Are we saved yet? Didn't think so. Wont be saved when they're eventually confirmed either. It's going to take more than these two to get the economy back on a sound financial footing. It should mean a reorganization and reprioritization of government spending and spending in the private sector, but bailouts forestall all of that because risk gets taken out of the equation.

Dude, Where's my bailout?

Not quite sure how to react to this news.

Dude, where's my country?

Scary quote:
"including what is shaping up to be a multi-hundred billion dollar jobs and infrastructure spending plan."

Can you say "alphabet soup agencies?"

a multi-hundred billion dollar jobs and infrastructure spending plan.

My head hurts

I don't care if it rains or freezes...

Doesn't Lawrence Summers believe that women are inferior to men?

re: #6 WitchDoctor

Scary quote:
"including what is shaping up to be a multi-hundred billion dollar jobs and infrastructure spending plan."

Can you say "alphabet soup agencies?"

TVA

The market seems to like Timothy Geithner. Popped up by a hundred or so points on Friday within an hour following the announcement.

And Obama came upon two men as they were fishing. He said, leave your nets and I will make you fishers of taxes. And they left their nets and straightaway followed him.

re: #9 DesertSage

Wasn't Lawrence Summers a victim of PC run amok?

re: #9 DesertSage

Doesn't Lawrence Summers believe that women are inferior to men?

Hmmm, a kind of inflammatory way to bring up that issue...

Bailout! Hooray! It means banks can make dumb decisions without any repercussion. /I'm going to Vegas and demand that I leave with just as much money as I had when I started...

Just give each of us a Million bucks and we reinvest... As simple as that...

Oh goody, free money... When do I get mine? Do I get my mortgage paid too, and how about free gas, and oh yes, that new Cadillac CTS - I'd like mine in a silver color please.

Don't be alarmed folks, those popping sounds you hear are tiny feminist brains exploding in Cambridge , Mass

re: #9 DesertSage

Doesn't Lawrence Summers believe that women are inferior to men?

No, he got a bum rap on that one.

re: #4 LilyGecko

Not quite sure how to react to this news.

Pray.

re: #19 Nevergiveup

No, he got a bum rap on that one.

Big time bum rap.

re: #16 tfc3rid

Just give each of us a Million bucks and we reinvest... As simple as that...

Within 4 months, top 10% will be the top 10% again, (with a few strippers thrown in for good measure).

I still don't think we have capitulation in the markets. I think this is a temporary rally but who knows anymore.

Sounds good.
re: #20 VegasRick

re: #5 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Dude, where's my country?

Check the alley.

re: #23 Iron Fist

Oh, shit! We're all fucked!

Well said.

re: #26 bosforus

Which alley? Been living in them for the past few months...

re: #9 DesertSage

Not inferior, just indifferent.

re: #7 Shug

My head hurts

It could be worse...our current Prez is tossing around Multi-BILLION dollar plans like there's no tomorrow...

Hey, everybody does it.

Pay one credit card off with another card...
What could possible go wrong?

re: #19 Nevergiveup

No, he got a bum rap on that one.

I know that he got a bum rap.
But do he NOW women know that he got a bum rap?

re: #28 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Which alley? Been living in them for the past few months...

What, Obama hasn't been paying your mortgage or putting gas in your car? He shows up every morning at 0630 and fills up my gas can before handing me a check for my monthly mortgage.

re: #18 Shug

Don't be alarmed folks, those popping sounds you hear are tiny feminist brains exploding in Cambridge , Mass

If they can overlook real attacks against women like rape and using a position of power to gain sex with employees, they can overlook a scandal that was fabricated.

Wow, could you imagine the headline if it has been a McCain Administration that had hired Lawrence (men are smarter than women) Summers.

re: #30 Desert Dog

It could be worse...our current Prez is tossing around Multi-BILLION dollar plans like there's no tomorrow...

Well there isn't for him really? Just saying?

More stimulus? Sure... Another bailout? Suuure... More stimulus? Suuure... More bailouts? Yes, please...

re: #17 Czarny_Smok

Oh goody, free money... When do I get mine? Do I get my mortgage paid too, and how about free gas, and oh yes, that new Cadillac CTS - I'd like mine in a silver color please.

I gave up on hearing about an Obama supporter with a savings account months ago.

re: #9 DesertSage

Doesn't Lawrence Summers believe that women are inferior to men?

No.

re: #31 jcm

"Hey Honey! "We got another credit card today! We don't have to go bankrupt!"

Caption on a cartoon I saw in the early 90s.

I want an iPod nano. :)
re: #17 Czarny_Smok

re: #33 Jetpilot1101

You get a check for your mortgage every day?!

re: #32 DesertSage

I know that he got a bum rap.
But do he NOW women know that he got a bum rap?

Do the NOW women think at all?

Assad makes Kuntar a sergeant
Syrian president honors Lebanese terrorist with military title, during latter's visit to Damascus

[Link: www.ynetnews.com...]

Well at least he didn't make him an Officer?

re: #43 Nevergiveup

Do the NOW women think at all?

Doesn't matter. The healing springs of Obama have touched him. All is forgiven.

re: #23 Iron Fist

I didn't see your sarc tag.

/Please?

re: #6 WitchDoctor

Scary quote:
"including what is shaping up to be a multi-hundred billion dollar jobs and infrastructure spending plan."

Can you say "alphabet soup agencies?"

O is proposing to complete what FDR started with the Newer New Deal.

They look like they're about to kiss each other in that photo.

Sorry, just a random thought.
re: #44 Nevergiveup

Boy, 12, Dies From Excessive Deodorant Use

[Link: www.foxnews.com...]

