Sad to say my time machine is broken. But I would love to travel back in time to the stock market crash of 1929 and listen to the discussions President Herbert Hoover had with his Cabinet and advisers. Do you suppose he was just a clueless as Barack Obama and John McCain are tonight?I'm betting he didn't realize what the stock market crash meant. He thought it would recover. He didn't see the Great Depression coming.
Neither did a vast majority of the population. But the economic landslide was relentless.
But tonight most Americans are starting to realize they have lost 1/3 of their life's savings and/or their retirement fund. Folks that thought they could retire at 59 or even 65 now realize they may need to work the rest of their lives. Retirement is no longer an option.
People on fixed incomes or living today off their 401K's realize they are moments away from losing their homes or worse.
And they realize that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain will have the money to institute their proposed Medical Programs.
And many people really fear they might be laid off before Christmas. Those fears are well founded.
The current disaster is far worse than the stock market crash of 1929.
John McCain is genuinely clueless. He actually believes this election is about Barak Obama's relationship with distinguished University of Illinois at Chicago Professor (and unrepentant radical terrorist) William Ayers.
Wake the hell up, John. Americans couldn't give a rat's ass about Ayers. In fact Americans would overwhelmingly elect Ayers if they thought he could solve this financial mess.
And America is already scared as hell of Barack Obama. Trust me, we are terrified. And it doesn't have anything to do with Ayers. So give us an alternative. Show some real leadership.
I realize that you must attack Obama. It's part of the campaign mix and negative ads so work. So hit Obama where it will really hurt: Barack Obama's total lack of experience and timid decision making. Obama hasn't ever managed his way out of a Senate cloak room. He generally refused to make decisions. He's inexperienced and weak.
Give America an alternative. But if you continue to ignore the 8 trillion ton gorilla in the room, we are all going to lose.
12 comments:
I'll take Obama over any member of the Republican Party I can think of. They - the GOP - have run our once-great country into the ground and the poor house. Only a complete idiot would trust Bush's sidekick, Senator McDeregulation.
Typical liberal, Vigilante. Name calling and insults replace rational thought.
McCain has a long history of both regulation and deregulation. Ever hear of McCain-Feingold? He co-sponsered a bill in 2006 to further regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which may well have prevented this whole mess.
And what did your boy do? He wrote a letter. You know, as a Senator, he could, if he had any actual leadership qualities, have written legislation to solve the problem and tried to get it passed.
I have never been a big fan of McCain. I can never remember be so unenthusiastic about the upcoming election. We are doomed no matter who we elect.
Shoo, you sound like someone who voted for Bush (twice!). What's wrong with my statement?
"the GOP - have run our once-great country into the ground and into the poor house."?
What's missing? Results are results.
It was more this sentence that spurred my comment: "Only a complete idiot would trust Bush's sidekick, Senator McDeregulation."
I don't disagree with your statement about the GOP much. The GOP today is not the GOP of 1994 or of Reagan. But remember, we have had 2 years of Democrats in charge of Congress...is there the slightest hint that they would do any better? The only legislation that might have averted our current catastrophe was brought forth by the GOP. The only thing the Democrats have done since taking over Congress is prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that things would be worse if they ran the government.
Yes, I did vote for Bush. Twice. And I would again today. He is a horrible President, and helped lead the GOP away from their core principles. However, just because he was bad, doesn't mean Gore or Kerry wouldn't have been worse.
When the Dems can produce a leader like JFK, I would consider voting them in. Meanwhile, I voting Liberatarian this year.
Incredible response!
res ipsa loquitur
"I'll take Obama over any member of the Republican Party"
There is your res ipsa loquitur (it speaks for itself)
Vigilante really doesn't get it, does he?
McCain sounded the alarm on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He tried to get legislation through to stop the coming freight train of horror.
But - in a Democratic Congress, he just couldn't do it.
While I do not blame our current situation on any specific party alone, nor Wall Street alone, nor lenders, nor Realtors, nor consumers (I actually blame all) - it is ridiculous to blame McCain. He really is one of the few who did try to do something early on.
As I watch John McCain tank in the polls I realize we are probably looking at a landslide for Obama. Right now I don't believe McCain will take 10 states.
So while I appreciate the comments from Shoo and Lee and peggybundy and I agree with them (more in a new blog post later today or tomorrow), the reality is the Barack Obama is winning this election at every turn.
So I simply want to direct you all back to the original point of this post. The attacks on William Ayers are BACKFIRING badly.
Every American (and 99% of the people in the world this morning) want an American President who can lead us through this financial quagmire.
