COMMENTS: 10
A Key Concept the Media Are Missing About the Economic Crisis
October 23, 2008 |
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While much of the media has been making a false presumption that new public investment is fiscally impossible, several economic experts have been trying to correct that notion, and Monday's New York Times noted that "the extra spending, a sore point in normal times, has been widely accepted on both sides of the political aisle as necessary to salvage the banking system and avert another Great Depression."
Yet today we see a backslide in the Los Angeles Times, with an article titled, "Obama and McCain in Denial About Deficits, Economists Say."
The article fails to inform on several fronts:
1. The first sentence falsely asserts: "Despite harsh scrutiny from economic analysts, Barack Obama and John McCain remain reluctant to admit what is becoming obvious -- that the nation's economic crisis will take a heavy toll on their ambitious tax and spending plans." But it is not a certainty that the current economy "will take a heavy toll" on their plans. Both could execute their stated plans, even if they add to the deficit in the short-term, in hopes of stimulating the economy. Obama could proceed with additional public investment, tax cuts for working families and tax increases for families earning more than $250,000. McCain could proceed with his corporate tax cuts (although McCain would need deeper spending cuts, as yet unstated, if he is to meet his pledge of a balanced budget in four years.) In fact, the article contradicts itself later on when it says: "a growing number of economists, including some free-market-oriented experts, say the nation faces massive deficits over the next several years no matter who is elected president." In other words, both could choose short-run deficits as a response to the economic crisis, far from the crisis taking a "heavy toll" on their plans. They both have choices. Nothing is preordained. A professionally reported article would explain the pros and cons of those choices so people can make informed decisions.
2. The article repeatedly assumes budget deficits as unequivocally bad, but never actually offers a reason why they would be bad. In fact, as I noted above, many economists support deficit spending in response to economic recessions.
3. Numbers from the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget are cited to show how the candidates' plan would increase the deficit, and its president, former McCain Social Security adviser Maya MacGuineas, is paraphrased. Yet the article completely ignores MacGuineas' comments to the New York Times from Monday. The NYT reported: "'Right now would not be the time to balance the budget,' said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan Washington group that normally pushes the opposite message."
4. An even deeper contradiction is found in this excerpt:
Facing such a steep wall of debt at the same time the economy is teetering would hamstring any immediate efforts to balance the budget, leading economists predict. "It's highly likely we're already in a recession," said Alan J. Auerbach, director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at UC Berkeley. "That suggests policies aimed at short-term help for the economy will have much greater importance than concern about the deficit." Free-market advocate Alan D. Viard, a former senior Federal Reserve Bank economist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, agreed that "in either case you will have demands on government resources that will crowd out the amount of money available -- whether it's for reducing tax rates, as McCain wants, or adding programs, as Obama wants."But Viard's remarks do not inherently agree with Auerbach's.
Auerbach is saying the deficit will take a backseat to stimulus, meaning the president and Congress may invest in energy, infrastructure and health care to create jobs, or cut taxes to give more money to workers (or more profits to business executives, in the case of McCain.)
He is explicitly disagreeing with Viard, who claims that it will be impossible for either McCain or Obama to pursue their plans. (Viard also misleads about Obama's agenda, ignoring his proposals to cut taxes for working families earning less than $250,000.)
But by blurring the disagreement, the LA Times glosses past the real debate over our short-term priorities between public investment or budget balancing, and continually makes the presumption that only short-term budget balancing is the responsible course.
It is critical debate to have. Both presidential candidates are actually trying to have it. But the media isn't helping.
Reporters often revert to "pox on both houses" mode as it helps protect from charges of partisan bias. But it is biased to presume that balanced budgets should be a policy goal during any economic circumstance.
The media's job is to shine a light on policy disputes, blow the whistle on misinformation, and draw contrasts between legitimate differences of opinion.
No policy dispute may be more important than this one. Yet the media so far has largely failed to do its job to cover it.
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Disgusting
Posted by: Sharkie on Oct 23, 2008 4:31 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: Sharkie on Oct 23, 2008 4:31 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is how crazy it all has become. Pundits, politicians and journalist advocating more tax cuts either to be elected, keep their job or to signal historians how misguided policy in the 21st century has become. More deficit spending at a time when the national debt has exploded some where’s north of a trillion dollars in the months of September and October alone does not a country make. Fewer taxes, spending more than you take in by running a trillion dollar annual deficit will cause the U.S. to default on its debt; making T-bills a step below junk bond status if that’s possible, probably by summer 09. Between 10/8 and 10/10 they added $49 billion alone. That’s a $49 billion RED LIGHT that should be burning through your brain but the conversation is still about more borrowing. Disgusting.
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The british bastards are colluding with taliban terrorists again in afganistan
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:44 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:44 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ24Df02.html
Let's talk about it
In essence, it was the idea of the British Embassy in Kabul to start talking to selected Taliban, and it was on this basis that the grand jirga agreed to set up small jirgas on a regional basis, including in North Waziristan and Quetta in Pakistan and Kandahar and Khost in Afghanistan. (See Talks with the Taliban gain ground Asia Times Online, August 24, 2007.)
Crucially, though, these were to involve tribal elders and related parties, including the Taliban, to be run by acceptable mediators. They were scheduled for last November, but the crackdown on a radical mosque in Islamabad had repercussions in the Swat Valley, which turned into a full-blown insurgency in Bajaur Agency, South Waziristan and North Waziristan, and the jirgas were postponed.