Ah shit. Does this mean I gotta go back to showering?
/

re: #46 joncelli

I didn't see your sarc tag.

/Please?

The exclamation point was used instead.

Lawrence Summers: [Link: en.wikipedia.org...]
Timothy F. Geithner: [Link: en.wikipedia.org...]

re: #45 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Doesn't matter. The healing springs of Obama have touched him. All is forgiven.

He is curing the man with leprosy... The One is amazing!

One of these guys on Sunday - or a close aid, was saying that they have to "shock the system into submission." I thought the problem is that the economy is already on it's knees. This is like beating the downed mule. The mule may stand up only to stagger forward and collapse.

A friend just had a heart attack this morning. Drove himself to the doctor's office when he wasn't feeling well, and started to have the heart attack in the doctor's office. They called and ambulance, and he's now in stable condition - for now.

Health is the number one priority.

re: #7 Shug

My head hurts

Your wallet and paycheck will soon feel even worse.

Folks, Obama's team may be darlings of Wall Street but nothing they do will be able to stem this economic tsunami. Folks, the dike is about to burst and while we all relish in the DOW being up for 2 straight days (800 points), the pressure on the backside of the dam is building. Mortgage defaults and home forclosures were the tip of the iceberg. When Joe and Cindy normal can't pay their credit card bills and default on those; get ready for an economic storm that no amount of money will be able to solve. Couple that with the treasury printing billions of dolars and we're setting ourselves up for a mess that will take decades to dig out from under. If we keep doing this, Mugabe will be loaning us money. I don't want to sound like an alarmist but reality sometimes sucks.

re: #43 Nevergiveup

The predominant use of logic over the feminine "emotion" is a male domination construct created by thousands of years of paternal hegemony of the social power structure to unsuspectingly force barbaric and ultra-masculine mores on unsuspecting womyn.

No self respecting feminist womyn would every use the fatherlike "logic" when the feminine "emotion" is available.

/

re: #42 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

You get a check for your mortgage every day?!

Yes, Obama likes to spread the wealth around.

Lawrence H. Summers was sworn in as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury in July 1999 after serving as undersecretary for international affairs and deputy secretary of the Treasury. From 1991 to 1993 he served as chief economist of the World Bank, where he played a key role in designing strategies to assist developing countries. Before coming to Washington, Summers had a distinguished academic career as the Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University.

As undersecretary and deputy secretary of the Treasury, Summers worked closely with Secretaries Bentsen and Rubin in formulating domestic and international economic policies. He played a key role in designing the United States support program for Mexico in the wake of its 1995 financial crisis and in crafting the international response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

As deputy secretary, Summers was also instrumental in the introduction of indexed Treasury debt securities, and in the reform of the Internal Revenue Service. When President Clinton appointed Summers as secretary of the Treasury, he called Summers “a critical part of our economic team during the entire life of this administration.”

During Summers’s tenure as secretary of the Treasury, the United States used budget surpluses to repurchase Treasury debt for the first time since the 1920's, and extended the life of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Summers led efforts to modernize the financial system, extend financial privacy protections, provide for digital signatures, and insure the viability of the over-the-counter derivatives market. Summers also championed reforms to address corporate tax shelters and predatory lending practices.

Internationally, Summers worked to address the challenges presented by modern capital markets. His work with the International Monetary Fund contributed to more effective surveillance of financial vulnerabilities, greater transparency in the international financial system, the introduction of new lending facilities to deal with capital account crises, and improvements in IMB lending practices. Summers was a key figure domestically and internationally in securing significant expansion in debt relief for the world’s poorest and most indebted countries—a measure that led to the increased availability of funds for primary health care and education in a number of countries. Summers also unveiled the first National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy, and led international efforts to limit the abuses of tax and regulatory havens. He also played an important role in negotiating the United States’ agreement to allow China to join the World Trade Organization.

During Summers’ tenure, the United States marked the longest period of sustained economic growth in its history.

re: #57 Jetpilot1101

Like a mofo he do.

re: #55 Jetpilot1101

well, at least we will all be equal then - equally screwed

re: #23 Iron Fist

Oh, shit! We're all fucked!

I'm already having a bad time finding a job. These idiots are going to give us another Great Depression.

Oh, and another World War too I'll bet, but that's Hillary's and whoever gets the Sec-Defense job.

I'm just so thankful that the Messiah has come - now all our troubles will be over. Why the market is up today, the sun is shining, peace reigns throughout the world. Whoa, was that a pink Unicorn that just went by...

/// do I really need to?

re: #61 The Other Les

Wanna share a refrigerator box? Got a new one the other day.

re: #55 Jetpilot1101

The only reason the markets are reacting up is the uncertainty is over. Once the plans are set in concrete and the implementors start their reign over the financial institutions will the ugly reality finally become a factor.

re: #56 WrathofG-d

The predominant use of logic over the feminine "emotion" is a male domination construct created by thousands of years of paternal hegemony of the social power structure to unsuspectingly force barbaric and ultra-masculine mores on unsuspecting womyn.

No self respecting feminist womyn would every use the fatherlike "logic" when the feminine "emotion" is available.

/

You could change "women" to "democrat", and it would make just as much sense.

I just glanced out my window. I think I saw a lion and a lamb playing together. All is well.

re: #62 Czarny_Smok

re: #60 Desert Dog

well, at least we will all be equal then - equally screwed

Yes and maybe then some of those glassy-eyed obamatons who now prowl the streets mumbling "hope" and "change" will finally realize that socialism (i.e. getting nailed in the backside by a rake sideways) really doesn't feel good.

re: #61 The Other Les

I'm already having a bad time finding a job. These idiots are going to give us another Great Depression.

