Friday, March 06, 2009

In the Land of the Free



What is now called a "financial news network" used to be called a "shill."

Jon Stewart has it right: "a box of parrots."

On the upside, I have a guaranteed way you can invest less than $15 and make $100 trillion dollars in just three weeks time. Guaranteed. Just click here

And what can you do with all that money? Simple: Buy houses in Detroit, where the median house price is just $7,500.

Yes, that's the median. Half of them are cheaper.

Now let's go over the basics, about this meltdown, OK?

The most basic point is this: The Republicans did this to us. They were in charge for the last eight years, flogging the notion that all regulation is bad, that greed is good, and that Wall Street was going to save us.

These are the folks that wanted to privatize Social Security and scrap Medicare, and who still think there is nothing wrong with this country that another $500 billion tax cut for the super-rich cannot cure.

Let me say it plain: Every election is an intelligence test, and if you voted Republican in a National election in the last three cycles, you failed.

The ideologues in the Republican Party have done what the terrorist could not: they have hammered America to its knees.

Sept. 11th was a blow, but we were back up six months later.

Hurricane Katrina was a Biblical-scale disaster, but it was regional.

What the naked greed of Wall Street financiers, abetted by their political henchmen in the Republican Party, have done is slash a wound in our side that will still be seeping blood and oozing puss a generation from now.

Do not forget who crashed this car, and who now shouts that we are wasting time and money caring for the wounded.

Do not forget, America, O Great Nation of Amnesiacs.

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8 comments:

Living the life in The Little City said...

You said it.

There are more than a few things I don't understand about this, but I do understand that this is not going away anytime soon.

kathleen
mythreepups.blogspot.com

Miki said...

The Cheney/Bush years were, arguably, only the last of a 30 year BFM that had to finally come crashing to earth. See http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/4/6354/58625

I heart Jon Stewart.....

Gina Spadafori said...

In deciding to vote for Obama, my brother the life-long Republican said, "I'm not leaving the Republicans. They left me long ago. The greedy, power-mad bastards running the party played the religious nuts to give them the votes to screw us all. And screw us all they did."

2CatMom said...

You are so right. Personally, I'd like an apology from every Republican who told me over the last 8 years that regulations are bad because they inhibit a free market. No, regulations inhibit a full scale greed induced free-for-all. Anyone remember the old Savings & Loan scandel? How 'bout Enron?

Would you like to live on half of your monthly social security payment? Because that's what the free-market would have given you had the Republican's been successful in allowing individuals to invest their social security taxes in the market.

You don't have to be a genius to make money when the market's going up - hey my cats could have made money in the last few years of the up market.

But everyone seems to forget that what goes up invariably comes down - and you don't want to be heading into retirement at the bottom of the cycle.

And now these fat-cats who have enriched themselves through kick-backs (so sorry, I meant lobbyist gifts) are complaining about the deficit? Yeah, its high because Obama is actually including the gazillion $s it costs us to stay in Iraq in the budget. Not to mention to fix roads, bridges, and get us a start on energy independence instead of giving it away in no-bid contracts to Dick Cheney's cronies.

Pai said...

The best breakdowns I've heard that explain this entire financial mess in layman's terms, is this podcast series. If anyone still doesn't get all the ins and outs of how we got into this fiasco, they're a great listen. Start with the episode called 'The Giant Pool of Money'.

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

Patrick,
Why did you use, incorrectly, the term "average" instead of "median" even though you gave a right explanation (for median) for what the original article intended - a half of homes will be below $7500 and a half above? Hmmm... did you think that people would not know the difference? Anyway, the median price is calculated differently than average price (add prices of sold houses are added together and the sum is divided by the number of houses that sold). Sometimes the difference between the median and average is quite substantial.

Anyway, I loved the post!

PBurns said...

Opps -- you got it right. A slip up at 5 in the morning. Must buy better coffee! Will correct.

By the way, I am not convinced the number is even true. Trying to find out more about the original data set. The average sale price, was a shade over $46,000 so it could be true, but how could half of all house sales be for under $8,000? Empty lots are worth more than that! See >> http://realestate.aol.com/Detroit-MI-real-estate

P.

PBurns said...

Oops -- you got it right. A slip up at 5 in the morning. Must buy better coffee! Will correct.

By the way, I am not convinced the number is even true. I am trying to find out more about the original data set. The average sale price, was a shade over $46,000 so it could be true, but how could half of all house sales be for under $8,000? Empty lots are worth more than that! See >> http://realestate.aol.com/Detroit-MI-real-estate

P.