This month's jirgagai revives the process - but without the Taliban, and it can only be regarded as an act of political posturing to shore up the rapidly dwindling credibility of the Karzai administration in Washington.
Absurdly, the jirgagai not only excludes the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Islami (HIA) associated with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, but also those who have contact with these groups.
The chief of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, Abdul Hadi Argundwal, commented to Asia Times Online, "The Saudi talks did not have any official position or locus standi as the real players of the game were missing."
see also--
"Zbigniew Brzezinski revealed a hidden Fact that on July 3, 1979, unknown to the public and American Congress that President Jimmy Carter secretly authorized $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and "de-stabilize" the Soviet Union...
The CIA called this Operation Cyclone and in the following years poured $4 billion into setting up Islamic training schools in Pakistan (Taliban means "student").
These people were sent to the CIA's spy training camp in Virginia, where future members of al-Qaeda were taught "sabotage skills" - terrorism.
Others were recruited at an Islamic school in Brooklyn, New York, In Pakistan; they were directed by British MI6 officers and trained by the SAS.
As America teetered on the brink of entering World War II, Charles A. Lindbergh gave a fateful speech that did more damage to the America First movement for peace than all the propagandistic efforts of the pro-war groups he named in Des Moines that day. In his oration, the great aviator and American hero sought to define who and what had brought us to the point of no return:
"The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration.
"Behind these groups, but of lesser importance, are a number of capitalists, Anglophiles, and intellectuals who believe that the future of mankind depends upon the domination of the British empire. Add to these the Communistic groups who were opposed to intervention until a few weeks ago, and I believe I have named the major war agitators in this country."
"
"Posted by: Ydotheyhateus on Jul 16, 2008 8:28 AM
""
There was a point in Afghanistan's tortured history when the future looked bright, when a determined effort to lift the country and its people out of backward agrarian feudalism almost succeeded.
It began with the formation of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) back in the sixties, which opposed the autocratic rule of King Zahir Shar. The growth in popularity of the PDPA eventually led to them taking control of the country in 1978, after a coup removed the former Kings' cousin, Mohammed Daud, from power.
The coup enjoyed popular support in the town
Let's talk about it
In essence, it was the idea of the British Embassy in Kabul to start talking to selected Taliban, and it was on this basis that the grand jirga agreed to set up small jirgas on a regional basis, including in North Waziristan and Quetta in Pakistan and Kandahar and Khost in Afghanistan. (See Talks with the Taliban gain ground Asia Times Online, August 24, 2007.)
Crucially, though, these were to involve tribal elders and related parties, including the Taliban, to be run by acceptable mediators. They were scheduled for last November, but the crackdown on a radical mosque in Islamabad had repercussions in the Swat Valley, which turned into a full-blown insurgency in Bajaur Agency, South Waziristan and North Waziristan, and the jirgas were postponed.
This month's jirgagai revives the process - but without the Taliban, and it can only be regarded as an act of political posturing to shore up the rapidly dwindling credibility of the Karzai administration in Washington.
Absurdly, the jirgagai not only excludes the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Islami (HIA) associated with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, but also those who have contact with these groups.
The chief of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, Abdul Hadi Argundwal, commented to Asia Times Online, "The Saudi talks did not have any official position or locus standi as the real players of the game were missing."
see also--
"Zbigniew Brzezinski revealed a hidden Fact that on July 3, 1979, unknown to the public and American Congress that President Jimmy Carter secretly authorized $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and "de-stabilize" the Soviet Union...
The CIA called this Operation Cyclone and in the following years poured $4 billion into setting up Islamic training schools in Pakistan (Taliban means "student").
These people were sent to the CIA's spy training camp in Virginia, where future members of al-Qaeda were taught "sabotage skills" - terrorism.
Others were recruited at an Islamic school in Brooklyn, New York, In Pakistan; they were directed by British MI6 officers and trained by the SAS.
As America teetered on the brink of entering World War II, Charles A. Lindbergh gave a fateful speech that did more damage to the America First movement for peace than all the propagandistic efforts of the pro-war groups he named in Des Moines that day. In his oration, the great aviator and American hero sought to define who and what had brought us to the point of no return:
"The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration.
"Behind these groups, but of lesser importance, are a number of capitalists, Anglophiles, and intellectuals who believe that the future of mankind depends upon the domination of the British empire. Add to these the Communistic groups who were opposed to intervention until a few weeks ago, and I believe I have named the major war agitators in this country."
"
"Posted by: Ydotheyhateus on Jul 16, 2008 8:28 AM
""
There was a point in Afghanistan's tortured history when the future looked bright, when a determined effort to lift the country and its people out of backward agrarian feudalism almost succeeded.
It began with the formation of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) back in the sixties, which opposed the autocratic rule of King Zahir Shar. The growth in popularity of the PDPA eventually led to them taking control of the country in 1978, after a coup removed the former Kings' cousin, Mohammed Daud, from power.
The coup enjoyed popular support in the town
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» RE: Carter?? Are You Delusional?