Oh, and another World War too I'll bet, but that's Hillary's and whoever gets the Sec-Defense job.

O seems bound and determined to give us worse than just a Great Depression. Total Collapse is within His sights.

re: #66 LilyGecko

I just glanced out my window. I think I saw a lion and a lamb playing together. All is well.

I just bought my 3 year old son a brood of vipers to play with. I figure no harm will come to him now that the messiah is walking among us.

re: #66 LilyGecko

I just glanced out my window. I think I saw a lion and a lamb playing together. All is well.

Then...out of nowhere... the lamb tore the lion's throat out!

Getting appointed by Obama comes with an automatic hallo.

Never mind that Geithner, as head of the New York Fed, was part and parcel of those who screwed up in the first place.

re: #63 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Wanna share a refrigerator box? Got a new one the other day.

Living in my brother's basement... for now...

re: #55 Jetpilot1101

I honestly know some people who are going to stop paying their CC bills once Obama is President... They believe that the government will erase everyone's personal debt...

As for me, I've cut my CC debt in half in the last 6 months... And I had over30K in debt...

re: #72 The Other Les

(tapping foot, waiting on offer)...

re: #57 Jetpilot1101

Yes, Obama likes to spread the wealth around.

My mortgage got paid last week, I was ecstatic and was ready to change my opinion of Obama. Then I remember my mortgage is on automatic payment...

re: #68 FurryOldGuyJeans

O seems bound and determined to give us worse than just a Great Depression. Total Collapse is within His sights.

Yeah, but the brand-new-shiny socialist 'experiment' that erupts is gonna be___.

re: #71 Opinionated

Getting appointed by Obama comes with an automatic hallo.

Never mind that Geithner, as head of the New York Fed, was part and parcel of those who screwed up in the first place.

Soros made sure someone was put in place that has the same ideals as he has.

re: #75 jcm

multiple dings.

re: #72 The Other Les

Living in my brother's basement... for now...

Your brother Les?

Oh yea of little faith, don't you know that the Messiah is here to heal all illness, take away all pain, to touch the earth and let it spring forth plants and animals, why look at how many dead he raised! And they all voted too!

re: #79 debutaunt

Your brother Les?

His other brother darryl.

re: #32 DesertSage

I know that he got a bum rap.
But do he NOW women know that he got a bum rap?

Most NOW women have ugly and rather large Bums.

Larry Summers is a legitimate cat. I'm encouraged by that choice.

re: #71 Opinionated

Getting appointed by Obama comes with an automatic hallo.

Yes, that became clear when his VP was a man who said, "Look, the first black man who is clean and articulate."

Chances a GOP would have recovered from such an uttering: 0.000000%

re: #83 Cognito

Why? Please elaborate

Ahh!
This is not the "NEW DEAL" I knew!
Maybe I should quit State work and go Fed?

re: #68 FurryOldGuyJeans

O seems bound and determined to give us worse than just a Great Depression. Total Collapse is within His sights.

That kind of shit is usually followed by a revolution.

If Die Grosse NULL thinks it's going to be a Marxist revolution he is grossly mistaken.

I'm waiting to see how Black Friday goes over. I can't decide if shoppers will take advantage of some serious discounting and provide better than expected numbers for retailers or if shoppers will keep their wallets clamped shut and provide the next reason for the markets to re-slump.

Remind me of the "Monty Python" bunny.

re: #70 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Here's a crew of misfits. I'm expecting Bluto to show up relieving himself on the White House front lawn, and D-Day riding his motorcycle through the front door of the White House and up the stairs. We already have Neidermeyer, the pompous cadet commander . . .

re: #77 FurryOldGuyJeans

Soros made sure someone was put in place that has the same ideals as he has.

Does Soros have any relationship with any of these people introduced today...

re: #73 tfc3rid

I honestly know some people who are going to stop paying their CC bills once Obama is President... They believe that the government will erase everyone's personal debt...

As for me, I've cut my CC debt in half in the last 6 months... And I had over30K in debt...

I've added to mine -- recently put a CC bill and prop tax payment on the equity line. With my rate dropping to 3.74% soon, why the hell not?

Oops. Meant 'reminds'.
re: #89 LilyGecko

re: #89 LilyGecko

Precisely what I was thinking. Nice mind-reading there.

re: #86 reloadingisnotahobby

Ahh!
This is not the "NEW DEAL" I knew!
Maybe I should quit State work and go Fed?

This week's Time Magazine: The New New Deal

re: #58 MandyManners

There is hope then that the light at the end of the tunnel is possibly not an oncoming train. Now we wait to hear if there is a whistle.

The dual selection set up a formidable tag team to take on the global financial crisis. Geithner at Treasury will likely take a defensive role, spearheading the remainder of the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program and decisions to bail out individual financial institutions.

New world order.

Troubled Assets Relief Program

As in TARP? As in covering a gapping hole to keep the rain out?

I guess they rejected calling it Targetted Relief of Assets Program.

re: #23 Iron Fist

Oh, shit! We're all fucked!

Why is the DOW still in the black after such news?

I've had my ass planted just about all day. Maybe I should do some housework and fix dinner for the absolute love of my life.

Dinner for the wife too, why the hell not.

I live in the only Republican county in new Jersey - Burlington - and my property taxes will be going DOWN as of Jan 1 - several hundred dollars.

Republicans really CAN cut taxes.

re: #88 zenren

I'm holding on to every penny possible and I won't be spending no matter how good the bargains get. I'm hunkering down for the long run and I suspect other will do the same.

re: #53 DistantThunder

I hope your friend is stable.

