Day: November 5, 2010

The Virtuous Cycle

What the Fed has done by promising to buy up $600 billion in US bonds, besides also promising to print more money, is what is called the virtuous cycle in economics…..

The most acceptable definition is……..One good thing leads to another. That is, a situation in which improvement in one element of a chain of circumstances leads to improvement in another element, which then leads to further improvement in the original element, and so on.

Now the Fed is praying like a maniac that this infusion of money will start some sort of spending by industry……which will create improvements in the economic condition of the country……

My problem with this whole thing is that this will not create an opportunity just as NOTHING the Fed has done to this point has created anything but more profits for companies and more unemployment for the people…….also we will be spending money we do not have on the wish and the prayer….with all the talk about the national debt and yet this will be allowed to go on is proof positive of the real function of the Fed is NOT the good of the working class or the middle class, if you will….but rather the interests of the Banksters that continue to steal our money with the permission of the government….all the government…both sides of the political spectrum……

Think I am wrong?  Then where have you heard any opposition to this outrageous plan?  Have the Repubs bitched about the add on to the debt?  Not a peep so far!  Have the Dems bitched that this will NOT help the average worker?  Not a peep!  And I bet you still think that there is not a veiled class war (an upcoming post)  going on as we speak…..right?

Fed Throws A ‘Hail Mary’

Yesterday the markets just exploded and ALL the pundits are so confident that this is the beginning of an explosion on Main Street, that prosperity is returning….but is it?

The rally was touched off late Wednesday by the announcement by the Federal Reserve Board that it would pump another $600 billion into the financial markets over the next eight months through the purchase of Treasury bonds. It was further fueled by signals from the White House that the Obama administration is about to capitulate to Republican demands for an extension of Bush-era tax cuts for the rich.

A headline on CNNMoney’s web site summed up the Fed’s action as a “$600 billion gift” to Wall Street. The US central bank is ensuring that corporations and banks have easy access to low-cost funds, even while working people and small businesses find credit unaffordably expensive, if available at all.

So this is basically a ‘hail Mary’ pass…..the Fed has little options left in its bag of tricks to stop a downward spiral of the economy….this action helps NO one but those thieves on Wall Street that have had nothing but good fortune during this economic crisis….the government has done everything it possibly could to keep these firms above water……none of this will increase demand….it does however make the liquidity of the firms involved more stable….but I do not see why this would do anything to help the economy recover…

How will this help anyone with their problems with jobs, housing or whatever else afflicts the common person?

Blue Dog Bites The Dust

One of the original Blue Dogs, Mississippi’s Gene Taylor, has gone down in defeat in the 2010 mid-terms….a victim of “throw the bums out” mentality racing across the country….only this time it was a moronic vote that defeated Taylor….

Taylor is my, or was my, representative…..and in the past I have not been too pleased with his voting stances on many issues that I hold dear…..but this time I am on his side…..he was screwed by the big money that the GOP received to beat any and all Dems in office…..

What makes this all the more  moronic is that Taylor is a conservative Dem and voted like on on many issues…however he got a great rating by the group that watches middle class issues and also by the ARA a group that watches votes by Reps and then grades them on senior’s issues….which again makes his loss even more moronic….since most of the registered voters in his district are retired, most of them from the military and of course are staunch supporters of FOX News and subject to believe the lies and the misinformation that it deals out daily.

The voters of the 4th district in Mississippi voted against their own interests…now you can understand why Mississippi is at the bottom of so many lists…..what kind of mindless person votes against their own interests?

His area is a conservative area meaning pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay, so on and so on…but yet that was not good enough for the mindless voter that let FOX and Limbaugh do their thinking…..sad case of stupid!

For instance, 100% rating from the National Right To Life Committee,  76% rating from the Christian Coalition, given an “A” rating by the NRA, a 90% rating by the Association of Retired Americans, 100% by the Citizens For Tax Justice, 92% by the US Border Control for a sealed border, all the issues that the conservs and especially the Tea Party stand for……his ONLY crime was that he was a Dem in the House that was controlled by Pelosi…that was the ONLY thing that was not to the special interest liking….so many bucks were sunk into the campaign of his opponent Palazzo and they succeeded in getting the great unwashed of Mississippi to vote against their own interests……

I have watched and commented on the situation in Mississippi for many years and it should not surprise me at the depth of stupid that its voters can sink to at any given time….Like I have said many times, I have never been a strong supporter of Taylor in his 21 years in the House….but he deserved better from the people that he represented for those years….especially when he was always voting in their interests….but then…..

Stupid is as stupid does……..

Where Is The Truth In Advertising?

From the VOMITORIUM

Advertising laws are aimed at protecting consumers by requiring advertisers to be truthful about their products and to be able to substantiate their claims. All businesses must comply with advertising and marketing laws, and failure to do so could result in costly lawsuits and civil penalties.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main federal agency that enforces advertising laws and regulations. Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:

  • Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;
  • Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and
  • Advertisements cannot be unfair.

So, it you were buying a product or service you would expect the seller to conduct themselves in a way that would no de-fraud the consumer in any way…….right?  If you bought a car, you would expect it to function properly….if you bought a service you expect it to do what it was sold to do….right?

If you feel that the consumer should be protected from lies and promises that cannot be kept….why do you allow politicians to get away with it?  They are selling a service….the service of representation of the people of their district….and as such they should be held to the “fairness in advertising” statute….

I purposefully waited until after the 2010 election season before I wrote this….why?  I wanted to see just how far the candidates would push their campaigns into the realm of bullsh*t….this year’s campaign ads were full of misinformation, false claims, promises that are unrealistic and outright LIES!

The people need to ban together and turn the politicians over to the FTC, if it is determined that they outright lied to the voter.  And believe me, without much effort, some of the claims and accusations from politicians can be shown to be false…why do we allow them to get away with the lies?  If Ford lied to you, you would be all over them with lawsuits and other legal actions….why not FORCE politicians to keep their word?  If Sears and Chevy must be forthright, then so should the beasts we call politicians….