Posted by: Purple Girl
Comments are closed-
British parasites in sheer panic in hedge fund conference
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:47 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:47 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Most HEDGE FUNDS ARE LOCATED IN PIRATE ISLANDS LIKE CAYMAN ISLAND CONTROLELD BYT HE BRIITSH.
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2008/10/23
Parasites In "Sheer Panic" At London Hedge Fund Conference
October 23, 2008 (LPAC)--"We've reached a situation of sheer panic," Nouriel Roubini told the parasites assembled at the Hedge 2008 conference in London. "Hundreds of hedge funds are going to go bust." "Don't be surprised if policy makers need to close down markets for a week or two in coming days," Roubini said.
"This will go down in the history books as one of the greatest fiascos of banking in 100 years," said Emmanuel Roman, of hedge fund giant GLG Partners. "In a fairly Darwinian manner, many hedge funds will simply disappear," he added.
The hedgies have good reason to be afraid, as the multi-quadrillion-dollar global derivatives market is collapsing and the so-called assets of the hedge funds and other speculators are vaporizing at an accelerating rate. As their assets disappear, the hedge funds and other derivatives players are being hit with margin calls on the money they borrowed to fund their leveraged bets, and facing redemption demands from the investors in their funds, who are being hit by the same crisis. This results in both waves of selling as they are forced to liquidate their holdings to meet their obligations, and a heavy demand for dollars to settle their accounts. The rise of the dollar in the recent period is one effect of this mad scramble, and serves a good marker for the turmoil in the largely hidden world of derivatives. Unfortunately for them, there are not nearly enough dollars in the system, despite the Fed's endless stream of bailout money, to allow most of them to cash out, leaving the fund managers and other speculators holding piles of funny money worth no more than the money in a game of Monopoly, or a pile of Confederate dollars.
GLG's Roman predicted that some 25-30 percent of the hedge funds would disappear, but his supposedly gloomy forecast is actually rosy optimism, given what is coming. As the system continues to collapse, the speculators, be they funds, financial institutions or individuals, will be increasingly forced to sell assets to meet margin calls and other obligations, and those sales will further depress the markets. The relentless sell-off in global stock markets is perhaps the most visible aspect of this process, but relatively minor in scale compared to the derivatives problems. There is no bottom to this collapse--the financial system is in a death spiral, as each loss triggers even more losses, in an accelerating manner.
This is what is causing the panic at the London hedge fund conference, as well it should. Bigger bailouts won't help, but will in fact only make the problem worse. The only solution is to shut the derivatives markets down completely, declaring all derivatives transactions null and void, and thereby eliminating all claims. The speculators reject this approach--when the solution is a flea dip, the fleas will never accept the solution--but we must clean up the mess these parasites have made, and that begins with shutting them down. They have failed, their system has failed, and it is past time to admit that, and let the adults take over. It is the only sane path.
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http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2008/10/23
Parasites In "Sheer Panic" At London Hedge Fund Conference
October 23, 2008 (LPAC)--"We've reached a situation of sheer panic," Nouriel Roubini told the parasites assembled at the Hedge 2008 conference in London. "Hundreds of hedge funds are going to go bust." "Don't be surprised if policy makers need to close down markets for a week or two in coming days," Roubini said.
"This will go down in the history books as one of the greatest fiascos of banking in 100 years," said Emmanuel Roman, of hedge fund giant GLG Partners. "In a fairly Darwinian manner, many hedge funds will simply disappear," he added.
The hedgies have good reason to be afraid, as the multi-quadrillion-dollar global derivatives market is collapsing and the so-called assets of the hedge funds and other speculators are vaporizing at an accelerating rate. As their assets disappear, the hedge funds and other derivatives players are being hit with margin calls on the money they borrowed to fund their leveraged bets, and facing redemption demands from the investors in their funds, who are being hit by the same crisis. This results in both waves of selling as they are forced to liquidate their holdings to meet their obligations, and a heavy demand for dollars to settle their accounts. The rise of the dollar in the recent period is one effect of this mad scramble, and serves a good marker for the turmoil in the largely hidden world of derivatives. Unfortunately for them, there are not nearly enough dollars in the system, despite the Fed's endless stream of bailout money, to allow most of them to cash out, leaving the fund managers and other speculators holding piles of funny money worth no more than the money in a game of Monopoly, or a pile of Confederate dollars.
GLG's Roman predicted that some 25-30 percent of the hedge funds would disappear, but his supposedly gloomy forecast is actually rosy optimism, given what is coming. As the system continues to collapse, the speculators, be they funds, financial institutions or individuals, will be increasingly forced to sell assets to meet margin calls and other obligations, and those sales will further depress the markets. The relentless sell-off in global stock markets is perhaps the most visible aspect of this process, but relatively minor in scale compared to the derivatives problems. There is no bottom to this collapse--the financial system is in a death spiral, as each loss triggers even more losses, in an accelerating manner.
This is what is causing the panic at the London hedge fund conference, as well it should. Bigger bailouts won't help, but will in fact only make the problem worse. The only solution is to shut the derivatives markets down completely, declaring all derivatives transactions null and void, and thereby eliminating all claims. The speculators reject this approach--when the solution is a flea dip, the fleas will never accept the solution--but we must clean up the mess these parasites have made, and that begins with shutting them down. They have failed, their system has failed, and it is past time to admit that, and let the adults take over. It is the only sane path.