The quote of shocking...
is in reference to the heart in arrest. NO electrical activity at all.
Shocking it starts the electrical conduction up again and revives the whole circulatory system. I think the quote was analogous to that.
: )

Pray tell why if all this spending is of borrowed money, it will not get us deeper into this mess?

With a top heavy rentier class living in idleness, and a productive sector burdened with tax, and not making it?

re: #97 bellamags

The dual selection set up a formidable tag team to take on the global financial crisis. Geithner at Treasury will likely take a defensive role, spearheading the remainder of the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program and decisions to bail out individual financial institutions.

New world order.

...with fries!

re: #101 DistantThunder

That's only because your house value is plummeting.

/

re: #98 Silhouette

As in TARP? As in covering a gapping hole to keep the rain out?

I guess they rejected calling it Targetted Relief of Assets Program.

Is there a Department of Anagrams? It's clever how they come up with these names. When I first went to work for the DOE in 1993, the first meeting I sat in on, I couldn't even understand a damn thing they were saying, every other word was an anagram.

To bad I got laid off, I miss those anagram meetings?

Give all the money to the taxpayers - most of us will be able to pay off our mortgages with it. We'd all be so much better off - and with much more discretionary income without a house payment.

re: #95 Killgore Trout

He said he quit smoking ...Yes?
LOL
Great cover!

re: #101 DistantThunder

I live in the only Republican county in new Jersey - Burlington - and my property taxes will be going DOWN as of Jan 1 - several hundred dollars.

Republicans really CAN cut taxes.

But your Democrat controlled legislature will probably wipe out that gain with an increase in State taxes! Or, you might have to drive somewhere and cough up $35 every 2 miles on one your lovely toll-roads :-)

re: #91 tfc3rid

Does Soros have any relationship with any of these people introduced today...

A better question would be to ask who DOESN'T have any relationship with Soros. Smaller list by a long shot. Soros is the heart and brains of the DNC and a lot of left/far left groups.

re: #102 Killgore Trout

I'm holding on to every penny possible and I won't be spending no matter how good the bargains get. I'm hunkering down for the long run and I suspect other will do the same.

Me too, necessities only.

re: #104 Ojoe

Pray tell why if all this spending is of borrowed money, it will not get us deeper into this mess?

With a top heavy rentier class living in idleness, and a productive sector burdened with tax, and not making it?

We aren't worried about deficits right now... No big deal...

re: #96 FurryOldGuyJeans

There is hope then that the light at the end of the tunnel is possibly not an oncoming train. Now we wait to hear if there is a whistle.

One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you have the role

re: #102 Killgore Trout

I can report that no building design work is in the office at the moment.

Yes, the stock market rebounded when Geithner was announced, and the rebound was widely attributed to his appointment. Perhaps rightly so, but the market plummeted after Obama's victory, and yet the market's fall was never attributed to Obama. Why? Anyone notice that?

I always hear, "the market rebounded" or "the market sold off" on this news or that. How does anyone know? It's really only an opinion, isn't it? And only the opinion the commentators choose to share.

Sort of like "the spike in oil prices is due solely to market demands." Right. How many experts told us that? While tankers, full of oil, sat in the Gulf with no where to sell the oil. There was a glut of crude, and yet the price soared.

There are no polls on who buys or sells or why. No one really knows, do they? So how can the government fix it?

re: #108 DistantThunder

Give all the money to the taxpayers - most of us will be able to pay off our mortgages with it. We'd all be so much better off - and with much more discretionary income without a house payment.

I agree, give me $7.5 Trillion and I would definitely fix this mess!

re: #85 Desert Dog

Why? Please elaborate

He's brilliant, to start. And he has shown a pattern of integrity, I think, a pattern of making unpopular but correct stands. I think of his stare-down with Cornel West, for example.

That's a combination -- a good mind, and a strong back -- that we need right now.

Positive news? The shopping center I am located in is totally PACKED out today with shoppers. Clothing stores mainly.

re: #106 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

That's only because your house value is plummeting.

/

No - they reassessed early last year - but the taxes were scheduled to reflect that starting next year. Our value increased $50,000 so it was based on that new amount.

re: #99 midwestgak

Why is the DOW still in the black after such news?

Because the uncertainty of who would be in charge is over. The serious downswing is yet to happen when investors realize the extent of the new policies start getting implemented. "I am so the Boss of you."

re: #102 Killgore Trout

I'm holding on to every penny possible and I won't be spending no matter how good the bargains get. I'm hunkering down for the long run and I suspect other will do the same.

You're thinking in my direction. Quit Starbucks and MacDonalds coffee. Quit smoking. Charge nothing that can't be paid by end of month. Have one card I'm paying down from a couple years ago. Min. payment is $12.00. I'm paying $146 to $200 each month. Eating at home more often. Could improve on that one.

re: #117 Desert Dog

I agree, give me $7.5 Trillion and I would definitely fix this mess!

Give me the 7.5 trillion and if I don't fix it, you'll never hear from me again! Never. Ever. For sure.

re: #107 Walter L. Newton

I work in a world of acronyms. And to keep it spicy, half are spelled out (like FBI) and half are pronounced as words (like NASA).

re: #84 Silhouette

Yes, that became clear when his VP was a man who said, "Look, the first black man who is clean and articulate."

Chances a GOP would have recovered from such an uttering: 0.000000%

Haven't seen or heard from Biden lately. Maybe Obama will get his revenge.

If Clinton is SOS, Biden may be relegated to keeping the White House clean.

