[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by BucsLose

Society can be just dumb sometimes. For example, no matter what you think of Obama, he got elected off of slogans of "Hope and Change", "Change you can believe in", and by being propped up by Hollywood and the media. Rather than actually looking into what he really believed and his record, people went off of his "rock star" image.

Im sick of career politicians. Im sick of liars and crooks. Yet we constantly elect them and re-elect them. We get dupped by the media/hollywood in some cases. We need to look at these people's records, their pasts, and their words. Blum is a liar. And he is just part of the machine that is in power and which power is growing and expanding. We need to stand up and say enough is enough.

Schiff isnt the only one who saw what was coming. Isnt it funny while Obama and everyone else puts the sole blame on Bush, that Bush and others raised flags about Fannie/Freddie back in 2004. Yet Barney Frank, Waters, and others fought back saying there was nothing wrong.

Blumenthal is going to do nothing but fall right in line with the current DC administration and im sorry, that is not good for the country and our future. But sadly, this predominately liberal state of Connecticut will elect him. With all the rich people in the state, its funny how they elect and support those who do nothing but bash the wealthy and those who create jobs.

An even more liberal state, Massachusetts, defeated a Blumenthal-like candidate. Hopefully, we can Coakley him. Time will tell.

[BucsLose]

Originally Posted by dazzleman

An even more liberal state, Massachusetts, defeated a Blumenthal-like candidate. Hopefully, we can Coakley him. Time will tell.

Yes but while that was good to see, Scott Brown hasnt exactly been great. He just helped push through the financial bill past debate. And im sure that financial bill will have as much hidden crap as the Porkulus and Health Care bills had. And 90 percent of the morons who vote yes, will not have read the bill.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by BucsLose

Yes but while that was good to see, Scott Brown hasnt exactly been great. He just helped push through the financial bill past debate. And im sure that financial bill will have as much hidden crap as the Porkulus and Health Care bills had. And 90 percent of the morons who vote yes, will not have read the bill.

Scott Brown was overhyped, just as Obama was. We never learn. Still, he has to be better than Coakley. It seems in politics, you never get good; you only get degrees of bad.

[Beeker2211]

Originally Posted by dazzleman

Schiff gained some credibility because he called the housing mess back in 2006, and everybody laughed at him then.

Our problem as a society is that we're captivated by vacuous slogans, and this applies to our economic theories too. We fall under the sway of a slogan, and then fail to recognize when we have pushed it to too much of an extreme.

He did gain a little credibility, but not everyone was laughing at him. Maybe CNBC, Greenspan/Rubin, and the WSJ but there were and traders and academic economists that were screaming at the top of their lungs that something was up (even all the way back to 1998 before the proliferation of OTCD's). But the SEC was under poor management and was essentially gutted during the Bush years when the corruption really took off.

I completely agree with the slogan issue though. It's disheartening but I actually have faith in people as a whole. I'd like to think that low voter participation in America is caused more by the hate towards party bs rather than boldfaced apathy.

And Bucs, you have it completely backwards: Bush wanted Frannie and Freddie to be more independent and "industry like" to take advantage of the booming market (remember the privitising social security debate? same idea really). Franks and the Democratic chairs in the Housing Commitee wanted to push more for rentals that were better than the projects of the 1960's and 1970's. And let me make this very clear: Freddie and Fannie had little to do with the overall crisis, even in housing. The problem was that many people took up new securities thinking they had nearly eliminated risk and the Democrats didn't get the House till 2007. After the crisis really hit most of the few remaining "supply siders" threw a lot of accusations, and the Frank/Dodd one stuck despite the narrative making absolutely no sense.

~Cheers

[Tetto]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

frankly I enjoy not having to go to the Thunderdome to fill up my tank.

Thats rich! As if we were ever near that...Yup, we came within a hairsbreadth of Tina Turner running the show! LOL

[Beeker2211]

Originally Posted by Tetto

Thats rich! As if we were ever near that...Yup, we came within a hairsbreadth of Tina Turner running the show! LOL

Haha I for one accept our new singing overlord.

I was using a good bit of hyperbole yes, but the fact is we staved off a massive depression (although certain portions of the economy/society could certainly be described as facing depression conditions) in the greater economy. Nobody trusted anybody, and that trust is the real capital of enterprise which was in no uncertain terms in grave danger.

~Cheers

[Tetto]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

Haha I for one accept our new singing overlord.

I was using a good bit of hyperbole yes, but the fact is we staved off a massive depression (although certain portions of the economy/society could certainly be described as facing depression conditions) in the greater economy. Nobody trusted anybody, and that trust is the real capital of enterprise which was in no uncertain terms in grave danger.

~Cheers

Noboby trusts anybody right now never mind then. The wallstreet guys and bankers know exactly what they're doing and have their own inner world where I scratch yours, you scratch mine. The little guy better be prepared with education and skills to weather any downturns...
I also think the "massive depression" was overblown. Did your life change as a result of the recession? Mine hasn't, and frankly I don't know anyone who lost their job, other than a very few in aerospace (i'm sure to get flamed for this...). If you're in low skill/no skill jobs, you're in trouble...

[Scott R]

McMahon isn't really even a Republican (for you Republicans out there who seem to care). She's financially supported several Democrats in the not-so-distant past. I suspect that she was recruited to prevent Schiff from gaining too much traction. Her anxiousness to claim responsibility for (and gloat about) this Blumenthal situation was timed to ensure that she'd get some extra votes for the Republican nomination. But it may also cost her the general election against Blumenthal since many Democrats will hate her even more because of it. But she won't care, since she's not running to win, just running to make sure that Schiff (who could appeal to Republicans, Democrats, and independents) doesn't.

A popular quote is "Ron Paul cured my apathy." That was true for me during his run. But I'm even more apathetic now. Another famous quote (I believe most earliest attributed to Emma Goldman) which more accurately represents my current feelings on the matter is, "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Scott R

But she won't care, since she's not running to win, just running to make sure that Schiff (who could appeal to Republicans, Democrats, and independents) doesn't.

She's been dropping a s**tload of her own $$$$$ for at least 3 months now!!!!!! She absolutely cares about winning the thing.

[Beeker2211]

Tetto, my life did change quite a bit. I took a significant pay cut and even worked pro bono hours with the company just to help keep it afloat. And trust is returning, in the macroeconomic manner. Beyond that, not really but I am not the nation. And while we're on the subject Connecticut weathered the storm way better than most, but not quite as good as some. That said, just because you didn't see the danger doesn't mean it wasn't there; most of the richie richies were scared poo-less over the failure of AIG and the possibility of Goldman Sachs to fold. It was serious business, and maybe it wouldn't be end of the world, the credit markets were very close to freezing completely.

~Cheers