Effor.com

If you needed another example of how badly Bush sucked as leader of the US, here’s one from Today’s Daily Reckoning:

When the going was good, a small addition to the financial sector’s capital would be multiplied many times. The limit for Wall Street’s investment firms was 12 to 1…until it was increased to 33 to 1 in 2004. Thereafter, if you put $100 into an investment bank…counterparties would soon have about $3,300 worth of credits.

Easy come…easy go! When the financial system rolled over last year, the banks lost money. Suddenly, $100 less in bank capital forced the banks to reduce outstanding credit by as much as $3,300. Cash disappears and everyone is forced to cut back.

Here’s a link to a NY Times article from October 2nd, 2008 that describes how the Bush Administration made this debt crisis much worse.  The story reads in part:

But decisions made at a brief meeting on April 28, 2004, explain why the problems could spin out of control. The agency’s failure to follow through on those decisions also explains why Washington regulators did not see what was coming.

On that bright spring afternoon, the five members of the Securities and Exchange Commission met in a basement hearing room to consider an urgent plea by the big investment banks.

They wanted an exemption for their brokerage units from an old regulation that limited the amount of debt they could take on. The exemption would unshackle billions of dollars held in reserve as a cushion against losses on their investments. Those funds could then flow up to the parent company, enabling it to invest in the fast-growing but opaque world of mortgage-backed securities; credit derivatives, a form of insurance for bond holders; and other exotic instruments.

One of these days I’ve got to take the time to document all of the lame-brained, half-assed decisions that led me to conclude that Bush is an idiot – and that he’ll go down as the worst President in our history.  And it’s pretty tough to be worse than my former number one – Jimmy Carter.

gk

Share on Facebook

I was in a good mood until a few minutes ago.  I just had to pass on something that I ran across while checking the news this morning that pissed me off.  According to many sources (here’s what HumanWatch.com says) our idiot President Bush actually said “I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.”

Sounds similar to something I heard about Vietnam – “it became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”  And it sounds just like the brilliant thoughts we’ve become used to hearing from Bush.  If anyone wants to have a good laugh – or a good cry – this morning, check out this list of Bush quotes.

Back to what actually ticked me off while reading the HumanWatch.com article.  Government caused the current financial fiasco – why on earth does anyone think that more government regulations can solve the problem?

Does anyone remember what our last conservative president had to say?  Hint, I’m not talking about Bush I or Bush II – both have done more harm to the conservative cause than liberals could ever do.  I’m talking about Ronald Reagan.  Reagan said “Government isn’t the solution to the problem – government is the problem.”

Doesn’t sound like Bush has ever heard of him – and we’re all paying the price for that.  Only one more month until he’s gone – but the legacy of his stupidity and disastrous policies (fiscal, foreign, and domestic) will be with us forever.  Our great grandchildren will still be paying taxes to finance the Bush mess.

So Merry Fricking Christmas to you and your family….

gk

Share on Facebook

As if Bush II hasn’t harmed the country enough during his 8 years in power, it now looks like he even wants to recreate his daddy’s Somalia problems.  A brief history lesson for those with memory problems….

Back in the fall of 1992 just after the election in which Bush I was thrown out (because he sucked) the US media decided that the situation in Somalia was deplorable and that it was our fault.  Bush I (after talking it over with President elect Clinton) decided to send in US troops to help out.  History shows that it didn’t work out so well….  16 years later, Somalia is still run by “warlords” and there’s no effective government in the country.

Anyway, according to the news (here’s a link to a story from AFP) “The US government said Wednesday that it believes a new UN Security Council resolution on Somalia authorizes air strikes against pirates in Somali territory.”

In other words, Bush II evidently wants to go out on the same note as daddy – sending US troops into harms way to be policemen instead of soldiers.  I predict it’ll turn out the same way as well – with US soldiers dying in a place that has ZERO strategic importance to the US.

Bush is an idiot.

gk

Share on Facebook

I don’t have time to get into all of the reasons that George W. Bush will go down in history as one of the worst Presidents ever, but the Knoxville News Sentinel captured part of it in an editorial today.  His mind boggling deficits.

In case you’ve forgotten, we had a surplus (fake though it may have been do to counting Social Security receipts as general revenue) but overall the federal government took in more money than it spent in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Bush not only blew the surplus, he’s run the highest deficits in history!  The only President who comes close to being as fiscally irresponsible is his dad – Mr,. “Read my lips, no new taxes” – who also sucked.

From the News Sentinel:

In 1998, thanks to a healthy tension between a Democratic president and a Republican Congress, the country began running budget surpluses.

That lasted until George W. Bush took office. He saw a projected 10-year federal surplus of $5.6 trillion as a problem, a sign that taxpayers had been “overcharged.” He certainly solved that problem.

The interest on the federal deficit alone is $451 billion in 2008.  Bush is adding $1 trillion to the deficit this year alone – not counting the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan!  For some reason, Bush doesn’t think those billions (it’s gotta be close to $1 trillion by now) should count.  Huh?