This is what they get for blaming absolutely everything in the world that could ever happen on Bush. By doing so, they've essentially forced themselves (as in Government) to take full responsibility for the economy. That means no business actually goes out of business without it now being government's "fault", which means it' now Government's "responsibility" to fix it.

It's no wonder these companies are so shamelessly sticking their hands out. Decades of media and "education" have been teaching our citizens to believe that government already controls every aspect of the economy, and can make it better because "they" made it worse.

I don't see a way out of this mess without a massive re-education of the entire populace. (Not gonna happen.)

I just cut son's hair and Mr DT's - saving $35.00

re: #125 Silhouette

I work in a world of acronyms. And to keep it spicy, half are spelled out (like FBI) and half are pronounced as words (like NASA).

I don't want to embarrass you, but it's pronounced fuh-bye.

I have it on good authority.

Campaign slogan for 2012- "The Great Bailout Part Deux" Change we need.

re: #125 Silhouette

I work in a world of acronyms. And to keep it spicy, half are spelled out (like FBI) and half are pronounced as words (like NASA).

You mean you don't pronounce it "FuhBee"?

re: #128 taxfreekiller

more homes built cheaper

Yes, and that's a waste in the long run, they won't last.

re: #130 Cognito

I don't want to embarrass you, but it's pronounced fuh-bye.

I have it on good authority.

I was 15 seconds late!

When I hear goths complain about the unaffordability of insurance, I tell them to add up what they spend on: meals out, including daily lunches (pack it); coffee (make it at home and stick it in a thermos); club drinks (don't); cigs (stop); cabs (bus it); premium TV (read books or exercise!); etc. But, no, people want to overspend on convenience and luxuries, and then bitch they can't afford necessities. We have become a nation of wimps that can't care for itself.

Ok, I'm not an economic whiz, so this question may seen silly, but, what if they gave every American a million. Hell, that would be a drop in the bucket compared to the kind of money they are talking about.

Conditions of the hand out. You buy a new car, pay off your mortgage or buy a house, and "x" amount into a medical savings plan. Then, the rest is yours for what ever.

If you are under, let's say 18, you must put "x" amount away for college and "x" amount away for a medical savings account. The rest you get when you graduate college.

Of course, these are high-level ideas, it would probably have to be finer tuned than what I suggest above.

What kind of impact would this have?

re: #129 DistantThunder

I just cut son's hair and Mr DT's - saving $35.00

What is this cutting of hair you speak of?

meanwhile, he will gut the budgets from defense and DHS and eventually a few more planes will come down and/or a great big massive strike will occur from Al Queda and a million+ people will die

and his allies in the media will cover for him
and blame it on white supremecists
like the episode of "24" where skinheads detonate a nuke

re: #124 Nevergiveup

Give me the 7.5 trillion and if I don't fix it, you'll never hear from me again! Never. Ever. For sure.

King Desert Dog I will send his newly hired secret police over to round you up, you will not be able to hide! Bwahahahahhahah!

I know I would go out and buy a really cool Hifi set for the house, after that, I would probably drive around in a dump truck full of money and shovel it out the back with a big snow shovel...It would take me a 100 years to use it all up with that delivery system

re: #136 MrSilverDragon

I was 15 44 seconds late!

I can't do math either, apparently.

Oh well, if it all goes to shit I can always become a Somali pirate. the AP tells me its a growth industry with lots of local support.

re: #138 Walter L. Newton

It would be OK by me. Where do I sign on?

re: #129 DistantThunder

I just cut son's hair and Mr DT's - saving $35.00

Yeah, but the hats they're going to have to buy to cover up the job are going to cost way more than that ...

///

Mr. Summers did not even have the guts to stand up to the thought police at Harvard, and apologized as such, even though he did not do anything wrong. To reward this spineless man with such an important position is a disgrace.

re: #138 Walter L. Newton

Ok, I'm not an economic whiz, so this question may seen silly, but, what if they gave every American a million.

Ha -- that's because you'd be talking about something on the order of three hundred trillion dollars.

A vast, vast sum. Far more money than exists in the world.

re: #135 buzzsawmonkey

For a while, but not sustainable on the carrying capacity of the planet.

A building should last 300 years minimum I think, and with the maintenance that it will really get in the real world.

It can be done.

re: #77 FurryOldGuyJeans

Soros made sure someone was put in place that has the same ideals as he has.

10-24-08

With the global financial meltdown front and center on everyone's mind, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism hosted an all-star forum on Oct. 23rd featuring some of the world's leading economics experts.

The event, "Beyond the Crisis: The Future of the Global Economy," was presented in partnership with Big Think, a web site that promotes discussion of ideas through interviews with thought leaders.

The panel featured financier George Soros, chairman of the Soros Management Fund and the Open Society Institute; Dr. Lawrence Summers, former secretary of the treasury and former president of Harvard University; and Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert Merton, John and Natty McArthur University Professor at the Harvard Business School. Tom Stewart, chief marketing officer of Booz and Co. and former editor of the Harvard Business Review, moderated the discussion.

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re: #120 bellamags

Positive news? The shopping center I am located in is totally PACKED out today with shoppers. Clothing stores mainly.

Are you in Texas?

I swear we are living in a parallel universe here in TX. I'm seeing a healthy econmy all around. Heck, there is even a Country Wide office on my way to work - parking lot is packed every day and they have a sign saying 'we're hiring"

re: #120 bellamags

Positive news? The shopping center I am located in is totally PACKED out today with shoppers. Clothing stores mainly.

