Tag: Film

U.S. Debt Clock Has Run Out of Digits

Buck Banks

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It’s been a fixture in New York’s Times Square since 1989, when it was erected to highlight the country’s $2.7 trillion record level of debt — and each American family’s share of it. But according to the BBC, when the debt surpassed $10 trillion last month, the clock ran out of capacity.

The clock’s owners say two more zeros will be added, allowing the clock to record a quadrillion dollars of debt.

Douglas Durst, son of the late Seymour Durst – the clock’s inventor – hopes to replace the Manhattan clock with its lengthier replacement early next year.

For the time being, the Times Square counter’s electronic dollar sign has been replaced with the extra digit required.

How did they gain the extra digit? The dollar sign is now a sticker — a cheap-o fix to the problem, but one consistent with the time in which we live.

According to the BBC, some economists believe the $700-billion bail-out plan for U.S. financial institutions could send the national debt level to $11 trillion.

Keating Economics Exposes McCain’s Role in Deregulation

Trish

This is the Obama mini-documentary about the Keating Five scandal, also available at KeatingEconomics.com.

The film is 13 minutes, and my first reaction was, “Couldn’t you make it shorter?” but as usual, the Obama folks are smarter than me. I think the 13-minute length will create its own novelty, and I know the subject deserves two hours on the networks (fat chance) so what the heck.

If you aren’t up to speed on what happened when McCain improperly pressured to deregulate the financial services industry back then, surely you know what the results of his efforts are today. When you consider how much damage this guy has done just being a senator, you have to shudder about what kind of messes he could get us into as president.

Here’s How to Reduce the Cost of the Bailout: Withdraw from Iraq Now and Save $120 Billion Next Year

Jon Ponder

February 2008: Bush denies that the Iraq occupation is a drag on the economy

John McCain has been lecturing us for months about how well things are going in Iraq. The metrics back him up. Violence is down, whether because of the Surge or by use of a new top-secret weapon. Just yesterday there was a report from Baghdad that U.S. commanders were transferring control of the 100,000-strong Sons of Iraq militia to the Iraqi military.
Why not force George Bush to some responsibility for two of his messes — Iraq and the economy — on his watch?

It costs us about $10 billion a month to stay in Iraq, and since we can’t afford to pay it out of the Treasury, we borrow every penny from the Chinese and others. In 2009, we’ll charge an additional $120 billion dollars onto the next generation’s credit cards to pay for the occupation — on top of the new $700 billion we’re charging them for the Wall Street bailout.

If Iraq is stable, and if the financial debacle facing us is as bad as George Bush says it is, it seems pretty clear that we can no longer afford to stay in Iraq.

There’s another, more karmic reason to withdraw immediately. Two years ago, Bush slipped up and accidentally told the truth about his “exit plan” for Iraq. “We’re not leaving,” he said at a news conference in August 2006, “so long as I’m the President.”

Shunting the post-withdrawal collapse of Iraq onto the next president fits George Bush’s lifelong pattern of screwing things up and leaving his messes for others to fix.

[…]

McCain’s 13-Bedroom McMansion is on the Market

Trish

Want to forget about our country’s (and possibly your own) worsening economic picture? Just take a stroll through one of the McCain’s McMansions. We’re not sure how many they own but we’ll have our staff get back to you on it.

And remember as you view this video that the McCains are just folks, not like those elite Obamas with their single house and one car.

The best part is that what Cindy’s daddy made possible could also be yours, assuming you want to heat and air condition 15,000-square-feet. It’s for sale but if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

Dr. Democrat On the Economy

Dr. Democrat

Dear Dr. Democrat:

I’m confused by this whole economic bail-out deal. How did we get here? What can we do to fix it? Should I be burying my cash in coffee cans in the backyard?

Befuddled in Biloxi

Dear Befuddled:

The coffee can idea is probably not a great long-term solution due to the risk of forgetting where you buried the cans.

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The “root cause” of the problem we’re facing is not monetary policy. It’s the fact that we’ve outsourced our manufacturing to Japan, China and the Third World. We don’t make anything. We just reassemble debt into portfolios and provide services to each other.

The solution to this is a gubmint incentivized program to make the U.S. the world’s leader in green technologies. This is an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while. I call it the “Los Angeles” project, which refers to the Manhattan project, the program rushed into existence during World War II to create the nuclear bomb. The objective is not to solve all the energy problems at once but to pick one or two major components — say, cruise ships, trains or airlines — and put $1 billion or whatever into finding a new energy source for that large-scale fossil fuel consumer. A part of the deal with taxpayers for funding the research would be that every component in the new technology would have to be manufactured in the U.S. for set period of time.

The cause of the present crisis is deregulation of banks that allowed them to make unsecured housing loans and then sell that “toxic paper” over and over. We were a good loan bet when we bought our condo in 1999, and our mortgage was sold five times in the first five years. In that same period, our condo doubled in value, even though we have not fixed a single broken tile or done anything other than repair leaky faucets.

There is no upside to letting the U.S. banking system fail. Personally, as a “regulatory capitalist,” I believe that markets that misbehave need to be spanked. It’s time for the mortgage industry to go to the woodshed. And when we’re done with that whuppin’, we should haul the health insurance industry in while the paddle is still warm.

Republicans have gamed the system, as usual, by calling any effort to regulate “socialism.” They don’t mind socialized fire-rescue, law enforcement, education, libraries and military. But regulating financial services and health care is the first step to communism. Right.

What we as a society should learn from this, as Barack Obama said, is that trickle-down economics does not work. (This is a lesson we learned already, at the end of the first Bush administration.) What works is balanced regulatory capitalism.