These unbearably stupid, red meat, attacks on Obama based on his tenious ties to Ayers and others may incite McCain's crowds on the stump, but he is driving away voters by the busloads.
And it's a shame because I'm certain McCain is the man we need to elect to the Presidency (a lot more on this later).
Yes, shoo, but that's compared to the 12 years of the Republican Congress: the one that put NAFTA on Clinton's desk, which he signed (damn him). Ever since Reaganomics, trickle-down economics has been an abysmal failure. And here we are now.
I hope I get through this without offending anyone. This thread awakened the liberal beast.
Yes, I did vote for Bush. Twice. And I would again today. He is a horrible President, and helped lead the GOP away from their core principles. However, just because he was bad, doesn't mean Gore or Kerry wouldn't have been worse. I respect your honesty. I'm not so sure about Gore and Kerry, but we're dealing in hypotheticals now, and neither of us can give a lucid answer as to what would have been. I do agree with Peggie that the GOP has been led astray by Bush and his cronies.
I greatly hope for McCain's political demise in this election. His voting record became extremely conservative when he he started kissing up to Bush. McCain was a true maverick at one time. Had he won in 2000, he might have maintained his integrity which now, sadly, he's lost.
One of Wizard's posts dealt with women's rights. Both McCain and Palin do not support abortion even in cases of rape and incest. That's uniting Church and State: these are Christian values and other faiths support pro-choice. I do not denigrate Christianity here, but simply point out that pro-choice is supported by both the First and Fourth Amendments of constitutional law. McCain's record was much better pre-2000. Why do most men tend to diminish the importance of a pro-choice society? This is a human issue, not just a woman's issue. And even if it were, why are our issues considered less important than men's? I hear silence. For this reason alone, I am comfortable with my choice of Obama.
However, Shoo, I am uncomfortable with the term "boy" to describe Obama. I sincerely hope you did not mean that in a bigoted way.
Obama's record is good, but I'm concerned about his NV on Budget, Appropriations, and Taxes. Junior senators (and the Senate when it obtains the majority) tend to get little done in their first two years. What did Bush do? Planned a war. Bankrupted the country. Destroyed people's retirement. Good job, Bushie.
And, yes, I've heard of the McCain-Feingold bill. Condescension is merely another form of name calling and insults. If you admire McCain's participation in this bill, I assume you also admire Feingold, who drafted impeachment legislation and did not vote for the unnecessary invasion of Iraq as did McCain, who did little else to help the middle-class.
If you want to know where our money went, research Halliburton's, KBR's, Bechtel's, Blackwater's, and other military contractor's stocks and and gross worth. Rep. Waxman brought the principals to the House Oversight Committee to find out why these contractors cannot account for a trillion dollars under the DoD, and our soldiers were not properly armed. Why does Iraq have a $78 billion surplus?
Peggy, I know Vigilante gets it. Again, that is a condescending comment. Please consider the following: the federal budget had a $3.2 trillion dollar surplus in 2000; we now have a $10 trillion deficit. How can you blame a Democratic congress just seated in 2006? To disclose the entire truth, I might add Bush and a Republican Congress were already in office for six years.
The issue is George Bush and the people who failed to stop him. He has expanded the government (more taxes), weakened Social Security, and held key responsibility for not restraining Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. I suggest reading Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman.
Peggy, the 2006 Congress should not bear the brunt of the blame for this financial catastrophe. Rather, let me also remind you of the extremely slim margin in the Senate. Further, when veteran Senators Feingold and McCain drafted this legislation, the new Congress was barely seated.
Even if the bill had passed, Bush probably would have vetoed it because deregulation helps all his rich friends.
So, where's the blame? Bush's signing statements. President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office.
And McCain does whatever Bush says. I can't be sure he has an independent thought.
Feingold, Dodd, Waxman, and Boxer, to name a few, worked hard to overturn the ills of this administration and help their constituency: they kept their integrity. As Obama keeps stating, McCain voted in accordance with Bush's wishes 95% of the time.
Wizard, would you feel comfortable knowing that in case McCain passed away or his dementia worsens, we'd be in the inexperienced hands of Palin? Why on earth would you be frightened of Obama and Biden? Read their voting records.
McCain and Palin scares the feces out of me.
[quote]: I don't want to hear another word from "conservatives" ever again about how liberals are "big spenders" and all that. Never again. Because it's the conservative movement and their golden boy who created this fiasco.
Stella (I've said this before and I'll say it again) you're always worth waiting for!
Thanks, Vig. I spend too much time on research. I would appreciate a response to some of my points from shoo and lee. We don't always disagree...
Don't look for too much satisfaction in this room, Stella. I find less & less.
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