Please go away George.  Really, I won’t be mad if you left office early and let the White House janitor run the show for a few months – he CAN’T do any worse than you are doing!

I titled this post “Bush sucks part 1″ because there’s a LOT more to back up my assertion that Bush is the worst President we’ve ever had, but I don’t feel like doing all the research tonight.  Just pick a subject – economy, growth of the federal government, starting a needless war to settle a family fued, overly intrusive rules and regulations on business (does Sarbannes Oxley – SOX – ring a bell?), unconstitutional wiretaps, imprisonment without charges, etc.

Bush makes lame-brain Carter look like a genius!  And that’s way to much to put into one post, so I’ll add parts to this as I get to them before Bush leaves office.

gk

Share on Facebook

I don’t know where to start….  Let me get this out of the way – I think the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street banks is a bad idea.  A very bad idea.  A very bad idea for many reasons.   I’ll try to explain some of them.

For starters, here’s what the Telegraph in the UK thinks of the bailout.  The headline reads: Bail-out enslaves US taxpayers Here is how the story starts:

“To preserve their [the people's] independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our selection between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude” – Thomas Jefferson

There was a time, early in America’s history, when its leaders believed in financial discipline. No more. Perpetual debt, which Jefferson feared would enslave future generations, is clamped on Uncle Sam’s undercarriage like a ball and chain. US public borrowing is $9.8 trillion – and rising.

Jefferson, America’s third president (1801-09), is widely regarded as the White House’s most intellectually gifted occupant. He believed that “banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies“, and that “the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity … is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”

I couldn’t agree more.  But my opposition to the bailout goes deeper than simply agreeing with a long dead President about the dangers of debt.  It’s a philosophical disagreement that goes to the roots of the principals that our country was founded on.

I don’t think the Federal government should be involved in bailing out private companies – or homeowners.  We have not granted the Federal government the right to regulate executive pay, decide which companies get preferential treatment regarding loan rates and terms, or decide which group of citizens (or companies) receive direct government buyouts – or indirect preferential write offs of bad debt.

In other words, it’s unconstitutional.  I hope someone has the guts to file a suit and get the case heard in court.

So if this is such a bad idea, why do stocks rise whenever it looks like a deal is close?  That’s easy.  Stocks (especially financial stocks) stand to gain if the US taxpayer takes away their bad debt.  But we (the US taxpayer) are stuck bailing out companies (and people) who made stupid decisions.

Here’s my plan – let them go broke.  Let the companies that made (and sold) these stupid investments go broke and disappear.  Let the people (and companies) who bought these toxic investments go broke.  Kick their stupid, bought-more-house-than-they-could-afford-asses out of those houses.  Let the banks go broke and disappear.

Others – who have managed their money responsibly – will be here to buy up the houses and the toxic debt.  Yes, they will buy the houses and the debt at pennies on the dollar – so what?  Broke companies and people can’t buy stuff anymore – that’s a good thing!

We’ve been collectively living beyond our means for way too long. It’s time to get our budgets balanced – personal and government so we can pay off old debt and get moving forward again.

One other thing – the government doesn’t have $700 billion to use to bail out these stupid assholes.  We will have to borrow it.  That will increase the debt buy trillions by the time it’s paid off – and we already owe over $10 trillion at the federal level alone!

I’ve emailed my congressman and senators to let them know how I feel.  I encourage you to do the same.  Speak up – maybe we can stop this crap before it gets passed.  If you don’t email, call, or fax your representative – shut the fuck up and don’t bitch about the economy, congress, or Wall Street.  You’ve forfeited your right to complain.

gk

Share on Facebook

I get an email every day from a financial website called the Daily Reckoning.  It’s mainly good stuff, once in a while they go a little off (as Aussies sometimes do) but it’s mainly good reading.

The email I received yesterday contained this:

“Buffett says inflation is exploding,” according to CNNMoney.

What can people do? A report in today’s news tells us that many are “delaying health care.” Probably a good move for the oldsters. If they put it off long enough, they won’t need it at all.

You could hang George W. Bush for inflation too. It would be fine with us. He let government spending get out of control. “Deficits don’t matter,” said his #2, Dick Cheney. More new federal spending and US financial commitments were added in the Bush years than under all the rest of America’s presidents put together; and more new money was created while George W. Bush was president than in all the years since the Declaration of Independence combined. Legally, we don’t know if that charge is enough to hang a man. Besides, it seems extreme. In the middle ages, if the keeper of the mint allowed monetary inflation, the king had him castrated. That seems like punishment enough.

Buffett says he is supporting Obama.

I like it!  Nice touches of sarcasm along with supporting data.  I don’t think I’m an Obama supporter, but I know that Bush has sucked – and he’s not likely to grow a pair before the election this fall.

There’s no real point to this post.  I just liked the email and wanted to share my thoughts on it. 

gk

Share on Facebook