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Throw the bums out!
The bumbling fools in D.C. have done it again. They’ve screwed us all one more time. The low rent morons who are running the show have kicked the can down the road for (get this) two months.
On Saturday the Senate agreed to a bill that would A) extend unemployment benefits B) extend the 2% payroll tax deduction and C) delay a cut in Medicare reimbursement rates. The deciders agreed to do all the extending, delaying and pretending for two lousy months. In other words, Congress will be back at it over these critical issues in less than six weeks.
There have been dozens of articles from smart people connecting the dots between the uncertain tax policies business’s face and their reluctance to hire more workers. I’ve heard Pols from both sides say the same. It’s true. But the best that Washington can do is move the ball forward by 59 days; disgraceful.
The two-month extension amounts to $33b that will be retained in the economy. I would not be surprised if the benefit of the stimulus will be lost by the continued uncertainty that is being caused by D.C. What has been “accomplished” is just a loss.
The bright guys who came up with the plan have a mechanism to pay for it. They’re going to charge homeowners a new fee for the next ten years. If you get a mortgage from one of the federal agencies (90% of mtg. market) you’ll pay an extra price. It only comes to $15 a month if your mortgage is less than $220k. But if you live on either coast or in any big city, the cost of housing will force you to pay a bigger price. $45-50 a month is a more realistic way to consider the implications. What’s an extra $600 a year? It’s just another nail in the coffin for housing.
By far and away the weakest link in the economy is housing. There is not much that can be done about it. It takes time and there will be pain. But there is no excuse for congress to force homeowners to absorb the full cost of the stimulus. The legislation results in mortgagors directly subsidizing doctor's Medicare reimbursement rates! How stupid is that? What are these people thinking of? This is terrible economic policy, and every legislator who signs the Bill, knows that fact.
The problem with the legislative process in this case was the side deals that got included in the horse-trading. This time the issue was the Keystone XL pipeline. The Republicans wanted it; the Democrats opposed it. Why does the fate of the pipeline have to be tied to the fate of important economic legislation? Why can’t we have an up and down vote on issues? The Deciders lumped these two divergent considerations together and in the process shot us in the foot. We end up with another stopgap measure and few weeks before we have to do it all over. My Senator, Chucky Boy Schumer (D-N.Y.) had this to say about the conflict that is sure to come in February:
“It’s a fight we welcome”
These clowns love this stuff. It has nothing to do with the right choices; it’s about the next election. They don’t give a damn about the country or it’s citizens. It’s about keeping their powerful jobs.
I know whom I’m voting for in the next election. I’m voting against anyone that is currently “in”. I don’t care what stripe they wear. I want the other guy/gal. I’m going to vote against Chuck Schumer and all the other "ins". I want to send a message to every damn one of them. The ones who have their hands on any levers today; are no longer wanted.
Some will argue that I’m being irrational. That if enough voters thought as I do all the folks who now run governments would be out, and a crop of new ones, who didn’t know where the bathroom was, would take over. I don’t care. We can’t do worse than the current lot.
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I bought a modest but funtional house in Seattle in '01 based on what I could afford to pay each month. I took advantage of cheap money to refi 2X for lower rates and compressed duration. To stay employed, I busted ass and focused on skills that were in short supply but still in demand locally (protein biochemistry). It is only through my own personal "austerity plan" that I could afford to divert cash flow to prepayment. This austerity had the silver lining of forcing me to become more efficient and to learn how to generate more value with my time. Added skills are a priceless currency. Most of these were outside of my vocation and more practical if conditions continue to degenerate.
I'd love to start a business supplying high quality, well-QC'd proteins to the local biotechs, but in the current climate, that is on hold. My neighborhood might eventually have a new nanobrewery, which is much less capital intensive, but still in demand.
Anyone can own a house free in clear in Detroit.. that would be a great place to be when the SHTF.
Everywhere will turn into a zoo, even my ass.