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well, actually
Posted by: well, actually on Oct 23, 2008 6:26 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: well, actually on Oct 23, 2008 6:26 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The simple truth is we are not as rich as we like to think. We are already living on borrowed money and now that the bills have come due we refuse to cut back. Instead we borrow more money to avoid feeling the pinch. Throwing money around may "stimulate" the economy, but it doesn't create growth; it only forestalls the day when we must live within our means.
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» RE: well, actually
Posted by: tjg1984
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dipconsult
Posted by: dipconsult on Oct 24, 2008 4:33 AM
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Posted by: dipconsult on Oct 24, 2008 4:33 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Watching askance from Europe, we note the wild allegations of "socialism" being thrown around in the US and the apparent inability of many Americans to recognise that capitalism, to succeed, requires rules just as much as football! And that it was lack of up-to-date rules, taking into account new forms of credit that led to the current "meltdown". This was predicted by leading investors such as George Soros, but no one listened: the music played - "let the good times roll".
This return to laissez-faire capitalism by the neo-Republicans (who ditched the moral concerns of traditional Republicans)and not a few Democrats, not only promoted deregulation, but also involved denying the work of Keynes and others about the need for government to "prime the pump" at the beginning of a recession. A confusion of Keynsianism with socialism.
So now there is a panic about how "capitalism has failed us" when really it is the laissez-faire crowd who have failed capitalism!
Capitalism will come to the rescue if society knows what it wants of it. One obvious thing is alternative energy. There is much else too, that we need to meet the immense challenges humanity faces.
"Prime the pump", set the rules, and make it worthwhile for the captains of industry to undertake the great works the world needs - jobs will appear, demand will revive. And a chastened banking/investment sector will perform its traditional role without the disastrous derivative frills that brought it low.
More than anything what the world needs is a sense of direction - without that capitalism will wander off to find profit in what is unprofitable for society. Capitalism is the most effective tool for getting what it is you want done. But our leaders must make clear what that is!
This return to laissez-faire capitalism by the neo-Republicans (who ditched the moral concerns of traditional Republicans)and not a few Democrats, not only promoted deregulation, but also involved denying the work of Keynes and others about the need for government to "prime the pump" at the beginning of a recession. A confusion of Keynsianism with socialism.
So now there is a panic about how "capitalism has failed us" when really it is the laissez-faire crowd who have failed capitalism!
Capitalism will come to the rescue if society knows what it wants of it. One obvious thing is alternative energy. There is much else too, that we need to meet the immense challenges humanity faces.
"Prime the pump", set the rules, and make it worthwhile for the captains of industry to undertake the great works the world needs - jobs will appear, demand will revive. And a chastened banking/investment sector will perform its traditional role without the disastrous derivative frills that brought it low.
More than anything what the world needs is a sense of direction - without that capitalism will wander off to find profit in what is unprofitable for society. Capitalism is the most effective tool for getting what it is you want done. But our leaders must make clear what that is!
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good debt and bad debt
Posted by: billwald on Oct 24, 2008 9:54 AM
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Posted by: billwald on Oct 24, 2008 9:54 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Just as the typical American no longer knows the difference between borrowing for one's work tools and borrowing for a vacation, our politicians no longer know the difference between borrowing to build bridges and borrowing to enrich the people who bought and paid them. At least the politicians are honest. When you buy them, they stay bought.
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missed the point
Posted by: linecrosser on Oct 24, 2008 12:22 PM
Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: linecrosser on Oct 24, 2008 12:22 PM
Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
While the post made some good points, it missed the original problem.
Times are changing in all areas. Probably the greatest change has come in the form of communication. 100 years ago, the public, got its news from the paper or radio. The level of education was lower, and the level of trust and respect for elected office was higher, Higher to a fault. Bankers were able to pass the Federal Reserve Act, privatizing the nations money. At the time only bankers could see the real effect this would have on the country, thats the way bankers think, 20, 50 or even 100 yrs. in the future. I could go on for pages and pages about what a terrible mistake this was, but I won't. While the public may not seem like they're smarter than a century ago, they are and a Federal Reserve Act would not pass today. If,as I believe, it would not pass today, then while it doesn't need to be said I'll say it anyway. It should be repealed. A stroke of a pen created the Fed. Res., a stroke of a pen could do away with it. Let America really be a leader again, and be the first of the 150 or more countries to rid itself of the Central bank system. Screw em, if members of the Fed. complain we throw em in jail, freeze their off shore holdings, confiscate all of their property(houses, planes, art, wine, jewels, cars, ect.) revoke any and all licensees, degrees, memberships, titles. The spouses and children should be left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and sterilized. Oh, if but for the stroke of a pen.
Times are changing in all areas. Probably the greatest change has come in the form of communication. 100 years ago, the public, got its news from the paper or radio. The level of education was lower, and the level of trust and respect for elected office was higher, Higher to a fault. Bankers were able to pass the Federal Reserve Act, privatizing the nations money. At the time only bankers could see the real effect this would have on the country, thats the way bankers think, 20, 50 or even 100 yrs. in the future. I could go on for pages and pages about what a terrible mistake this was, but I won't. While the public may not seem like they're smarter than a century ago, they are and a Federal Reserve Act would not pass today. If,as I believe, it would not pass today, then while it doesn't need to be said I'll say it anyway. It should be repealed. A stroke of a pen created the Fed. Res., a stroke of a pen could do away with it. Let America really be a leader again, and be the first of the 150 or more countries to rid itself of the Central bank system. Screw em, if members of the Fed. complain we throw em in jail, freeze their off shore holdings, confiscate all of their property(houses, planes, art, wine, jewels, cars, ect.) revoke any and all licensees, degrees, memberships, titles. The spouses and children should be left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and sterilized. Oh, if but for the stroke of a pen.
