Canaries Dying in the Mine Shaft

Here is what was lost by electing a showboat useless POTUS:

November 11, 2008

Senator Clinton Calls for New Stimulus to Boost Economy and Help Those Hardest Hit by Recession

Calls for Investments in Infrastructure, Green Jobs, Mortgage Relief, Aid to Cities and States, and Extending Unemployment Insurance

NEW YORK, NY – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called for a comprehensive new stimulus package to jump start the ailing economy. In a letter to President Bush and Senate leaders, Senator Clinton outlined a series of measures that would protect those Americans hit hardest by the recession and put the nation on the road to recovery. She called for extending unemployment insurance benefits, providing assistance to financially strapped cities and states to prevent cuts to critical services, and investments in infrastructure and alternative energy projects that could quickly provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs while laying the foundation for future economic expansion. Senator Clinton also renewed her call for a sweeping mortgage modification program that would keep Americans in their homes and address the underlying cause of the financial crisis.

“We are in a recession which demands decisive action. I believe that in order to stimulate this economy, we need to get people working, earning, and building – not just spending. We have borrowed hundreds of billions that have gone to banks and financial institutions and borrowed tens of billions more to energize the economy, yet the economic downturn has continued and the financial turmoil has worsened. What is clear is that any action we take – especially as we borrow more money to do so – must pay off in the near and long term. That is what America does best: we can address this crisis while preparing for our future,” Senator Clinton wrote.

In her letter, Senator Clinton underscored the seriousness of the economic crisis, especially for New York. More than one million jobs have been lost across the country in the past year and New York State estimates that more than 160,000 New Yorkers may lose their jobs as result of the economic downturn. One recent analysis estimated that New York City alone will lose almost 30,000 construction jobs by 2010, in addition to the tens of thousands of jobs already lost because of the Wall Street turmoil.

The text of Senator Clinton’s letter follows.

November 11, 2008

The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Our economy has lost more than one million jobs this year alone. The scope and scale of the economic challenges facing the American people are vast. Businesses, large and small, are struggling to secure financing to survive. Families cannot find affordable mortgages and consumer loans. The housing crisis, which has already wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars in home equity and even more in investment losses, grows deeper every day, with another wave of foreclosures looming.

The State of New York is the epicenter of this crisis. New York projects that more than 160,000 New Yorkers will lose their jobs as a result of the economic downturn. A recent analysis estimates that New York City will lose almost 30,000 construction jobs by 2010, in addition to the tens of thousands of jobs already lost to turmoil on Wall Street.

We are in a recession which demands decisive action. I believe that in order to stimulate this economy, we need to get people working, earning, and building – not just spending. We have borrowed hundreds of billions that have gone to banks and financial institutions and borrowed tens of billions more to energize the economy, yet the economic downturn has continued and the financial turmoil has worsened. What is clear is that any action we take – especially as we borrow more money to do so – must pay off in the near and long term. That is what America does best: we can address this crisis while preparing for our future.

However, we do have immediate needs that cannot wait between now and when the next Congress and the next President takes office. And although your Administration has voiced skepticism about the need for a stimulus bill, I believe that the current conditions call for a coordinated response now.

The most recent jobs report, indicating another 240,000 jobs lost last month and the worst unemployment rate in 14 years, shows that steps need to be taken to shore up the safety net as millions of Americans continue the search for work. Expanding Unemployment Insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would not only provide relief to those hit hardest by our economic downturn, it would also spur economic activity as this money is immediately spent. New York alone has hundreds of thousands of people who will face the unemployment line and the loss of their food assistance during this economic downturn.

In the midst of one of the greatest fiscal crises to hit our states, an increase in the Medicaid FMAP rate would help prevent further and deeper cuts to health care and other essential services like education, child care and public safety. Rising demand for health insurance coverage through Medicaid due to increasing job loss is straining state budgets, and the federal government should act to help ease this growing burden on our states.