"That if enough voters thought as I do all the folks who now run governments would be out"
THAT'S the problem, you see, the very reason why we're in this mess. The VAST majority of voters are ignorant and successfully propagandized. And that will not change any time soon without an end to or major reduction of their bread and circuses (electronic toys, American Idol, etc.). And when Joe and Jane Sixpack finally do get their asses off the couch, their ignorance will make them highly vulnerable to following the wrong "leaders."
We can't do worse. That is a fact. Best line ever from you.
I think you're right, Moe, we can't do worse, but that doesn't necessarily mean we will do better. I remember lots of episodes where Curly says to Larry, "Well, at least nothing else can go wrong." Then, whammo.
Actually, I believe we would be better off with 435 names picked randomly from the tax files.......basically drafted to serve for x # of years. Limited term & no way to corrupt them in advance. Once there, they would owe their loyalty only to their fellow citizens. Truly, it could not be as bad as the entrenched crooks and traitors we have now.
Oh, and we could get rid of both worthless political parties and the relentless pandering for money they engage in. Red vs blue would vanish. The fact is, most people know what is right and what is wrong. It is only when self-interest gets in the way that "justification" for doing the wrong thing comes into play. You don't need to know how to build a highway to decide if the highway is needed, and it is much easier to judge an idea fairly if you hae no dog in the hunt.
Are these guys really morons? Perhaps it is just that they are totally and completely just corrupt. So much so that as the realization sets in that they have entered what amounts to a self perpetuating, tax payer funded land of milk and honey with near zero risk or accountability to those that elected them, they cannot help but go all in. The machine is in place, and by most perceptions seemingly cannot be undone. They have the all institutions locked, judicial, executive and legislative. It may indeed just be the power corrupts story...
It's a damn good bet, if you're in, you're gonna stay in. That's why these assholes are so cynical and insensitive to the voters! The lobbyists have a nut in each hand; they paid for the privilege. So they just squeeze when they want a vote. And YES, Nancy Pelosi has two.
http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/reelect.php
I suspect that being overwhelmingly hated by the voters actually helps these bankster-owned dolts in Congress rationalize their corruption and collusion with special interests.
nothing moronic about pulling off the biggest heist and slaughter ever.
The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion
fake or not it clearly explains what's going on.
In the same way your post clearly explains what's going on. In the trailer park.
Is Lyndon H. Larouche running this year? I think his time has come!
He runs every year. The irony, of course, is that he can run, but he can't vote. Being a convicted felon, and all, who has had the franchise taken away. Every time I see the LaRouche zombies handing out material at the subway, I always cheerily ask them, "Who's LaRouche Voting for this election??" Most of them miss the point, of course. They also miss the humor when I ask their fundraisers if LaRouche still takes credit cards.
The truth is they are now insignificant in front of the Oligarchy to represent the people's brief, but not to scratch their all powerful backs.
Newt G talks about the third wave and systems change of quantum level that is in the pipeline. Maybe its being laid the eggs of this new wave in the Great HAtchery of DC. Mustapha Mond is hard at work. Brave New world.
I just re-fied and the local town, which is near you Bruce, charged me $50 per CO on the house in order to fax said list to the title company. There were 8 COs for a total charge of $400.
The house was just bought a couple of years ago. Oh, and you don't want to know what the state's pound of flesh was ...
Whoops, and there goes the mortgage deduction next?
What is a CO?
Certificate of Occupancy. Each time you make a change to your house / property that requires regulatory approval from the local authorities, like an addition, another stucture, sometimes even new windows, you new a CO. If you would like to sell said house / property, you will new to match the COs to the property. Maybe no one knows, maybe you have a nosy or disgruntled neighbor who goes to the town.
Thanks, DBH. Sounds like a racket to me.
I absolutely agree with your take. These people are either incompetent or, in many cases of ranking positions of leadership, actively antagonistic to the well-being of the voting populace. I would go further than you do, however. I believe in the concept of total recall!
The core supporters of the occupy movement should employ the methods of the pro-lifers and attempt recall petitions in state after state. The recall is the only thing these people fear other than credible primary challenges which are now impossible due to gerrymandering.
What is required is a group of dedicated people to do the organizing in serial movements where the impact would be greatest.
No recall in New York. We have to wait for the next election to boot someone out. Recall elections should be nationwide, but they are not.
