j_b

The Chinese also love seeing us involved in unpaid wars all over the globe. It's rather odd to see us do to ourselves what we claim we did to the soviets. So, what do you think of my statement concerning regressives like JayB and FW playing the young against the old to privatize social security and medicare, and playing public sector workers against private sector workers to bust public unions and renege on wage, benefits and pension agreements?

and?

here: unemployment crisis not hitting all part of the income spectrum equally

The Bankruptcy Boys By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: February 21, 2010 O.K., the beast is starving. Now what? That’s the question confronting Republicans. But they’re refusing to answer, or even to engage in any serious discussion about what to do. For readers who don’t know what I’m talking about: ever since Reagan, the G.O.P. has been run by people who want a much smaller government. In the famous words of the activist Grover Norquist, conservatives want to get the government “down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” But there has always been a political problem with this agenda. Voters may say that they oppose big government, but the programs that actually dominate federal spending — Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — are very popular. So how can the public be persuaded to accept large spending cuts? The conservative answer, which evolved in the late 1970s, would be dubbed “starving the beast” during the Reagan years. The idea — propounded by many members of the conservative intelligentsia, from Alan Greenspan to Irving Kristol — was basically that sympathetic politicians should engage in a game of bait and switch. Rather than proposing unpopular spending cuts, Republicans would push through popular tax cuts, with the deliberate intention of worsening the government’s fiscal position. Spending cuts could then be sold as a necessity rather than a choice, the only way to eliminate an unsustainable budget deficit. And the deficit came. True, more than half of this year’s budget deficit is the result of the Great Recession, which has both depressed revenues and required a temporary surge in spending to contain the damage. But even when the crisis is over, the budget will remain deeply in the red, largely as a result of Bush-era tax cuts (and Bush-era unfunded wars). And the combination of an aging population and rising medical costs will, unless something is done, lead to explosive debt growth after 2020. So the beast is starving, as planned. more: starving the beast

No coq au vin for ZimZam

you should work on your reading comprehension, and on your logic too. Consider it free advice. Now you won't be able to say I never gave you valuable tips. (so, what about Somalia to save on taxes?)

I still don't understand how selling one's house shows that one's politics aren't nasty and wrong. I don't give a flying fuck what you think. People who read my posts know what my politics are and how they withstand the test of reality. Your spin isn't going to change any of that.

Housing market tumble forecast / Economists see bubble bursting by late next year June 21, 2005|By Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer A long-predicted correction in the high-flying housing market could steer the economy into a recession as early as late 2006, according to a forecast to be released today. Economists at the prominent UCLA Anderson Forecast have anticipated a real estate downturn for a couple of years, but they have stepped up their warnings in their latest quarterly report. The reason? Home values simply have flown too high, too fast. In California, for example, home prices have vaulted 70 percent in the past five years, compared with 55 percent in the mid-1970s and 45 percent in the late 1980s. "Prices are not associated with reality," said UCLA economist Christopher Thornberg, whose paper on the state's economy is subtitled "Beware the Froth!" Home buyers "are gambling on massive amounts of appreciation, and it's not worth the price compared to the rental value. It's a house of cards."

In the latest funky logic trend, Bush made a lot of dough, therefore his politics are right.

No. Employment rate is around 62%. Real unemployment is around 20%.

Frankly I don't understand your logic. What's JayB selling his house supposed to show about his nasty politics? btw, most serious economists have predicted a housing bubble burst for many years, as the article I posted above showed. There were articles in the press about people selling their houses and moving into rentals. So, JayB acted on it, good for him. In the meantime, he has been wrong about every single political issue I can think of (from Iraq to the trickle down nightmare and finacial deregulation)

Yo Bill, you want a tip to make money? Move to Somalia, you'll save in taxes. If you don't pay taxes you'll be rich right?

Housing market tumble forecast / Economists see bubble bursting by late next year June 21, 2005|By Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer A long-predicted correction in the high-flying housing market could steer the economy into a recession as early as late 2006, according to a forecast to be released today. Economists at the prominent UCLA Anderson Forecast have anticipated a real estate downturn for a couple of years, but they have stepped up their warnings in their latest quarterly report. The reason? Home values simply have flown too high, too fast. In California, for example, home prices have vaulted 70 percent in the past five years, compared with 55 percent in the mid-1970s and 45 percent in the late 1980s. "Prices are not associated with reality," said UCLA economist Christopher Thornberg, whose paper on the state's economy is subtitled "Beware the Froth!" Home buyers "are gambling on massive amounts of appreciation, and it's not worth the price compared to the rental value. It's a house of cards."

here you go:

Bill, I have spewed here for years making proposals toward creating a sustainable economy. If you have missed all of it, nothing I can say now is going to be very useful for you.

ROTFL

As I said the "you're so negative" shtick is tiresome. I have made lots of positive proposals and they certainly don't consist of making average folks pay for the crisis manufactured by economic elites.

So, today, reneging on pension contracts is "positive" Bill? Your labeling things and people negative (or not positive) is transparent. Anybody noticed how Bill is always happy to carry JayB's water when JayB advocates pro-corporate policies, even though Bill defends himself from being conservative?

Regressive neo-feudalists have learned how to pit public sector employees against private sector employees to bust unions and benefits, young people against old people to bust social security and Medicare, etc .... same old tired tactics of divide and conquer to impose unpopular policies.

Looks great. What a good idea. Not sure. Fewer than there are Deer Creeks?

[video:youtube]A0kypyGSKsE

when I said that anti-tax stupidity was Darwin Award worthy, it wasn't quite what I had in mind but blowing oneself up (along with a few others) to avoid taxes certainly qualifies.

[video:youtube]SdJU9qUv50g

what happened to Lummox? pulled out to sea by an over-sized swordfish?