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We Need To Change Our Priorities, NOT Add to the Deficit
Posted by: karenyoung521 on Oct 25, 2008 2:35 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: karenyoung521 on Oct 25, 2008 2:35 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Your article, and everything else I've seen on the bailout and the economic situation, leaves out the possibility that we can - and must - change our federal spending priorities.
Adding to an already record deficit is just as bad an idea as if you got your limit on a credit card quadrupled and immediately spent to the max. Absolutely, we need to spend on infrastructure and to create jobs. We also need to cut military spending. If we did both, we wouldn't have to add to the deficit.
We spend more on military than all the other countries of the world combined. And much of the spending does nothing more than line the pockets of some big corporate and individual campaign contributors.
BTW, the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney is the only presidential candidate to advocate cuts in military spending. Check out her website at www.votetruth08.com.
Adding to an already record deficit is just as bad an idea as if you got your limit on a credit card quadrupled and immediately spent to the max. Absolutely, we need to spend on infrastructure and to create jobs. We also need to cut military spending. If we did both, we wouldn't have to add to the deficit.
We spend more on military than all the other countries of the world combined. And much of the spending does nothing more than line the pockets of some big corporate and individual campaign contributors.
BTW, the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney is the only presidential candidate to advocate cuts in military spending. Check out her website at www.votetruth08.com.
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Alternet Comments:
» RE: Carter?? Are You Delusional?
Posted by: Purple Girl
» RE: well, actually
Posted by: tjg1984
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Disgusting
Posted by: Sharkie on Oct 23, 2008 4:31 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: Sharkie on Oct 23, 2008 4:31 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is how crazy it all has become. Pundits, politicians and journalist advocating more tax cuts either to be elected, keep their job or to signal historians how misguided policy in the 21st century has become. More deficit spending at a time when the national debt has exploded some where’s north of a trillion dollars in the months of September and October alone does not a country make. Fewer taxes, spending more than you take in by running a trillion dollar annual deficit will cause the U.S. to default on its debt; making T-bills a step below junk bond status if that’s possible, probably by summer 09. Between 10/8 and 10/10 they added $49 billion alone. That’s a $49 billion RED LIGHT that should be burning through your brain but the conversation is still about more borrowing. Disgusting.
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The british bastards are colluding with taliban terrorists again in afganistan
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:44 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:44 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ24Df02.html
Let's talk about it
In essence, it was the idea of the British Embassy in Kabul to start talking to selected Taliban, and it was on this basis that the grand jirga agreed to set up small jirgas on a regional basis, including in North Waziristan and Quetta in Pakistan and Kandahar and Khost in Afghanistan. (See Talks with the Taliban gain ground Asia Times Online, August 24, 2007.)
Crucially, though, these were to involve tribal elders and related parties, including the Taliban, to be run by acceptable mediators. They were scheduled for last November, but the crackdown on a radical mosque in Islamabad had repercussions in the Swat Valley, which turned into a full-blown insurgency in Bajaur Agency, South Waziristan and North Waziristan, and the jirgas were postponed.
This month's jirgagai revives the process - but without the Taliban, and it can only be regarded as an act of political posturing to shore up the rapidly dwindling credibility of the Karzai administration in Washington.
Absurdly, the jirgagai not only excludes the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Islami (HIA) associated with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, but also those who have contact with these groups.
The chief of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, Abdul Hadi Argundwal, commented to Asia Times Online, "The Saudi talks did not have any official position or locus standi as the real players of the game were missing."
see also--
"Zbigniew Brzezinski revealed a hidden Fact that on July 3, 1979, unknown to the public and American Congress that President Jimmy Carter secretly authorized $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and "de-stabilize" the Soviet Union...
The CIA called this Operation Cyclone and in the following years poured $4 billion into setting up Islamic training schools in Pakistan (Taliban means "student").
These people were sent to the CIA's spy training camp in Virginia, where future members of al-Qaeda were taught "sabotage skills" - terrorism.
Others were recruited at an Islamic school in Brooklyn, New York, In Pakistan; they were directed by British MI6 officers and trained by the SAS.
As America teetered on the brink of entering World War II, Charles A. Lindbergh gave a fateful speech that did more damage to the America First movement for peace than all the propagandistic efforts of the pro-war groups he named in Des Moines that day. In his oration, the great aviator and American hero sought to define who and what had brought us to the point of no return:
"The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration.
"Behind these groups, but of lesser importance, are a number of capitalists, Anglophiles, and intellectuals who believe that the future of mankind depends upon the domination of the British empire. Add to these the Communistic groups who were opposed to intervention until a few weeks ago, and I believe I have named the major war agitators in this country."
"
"Posted by: Ydotheyhateus on Jul 16, 2008 8:28 AM
""
There was a point in Afghanistan's tortured history when the future looked bright, when a determined effort to lift the country and its people out of backward agrarian feudalism almost succeeded.