"Throw the bums out!" It doesn't matter who is voted "in":
they are no less than a marionette of the puppet-masters financial shadow elite.
My non-vote is dissension! Dissension is patriotic!
if you vote, you consent to be governed by people who we all can agree are corrupted within weeks of landing on planet DC. If this is correct I will let you all surmise just what the solution the Founding Fathers demanded of it's citizens.
Sadly, it seems that way until a critical mass dictates otherwise. The power IS in the people, regardless of wealth, if united. Unfortunately, the masses are not united enough...yet.
Thought experiment for the board: what would happen if Ron Paul were elected?
I support Ron Paul, however I suspect the following scenario will happen:
1. RP wins nomination
2. Republican political operatives are horrified that an unannointed candidate has been selected by the people.
3. Attack ads from left and right are launched with each side sharing information and ideas to make a unified case that RP is certifiably insane.
4. RP goes third party after much publicity over his candidacy and the refusal of the Republican party to support his campaign.
5. RP wins at the 'none of the above' candidate between democrats and republicans in the general election.
6. Democrats and Republicans call for recounts due to ineligible voter rolls created by moveon, ACORN, et al. Democrats provide detailed proof of fraudulent registrations.
Alternatives kick in at this point.
7a. RP assasinated by inept political operatives from both parties (education and competence are sorely lacking from public schooling) and the attack is clearly seen by the american public for what it is.
7b. The second place candidate, of whatever party, is named the winner after multiple recounts so that the Presidency is retained by employees of the global banks and corporations.
8a. RP is a minor blip in the new, government approved, National History paradigm.
8b. People realize it's time to start shooting the fuckers in Congress.
He would be assassinated. Other than that, nothing would change. Do you really believe that Ron Paul can change the hearts and minds of enough "representatives" to facilitate real and lasting change resulting in the reestablishment of the the Constitutional Republic? Do you really think that the American people even want that? They don't. When the masses do unite it will be under the banner of Socialism. Obama will be reelected.
Anyone here read Starving the Monkeys by Tom Baugh? It clicked with me. The point is to always have the masses blaming each other while REAL productive people (slaves) pay for everything. Sick of the shit.
Token actions from the executive branch and a large number of overriden vetoes.
gold prices would drop if RP gets elected since he would suspend money printing
BUT he might move us towards a gold standard - what might that do to gold prices ?
First: I agree with Rep. Paul's stance with regard to US foreign/military policy.
If liquidationist Ron Paul gets elected the US will have a depression. It is hard to say whose compulsions tend more toward the deflationary, Paul's or Angela Merkel's.
If any of the 'Brand X' candidates are elected including Obama, the US will likely face a depression. The difference between candidates is only the degree of certainty.
Paulists put faith in hard currency not realizing the current bear market in crude oil is the hardening of the US dollar, like it or not. An 'official' hard currency is gilding the lily. The dollar/crude trade is the only trade that matters, the bear market in crude parallels the bear market in everything else.
Paulists also put faith in unfettered free markets believing that these invariably produce business expansions. Wishful thinking this: free markets respond to price signals and in doing so produce bankruptcy when allowed to function properly. Bankruptcy today is markets working properly! The price function is distorted by interest rate manipulation: without this, the world's waste-based economies would all blow up, leaving the so-called 'wealthy West' to be living like Peruvians do today.
Ask yourself, do you REALLY want to live like a Peruvian? It's unimaginably difficult.
Only about 2% of our (US) economy is productive, the rest is wasteful consumption of capital for the minor benefit of a few.
BTW, US agriculture is not particularly productive, it depends on an ongoing subsidy of fuel that is too expensive to use as an ongoing agriculture subsidy! Keep that in mind tomorrow AM as you reach into the fridge for that Pop Tart.
Newsflash for you: we already have a depression.
OK, I'll bite...
If Ron Paul gets elected some good things happen right away (less spending on wars, smaller .gov). But we still will face enormous pain and problems.
If Ron Paul does NOT get elected, we will face EVEN BIGGER PROBLEMS AND MORE PAIN.
