
    fail and your out of a job

  15. The problem facing “TBTF’s” coming to your neighborhood is not what one thinks…rather a “Giant Sucking Sound”! Yes, indeed this siphoning fractured diaspora of huge profits that their “Cash Cow’s” generate, being “Credit Cards”…no more? There are currently millions upon millions now cashing their part-time checks at, E-Z Payday, Check`n Go, etc.,etc., and growing exponentially. People are broke, facing bankruptcy through home foreclosures…or just walking away (catch me if you can?) ripping/shredding up their plastic. What happens to on-line retail, Walmarts, etc.,when cash is king, but in very short supply? The consumers, whom by the way accounts for ~70% of GDP. I would dare say twenty-five – thirty p/c (25% -30%) of Credit Card users are gone for a long , long time leaving the banking industry scratching their heads. They are going/moving abroad too emerging markets, but for what? Ref:

    http://www.wowcreditcards.com/issuers.htm

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/227780-a-new-world-for-credit-card-issuers

    http://www.google.com/search?q=the+largest+credit+card+issuers+in+the+world&rlz=117GDNA_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7

  16. Obama failed, the Democrats paid the price, and ultimately the country pays the price.

    Bottom line – everybody expected Obama to side with the people rather than Wall St. He chose Wall St.

    You’ve been yelling at him about this for close to two years. What else can you or anyone do at this point? The people are stuck in a two party system with both sides corrupt.

  17. I’m still in awe of how they’ve managed to convince people that looking out exclusively for the interests of the truly rich (to the absolute exclusion of EVERYONE else) helps us all. Really. It’s truly amazing.

    As for what my own understanding would be were I not educated: the funny thing is that I never finished college. I have no degree. Yet the moment this whole crisis happened, I sat down and started digging for information and understanding. So-called news reports felt incomplete. They seemed to only describe the end results and symptoms, not the root causes. I researched, I read, I discussed… and yet when I discuss all I’ve learned with conservatives that have degrees, they all display the same blindly fanatical faith in their media demagogue heroes that the uneducated ones do. Education, I’m afraid, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with it.

    You are largely correct in your questions though. I’ve considered all those thoughts previously. I think it’s not a lack of education that’s the issue though. I think it’s a lack of curiosity (and possibly raw intelligence) and/or a blind acceptance of authority that creates their point of view. Additionally, a bit of laziness probably helps. It’s much easier to just accept the news from one station that normally parrots your views than to dig for information and think about a problem deeply.

  18. Elizabeth,
    No matter whether you feel TARP or “QE” are bad or good they are not the same. You can think that both are horrid, but they are completely different processes. One has to do with monetary policy and one has to do with fiscal policy. Anyone who tries to fuse the two topics together is either so ignorant that even watching the boobtube is apt to improve their knowledge level, or an insincere liar. I’ll let the observers decide which of those two Mr. Kibbe falls under.

  19. We came up with a solution. We added a third party. It’s just even MORE wingnut and in corporate pockets than the other two.

  22. “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

    Woody Allen (1935 – ), My Speech to the Graduates

  23. …Of course that only applies if you believe in the rule of gravity. But the Constitution says nothing about this so-called “force” (nor does the Bible) — and besides, anything that keeps me down is by definition an unjust imposition on my freedom. From now on, the the pendulum will swing exactly where we tell it to swing — no compromise!

  24. What amazes me the most about Bachus is that he actually made the statement. Since financial reform (assuming that we continue to hear nothing from EW) was essentially a 2300 page red herring, it is interesting that a Republican would say such a thing out loud. First, why would any Wall Street banker want him to fight againsts something which it wrote in stone (it hopes). But, if ignorance is bliss, maybe Spenser and the rest of those who now will occupy the “hallowed halls” will be as clueless.