It is also increasingly clear that we need to take steps now that not only mitigate the fallout, but also begin putting the nation on the path towards recovery. That is why I believe the stimulus we pursue should focus on rebuilding our infrastructure and building a new, clean energy economy. Stimulus should focus on putting people back to work by investing in infrastructure and green jobs. That is how we can restore our prosperity today and ensure it in the future.

So I am proposing, among other steps, that we speed investments in infrastructure, including $410 million in New York roads, bridges, and transit systems, as well as training for new jobs in the clean energy economy, or “green collar jobs.” A federal investment in our infrastructure serves the dual purpose of modernizing our country’s deteriorating roads, bridges, and transit systems while stimulating the economy. Investing in these projects will create tens of thousands of good paying jobs. More than 40 highway, transit and rail projects are “shovel-ready” in New York alone.

I am also proposing an investment in training programs to prepare a new green workforce for the clean energy jobs of the future. I believe we can create at least five million green collar jobs – and we can speed the creation of those jobs while also training displaced workers to fill them in the very short term.

The next wave of foreclosures looms, and we should address it immediately. It is critical that we modify unworkable mortgages into clear and stable terms if we are to prevent the bottom of the housing market from falling even further. I have proposed HOME, the Home Owners Mortgage Enterprise, based on the successful program enacted during the New Deal which not only saved one million homes but also turned a profit for the Treasury. We should continue focusing on initiatives large and bold enough to meet the scale of the challenges presented by the faltering housing market.

The road to recovery will be difficult. But it is imperative that we take these urgent and important steps to kick-start the economy and hasten a return to prosperity that is shared and strengthens the middle class. I ask that you work with congressional leaders in developing a

comprehensive stimulus package that the Congress can pass next week to reach your desk immediately thereafter.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

cc: Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senator Robert C. Byrd
Senator Daniel Inouye

Read it here: http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=304894&&

Do not know whether this fits in here or not, but I will put it here.

I ran across a web site today. It is Jews against Obama. Very informative web site.

If you go to the bottom right hand side click on the word FLIX. You will come across some videos. The ones with the english titles are in english.

You can tell me what you think about them. Like I said, I don’t know if this is the right thread to put this in, but here it is.

jtf.org/

Sadly, nobody will listen to her because they do not her to get any credit. At this point there is nothing that Bush can do either-that wouldn’t be stalled or undone by Congress. The smell of this dead skunk is really putrid.

It’s interesting because this is almost the micro version of LD’s post from earlier. The whole cycle of credit, borrowing, and lending has been uprooted and our economy is contracting as a consequence.

This is off the subject, yet, very interesting.
Some of you may remember that a couple of months ago,
there was a paper posted on the internet that alledged that Obama was employing techniques of hypnosis. The author of that paper is unknown (and will probably never own up to it), and he/she to have that kind of indept knowledge, must be a hypnotist.
Now, I just found a video posted by Wendi Friesen
( a well known hypnotist) where even she doesn’t deny
Obamas’ use of the techniques ( she actually defends
a persons use of hypnosis…or as she puts it..ahem…Persuasion..)
So, if anyone wants to check out the video, here is the link.
Oh, I also want to say that Wendi is NOT THE HYPNOTIST that posted that internet paper.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wenditv

Larry,
My company is the Canary in the coal mine. Without my product companies are unable to produce,manufactuer or ship anything. We manufacturer industrial packaging supplies and right now the business has dropped like a stone. What once was a six week lead time for product has dropped to one week. Shortened work week and layoffs are coming.
I’m trying to be upbeat, but I deal with everyone that makes anything and right now it looks scary.

No- Obama will adopt all her ideas, put them on his Change.gov website and call it his own, just watch……and the crowd will go wild!

I believe it is the Society of Psycologists or something like that, that came out as a group and said they thought that was what he was using.

One more person I know layed off today. Others are getting notice that layoffs are planned for the end of the year…….But Messiah Obama is going to say us!

To me, the canary in the coalmine is our dreams. Have any nightmares lately?