My $0.02
No, your non-vote is pure laziness.
Go find your own people. Get them started on the local level then push them up the ladder.
Hey, it worked for Obama's controllers.
Systematically unelect every elected official, it will take the newbies that much longer to learn how to steal, and the general level of incompetence could be no worse.
In a digital world, there really is not much need for representatives. Either vote everyone out and move the capital to Wyoming so the lobbyists have to relocate or just put voting on issues in the hands of the people who will care enough to vote on each issue using a computer and the internet.
The representative model is archaic, and clearly doesn't actually allow for representation.
Sounds lovely. Who gets the contract for that software? Diebold?
Pay ten years for a 2 months stimulus. Yep they are using the same broken calculator. When was the last year the us had a budget and what was the last year we didn't exceed said budget.
There has to be a vote of no confidence at some point. This is all sick
"If they're in...They're out"
It is sadly an illusion that, in the US, you are even able to 'throw the bums out' via voting. The truth is more along the lines of this headline:
« US Oligarchs Agree Ron Paul Vote Totals Should Be Lowered 'Only' to # 3 or # 2 on Rigged Voting Machines, to Help Keep Up American Faith in So-Called 'Elections' »
"You know, comrades," says Stalin, "that I think in regard to this: I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this - who will count the votes, and how."
Joseph Stalin, quoted in 'Memoirs of Stalin's Former Secretary' (1992), by Boris Bazhanov
(This is the apparently authentic version of the common Stalin quote, to the effect that it doesn't matter who votes, what matters is who counts the votes.)
30% of the US uses voting machines - which experts admit can be hacked by a young teenager - US Diebold voting machine company owned & run by friends of the Bush family and US oligarchs, Clintons & Democrats included of course.
"We believe that a very resourceful 12 to 13-year-old would be able to essentially produce these alien electronics that can hijack the machine," said Roger Johnston.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/US-Lab-Says-Electronic-Voting-Ma...
Here's an interesting case of apparent hacking:
http://www.truth-out.org/forensic-analysis-finds-venango-county/1323877922
even if we could throw the bums out... the psychopaths controlling each new set of bums through purse strings will still be there...
RE voting machines:
You make a good case... Hard to say what the situation actually is.
Best solution:
Benevolent hackers (anyone know anyone connected to "Anonymous" here?) get a few machines to come up with Mickey Mouse as the 'winner' in a couple of districts... which will (one would hope) catalyze meaningful attention to the issue.
Votes for Mickey Mouse won't be counted in some jurisdictions because his name does not appear on the ballot.
I kid you not. This happened in 2008.
Get involved now on the precinct level or pretend to be a participant by watching MSM debates and waiting for November.
do get involved at the precinct level. there is a surprising amount of anti-incumbent feeling out there. and anyone interested in reform should, if not already, register republican and vote for ron paul in the primaries. if only for the political theater and to watch the msm throw up in its mouth.
"Votes for Mickey Mouse won't be counted in some jurisdictions because his name does not appear on the ballot."
But Mickey Mouse still retains the right to vote...for some reason...lol.
http://www.wisn.com/r/29987729/detail.html
The votes for Mickey Mouse would be registered if the hacker was good enough.
100% of the votes should be for Mickey. Can you imagine what turmoil would ensue?
Solution: Paper ballots.
Election commissions and media and other government electon deceptors will say that will delay results and cost more. So what? Ensuring accurate, uncorrupted and verifyable results should be the primary mission, nothing else. Electronic voting machines, including Scantron, only add attack vectors to a process in which the citizens need to have the utmost faith.
At least Scantron and my preference, the (older?) Opti-Scan give you a paper back-up and you can use black marker.
As demonstrated by corrupt puppet in chief there is no need to rig the machines. Any charlatan spouting "hope" or "change" will achieve the same result.
so it would seem. ralph nader said it many times in 2000 (doesn't matter which major party one votes for, they are much the same). i didn't buy it. especially after the iraq war and the nobel peace prize for gore. I conveniently forgot gore's only decisions as "president" were to nominate lieberman and to give up the fight for florida.
but obama even i can notice. maybe this time it could be different. a little.