    The biggest problem for the newly elected Congressional newbies is this: they think that the “public has spoken” means that the public prefers what they want to put in place. Oh, they are so wrong. Did they forget that the trust of their party (21%) is actually lower than that the public has for the Democrates (37%). The only real reasons that they were elected were three: first, the TeaParty idiot, clueless extremists got very excited and actually voted, and second, the rest of the electorate, at least to some extent decided that an unknown voice (regardless of what it was saying) was better than a known voice that they hated for not working for the electorate, and, lastly, because there was some small hope that a different “mix” might lead to actual action and progress. Of course, as usual, the media has baffled them with statistics, and the oligarchy has confused them with nothing but negative ads.

    As a non-voting potential voter, I saw through all of the run-up crap, and decided that, until someone, other than Bernie Sanders, becomes believable, I can’t just go to the polls and vote for someone whom I know is only going to the hallowed halls to serve the interests of the plutocracy, and to carry that membership card which is far more valuable than their party card. Elections are NOTHING BUT A SHAM AND A FARCE, AND AS MEANINGFUL IN AMERICA TODAY AS THEY WERE IN THE SOVIET UNION AT THE PEAK OF ITS POWER.

  26. And they have chosen the only logical system for health care, unless the Neatherlands system is imposed.

  27. And, so what? Whether he wins or loses doesn’t even matter. If you think that either party represents America’s electorate, you are completely clueless. As proof of this I offer up the fact that, during the various campaigns we heard about 1% about what positive actual actions would be taken to solve problems, and the other 99% was spent bashing the opposition. It’s is just a multi-billion dollar game. In the end, as always, the oligarchs win, the plutachs govern, and we lose. It’s simple. So, do any math you want, look for any historical pattern. Who cares in an age where the American Dream has been stomped into the mud.

  28. I agree that they are different processes, Ted. I know you are a smart guy, but, from my perspective, in the end, the results will be bad, albeit for different reasons. QE is going to devalue the dollar, create a theoretical trade advantage, and will quickly be countered by other nations going through a similar devaluation in order to compete. Then, we’ll not only have a currency war, but the potential benefits of the FEDS action will not happen. Of course, long term rates will go down, but with very few potential borrowers available, this is unlikely to spur much, if any, additional economic activity. And, worse, in the long run (maybe not so long, really), we will move into an era of deathly infation, and that is only if, somehow, QE2 is able to keep us above the deflationary spiral. AND, lastly, this is a bit of a bailout because it makes the Wall Street Stock Market engine get totally revved, which really, in the long run, only benefits the big banks, once again.

  30. The largest Third Party – the “Independents” (check it out, that’s what most people are registering as)

    had to be “contained”.

    Straight out of the Pentagon’s “anti-insurgency” campaign pamphlet…

    They’re celebrating “gridlock” on CNBC this morning and licking their wolfman chops over extending the Bush tax cuts…

    Washington DC has declared WAR against USA citizens. What more proof do you people need – seriously?

    Look, I’m sorry that you really thought that your “math” and “statistics” was adequate for ruling the “animal spirits”. You should have considered, in that case, whether your alpha dogs – sociopaths, psychotics, narcissists and all sub-complexes in between like OCD attention to minutia (strain at gnats, swallow the camel)

    could remain alpha after the dogs in the back of the pack watched the front of the pack fall off a cliff.

    How about this – thieves declaring WAR and using “law” – when they launch the use of force to get what they want – is that a “war” or not?

  31. At the end of What’s the Matter with Kansas? Thomas Franks asked, “How much more of the ‘garden of the world’ will we abandon to sterility and decay?” His guess was, “quite a bit.”

    And so it is. That “fever-dream of martyrdom” that Kansas followed, the nation followed this election. Kansas, Franks said, was “ready to lead us singing into the apocalypse.” It invited the nation “to join in, to lay down our lives so that others might cash out at the top; to renounce forever our middle-American prosperity in pursuit of a crimson fantasy of middle-American righteousness.” Even if the nation “must sacrifice all – its cities and its industry, its farms and its small towns, all its thoughts and all its doings…”

    Just like Kansas, the nation’s voters are leading us singing into the apocalypse.