My therapist is an Obot and I congratulated him on Obama’s win. I asked him exactly what change his supporters were expecting – like was the change complete with the mere election of the man? My therapist totally changed demeanor and went into this euphoric state and described these “successive waves” of healing from the Karl Rove tactics and awfulness of the Bush years. I had to quickly change the subject b/c he really freaked me out.

My sister’s in Chevy Chase near Bethesda and I want to tell Larry that some of those people up there are so insulated and so in denial about what is happening that they’ll be the ones jumping out of windows when the economy hits the ground. She and her husband both voted for BO and couldn’t care less about the small businesses that are near extinction. And Hillary should know that BO will steal and plagiarize every one of her proposals in the letter(of course he won’t implement them just lift them verbally). 2/3 of this economy is dependent on retail and the service industry but people have no money to buy products, to go to dinner, to get their hair done(ask your local salons about business, they’ll tell you)and so on and after Christmas alot of malls, retail outlests, department stores will be on life support. This is not pessimistic, this is our economy gasping for its last breaths–the people that voted for BO will get their change, just not the kind he told them they would.

LOL Catfish, time to shop for a new therapist. Your present therapist will be seeking professional help before long.

The economy is bad and will get worse before it gets better. The stock market leads the economy by 6 months to a year. Expect a bottom soon and then a huge rally. Best Buy warned last night and Intel warned tonight. The futures are lower as a result. Bring on the irrational exuberance.

BTW, I live across the river from Larry. As he said, the DC area is usually pretty recession-proof but only in some respects. Private employers can and are being hurt by the economy. It happened in the 1982 recession. Apple stores are still doing well around here.

we saw pink slips at the doors of two neighbors in our appartment complex.
A family that told us they live here since 7 years, and a single mother of three.
hope they just forgot to mail the rent check.

We live in Florida, Palm Beach County. All there really is down in my area are medical related (lots of elderly), construction (we all know how thats going) and tourism (3 for 3).

My husband has run a mildly successful electric co. for the past 8 years. No work for about two months now. He has applied everywhere to no avail.

We’re about 2 months behind on the mortgage. I now know how people wind up living in their cars. I have six dogs so it would be a little cramped in the Mini-Van!

He wants to go up to Connecticut where he’s from to look for work and maybe move back all together. I keep telling him its not much better there. So reading comments here has made me think I might be right. I’m not sure it makes me feel better to be right this time.

The country has not had a real recession since the 1980s, and it is due for one. The longer we try to defray it, the worse it will be when it happens. It’s part of the cycle. Unfortunately, we have to go through it, for better or worse.

Hillary’s ideas might have worked in years past, when credit was easy to come by, but right now, the government doesn’t have the money to spend. China may be getting ready to cut us off on our credit line. If they do that, our only choice is to CUT spending.

At least she’s putting forth some concrete ideas!

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB122633310980913759.html

OT:
There is an interesting case in NJ developing.
Another lawsuit concerning Obamas natural born citizen status.
follow it here
http://www.blogtext.org/naturalborncitizen/

Larry, can I post this blog article on FreeRepublic? Than.ks

thought I’d share a little humor…well, it’s funny in a twisted sort of way

The Heaviest Element Known to Science

Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neut rons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of morons promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration.
This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

I miss Hillary!

And some REALLY bad news: I work in the film business and many many many people got pink slips at a major studio recently. The studios are “streamlining” which is code for layoffs. The entertainment industry cutting back means the canary is dead and rotting. THe idea that the movie biz. is immune is a myth.

All I can say is hold on to your hats.

LOL, very clever in a scientific way!

Here is one that tells you that whatever bad situations are to come, they are going to last a long time.

Democrats prepare to move forward with investigations of the Bush administration… Developing…

That means bad news for the economy in the long term. These investigations take years and years and are such a distraction that they only produce down cycles.

Even if the economy today would be that of 2005, investigations into the Bush administration would certainly cause a recession. Now with this economy as it is, those investigations will not allow it to recover until the last investigation is concluded.