Plan A Didn’t Pass — Time for Plan B

Buck Banks

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This has been making the e-mail rounds, but it’s kind of fun to think about:

I’m against the $85 billion bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85 billion to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200 million bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301 million +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200 million might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So, divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion. That equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30 percent. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25.5 billion right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket. A husband and wife would have $595,000.

What would you do with $297,500 or $595,000?

Pay off your mortgage — housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans — what a great boost to new grads.

Put away money for college — it’ll be there.

Save in a bank — create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car — create jobs.

Invest in the market — capital drives growth.

Pay for your parent’s medical insurance — health care improves.

Remember, this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces. If we’re going to redistribute wealth let’s really do it … instead of trickling out a puny $1,000 (“vote buy”) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U.S. citizen over 18.

As for AIG — liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here’s my rationale: We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.

Sure it’s a crazy idea that can never work. But can you imagine the coast-to-coast block party!

House GOP Defeat of Bailout Over ‘Partisan Remarks’ Is Worst Fit of Pique Since Gingrich Shut Down Government Over Clinton ‘Snub’

Jon Ponder

House Republicans killed the Wall Street bailout bill today because their feelings were hurt by remarks made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to one of their leaders:
“You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp. … You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?”
— Gingrich, in 1995, explaining why he shut down the federal government

Without mentioning her by name, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., No. 3 Republican, said: “The partisan tone at the end of the debate today I think did impact the votes on our side.”

Reacting to the Republicans’ reason for killing the bill, House Finance Chair Barney Frank, who shepherded the bill through negotiations last week, spoke for millions:

Frank said that was a remarkable accusation by Republicans against Republicans: “because somebody hurt their feelings, they decided to punish the country.”

According to the AP, in her remarks, Pelosi blamed the “right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation” for the crisis. This may be a “partisan” statement, but it also reflects historical facts.

The immature behavior these House Republicans exhibited today has a striking precedent. In 1995, GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted that he had shut down the federal government because he felt slighted by Pres. Clinton on an overseas trip:

As the government budget standoff continued Thursday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich indicated the Republican hard line was due, in part, to a “snub” from President Clinton during their recent trip to Israel for the funeral of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta called the Gingrich comment “bizarre.”

The speaker said Wednesday that tough terms in the government spending bill President Clinton vetoed Monday night were included partly as the result of pique he and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole felt on Air Force One during flights with the president to and from Israel for the funeral.

Gingrich and Dole had complained earlier about their lack of discussions with Clinton during the 25 hours of flying time. But Gingrich went a step further Wednesday by saying the incident contributed to the government shutdown.

“This is petty,” said Gingrich, indicating his displeasure at the way the two were treated. “You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp. … You just wonder, where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?”

That “snub,” the Georgia Republican said, was “part of why you ended up with us sending down a tougher continuing resolution” — the stopgap spending bill that Clinton vetoed Monday. That veto led to the partial shutdown of the federal government, now in its third day.

“Not once did either of them say, ‘Let’s go in the back and sit down and try to cut a deal,” Panetta said. “Frankly, it would have been inappropriate. Everybody knew this was about a funeral. … This is bizarre. And even if that were the case — which it isn’t — why would you want to shut down the government because you feel snubbed?”

These people have no business being in government. The problem is, they wouldn’t last a day out in the real world.

Panicked over Economic Crisis, McCain Suspends Campaign, Wants to Weasel out of Debate

Jon Ponder

Cancels ‘Letterman’ Appearance Tonight – Things Must Be Bad!

Failure of leadership: Telegraphing panic over the economic crisis to his fear-addicted followers, John McCain has announced he is suspending his campaign and that he wants to delay the debate Friday night:
If John McCain can’t juggle a debate with Barack Obama while simultaneously working on these economic issues, how can he possibly handle the multiple world crises that inevitably come with the presidency?

Republican presidential nominee John McCain this afternoon said he would suspend his presidential campaign tomorrow to return to Washington and help reach agreement on a plan to solve the financial crisis on Wall Street, and called for a delay of Friday night’s presidential debate.

“It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration’s proposal,” McCain said in a brief statement to reporters. “I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.”

It’s not as if John McCain has announced any sort of definitive measure to resolve the crisis that he needs to be in Washington to push — or that he has a record of providing leadership on the economy in the past. (Quite the opposite, in fact. He was an advocate of the deregulation that underlies the failures.)

More importantly, if John McCain can’t juggle a debate with Barack Obama while simultaneously working on these economic issues, how can he possibly handle the multiple world crises that inevitably come with the presidency?

It’s likely that what’s really going on here is that the campaign has seen some dire polling numbers and they want to push the debate forward, with the hope that the issues that are dragging him down have turned around.

Let’s hope the Obama campaign pushes back hard on this one.

With Job Approval at 19%, Bush to Address Nation on Economy

Jon Ponder

With his approval rating as low as 19 percent, and with the exception of Dick Cheney, George Bush is the person least likely to reassure the nation about the current economic crisis.He will nonetheless address the nation tonight about the crisis, but it is questionable how yet another stumbling, incoherent poorly read lecture from him is useful just now:

White House officials said Bush’s speech would dwell on the financial crisis. Press secretary Dana Perino said the president wants to tell the American people how the crisis affects them and help them understand the depth of the problem.

Those of us on the West Coast are lucky that his address will be live at 6 p.m. here, so that it won’t preempt anything really important — like “America’s Got Talent” on NBC, “90210” on Fox or, especially, and aptly, “David Blaine Dive of Death” on ABC.

Besides, the content of the address is so predictable that there’s no need to tune in. In a nutshell, here is what he’ll say: “It’s not my fault. In fact, it’s everyone’s fault but mine, especially including you ‘borrowers.'” No doubt, he’ll even throw his base — fatcat CEOs overboard — since he’s not running again and no longer needs them.

What a farce.