    Why?

    Once again, Republicans, now having won the election, are already starting to throw the Tea Partiers overboard into the tea bale filled waters. Many of the poor fools don’t yet that this is happening.

    It’s not the economy. It’s politics, stupid! Our elected elites have rewritten the rules of politics and the economy in ways that have benefited the top few at the expense of the many.

    How in our political system built on the ideal of political equality, in which middle class voters are supposed to have such tremendous say, did our democracy end up being an oligarchy? Where rising income inequality is the highest amongst the industrial world? Where the few rule over the many and the public good is trashed by the wealthy, powerful, and elite?

    “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” – Plutarch

  32. Volcker: Fed’s $900 Billion Plan ‘An Illusion’

    11- 5-10 08:19 AM – AP – excerpts

    SEOUL, South Korea — “Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker says the U.S. central bank’s plan to buy hundreds of billions of dollars in government bonds probably won’t do much to boost the economic recovery.

    “The thought that you can create a prosperous economy by inflating is an illusion, in my judgment,” he told reporters after his speech. “And we should never forget that. I thought we’d learned that lesson and I hope we continue to learn that lesson.”

    http://tinyurl.com/36bwla2

  33. The only “logical system for health care” will provide for transparency of outcomes and prices, engage individuals in their own health decisions (or not – their choice and their risk), and radically change the incentives that are embedded in the present hopelessly broken system, which Obamacare did nothing to truly reform.

    I suggest you google Regina Herzlinger.

  34. “non-voting potential voter” complaining about the people in power. Bayard… You have zero credibility until you participate.

    m

  35. Even though I’m registered as one, Independents don’t really count as a party. The Teabaggers, while not monolithic, do vote for those who the head of the party tell them to. Not so much for Independents, since there’s no actual head of the party or official party ethos. We’re just the group to be manipulated after you convince your base to vote for you.

  36. Poor Mr. Volcker. Trotted out with Obama to calm populist rage, then shoved back in a broom closet and ignored when it came time to write actual policy and put rubber to the road.

  37. Good point!

    It’s a safe bet that the republicans will try to undo the (little but still) good parts of reform which have occurred in the past 18 months.

    But maybe we’re misreading the electorate. Could it be that the swing voters don’t give a #*!$ about republican/democrat/green/(name your party) right now? Maybe they just want to punish incumbents for failing to deliver significant, helpful changes.

    If that’s right, then it’s also a safe bet that the Republicans will lose House seats in 2012.

  38. damn, the cluelessness.

    the tea party folks hate wall street. they hate hacks like spencer bacchus. time after time you saw them promote candidates in this election cycle who were opposed by the republican machine. if you conflate them with people like bacchus you are either blind, stupid or lying.

  40. QE Madness

    November 5, 2010, 1:30 PM – NY Times – Paul Krugman – excerpt

    “It has been really interesting to watch some of the commentary over quantitative easing by the Fed: while people like me see the Fed’s actions as way too timid, there’s a substantial faction out there that sees them as the end of Western civilization.”

    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/qe-madness/

  41. “Poor Mr. Volcker….then shoved back in a broom closet ”

    At least he has company.

    “But his powers of persuasion have worked elsewhere: Volcker has just become engaged to his longtime assistant, Anke Dening.

    A widower, Volcker is 82 and his fiancee younger by perhaps 15 to 20 years–friends aren’t sure of her age…Ms. Dening will continue in her job as his assistant.”

    Booya!