ASilverTear,

That was really funny. Would be even funnier if it wasn’t so true.

May I repost that for others to enjoy?

Superb.

LOL!!

Seriously! Therapy is sort of a scam anyway.

My neice reacted the same way when I told her to plese check out Obama before voting. All she said was she wanted to be informed and never said anything else. Yesterday I discovered she is going to the ones inaugration. I guess I know her answer now.

Washington Journal highlighted an article in which the Merrill Lynch CEO compared the present crisis to 1929! How bad is that? Our bank accounts are now insured, but what about jobs? I can just see everyone working like Russian peasants in Bobo’s civilian corps! The Greatest Generation gave us FDR, but look what the Hip-Hop Generation stuck us with! BHO is talking of a Car Czar. He’ll have so many advisors he won’t know which way to turn, and we’ll end up with an economy as confused and stagnate as the USSR!

When a therapist is in more need of mental help than the patient, it is time to find a new therapist.

So very sad and scary.

Gee, aren’t we surprised that the Democrats plan to just give away tax dollars or giving them without fixing the problem or making oversight or restrictions, just looking at adding more to the pay give away list, isn’t magically helping our economic problem.

…It helps others have a getaway with a 2 floor suite, so they’re happy, but it sure doesn’t do squat for our economy or us citizens.

I hope you all are able to find some ways to keep yourselves going.

I am no longer working in that field — but I was trained in many of the techniques that Obama used — so it SHOULD be obvious to professionals in various behavioral science fields.

The video record is accessible and it should be carefully studied — and exposed — because this WILL happen again — the door has been opened for unlimited evil. What he did was beyond was any politician has done before.

During the depression of the 30s ironically it was Hollywood studios that employed thousands of people who migrated to California. My grandfather worked in the film industry during the depression. I found out that detail when I found his occupation listed in the 1930 census.

Are less movies being made — or fewer people going out to movie theaters?

Way back in the great depression — movies could be found in even tiny towns and they provided a peek into the world of the rich and famous.

The worst thing is that the folks who caused the mess Dodd, Frank, Raines etc. will not be held accountable by the ∅ administration.

Bush will be blamed.

Where I live, the canary in the coal mine is the small professional, dentists and doctors declaring bankruptcy, or closing offices.

Bad feeling about it, really bad feeling.

And sad, it could have all been avoided with a better Washington.

And car repair shops, mine is in every week, it seems, (a “shop” car) and the repair shops, both dealer and independent, have been noticeably empty.

Weird, just NOT a good thing.

Sure.
LJ

Roosevelt tried pumping money into the economy and it didn’t work. In fact it made the depression last longer.

Carter tried the same thing and gave us stagflation.

Reagan pulled us out of the Carter years by lowering taxes on everyone. Something Zero can’t do.

We are so screwed.

And don’t forget the carbon tax. Everything that uses energy will cost more. So raising prices in a downturn is just a great idea.

Now McCain is no economic genius but at least he would have had Republicans whispering in his ear.

We are so screwed.

What to say Seattle Moss?

Collectively what is the total losses to state coffers?

I saw Califonia today is looking at 28 billions dollars of red ink… I am always amazed that this state will pass 5 billion of general obligation bonds, but ignores the billions it can’t afford that it owes.

Hell of a way to run a business.

my son moved to Fla two years ago.
He is in constrution and has not worked for three months.
He called me tonight and said he was applying for a job in Dubai as there was no work in Fla.
The last place I want him to be is the middle east at this time.
There is an old Irish song called the “Flight of the Earls” It was orginally written about the flight from the English. A modern version was recorded about all the people leaving Ireland looking for work.
I feel this is happening here in America.

By the way I finally got my internet back after not having it since before the election.

WOMEN, MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

PUMAS,BUBBAS, AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

Best wishes to you and yours Alice Paul WPB.

Tell your spouse that it freezes in Conneticut.

from an ex-New Yorker; Better under employed and warm than under employed and freezing.