It began with the formation of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) back in the sixties, which opposed the autocratic rule of King Zahir Shar. The growth in popularity of the PDPA eventually led to them taking control of the country in 1978, after a coup removed the former Kings' cousin, Mohammed Daud, from power.
The coup enjoyed popular support in the town
Let's talk about it
In essence, it was the idea of the British Embassy in Kabul to start talking to selected Taliban, and it was on this basis that the grand jirga agreed to set up small jirgas on a regional basis, including in North Waziristan and Quetta in Pakistan and Kandahar and Khost in Afghanistan. (See Talks with the Taliban gain ground Asia Times Online, August 24, 2007.)
Crucially, though, these were to involve tribal elders and related parties, including the Taliban, to be run by acceptable mediators. They were scheduled for last November, but the crackdown on a radical mosque in Islamabad had repercussions in the Swat Valley, which turned into a full-blown insurgency in Bajaur Agency, South Waziristan and North Waziristan, and the jirgas were postponed.
This month's jirgagai revives the process - but without the Taliban, and it can only be regarded as an act of political posturing to shore up the rapidly dwindling credibility of the Karzai administration in Washington.
Absurdly, the jirgagai not only excludes the Taliban and the Hezb-e-Islami (HIA) associated with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, but also those who have contact with these groups.
The chief of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, Abdul Hadi Argundwal, commented to Asia Times Online, "The Saudi talks did not have any official position or locus standi as the real players of the game were missing."
see also--
"Zbigniew Brzezinski revealed a hidden Fact that on July 3, 1979, unknown to the public and American Congress that President Jimmy Carter secretly authorized $500 million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and "de-stabilize" the Soviet Union...
The CIA called this Operation Cyclone and in the following years poured $4 billion into setting up Islamic training schools in Pakistan (Taliban means "student").
These people were sent to the CIA's spy training camp in Virginia, where future members of al-Qaeda were taught "sabotage skills" - terrorism.
Others were recruited at an Islamic school in Brooklyn, New York, In Pakistan; they were directed by British MI6 officers and trained by the SAS.
As America teetered on the brink of entering World War II, Charles A. Lindbergh gave a fateful speech that did more damage to the America First movement for peace than all the propagandistic efforts of the pro-war groups he named in Des Moines that day. In his oration, the great aviator and American hero sought to define who and what had brought us to the point of no return:
"The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt administration.
"Behind these groups, but of lesser importance, are a number of capitalists, Anglophiles, and intellectuals who believe that the future of mankind depends upon the domination of the British empire. Add to these the Communistic groups who were opposed to intervention until a few weeks ago, and I believe I have named the major war agitators in this country."
"
"Posted by: Ydotheyhateus on Jul 16, 2008 8:28 AM
""
There was a point in Afghanistan's tortured history when the future looked bright, when a determined effort to lift the country and its people out of backward agrarian feudalism almost succeeded.
It began with the formation of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) back in the sixties, which opposed the autocratic rule of King Zahir Shar. The growth in popularity of the PDPA eventually led to them taking control of the country in 1978, after a coup removed the former Kings' cousin, Mohammed Daud, from power.
The coup enjoyed popular support in the town
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» RE: Carter?? Are You Delusional?
Posted by: Purple Girl
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British parasites in sheer panic in hedge fund conference
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:47 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: avatar_singh on Oct 23, 2008 4:47 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Most HEDGE FUNDS ARE LOCATED IN PIRATE ISLANDS LIKE CAYMAN ISLAND CONTROLELD BYT HE BRIITSH.
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2008/10/23
Parasites In "Sheer Panic" At London Hedge Fund Conference
October 23, 2008 (LPAC)--"We've reached a situation of sheer panic," Nouriel Roubini told the parasites assembled at the Hedge 2008 conference in London. "Hundreds of hedge funds are going to go bust." "Don't be surprised if policy makers need to close down markets for a week or two in coming days," Roubini said.
"This will go down in the history books as one of the greatest fiascos of banking in 100 years," said Emmanuel Roman, of hedge fund giant GLG Partners. "In a fairly Darwinian manner, many hedge funds will simply disappear," he added.
The hedgies have good reason to be afraid, as the multi-quadrillion-dollar global derivatives market is collapsing and the so-called assets of the hedge funds and other speculators are vaporizing at an accelerating rate. As their assets disappear, the hedge funds and other derivatives players are being hit with margin calls on the money they borrowed to fund their leveraged bets, and facing redemption demands from the investors in their funds, who are being hit by the same crisis. This results in both waves of selling as they are forced to liquidate their holdings to meet their obligations, and a heavy demand for dollars to settle their accounts. The rise of the dollar in the recent period is one effect of this mad scramble, and serves a good marker for the turmoil in the largely hidden world of derivatives. Unfortunately for them, there are not nearly enough dollars in the system, despite the Fed's endless stream of bailout money, to allow most of them to cash out, leaving the fund managers and other speculators holding piles of funny money worth no more than the money in a game of Monopoly, or a pile of Confederate dollars.
