Wednesday, February 11, 2009

More New Highs and Lows

Stocks plunge as government unveils bailout plan

Traders and investors complained about what they saw as a lack of specifics from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on how the government will direct more than $1 trillion in public and private support to the financial system.

Geithner's speech "basically puts a spotlight on the fact that the government has no idea how to fix the problem," said Jeff Buetow, senior portfolio manager at Portfolio Management Consultants. "People bought on rumor and hope, and now they're selling on reality." Now that is what one can call CHANGE but not the change that Obama , Queen Pelosi and Court Jester Reid were looking for. The other court clown has been silent for the past 24 hours. Guess Joe can’t say much since this is doing nothing for the middle class, you know the group that he is suppose to lead beside still waters and into green pastures to where the goats dwell.

An increasingly tough sell

A recent poll by Pew Research Center found that a narrow majority of Americans, just 51%, support the stimulus. And that's down from 57% in January. Even worse for the administration, support seems to be dropping among people who say they've learned more about the stimulus:

And now you know why ‘the One” wanted to ram this thing down our throats as fast as possible. An informed public will not long stand for such nonsense. Too bad they were not as informed before the election or we would be having a totally different and probably lighter conversation.

So far the best quote of the week: Actually, I liked the idea of the guy who stood up at Obama's town meeting in Elkhart, Ind., on Monday and said he knew where Obama could send the bailout money.

"Send that check to our mailbox," he said. At least we’d know where the money went.

REAL STUPID REMARKS:

One of the dumbest comments made and just when we thought VP Joe Biden was king of foot in mouth.

As the Senate voted 61-37 (thank you Senators Snowe, Collins, and Spector) to pass the porkulus bill earlier today, Senator Chuck Schumer gloated:

And let me say this: To all of the chattering class that so much focuses on those little tiny, yes, porky amendments -- the American people really don’t care.

If you wish you can watch the dripping arrogance and I will add ignorance for his stupidity will eventually catch up with him.


MORE…

Just when I thought Chucky Schumer and Joe Biden held the record for saying stupid things along comes another one of the useful idiots John Kerry who had this to say about those who won’t jump through the hoops on the Porklus bill and the American people, 62% who by the way oppose this bill as it is: "You can't be trusted to invest your own money." So give it to the government to spend it for you, you dumb serf.

What a shame the days of “tar and feather “ are gone for in those days we would have seen just how the chattering serfs dealt with fools like this.

THANKS TO THE RINO’S OR ELEPHASS’S AS A FELLOW BLOGGERS WIFE HAS NOW RENAMED THEM THE STIMULUS BILL HAS PASSED.

Yes we have Specter, Snowe and Collins to thank for throwing away all the good efforts the Republican Senate has made to slow this PORKULUS BILL enough for the people to actually see what is in it. The longer it was slowed down the fewer people actually approved of the mess. Hopefully there will be something occurring to put the skids to this PORKULUS before it can all be enacted. I’m not holding my breath however since the language in the bill concerning health care would stop me from receiving treatment at the VA hospital if the cost was deemed to be not effective. I am sure that like most boondoggles this office will be manned by individuals who have the reading comprehension of a 6th grader, if that, and they only need to mark unnecessary on the form and it is denied immediately regardless of what the doctor says. Those receiving Medicare will also be included in this group so looks as if the plan is to rid the country of those with enough dang sense to actually vote, leaving only those with less than a 6th grade comprehension ability as voters.



That’s it for the past couple of days. I am sure that you have seen other Highs and Lows. Feel free to pass them on to the rest of us via this blog. E-mails won’t work since I do not have the time to read and post each one of the e-mails even though they are appreciated deeply.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not medicare ready yet... but will be in three years just as Obama finishes screwing it up. Guess I'll have to keep working... :(

Ticker said...

Won't have to wait that long since this will also be applied to those with insurance. Insurance companies will not be allowed to pay for your treatment regardless of your wishes or the doctors wishes unless the government approves. Of course those folks may have a bit of reprieve since the VA and Medicare folks will be the first hit and that won't take more than a few months after this PORKLUS is passed.

Inspector Clouseau said...

I suspect that one reason for the lack of support amongst the public is that it is simply too complex, and has too many components. I honestly don't think that any of us can fully appreciate something so huge with so many parts. I watched the debate earlier this week and heard that 600 amendments to one version had been submitted. I mean, who can possibly wrap their arms around such an amorphous collection of band aids, tape, and gauze.

My suspicion, and I may be wrong, is that our leaders had indicated that the money was going to be spent for perhaps 8 primary areas, then it would have been easier to comprehend.

I'll say one more thing. They should abandon this bill, and go back to the drawing board, until they can come us with some version that has at least 75% of Congress behind it. The message of unity of purpose and committment, I think, is far more important than a win by one side or faction, just because they had the requisite votes.

Ticker said...

Logistician, You may be partially correct in that many don't understand it because of it's size. However polls show that in the beginning there were many more who favored the bill based on the 30 sec sound bites received from the LSM. Once the Senate began to ask questions and slow the bill down the people had more time to see that the bill was not all it was said to be and began to question why it was being pushed. I watched several polls and that is what was indicated.
I totally agree that it should have been tossed and started anew but remember Queen Pelosi want to claim all the glory for it and I say if it passes, let her and the rest of the Dims take the credit for the failure that it most certainly be. Also remember when "the One" was questioned, he said, "I won..." So he won what? Time will prove this bill to be a disaster for the most part.

Inspector Clouseau said...

I think that you are dead on about the impact of the 30 sec sound bites on the public's perception of the provisions of this bill. In theory, we should not base our views on the sound bites, but in reality, we do.

To this date, I have never read the provisions of this bill, and consequenlty, I have always felt myself incompetent to comment thereon. Today, for the first time, I read a breakdown, in a newspaper article, outlining the main provisions, and I was able to get some sense of the approach. However, I am sure that many made up their minds before ever reading anything, and relied on the sound bites alone.

Anonymous said...

These comments are a little one sided. Where were you all when the former administration set this free fall in place. High national debt, weakened dollar and so on and on.

This bail out plan is a congressional initiative. Differences are seen more in determining the how and the what.

I saw a leading economist from Columbia Univ and he said that congress is caught between a hard place and a rock. We do have to do something Joe D

Ticker said...

To Anon: Where was I. Screaming my head off at the ineptitude of the Barney Franks and Chris Dodds and others who refused to heed the warning of the previous administration about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
I was also among those who stated emphatically that the so called Simulus Bill, the one time check in the mail deal, which by the way was a democrat sponsored program and they had the majority in Congress at the time, would be a failure. Where were you on that one?
When I see something wrong, I don't care if they are riding an elephant or a jackass or the mixed breed elephass, I call it like I see it and have plenty to say about it.

I heard a dozen economist say this is the totally wrong thing to do period. It was no congressional initive to it. It was designed by the House democrats without any Republican input since Queen Nancy shut them out of the planning. The changes brought forth by the Republilcan Senate were supposedly accepted, one or two were and then the Dems added more crap into the bill at the end before it went back to the house. May I refer to the once failed railroad between DisneyLand and Las Vegas so helpfully submitted by the Court Jester Harry (Porker) Reid. No such thing as being a total congressional initiative.
It was sold in 30 sec soundbites of doom , gloom and fear to the ignorant masses once again.
I suggest looking up the story on the depression of the 1920's. Never heard of it? It was there but the government stayed out of it and it solved itself within a year. This small recession, which is by the way , smaller than the one at the end of the Carter years, would have done the same according to many more economist who do not drink the koolaide of the gloom and doomers.