Ha! A delusional therapist.

Bravo…

Loved it. So I blogged it:

Governmentium

I have had many nightmares this election cycle. I do not remember the ones I have had since the horror of 11/4/08, but I wake up pretty often feeling panicked.

This will not work.

What really has to happen is lowering taxes on business – something Democrats can’t even contemplate.

Reagan called it supply side economics and it pulled us out of the economic mess Carter made.

That site is related to “Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership” JPFO.

I used to correspond with the webmaster, Zalman I believe, a number of years back. I convinced him that the Drug War was bad mojo for gun owners.

Good news.

55 million Americans can’t be hypnotized.

Larry,

Who woulda thunk a couple of years ago freepers and NQ working together?

Strange times mate.

At this point there is nothing that Bush can do either-that wouldn’t be stalled or undone by Congress.

While the country is in economic straits, Pelosi, Reid, et al. will play political games. They want Bush to get zero credit because they want Zero to get all the credit.

Yes, and a way to escape the misery.

My husband has run a mildly successful electric co. for the past 8 years.

My grandfather was an electrician, and my step-father was an electrician.

In the late 70′s, my step-dad made extra money as a “handyman.” He printed up some (cheap)business cards and did a lot of home repair work. After a “short” time, he got more and more business through word of mouth. Being a blue-collar type guy (I’ll guess your husband is, too), he also did painting, etc. But being a licensed electrician was what did the trick and kept him working. People always need an electrician—nobody wants to play around with electricity. This is what kept my grandpa working during the 1930′s!

I hope my pep talk will give you a boost.

Those were the days when movies employed dozens of dancers, singers, etc. I think, in fact, they wrote scripts to create as many rolls as possible.

The movies were made to make people feel good —lots of comedies and positive stories about America. My mom said it helped them get through the hard times—if only psychologically. Sometimes it’s all about attitude!

I’ve lost track… How many billions, trillions, infinitrillions are they going to spend and for what? The story keeps changing (I’m so confuuused).

Someone should keep a running tally—say, starting with Bailout Version 1.0—that should not include the debt and the deficit (just the bailouts).

I don’t think the left hand knows what the right hand is doing, you got the same clowns that created the problem trying to fix it. Throwing money around to the banks who created the bad mortgages is not a good thing. A few CEO’s should be held accountable and made an example of, some serious jail time might be in order, (where is the FBI investigations going with this).

Maybe Obama should have saved the infomerical money & paid the debt off of Hillary & DNC, oh but that would be doing the responsible thing.

I watched a good documentary on PBS about the Crash of 1929, link is in my name (videos)

You are so RIGHT…My roommate at USC, Traci, married Dr. Art Laffer, the father of Supply Side Economics. I remember exactly how we pulled out of the Carter mess and we don’t need OVomit (Carter II) to send us even further into hell. I would like to read Dr. Laffer’s new book, The End of Prosperity. Of course he voted for McCain and here’s what Dr. Laffer has to say about OVomit vs. McCain tax plans…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6JmEdG9oL0

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122506830024970697.html

————————————-

And a great article from the Wall Street Journal by Dr. Laffer on the MESS we’re in and WHY OVomit is going to make it worse.

Good article Larry, about a terrible subject.

I suppose I’m one of those “small businessmen” everyone’s talking about. I’m more fortunate in that I’ve got a secured income from solid assets, only a little bit of it from stocks that have tumbled in value. I can afford to hold onto the stock, not worry about dividends, and wait for it to go back up. A lot of other people can’t, or won’t be able to do that.

I started one new business last year and one this year. I can keep them going because of my situation, even if I have to back off on expansion plans. Most small business owners can’t do that. And if I’d had any knowledge at the time of just what was going to happen with the economy and the election, I’d have probably moved the assets I invested in those companies to some more secure—probably overseas—venues. And if this administration raises taxes, I can afford to just shut down the businesses for a while and start them up again when the situation improves. How many others will be able to do that?