  43. Fed’s Plosser Says Understanding Crisis May Take 50 Years

    November 05, 2010 5:33 PM – Bloomberg – excerpt

    “It will be at least 50 years before we really understand very well what happened in 2008-2009, and we will be interpreting for another 50 years as to whether the Federal Reserve undertook the right policies or the wrong policies,” Plosser said today during an audience discussion at a Fed conference in Jekyll Island, Georgia.”

    http://tinyurl.com/irony-Jekyll-Island

  46. Re: @ Kickk___”it will be fifty years before we really understand…and another fifty years as to whether…right or wrong” – simply said,

    “neither does one immulate uniqueness nor discovery to immortalize what has been from the onset of recycled demagoguery”
    “a script posulated on a conjectured stalagmitized buffer of esoteric ignorance fornicating redundancy equating the apotheosis of wisdom naught”
    “and the reaper perching upon the hollowed stalactite above salivating the ubiguitous irony of all that is vanity spoken through the perpetuating twilight facade within” :-)

  47. ” I’m still in awe of how they’ve managed to convince people that looking out exclusively for the interests of the truly rich (to the absolute exclusion of EVERYONE else) helps us all. Really. It’s truly amazing.”

    It’s social Darwinism. And, absurdly, it is the gut religion of the Right, the very same folks who disavow Darwinism in the natural sciences.

  48. ya know james these guys have obama backed into a corner. the republicans know they have the rich elites behind their backs and that obama cant get things done without the rich elites approval. yet if obama does things like leave iraq, break up the banks, the elites will remove him from office or worse (mafia stuff).
    so we have that the answer to that magic word, compromise. obama is compromising what the american people want with what the rich elites will allow them to have.
    and no i dont think the republicans are the rich elites. the rich elites have no party affiliation.

  49. (INSIDE JOB: The Looting of America’s Savings & Loans p457: 1991 BY STEPHEN PIZZO, MARY FRICKER & PAUL MUOLO)

    On financial campaigning that proved successful as a political weapon: “The defeat sent another message to Washington-those with ties to the S&L industry had enough money not only to help politicians who were helpful but to get rid of those who weren’t.”

    This was the same scenario in regards to regulation and deregulation only an earlier version of the same game plan.

    This is not what we voted for James, this is what was bought and paid for!

  52. When all this $hit hits the fan, Mr. Volcker’s broom closet may look pretty good.

    Too bad the rest of us will have to tough it out on Down and out Main St.

  53. So, James, the American people are too stooopid to vote for our own interest. You know this because you know what our interests are. Even better we do. Lead us wise one! Or we’ll blow our money on big pickup trucks and big screen TVs.

    The Democrats were blown out because they were given a chance to lead and they failed. It is not in our interest to be led by fools.

    You should not presume to know what my interests are — you simply cannot know.

  54. Mainstream media is to blame for this.

    Republicans and Tea Baggers spewed campaign promises to lower taxes and eliminate deficit spending. The masses cheered in wild agreement… Yeah! Less government! Lower taxes! Balanced budget!

    The media rarely pressed candiates with the next logical question about this two-legged platform… what spending are you going to cut and by how much? In fact, we still don’t know the answer to that question and neither do the Republicans.

    Two years of gridlock ahead, guaranteed.

  55. The spin is that a Third Party “would not work”.

    Gee, where are the evangelicals when you need them – “Trinity” works best :-))

    And since everything on this site gets back to the purity of “math” – I’m making the observation that a Third Party already exists – mathematically speaking – and it is bigger than the other two extreme “isms”.

    It’s the WAR, stooopid…

    Not the “economy”.

    How on earth could that NOT have been a topic!?

    “Terror” Contractors in the top 1% economic pile that their pencil geek sociopaths got for them from the computer screen..lies, theft and murder

    and all so POINTLESS – what’s the final goal – genetic purity and Paradise? Nope – all about ME ME ME and the cash in my pocket

    and POWER over others – no more free will – how many scientists are they paying to prove that there is no chemical in the brain associated with “free will”?

    Spaceship Earth is TRASHED beyond reason and belief – do the math…

  56. Re: @ Rickk___This makes me sick…just sick to think these slugs have the audacity to go back to the scene of the crime [(1913) (Federal Reserve Banking System law…conception/designed/implemented)] and shove their nonsense down our throats once again. “Off with their heads!” PS. Sorry about the spell error on name in last post…trigger-finger earle here. Great digging. :-)

  57. 6 out of 10 don’t support the bailout?

