wow this thread is still going strong i see.
well i wanted to mention something that has really pissed me off-Yesterday they mentioned that the government was in a recession for over a year. I swear that bush around 3 months ago quoted the economy is going strong the fundamentals are strong. Why cant these politicians tell the truth for once they new this was happening but decided to keep it away from the people.
on a side note at least gas is going down.
The Clinton Administration and the Republican congress!
The problems we are having now can be blamed on every administration going back 30 years to the Reagan Administration and their relentless push to deregulate everything since “business needs the freedom to do the right thing”. We now can see what the “right thing” was, immense profit at public expense. And now they get bailed out at tax payers expense yet how many CEO’s are going to return the bonuses they got for driving their companies into the ground?
This country used to ‘make things’. RCA, Zenith, Kenmore, and a dozen other name brands used to be American brands, made right here in this country. None of them are manufactured in this country any more. The last television set made in the US was in mid 1980’s. When I was a kid, my uncle had a shirt factory, now all of our clothes are made in Malaysia, Viet Nam, China, and any where else they can pay pennies a day for labor. Our “mighty leaders” (aka big business) decided we no longer needed “industry”
in this country, we should become a “services” country. Therefore a lot of people should get jobs where the need to know how to ask “do you want frys with that”, and a few could get rich moving money in constant circles, not making anything, simply moving money around. And, if we need technical assistance, we can simply import it using H-1B visas and pay what they get back home. The average annual income in the US is around $36,000 a year, in India where we are shipping a lot of our technical needs, the average annual income is around $836 a year. Guess we can compete, after all a loaf of bread there is about 5 cents.
IMHO!!
Banks should NEVER be allowed to play the stock market, especially when they are also legislated to ensure that 25% of their loans go to disadvantaged areas. That was a nice idea, terrible policy. It ensured 25% bad loans. Of course the banking industry lobbied to enable them to make up that money by packaging those bad loans as stocks and reselling them as an investment.
The banking/stockmarket loop-hole was expanded, then done away with in 1999 and Clinton signed that bill. To lay this mess at GWB’s feet is really niave, sorry. It was a long time coming.
Some of us saw it from far off… I was worried about this in 2001. Most were too busy making money in real estate to see or to care.
There is no easy fix to this. It is a chaotic system right now. The more the fed pumps money into the system (energy) the more chaotic it will become and the longer it will take to stabilize.
We are still in for a long, hard, bumpy road. If you work for the government, don’t transfer to the private sector - that includes military. Other than that, at this point I don’t know what anyone can do to really lessen the pain that is coming.
Diane
Ummm MtnJim, get the heck back to reality!
LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! Have you forgotten Brocksonic?
No wonder SOCAL is always burning with your pants always burning
ZOMG, my son got one of these that had a built in vhs player for his 10th birthday… it lasted a whole month before it broke! LOL
Diane
HAH! When I lived in the HOOD, I had one that lasted right up until my apartment got robbed. Funny thing was the thieves took everything, except my Brocksonic. It worked marvelously until I dropped it moving out.
Forgotten? Never even heard of it.
Part of the deregulation I was talking about.
Nope… that would mean the banks were in charge of legislating that they had to give out bad loans… yeah. This was part of the inner city renewal philosophy…very democratic. The idea was if you gave money to businesses to open up in very depressed areas, somehow the local economy would start to bloom, jobs would be created, and everyone would prosper. Was actually happens is that business that open in severely depressed areas are robbed more and their customer base is very poor. They can’t be supported. So, the loans go bad… the bank eats the loan and now holds property it can’t really do anything with except sell it to the next schmuck to come along and try the urban renewal thang… etc.
Diane
Nice… way to represent our state buddy… LOL
I’m gunna have to counter your link with one of my own Best places to live 2008 - Top 100 City details: Franklin Township, NJ - from MONEY Magazine
There… now we’re straight 
~Haz~
Your state my friend. I moved!
You have toll roads, high taxes, high insurance, high income tax, good food, but expensive.
I have my nyGIANTS and I can watch them on TV.
Well you guys could live in Illinois, where it seems about half the Governors and many State officials of the last 50 years have been convicted of something crooked…
Here’s the latest:
hmmmm… toll roads… yes - but i don’t drive on those unless i HAVE to… speaking of those… they raised toll prices again!
High taxes… YUP… no argument
High Insurance… for a lot of people… but not me
your dead on with the rest LOL
I still call it my home and i’ll always be a dirty jerzy guy LOL
~Haz~
We’ve got you guys doubled LOL…
~Haz~
Ya, but we keep getting stuck with “acting governors”.
Well Jim, if you smart types could figure out a way to have the San Andreas fault swallow up just Hollywood you wouldn’t have that trouble now would you … lol.
I happen to like Hollywood!
That’s it boo-hanky! You’re fired…
I have heard KB Toys is now filing for bankruptcy and is closing all stores ASAP, PLUS some big name Wall Streeter with a famous hedge fund just recently admitted the whole thing was a giant Ponzi scheme and there went $50 BILLION.
Happy Holidays folks!
Bankrupt KB Toys Cleared to Liquidate - AOL Money & Finance
ABC News: Feds Charge: The $50 BILLION Scam; One Man’s Amazing Crime
Marc Faber’s Latest Take on the Present Situation
VIDEO: Celý rozhovor s investorem Markem Faberem | Video.iHNed.cz
Marc is one of the few people (beyond tacitus) to see this thing coming. He has some very strong, and a little disturbing views on what the future will bring.