Straight Talk Express My Ass

Are You Fucking Kidding Me?

Funny. For All The Right Reasons?

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Let's just keep this in the realm of parody.

Missed Opportunity In Mississippi

I thought Jim Lehrer missed an opportunity while he was moderating the debate down in Mississippi. According to the latest figures available from the census department, Mississippi ranks 51st out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia in poverty at 20.6 percent of the population. I live an hour away from Oxford MS. I actually lived in Oxford for a year while I was still in high school. This is a place that I'm familiar with. But the rest of the country isn't. And I think the opportunity was wasted. Not just by the moderator. Neither candidate spoke about poverty.

Ole Miss is a beautiful campus. I've been there several times, it's a great place to see a football game. But if you drive just 30 minutes in any direction out of Oxford a lot of people would be surprised at what poverty in America looks like in 2008. I know this debate was scheduled to be about foreign policy and national security but the economy has emerged as the dominant issue lately.

Poverty is an issue that most politicians don't like to talk about because: 1. As a block the very, very poor don't vote regularly. 2. They certainly don't have the money to contribute to any campaign or political party. 3. A sizable portion of the electorate blame the poor for being poor. 4. Even the media doesn't bring it up despite the fact that the largest concentration of reporters in the free world gather right smack in the middle of the poorest state in the union and they themselves don't mention it.

This is not a tree falling in the forest and no one hearing. This is not hearing the tree fall because we ourselves are holding the chainsaw. It's not just Wall Street that needs bailing out.

Funny. But For All The Wrong Reasons

The Nest Egg

I was really distraught when I finally got up enough courage to log on to my financial providers website the other day. I quit a job after 11 years and rolled my 401k into a Roth IRA. For me it was a substantial amount of money. At my new job I just started over with a new 401k.

So I log in and start poking around and boom! My IRA has lost 14% of it's value since May. I got a terrible sinking feeling. I became a little nauseous. I started to panic. I immediately called the 800 number. I was starting to sweat.

I nice young man came on and I said hey man I'm a little in crisis mode here, I just need to know if I'm doing the right thing with my money. I mean I put in x amount of dollars at the beginning of the year and now I'm down to y amount. And I know this isn't like a savings account I mean once it's gone it's gone! And could I potentially loose all of it? Should I do something else? If Congress doesn't pass some kind of bail out is your company going to disappear with the rest of my money?

The rep was really good and he talked me down off the precipice. I was ready to start putting everything under the mattress. He explained everything I thought I already knew about market volatility and how I'm only 37 and should take the long view since I won't be wanting any of this money for some 25 years or so. He explained that while the value of my plan has went down, the number of shares I possess is still the same. And those shares will rebound in value over time. He told me to relax. So, I allowed myself to believe him. Confidence is part of the market. And I choose to believe that the markets will go up and continue to go up.
Just like I believe that Congress will fix this mess we are in. And Santa will be here before you know it. And the Easter Bunny will bring another new nest egg in the Spring when the markets soar. Hallelujah!

A Sarah We Can All Agree On

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

McCains Hail Mary

In the words of an old Marine aviator I know, McCain has "shit his mess kit." This call to suspend the debate on Friday is just a nakedly partisan move brought on by McCain's sagging poll numbers. If he had truly wanted to present a bi-partisan front with the Obama campaign then he would have gotten all the details worked out behind the scenes and then issued a joint statement. Instead, McCain goes in front of the cameras and says he's shutting down the campaign and wants to put off the debate. And calling on Obama to follow his lead. Follow his lead? Even if he wanted to Obama can't just go along with this because it would look like he's taking orders from McCain. And I think this is what McCain wants. He doesn't want bi-partisanship he wants to be president! And he's trying to shake things up. Just like the hissy fit he through when the party elders told him he couldn't pick Lieberman for veep. Sometimes desperate measures are called for. The economy isn't the only thing in trouble. The straight talk express is going straight to hell.

The one positive thing for McCain is now the media isn't talking about the protective bubble Sarah Palin is in.

Is It Possible Bush Hasn't Cut Taxes Enough?

"You know, if you let me write $200 billion worth of hot checks every year, I could give you an illusion of prosperity, too." Senator Lloyd Bensten.

Oh course Bill Clinton put it better when instead of the "illusion of prosperity" he used "show you a good time." But that's Bill, and that was last year. And Lloyd Bensten said it back in 1988 when he was pointing out the fundamental weakness of Reaganomics. Or "trickle down" theory. Or whatever they want to call it today.

Bush has taken the theory to a whole new level. Aggressively cutting taxes while at the same time increasing spending. Most of the increase in spending going to Iraq which we shouldn't have done in the first place but that's another story. Even Reagan raised taxes eventually. Oh and Sarah Palin, as Governor of Alaska, raised taxes too. Sometimes taxes are raised. It happens. I agree with Grover Norquist on one thing, it would be totally awesome if none of us had to pay any taxes at all.

I would like to open a checking account with ten dollars and then just start paying my mortgage every month with a check without the burden of actual money coming out of my pocket. This is the Bush economy.

As I watch the dow plummet today, (now down 353 as I write this) I am thinking about the news that came out over the weekend. The news that no doubt has been covered up by the current crisis on Wall Street. The IMF or the International Monetary Fund is getting ready to help another struggling economy. Nope, it's not Mexico or Venezuela. It's not Iraq or Ethiopia. It's the United States of America. The Bush administration has quietly agreed to let the IMF come in and look at the books so to speak. That's where we are now. Usually we are the people to suggest to other countries "maybe you should let the IMF come in and make some suggestions." We're at the point now where we need a bunch of really smart economist to come in and fix what's wrong. And if they're doing this this close to the election things must really be bad. Probably more so than they are telling us.

Lehman Brothers owes 613 billion dollars. But unlike you or I, they can file bankruptcy and walk away without paying. Thanks to that bankruptcy law that yes, Obama voted for and Clinton and McCain and the president signed.

Our country is at risk from these economic policies. Maybe gay marriage and stem cell research aren't the only things we should be worried about. Terrorism isn't the only thing that puts us at risk. It's the economy (again) stupid.

What's Wrong With You

I don't care that her daughter is pregnant. I don't care! I'm afraid that if McCain some how wins the election and then dies on us we will be stuck with this! She makes light of not knowing whats going on in the world. Seriously, I thought no matter what happened nothing could be as bad as Bush/Cheney. But Jesus Christ already! Who the hell are you people? This isn't the local PTA that you can force the science department to teach intelligent design and make the health class an abstinence only seminar. (How's that working out for you btw?) This is the fucking country we're talking about. God help us!