    Isn’t that the whole reason d’etre for the tea-party movement?

    That’s like saying 6 out of 10 Christians believe in Jesus.

  59. It’s no surprise to anyone that this is happening again”

    Look, that bait-and-switch has happened to the lower-income Repubs over and over and over and they still haven’t figured it out. Since Reagan, at least. No national politician is ever going to go anywhere a controversial social issue where the opinion split is near 50-50. Not now, not ever.

  60. The Man Who Called the Financial Crisis—70 Years Early

    NOVEMBER 6, 2010 – Wall Street Journal – excerpt

    “Decades before anybody had ever heard of a mortgage derivative, an economist named Melchior Palyi predicted key causes of the 2008-2009 financial crisis with precision that makes a modern reader’s hair stand on end.”

    http://tinyurl.com/295fzpb

  61. “Mr. Palyi warned in 1938 that a push toward universal home ownership would “make the population fixed to the ground” by “overburdening them with housing costs.” That, he foresaw, would limit the mobility of American workers—helping explain why unemployment is so stubbornly high today.”

    Yup, that’s why agricultural-based Russia was so wealthy at the beginning of the industrial age as to attract every psycho on the planet to stage a “change”….

    Problem was correctly identified by the their “congress” – wealth distribution – which was a law that was about to get passed – peasants were about to become “burdened” with being land owners – that whole trickle down thingy – spread the wealth.

    But thanks for digging up the article, Rickk, on yet another financial prophet from the same era as the “protocols”…

    Moving forward in time, I prophesize that the global elite will need to keep running away from the “pitchforks”.

    They trashed Spaceship Earth. You’d think that with all the “science” data they have allowed to seep out for this cause or another,

    the FACT that this planet is in every way, shape and form – a SPACESHIP

    does not register as “real” in their interpretation of the facts on the ground…

    Dare I bring up the “population rooted to the ground” that is willing to create Armageddon to lay claim to their “historic” piece of dirt…?

  64. The hell it will. The main players already know what caused it, and the intellectually honest have found enough evidence to start with the lawsuits. It’s just the loyal masses listening to the players’ massive megaphone that might take a while to catch up.

    Too bad all the criminals will be long gone, sleeping eternally with smiles on their faces. Knowing they ripped off the entire world, got away with it, and were punished with a great life.

  65. Roubini Sees Another ‘Disaster’ If House Prices Drop

    Nov. 2, 2010 – National Post – excerpts

    “Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the global financial crisis, said another “disaster” will happen if U.S. house prices fall again and prime mortgage defaults increase.

    “If house prices are going to fall another 5% to 10%, another eight million households are going to be in negative equity,” Mr. Roubini said on Tuesday at a conference in Cape Town. “We are going to have another nasty crisis. That’s going to happen unless we do something about it. Forget about subprime, look at prime…

    A “flood of liquidity” is going to emerging-market economies from South Africa to Asia, he said. “Eventually we will have another round of asset bubbles and a boom of capital into emerging markets to be followed then by financial excesses, and somewhere down the line, not this year and maybe not next year, but maybe in the next couple of years, it’s going to lead to an economic bust.”

    http://tinyurl.com/2drbc9b

  66. I just “love” the sanitized and sanctioned version of the RR in USA – no better example than that re-write of history as proof that the “protocols” are in total control of “education”.

    Once drug lords make bold enough to enter social engineering by turning women into “collateral damage” and FORBIDDING us to raise our children to be clear thinking HUMAN BEINGS who cannot fall into the traps set by HATRED and revenge –

    well, it’s too depressing to go there in full so early in the morning –

    there’s nothing MATERIAL left in a civilization/society under the control of DEPRAVITY which is worth caring about! That’s why “revolutions” – whether it’s the devil or the saint who starts them – all binging with “bringing down the house”.