Are they loaded down with shopping bags? I'm thinking people are still shopping but they are either bargain hunting or they simply are buying less than they used to. Either way, it is less revenue for retailers.

Also, I know several corporations where they are eliminating unnecessary travel, holiday parties, trying to cut back on office supplies etc. All of these actions have knock-on effects on other businesses.

re: #73 tfc3rid

I honestly know some people who are going to stop paying their CC bills once Obama is President... They believe that the government will erase everyone's personal debt...

As for me, I've cut my CC debt in half in the last 6 months... And I had over30K in debt...

Way to go! Pssst... How the heck did you accomplish that?

re: #147 Cognito

Ha -- that's because you'd be talking about something on the order of three hundred trillion dollars.

A vast, vast sum. Far more money than exists in the world.

Cog, the last count was 300 million Americans, what are you talking about. That would be 300 million dollars.

re: #150 MandyManners

SNIP

There's a NYT article about the two but I cannot get it to load.

re: #151 DeafDog

Are you in Texas?

I swear we are living in a parallel universe here in TX. I'm seeing a healthy econmy all around. Heck, there is even a Country Wide office on my way to work - parking lot is packed every day and they have a sign saying 'we're hiring"

extreme Northern Florida.

re: #137 SFGoth

When I hear goths complain about the unaffordability of insurance, I tell them to add up what they spend on: meals out, including daily lunches (pack it); coffee (make it at home and stick it in a thermos); club drinks (don't); cigs (stop); cabs (bus it); premium TV (read books or exercise!); etc. But, no, people want to overspend on convenience and luxuries, and then bitch they can't afford necessities. We have become a nation of wimps that can't care for itself.

I recall many a friend in college complaining that their parents made too much to qualify for aid, but still "couldn't afford" to send them to college.

But what they really meant was their parents couldn't afford to send them to college without giving up the boat, vacations, eating out, new clothes, and all those other luxuries they considered necessicities..

re: #152 zenren

Are they loaded down with shopping bags? I'm thinking people are still shopping but they are either bargain hunting or they simply are buying less than they used to. Either way, it is less revenue for retailers.

Also, I know several corporations where they are eliminating unnecessary travel, holiday parties, trying to cut back on office supplies etc. All of these actions have knock-on effects on other businesses.

Yeah they are carrying bags, maybe not spending as much. I am just happy to see the parking lot so packed. It hasn't been so packed in a long time. I have had a couple of walk-in customers because of it.

re: #138 Walter L. Newton

Ok, I'm not an economic whiz, so this question may seen silly, but, what if they gave every American a million. Hell, that would be a drop in the bucket compared to the kind of money they are talking about.

(...)

What kind of impact would this have?

You mean, besides the immediate massive bump in inflation coupled with a major decline in the dollar against other currencies? Of course, there's nothing that says those two things won't happen under the current bailout strategy knee-jerk reactions, anyway. Sadly, you're idea isn't any less crazy than what they're smoking. That's not to say it's not crazy, just no more crazy than what the "experts" have in store for us.

re: #151 DeafDog

Are you in Texas?

I swear we are living in a parallel universe here in TX. I'm seeing a healthy econmy all around. Heck, there is even a Country Wide office on my way to work - parking lot is packed every day and they have a sign saying 'we're hiring"

The faith in the value of the dollar has not yet collapsed.

re: #154 Walter L. Newton

Cog, the last count was 300 million Americans, what are you talking about. That would be 300 million dollars.

No... that would be $300 million if you presented every American with one dollar.

re: #161 Lizard by the Bay

You mean, besides the immediate massive bump in inflation coupled with a major decline in the dollar against other currencies? Of course, there's nothing that says those two things won't happen under the current bailout strategy knee-jerk reactions, anyway. Sadly, you're idea isn't any less crazy than what they're smoking. That's not to say it's not crazy, just no more crazy than what the "experts" have in store for us.

Wow, it's been a long time since I felt no crazier than the norm. Thanks.

re: #127 Lizard by the Bay

I don't see a way out of this mess without a massive re-education of the entire populace. (Not gonna happen.)

Don't bet on it. I heard a story on NPR Friday that explained how disagreement with Man-made Global Warming is a "group denial syndrome."

Let me see if I have this right: Disagreement with a popular scientific theory is now considered a mental disorder.

Can re-education camps be far behind?

I mean those people, those people that can't see the obvious, the obvious danger of Global Warming, I mean they're un-balanced. They may even be dangerous. They must be put away, you know for the good of society.

re: #162 midwestgak

The faith in the value of the dollar has not yet collapsed.

I really hope that never happens.

re: #164 Cognito

No... that would be $300 million if you presented every American with one dollar.

Of course, I was testing you all?
/

ok. i have to go home now talk to yall later.

re: #158 Silhouette

I recall many a friend in college complaining that their parents made too much to qualify for aid, but still "couldn't afford" to send them to college.

But what they really meant was their parents couldn't afford to send them to college without giving up the boat, vacations, eating out, new clothes, and all those other luxuries they considered necessicities..

A luxury experienced twice becomes a necessity.

Someone should check what the Russians think of Summers economic planning prowess.

He was their advisor for their transition from Communism in the 90s.

It would be easier to make everyone rich by just declaring that each dollar is now worth 100 obamas, a new currency.

Then, any family making $40,000/year would now make 4 million O/year.

What could possibly go wrong with that?

/sarc

re: #163 buzzsawmonkey

No, it would be 300 million million--or 300 trillion dollars.

Er, you're right. What was I thinking?

