MVIC, To be honest, I do not think TAX hikes or "spending" cuts will save the economy or the country. IMHO it is to late. We are in the final phase, of what Gibbons Described in the Fall and Decline of the ROMAN EMPIRE. Ayn Rand also describe where we are currently headed in her work titled "Atlas Shrugged". I can even find passages in Alex De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America, which points to our current political atmosphere. And many Western Nations are following in ERICH FROMMS, "ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM" description of "Giving up Freedom's in the name of Safety." I disagree with the na-sayers who say, "We have been here before". "This is just like so and so decade or so and so years". False, this is a direction the country has never set sail towards. We are in uncharted waters with our current Financial Storms", and with our "Democracy". So, I am unsure if G-d can save the Queen or the US.
MVIC, True on OBAMA as far as "South Side" and Black Activist. However, that is only half of the story. He gave up "ISLAM" for "Christian Beliefs", I doubt. I spent many years being educated in Chicago at University and Trading Options and Equities in the City. I know about OBAMA and his "Chicago Connection", his life in that region. But make no mistake, he is weak, uneducated in many affairs and one of the worst voting records I have ever seen. Ye, that will not stop the people from falling to their knees as they watch him carry the "Cross" of all those poor souls, for all those in need, for all those sinners.
EMR I think you are too pessimistic, it is still possible for America to put its fiscal affairs in order and to contniue on the path of economic growth. I have travelled Asia extensively (not just as a tourist for a few weeks) and know that the world is at the beginning of a huge global bull. The way I see it America can either participate fully and richly benefit by being competative, productive, and innovative (the American edge) or it can be handicapped by having its investment spigot shut off and its entreprenuers and corporations severely hampered by taxes and red tape. I went to college in Chi town, traded at the Merck back in the late 80's, and for 2 years as I struggled to be profitable lived on the northern fringe of the South Side before that part of town was gentrified and turned in to lofts. I was a bleeding heart at the time and volunteered in soup kitchens etc and would have probably agreed with Obama then. Thing is I grew up, saw the world, started businesses that employed people rather than give them handouts and false promises, and know what it takes for an economy to succeed. I still have the compassion that I learnt in those days but I also have the experienced the reality that the productivity, effciency, and creativity, that market forces require for success can result in a sea of wealth that list all boats, not just the ship of the risk taker. This is the what Sen Obama is missing for all his experiences to date in life and it is a critical component in balancing all that counter productive "rage against the machine" mentality that every community activist is infected with.
obama killing Hillary in futures market.......McCain crushed, Ron Paul groveling for scraps---- as EMR so aptly puts it---- ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM is happening again..... peace to all capitalists, our time may be short..... surf
C'mon. Clinton escaped just as the tech bubble started to burst and the S&P started a 50% drawdown. Presidents get a lot more credit...and blame...than they should about the economy and markets. Clinton inherited a Reagan and Bush Sr. market. Bush inherited 8 years of Clinton's policies.
This is so ridiculous when ppl say this. So how many years would Bush have to be President to "take credit" for his policies?
Here's something else to chew on. Obama was raised a Moslem. He now claims to be a Christian. If he is elected President, the Jihad crowd would love nothing more than to assasinate him. In their eyes and law, apostasizing from Islam is a capital offense.
Am I the only one to think that McCain is the obvious choice? Not only is he a pork buster who's a strong believer of balanced budgeting, he also wants to control the growth of government. And he wants to maintain the offensive on the WOT. I think most surveys confirm that the American people favor these things by overwhelming majorities. Obama gives rousing speeches, no question about that, but his plans for nationalized healthcare, teacher pay raises, and infrastructure investment paid for by bringing the troops home immediately and instituting HUGE tax hikes is nothing short of disastrous. I don't know about his religious beliefs, but he's definitely motivated me to make my first presidential campaign contribution ever and donate to McCain. Hell, I even considered making a contribution to Hillary because Obama scares me that much! And to all those fools who said the "stock market" wasn't helped by the Bush tax cuts, who ever said that helping the stock market was his goal? The guy inherited a recession that Clinton was lucky to escape through term-limits and presided over the worse attack in US history, and he still managed to grow the GDP by over 5% from 2000-2007. Obviously if you compare the stock market now to how it was when Bush entered office and the internet bubble was just beginning to burst, the performance of the market isn't going to be favorable. That's like comparing a stock's close to its intraday high and concluding that it must have performed poorly for the day. Anyway, I can only hope that if (God forbid) Obama gets the nomination by virtue of all those nuthuggers out there, he will eventually be exposed for what he is -- a McGovern/Mondale Democrat with MLK skills at delivery.
SURFER!!!!!!!!! YOU ROCK, you have the Hard Back Edition of ERICH FROMM. I only have the "Soft back" with a shit load of notes written all kinds of places. The good ole University Days. Yes, my friend, I agree that people like you and I will be short lived. Capitalism will go the way of JAZZ MUSIC. A classic respected but all to often forgotten. Well my friend, until that day.....LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, have you spoke to VN. PM me and let me know how he is.