    Not bending my knee to worship the war lord and the drug lord as “successful” businesspeople who get special TAX status – like they freekin’ pay their fair share to begin with – ROTFL.

    They TRASHED the planet and their future “visions” are even worse.

    So many divided loyalties in USA from the economic prophets:

    “Mr. Palyi warned in 1938 that a push toward universal home ownership would “make the population fixed to the ground” by “overburdening them with housing costs.” That, he foresaw, would limit the mobility of American workers—helping explain why unemployment is so stubbornly high today.”

    You mean the ARTIFICIAL 25% unemployment in USA is because we owned a home and some UNTRASHED land in USA and because of that we did not move to India or China to man the customer service phones for the banksters?

    Who knew?!

    Stepped on women’s heads in Kentucky – quite the morph from Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party in 2008:

    “The ONLY role of government is to protect the INDIVIDUAL against force and fraud.”

    Constitutional Convention and BURN the Patriot Act.

    I know for a FACT that without the Patriot Act, the information to be in the hands of a secret few to pull off this massive theft would NOT have been possible – got the paperwork to prove it.

  67. With respect to your first paragraph, similarly if you simply substitute “conservative movement” with “liberal base” and “Bush” with “Obama,” you get what’s the Democratic Congress and Obama are doing to the progressive movement.

  68. Dear Mr Kwak:

    I believe your expertise lies in finance and not political philosophy. In fact, based on your opening paragraph, it appears you know very little about American history and conservatism (i.e. the GOP acting as a magical sorcerer taking advantage of the lowly simple minded God fearing bumpkin) – are you serious? If you wish to learn a little more about what you don’t know with respect to USA politics over the past 50 years, I encourage you to read this.

    Regards,

    John

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/251670/day-democratic-dead-henry-olsen

  69. It’s important to eliminate as much rent-enabling behavior from your life as possible. Get rid of the TV or at least cable. Eat local food, not food from the food chain (“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”) Avoid interest by paying cash. Don’t take money away from your local stores by using plastic, pay in cash. And on and on and on. Not only will you be healthier and happier — TV and Big Food reinforce each other, for example — you’ll be dealing a mortal blow to your enemies. And if enough people do that…

  70. So, you think it’s a bad idea, and it’s not the same as “Tarp II”. How are you disagreeing with Ted exactly?

  74. That’s about the best summation I’ve heard, I must quote this profusely to all right-wing-tea-bags I run across. Thank you.

  75. Gullibility which has been dialectically enriched by his pal, Frank Luntz’s enhanced media diatribe morphing of the political speak that fondles their cranial nerve endings. All 2 dozen of them…

  76. That’s because they don’t believe in anything “natural”, and thus their public aversion to “making love”, and instead make war, while secretly making the insurance companies cover and medicare pay for their artificial libido-enhancing viagra, which then lends them to fondle others than the spouse.

  77. “The media rarely pressed candidates”? What have I missed? Has the media ever “pressed” anyone in an interview ab out anything of real substance and importance? Please point me ion that direction…

  78. You have a firm grasp of human political devolution, and are likely correct in your observation.

  79. Sone years in the future after these mega-wealthy social darwinists have thinned the global population through economic genocide and plain ole war and police brutality (maybe some TSA death groping too) down to a more manageable size, and allowing for some extra years of making more holes in the ground and ozone layer to support the Koch brothers and their slice of the industrial pie, the middle class will degrade into what is now the lower class. As those who now “service” the middle and upper classes will be dead under boot-foot, the people who made all this happen, those who thought all these years that their loyalty (betrayal) would be rewarded, will find themselves the new servers of the plutocracy. (I think that might be the longest sentence I ever wrote)

    The BMW you are driving today, you will be living in tomorrow…

  81. That’s because what they have done is so totally absurd and ludicrous that it will take them 50 years to come up with a dialogue that is in any way convincing.

    How would you explain using bubble gum to fix holes in a car radiator, charge both arms and legs to do so, then feign astonishment when soon after the leaks spring forth once again?

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