Ok, let's revise that. Every one get 50 dollars, a pack of cigs and a case of Mickey's wide mouth's.

bbl

Of course if you took $7.5 trillion and divided it up among the 130 million taxpayers you'd get ~$57 thousand each, which would probably help the economy a hell of a lot more than rewarding bad business practices.

re: #153 JohnnyReb

Pay off 3K/month... Cut WAY back on expenses and only spend cash...

I can't wait to return to saving!

The simplest solution to economic stimulus is a broad personal income tax reduction. The effect would be immediate through decreased withholding. This was done after 9/11, I don't know why it hasn't been suggested yet (maybe it's because Congress = morons).

So hypothetically a 25% reduction in income tax would cost the treasury $300 billion ($1.2 trillion is the gross haul for personal income tax last year). This assumes a static taxation model - in reality, it would be less than $300 billion. Congress would have to borrow that money, but they're planning to borrow it anyway for Obama's New Deal.

And rather than a corporate income tax reduction, I would suggest a doubling of the deduction for wages/salary paid for domestic employment and a reduction in FICA. This would encourage companies to retain workers and hire new ones.

re: #168 Walter L. Newton

Of course, I was testing you all?
/

Not to worry. I'm sure I'll test you back with something crazy-sounding, soon enough.

Just remember: It's a test.

re: #168 Walter L. Newton

Of course, I was testing you all?
/

lol - good sport

re: #9 DesertSage

Doesn't Lawrence Summers believe that women are inferior to men?

Nah, He just thinks they're different from each other and was dumb enough to say so while at Harvard.

re: #151 DeafDog

Are you in Texas?

I swear we are living in a parallel universe here in TX. I'm seeing a healthy econmy all around. Heck, there is even a Country Wide office on my way to work - parking lot is packed every day and they have a sign saying 'we're hiring"

I hit the malls in Houston this weekend and felt like I was stuck in a street scene from Soylent Green. Total madhouse.

re: #154 Walter L. Newton

Cog, the last count was 300 million Americans, what are you talking about. That would be 300 million dollars.

No, that's a buck a person. A million per person is 300,000,000 times $1,000,000 which equals $300,000,000,000,000 total.

re: #154 Walter L. Newton

Cog, the last count was 300 million Americans, what are you talking about. That would be 300 million dollars.

And each American can buy a candy bar? ;-)>

I seem to remember reading about a year ago that Warren Buffet sank hundreds of millions of dollars into the company Car Max. Why on earth would he have done that unless he had full inside knowledge of what was about to happen. He knew people would dump SUV's because gas was about to sky rocket and he must of had full knowledge as did EVERY single pol in D.C. of the financial meltdown that they created. Americans have to cut the crap. These idiots KNOW they can get around every question we have simply by talking in circles. We need to shine a very bright light into their beady little eyes and DEMAND the truth. Feet, meet fire.

re: #185 buzzsawmonkey

At which point, the very women who had been insisting that women are different from men--which is the rationale for all "Women's Studies" programs--demanded, and got, his head.

You betcha! Amazing the level of cognitive dissonance at Harvard don't you think?

re: #168 Walter L. Newton

Of course, I was testing you all?
/

Did we pass? ;-)>

re: #187 Outrider

Did we pass? ;-)>

I don't know, I can't smell anything on a high speed internet connection.

re: #183 Outrider

And each American can buy a candy bar? ;-)>

Yeah, but if you buy each of them a $100,000 bar...

The fundamental economic problem at the moment is deflation. That means putting enough liquidity (cash) into the economy to counteract the deflation without causing horrendous inflation. Giving extra cash to solvent and responsible banks that engaged in sound underwriting is one way to do this.

Buying bad paper, the strategy of Paulson and the Bush Administration, rewards bad lending, borrowing, and investing. It's a horrendous moral hazard in which our "friends" in Congress, the Bush Administration, and in the soon to be Obama Administration are engaged. Does anyone find it interesting that Robert Rubin's people are Obama's new people in charge at Treasury, that Rubin is employed at Citibank, and that rescuing Citibank is the latest order of business?

This is corruption and favoritism at the highest levels of our government and our incoming government. That's amazing!

Allah Ackborrow !

re: #16 tfc3rid

Just give each of us a Million bucks and we reinvest... As simple as that...

re: #147 Cognito

Ha -- that's because you'd be talking about something on the order of three hundred trillion dollars.

A vast, vast sum. Far more money than exists in the world.

So, I can't imagine Congress letting something like that get in the way...

solution number 1

close the stock markets for one month
give every taxpayer a stimulous check for $3,000
but not to exceed the total tax they paid last year

cost, maybe 150,000,000
half the cost of the Citi bailout (as it stands today)

re-open the stock markets after Xmas

see what happened with all the rebate money

re: #194 Adrenalyn

solution number 1

close the stock markets for one month
give every taxpayer a stimulous check for $3,000
but not to exceed the total tax they paid last year

cost, maybe 150,000,000,000
half the cost of the Citi bailout (as it stands today)
correction

re-open the stock markets after Xmas

see what happened with all the rebate money

re: #180 Dave_Da_Kid

Nah, He just thinks they're different from each other and was dumb enough to say so while at Harvard.

He unwisely pointed out the fact that ON AVERAGE men do better in math and science.

But we are never group averages, we are individuals. Treat people as individuals and all is well.

And if it turns out that your nuclear physics class is 80/20 male/female, so be it. (If women are scoring lower because of real unfairness further upstream, fix that, but don't just assume that is the case and "fix" it downstream.)

Just as it was inefficient to ban females from higher education, so to is it wrong to insist on 50/50 everywhere in everything, everytime. In my 80/20 scenario, you're either losing 20% of your top people if you ban women or you've got 30% of your class occupied by people who shouldn't be there.