That does make one think about what other small business owners and investors are going to do, doesn’t it? And if those businesses fail, those investors hold onto or move their money offshore, where is all that new, shiny tax revenue going to come from?

Oh. I can’t imagine the pain you’re feeling. Don’t go north, at least in the south if your heat is turned off, you’re still okay. Here, where I am, no heat is dangerous.
I am in Michigan, and we have been in this recession for a long time now. Houses for sale, empty, all over our neighborhood. My neighborhood once was the bedroom community for the Chrysler Tech Center. The houses that don’t have Chrysler families are the homes where GM families live, or supplier families. I think I saw more Obama signs here this year than I ever saw Kerry or Gore. I can’t help but look around myself when I’m out, wondering who would still be there in a year, and wondering where we’ll end up.

I look at the Cloward Piven Strategy (did I learn of that here?), and wonder whether this has all been a well oiled strategy to move this country into socialism. So many people are willing to look to the government now to fix things that never would have suggested it before.

Have you guys read this article – it was written in February of this year, describing what could happen to gas prices and the economy in order to force a win for Obama. The article posits that Soros could manufacture high prices for oil, or an economic crisis in October. Eery??

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/02/george_soros_and_the_alchemy_o.html

In an earlier post, another commenter asked is Obama CIA? I think that is a good question and I think it ties in with the possibility that Obama could be using hypnotic techniques. Years ago, I wandered into a K-Mart Store, if I remember correctly, where a tall, gaunt young man was giving a sales pitch for something. There was a group of mostly women standing there watching him. They looked like zombies; they appeared to be mesmerized. I felt myself falling under the sway and moved to the side to watch and the hypnotic effect dissipated.

The young man was moving his hands rhythmically, speaking with a kind of musical cadence, and there was some very unusual lighting. Years later, I saw this same young man, who had since become very successful and well-known on TV selling his self-improvement, get rich quick scheme.

When someone first suggested that Obama was using hypnotic techniques, I investigated this individual and several other more well-known self-improvement gurus. Most of them are not college graduates and have some very interesting early associations.

So IS Obama CIA or an MKULTRA product or a product of some other deviant group? That is a good, legitimate question as far as I am concerned. For that matter, can we ask that same question of Oprah?

everyone feel free to repost the newest element…love to see it go viral

It’s now “winter visitor” season in Arizona. The Zonies complain about the annual influx of Snowbirds–but they bring in a huge amount of money, especially in the service sector. They aren’t here in the usual numbers. Tourism is our canary, as copper and cotton have been suffering for years. I live in a poorish neighborhood, where everyone is used to scraping along; things look about the same here. If I go over to Scottsdale or the Biltmore area, very rich, I suddenly see lots of For Sale signs that didn’t used to be there, and only about half the out-of-state licenses one would expect in November.

A Silver Tear,

Absolutely loved it! My Chemical Engineer husband has to read this! He’ll have a good laugh!

I agree that the economy is contracting, that we’re headed for recessionary bad times, I’ve held on to a job that I’m not crazy about for the very reason that it is in a recession-resistant industry.

However – a friend and I went out for dinner last nite, our first choice of restaurant was PACKED, the parking lot was full, it was a one-hour wait.

We went to a place next door, in the same price range, maybe a little higher, which filled up with the overflow from the first place. (Neither of these is a cheap venue.)

A couple weeks ago the Phils won the World Series.
The only reason I went to Modell’s for shirts is because I had a Chicagoan with me who wanted to take home souvenirs for her boy. The line in the Modell’s was so long it literally made a “U” around the perimeter of the store. And sports memorabilia is usually top dollar for junk product.

On radio this a.m. I heard a trucker complaining about being stuck in traffic for an hour and a half because of a ball game. He wondered what kind of recession we are in if all those people had money to splurge on a professional sports event.

(These examples all involve discretionary spending. I can only speak to the examples in my area, we have a diverse job base, maybe it will just take a while for the painful recession to land here.)