GLG's Roman predicted that some 25-30 percent of the hedge funds would disappear, but his supposedly gloomy forecast is actually rosy optimism, given what is coming. As the system continues to collapse, the speculators, be they funds, financial institutions or individuals, will be increasingly forced to sell assets to meet margin calls and other obligations, and those sales will further depress the markets. The relentless sell-off in global stock markets is perhaps the most visible aspect of this process, but relatively minor in scale compared to the derivatives problems. There is no bottom to this collapse--the financial system is in a death spiral, as each loss triggers even more losses, in an accelerating manner.
This is what is causing the panic at the London hedge fund conference, as well it should. Bigger bailouts won't help, but will in fact only make the problem worse. The only solution is to shut the derivatives markets down completely, declaring all derivatives transactions null and void, and thereby eliminating all claims. The speculators reject this approach--when the solution is a flea dip, the fleas will never accept the solution--but we must clean up the mess these parasites have made, and that begins with shutting them down. They have failed, their system has failed, and it is past time to admit that, and let the adults take over. It is the only sane path.
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http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2008/10/23
Parasites In "Sheer Panic" At London Hedge Fund Conference
October 23, 2008 (LPAC)--"We've reached a situation of sheer panic," Nouriel Roubini told the parasites assembled at the Hedge 2008 conference in London. "Hundreds of hedge funds are going to go bust." "Don't be surprised if policy makers need to close down markets for a week or two in coming days," Roubini said.
"This will go down in the history books as one of the greatest fiascos of banking in 100 years," said Emmanuel Roman, of hedge fund giant GLG Partners. "In a fairly Darwinian manner, many hedge funds will simply disappear," he added.
The hedgies have good reason to be afraid, as the multi-quadrillion-dollar global derivatives market is collapsing and the so-called assets of the hedge funds and other speculators are vaporizing at an accelerating rate. As their assets disappear, the hedge funds and other derivatives players are being hit with margin calls on the money they borrowed to fund their leveraged bets, and facing redemption demands from the investors in their funds, who are being hit by the same crisis. This results in both waves of selling as they are forced to liquidate their holdings to meet their obligations, and a heavy demand for dollars to settle their accounts. The rise of the dollar in the recent period is one effect of this mad scramble, and serves a good marker for the turmoil in the largely hidden world of derivatives. Unfortunately for them, there are not nearly enough dollars in the system, despite the Fed's endless stream of bailout money, to allow most of them to cash out, leaving the fund managers and other speculators holding piles of funny money worth no more than the money in a game of Monopoly, or a pile of Confederate dollars.
GLG's Roman predicted that some 25-30 percent of the hedge funds would disappear, but his supposedly gloomy forecast is actually rosy optimism, given what is coming. As the system continues to collapse, the speculators, be they funds, financial institutions or individuals, will be increasingly forced to sell assets to meet margin calls and other obligations, and those sales will further depress the markets. The relentless sell-off in global stock markets is perhaps the most visible aspect of this process, but relatively minor in scale compared to the derivatives problems. There is no bottom to this collapse--the financial system is in a death spiral, as each loss triggers even more losses, in an accelerating manner.
This is what is causing the panic at the London hedge fund conference, as well it should. Bigger bailouts won't help, but will in fact only make the problem worse. The only solution is to shut the derivatives markets down completely, declaring all derivatives transactions null and void, and thereby eliminating all claims. The speculators reject this approach--when the solution is a flea dip, the fleas will never accept the solution--but we must clean up the mess these parasites have made, and that begins with shutting them down. They have failed, their system has failed, and it is past time to admit that, and let the adults take over. It is the only sane path.
This Article
Email this page
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Printer friendly version
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well, actually
Posted by: well, actually on Oct 23, 2008 6:26 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: well, actually on Oct 23, 2008 6:26 PM
Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The simple truth is we are not as rich as we like to think. We are already living on borrowed money and now that the bills have come due we refuse to cut back. Instead we borrow more money to avoid feeling the pinch. Throwing money around may "stimulate" the economy, but it doesn't create growth; it only forestalls the day when we must live within our means.
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» RE: well, actually
Posted by: tjg1984
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dipconsult
Posted by: dipconsult on Oct 24, 2008 4:33 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: dipconsult on Oct 24, 2008 4:33 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Watching askance from Europe, we note the wild allegations of "socialism" being thrown around in the US and the apparent inability of many Americans to recognise that capitalism, to succeed, requires rules just as much as football! And that it was lack of up-to-date rules, taking into account new forms of credit that led to the current "meltdown". This was predicted by leading investors such as George Soros, but no one listened: the music played - "let the good times roll".
This return to laissez-faire capitalism by the neo-Republicans (who ditched the moral concerns of traditional Republicans)and not a few Democrats, not only promoted deregulation, but also involved denying the work of Keynes and others about the need for government to "prime the pump" at the beginning of a recession. A confusion of Keynsianism with socialism.
So now there is a panic about how "capitalism has failed us" when really it is the laissez-faire crowd who have failed capitalism!
Capitalism will come to the rescue if society knows what it wants of it. One obvious thing is alternative energy. There is much else too, that we need to meet the immense challenges humanity faces.
"Prime the pump", set the rules, and make it worthwhile for the captains of industry to undertake the great works the world needs - jobs will appear, demand will revive. And a chastened banking/investment sector will perform its traditional role without the disastrous derivative frills that brought it low.
More than anything what the world needs is a sense of direction - without that capitalism will wander off to find profit in what is unprofitable for society. Capitalism is the most effective tool for getting what it is you want done. But our leaders must make clear what that is!