Neither is the best way to run a railroad.

re: #195 Iron Fist

Don't forget scraping ballistic missile defense. We wouldn't wouldn't want to make it too challenging for Iran to nuke us. It might hurt their feelings.

nah, that is not really to protect us from Iran
it's to protect the oil fields of the middle east really
and perhaps Europe from Russian expansion
and minutely from yes, NKorea and Iran
but neither could really build up sufficient numbers to really threaten us for a while

they can wreck us just fine with terror attacks by their proxies

Government does not produce anything except waste. Government is overhead.

The speech that brought Larry Summers' Harvard presidency to an end.

This 6000+ word essay was unfairly summarized in a sentence or two and used by the hysterical left to take down someone who's no conservative, perhaps in retaliation to his holding Cornell West to basic performance standards similar to that of his peers.

re: #189 Walter L. Newton

I don't know, I can't smell anything on a high speed internet connection.

What! You don't have smell-a-vision yet?

The U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.76 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers after guaranteeing $306 billion of Citigroup Inc. debt yesterday. The pledges, amounting to half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, are intended to rescue the financial system after the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.

Yikes.

Lawrence Summers is one of the few academics who spoke out on the underlying hate in the "Divest from Israel" campaigns that were all the rage on the far left a couple years ago. He gets a thumbs up from me for that one, if nothing else.

In my opinion? Its all horse shit what we read in the media.
I happened to have the day off and was looking hard at the DOW this morning. Basically up 300 or so. Mainly a reaction to the CITI deal and not much else beyond a few good reports...positive stuff that helped some segments.
Obama gets on the tube? Market takes a dive. Drops a hundred maybe.
CNN rewrites their article to add Obama as a cause for the morning rally.
Cant simply be about CITI. Now Obama is in the mix as a cause and effect.

I had a beer at noon. May as well assume my increased consumption turned the market around...stocks rally on JimZ's stimulus package.
It gets that silly with some of the CNN Financial reporting.
The "market" is nothing more complicated than a spoiled 13 year old boy
that has a shit fit when he doesnt get his strawberry milkshake...and gets excited when he does.

IMO

Best of luck to 'em, since all our futures depend on their righting the ship.

re: #193 fish

So, I can't imagine Congress letting something like that get in the way...

Hey - why doesn't Congress just pass a law requiring every taxpayer to buy an American car?

The law could provide that the Treasury serve as the finance lender to the taxpayer, giving him or her 60 months to pay at current T-bill rates. Payments would, of course, be made through payroll withholding.

And, to avoid a one-year boom and bust, the taxpayer gets a lottery number to determine in which of the next 60 months he or she can take delivery of the car.

/makes about as much sense as any other bailout proposal

re: #152 zenren

Are they loaded down with shopping bags? I'm thinking people are still shopping but they are either bargain hunting or they simply are buying less than they used to. Either way, it is less revenue for retailers.

Also, I know several corporations where they are eliminating unnecessary travel, holiday parties, trying to cut back on office supplies etc. All of these actions have knock-on effects on other businesses.

that holds true for everyone i talk to: all their companies are cutting back and/or laying off folks.

driving to errands this weekend, what i noticed was the prevalence of yard sales. there's always a few, but they were everywhere i looked, sometimes 3 or 4 on a block, for blocks...

not good.

re: #35 WrathofG-d

Wow, could you imagine the headline if it has been a McCain Administration that had hired Lawrence (men are smarter than women) Summers.

Well we know it would be front page on the NYT for well, the entire admin. Now it will ever be reported.

Yeah, what's Obama going to do when his blue ribbon panel of fresh-and-exciting economic advisors tells him that the corporate income tax is too high and that raising social security and other taxes is economic suicide?

Methinks the income re-distribution schemes are going to be put on hold for a while.

re: #195 Iron Fist

Obama apparently told Northrup and Raytheon he wasn't going to do that...now, Obama said he'd stick to federal funding limits for his campaign and lots of other things too...so his word ain't worth crap. We'll just have to see who becomes sec def.

Stocks rallied today. I'm actually feeling hopeful about the future. Hopefully the Obama administration will turn things around. I know you folks dont like hearing non partisan hackery, but I really hope his administration is a success. So far it seems the market is responding well to stimulus proposals.

re: #206 stuiec

You clearly have little education and certainly no knowledge of economics. That was an utterly stupid post.

for someone who does understand economics, click on this:
[Link: freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com...]

Levitt debunks the "fact" that the government can stimulate the economy through spending.

The path to increased economic output is through lower marginal tax rates.

re: #211 computerdude

Stocks rallied today. I'm actually feeling hopeful about the future. Hopefully the Obama administration will turn things around. I know you folks dont like hearing non partisan hackery, but I really hope his administration is a success. So far it seems the market is responding well to stimulus proposals.

Nobody in their [right or left] minds wants Obama's economic plans to fail.
No more than any of us wants Paulsons stuff to go up in smoke.

At the same time? Lets not get carried away in thinking when Obama
talks for five minutes on the tube..."the oceans receded"
This is real life not some silly scifi film with a make believe saviour.

re: #30 Desert Dog

It could be worse...our current Prez is tossing around Multi-BILLION dollar plans like there's no tomorrow...

Monopoly money.

re: #80 Czarny_Smok

Oh yea of little faith, don't you know that the Messiah is here to heal all illness, take away all pain, to touch the earth and let it spring forth plants and animals, why look at how many dead he raised! And they all voted too!

Now if he can cure hemorrhoids he will be a keeper.