You can’t even compare the movies of the Golden Era of Hollywood to the absolute tripe that is currently oozing out of that “entertainment” cesspool.

(No offense to any poster here who works in the industry. The only recent release I’ve even contemplated paying money to see is Flash of Genius.)

Aside from providing a peek into the lives of the rich and famous, Warner Bros. famously made their name by producing movies that were all too real, that explored the grittier side of life. Yes we now chuckle at some of the cliches and the outdated attitudes, however the ONE thing the old school moguls knew how to do was to cater to their audience and actually sell tickets.

Maybe there’s layoffs currently because nobody in flyover country wants to buy the weak product that is being sold.

I learned over the weekend why the Republicans who have seen the tape of Michelle Obama ranting about “whitey” describe it as “STUNNING.” I have not seen it but I have heard from five separate sources who have spoken directly with people who have seen the tape. It features Michelle Obama and Louis Farrakhan. They are sitting on a panel at Jeremiah Wright’s Church when Michelle makes her intemperate remarks. Whoops!! When that image comes out it will enter the politcal ads hall of fame.

I went to the movies this weekend — it was much more costly than just renting a dvd or watching TV (if I don’t count how much Comcast costs). I don’t think I’ll be going out to the movies much.

Don’t listen to the “optimists” about our financial implosion. Be afraid; be very afraid. And, whether you want to or not, listen to Doctor Doom. He’s been right since 2005 and has guided my financial planning, and I’m grateful every day that I heeded his warnings, because I prepared for the current implosion. This article is painful to read, but everyone should read it.

The Worst Is Not Behind Us

http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/12/recession-global-economy-oped-cx_nr_1113roubini_print.html

Financial Crisis
Washington’s $5 Trillion Tab

Elizabeth Moyer, 11.12.08, 5:15 PM ET

http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/11/12/paulson-bernanke-fed-biz-wall-cx_lm_1112bailout.html

For all the fury over Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government’s response to the credit crisis.

According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.

I am extremely concerned about the economic news, from an over all perspective, and on a personal level.
When one interview sends the market plummeting, and there does not appear to be any cohesive approach, it does not bode well for the coming months or longer.
I suspect that Republicans who sat out this election want the dems to take the heat this time.
What will Hoover and Obama have in common?

It’s clearly the fault of unions that water bills are so high. If they had no right to organize we could have cheap water for everyone. Right to work is what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner….

…in China.

Great. Thanks so much.

The US gov’t is “on the hook” for $5 trillion, but most of that is from backing mortgages like mine which were bundled and sold through the Frannies. Most mortgages are not sub-prime or Alt-A and very few of those are in foreclosure. Most sub-prime are not in foreclosure, either. So most of that $5 trillion is a safe bet.

Bear in mind that things will get instantly better (in the press, as least) as soon as the One is inaugurated. People like chris Matthews think it is their job to make Obama succeed (he said so explicitly to Joe Scarborough, as if we couldn’t tell from the campaign coverage).

This economy was talked into the toilet by Obama and the MSM who were in the tank for Obama. Now that they’ve talked everybody into being discouraged and scared, what are they going to do?

This is reminiscent of the “crisis” that Frederich Hayek suggests always precedes a gov’t takeover of private industry and assets. He wrote this in “Road to Serfdom”.

Welcome to serfdom! Let’s all say, “Thanks, Obamabots!”

I don’t know why I took a swing at Obamabots for the over-reaction to the economic crisis with more piles of debt. That was Bush and Paulson’s doing. It’s just that I don’t see any “change” coming from Obama on that score — just more gov’t debt used to buy more control of private sector assets under the guise of a bailout.

Stimulus packages like the kind Hillary has suggested do not work — they never work. Hoover tried them. FDR doubled and tripled that effort. The world stayed in Depression for a decade or more. Carter tried stimulus packages. They don’t work. Temporary gov’t work is not a substitute for a job created by the free market.

If Obama were to adopt McCain’s very good idea of cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%, every business in America would get an immediate and permanent boost. That would save and perhaps create jobs.