This return to laissez-faire capitalism by the neo-Republicans (who ditched the moral concerns of traditional Republicans)and not a few Democrats, not only promoted deregulation, but also involved denying the work of Keynes and others about the need for government to "prime the pump" at the beginning of a recession. A confusion of Keynsianism with socialism.
So now there is a panic about how "capitalism has failed us" when really it is the laissez-faire crowd who have failed capitalism!
Capitalism will come to the rescue if society knows what it wants of it. One obvious thing is alternative energy. There is much else too, that we need to meet the immense challenges humanity faces.
"Prime the pump", set the rules, and make it worthwhile for the captains of industry to undertake the great works the world needs - jobs will appear, demand will revive. And a chastened banking/investment sector will perform its traditional role without the disastrous derivative frills that brought it low.
More than anything what the world needs is a sense of direction - without that capitalism will wander off to find profit in what is unprofitable for society. Capitalism is the most effective tool for getting what it is you want done. But our leaders must make clear what that is!
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good debt and bad debt
Posted by: billwald on Oct 24, 2008 9:54 AM
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Posted by: billwald on Oct 24, 2008 9:54 AM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Just as the typical American no longer knows the difference between borrowing for one's work tools and borrowing for a vacation, our politicians no longer know the difference between borrowing to build bridges and borrowing to enrich the people who bought and paid them. At least the politicians are honest. When you buy them, they stay bought.
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missed the point
Posted by: linecrosser on Oct 24, 2008 12:22 PM
Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: linecrosser on Oct 24, 2008 12:22 PM
Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
While the post made some good points, it missed the original problem.
Times are changing in all areas. Probably the greatest change has come in the form of communication. 100 years ago, the public, got its news from the paper or radio. The level of education was lower, and the level of trust and respect for elected office was higher, Higher to a fault. Bankers were able to pass the Federal Reserve Act, privatizing the nations money. At the time only bankers could see the real effect this would have on the country, thats the way bankers think, 20, 50 or even 100 yrs. in the future. I could go on for pages and pages about what a terrible mistake this was, but I won't. While the public may not seem like they're smarter than a century ago, they are and a Federal Reserve Act would not pass today. If,as I believe, it would not pass today, then while it doesn't need to be said I'll say it anyway. It should be repealed. A stroke of a pen created the Fed. Res., a stroke of a pen could do away with it. Let America really be a leader again, and be the first of the 150 or more countries to rid itself of the Central bank system. Screw em, if members of the Fed. complain we throw em in jail, freeze their off shore holdings, confiscate all of their property(houses, planes, art, wine, jewels, cars, ect.) revoke any and all licensees, degrees, memberships, titles. The spouses and children should be left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and sterilized. Oh, if but for the stroke of a pen.
Times are changing in all areas. Probably the greatest change has come in the form of communication. 100 years ago, the public, got its news from the paper or radio. The level of education was lower, and the level of trust and respect for elected office was higher, Higher to a fault. Bankers were able to pass the Federal Reserve Act, privatizing the nations money. At the time only bankers could see the real effect this would have on the country, thats the way bankers think, 20, 50 or even 100 yrs. in the future. I could go on for pages and pages about what a terrible mistake this was, but I won't. While the public may not seem like they're smarter than a century ago, they are and a Federal Reserve Act would not pass today. If,as I believe, it would not pass today, then while it doesn't need to be said I'll say it anyway. It should be repealed. A stroke of a pen created the Fed. Res., a stroke of a pen could do away with it. Let America really be a leader again, and be the first of the 150 or more countries to rid itself of the Central bank system. Screw em, if members of the Fed. complain we throw em in jail, freeze their off shore holdings, confiscate all of their property(houses, planes, art, wine, jewels, cars, ect.) revoke any and all licensees, degrees, memberships, titles. The spouses and children should be left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and sterilized. Oh, if but for the stroke of a pen.
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We Need To Change Our Priorities, NOT Add to the Deficit
Posted by: karenyoung521 on Oct 25, 2008 2:35 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Posted by: karenyoung521 on Oct 25, 2008 2:35 PM
Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Your article, and everything else I've seen on the bailout and the economic situation, leaves out the possibility that we can - and must - change our federal spending priorities.
Adding to an already record deficit is just as bad an idea as if you got your limit on a credit card quadrupled and immediately spent to the max. Absolutely, we need to spend on infrastructure and to create jobs. We also need to cut military spending. If we did both, we wouldn't have to add to the deficit.
We spend more on military than all the other countries of the world combined. And much of the spending does nothing more than line the pockets of some big corporate and individual campaign contributors.
BTW, the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney is the only presidential candidate to advocate cuts in military spending. Check out her website at www.votetruth08.com.
Adding to an already record deficit is just as bad an idea as if you got your limit on a credit card quadrupled and immediately spent to the max. Absolutely, we need to spend on infrastructure and to create jobs. We also need to cut military spending. If we did both, we wouldn't have to add to the deficit.
We spend more on military than all the other countries of the world combined. And much of the spending does nothing more than line the pockets of some big corporate and individual campaign contributors.
BTW, the Green Party's Cynthia McKinney is the only presidential candidate to advocate cuts in military spending. Check out her website at www.votetruth08.com.
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