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Old 10-24-2011, 11:58 AM
 
Location: Somewhere out there
9,616 posts, read 12,891,958 times
Reputation: 3767

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Fact: given the endless and unproductive blame-fest left-vs-right controversies, and the endless blathering on TV by the prospective candidates, curdling into a stinking mess by the ongoing critiques of Obama or "W", here's my Big Problem.

We've got ourselves into this mess first by the left's insistence a few years ago (Barney Frank & Schumer the Idiot come to mind..) that we essentially fund anyone and everyone who wanted a home loan, despite the left's shrill insistence now (the old denialist-shift the blame tactic...) that it was "All Bush's Fault!" Well... hardly. And BTW, that one's now officially getting a bit old, don'tcha think? By now?

But then, on the other side of that dirty coin, we've been treated to the establishment Wall Street Greed-Mesiters, which is genetically hard-wired into them, It's obvious. I noted today that they have set aside over $30 Billion for Christmas bonuses this year!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...vWlxfZg&pos=11

Wow! It'll all be good for NYC's tax base to be sure, but that still amounts to us taxpayers subsidizing New York City, which, frankly, I don't subscribe to! Our small town here has it's own budget problems, and perhaps if just one or two of those vastly overpaid execs lived here, we could all celebrate with a round of cheap beer down at The Tav!

So, my larger-view question is based on this:

1. We won't be seeing some magical resurgence in the housing/construction market any time soon. Or EVER for that matter. There's more than enough unoccupied houses out there, with cities demolishing never-before occupied homes just to keep the squatters out of them, to last for literally tens of years.

2. There's lots of foreclosed homes that could also now be bought, but the banks, greedily wanting to keep their easily gained bail-out profits, will not loan it out. After all...

3. Not enough folks are actually working now, and won't be either, any time soon. (the real unemployment number is far more like 20+%, not 9%) What would they do, after all? Make even cheaper knock-offs of the already desperately cheap stuff coming out of the Delta in China?

4. Absent that money getting into circulation, and coupled with the staggering rise in the cost of corn (and hence dairy cow feed ,and hence milk, cheese, eggs, chicken, pork, corn itself, corn oil, corn syrup, ETHANOL*, and so on down that rapidly rippling lineup...), the general economy can't even get a hard-wired booster start...

5. Even for those with a job, even with a good, stable one, they are not going to go out, EVER AGAIN, and try to run their credit limits well past the mark, just soz they can enjoy a bigger pile of accumulated junk in their homes. That old (2009!!!) Chevy 3/4 ton crew with macro-diesel will just have to hold up well past it's 70,000 mile birthday (Horrors! The loss of neighborhood "stuff stature" alone is... well... a staggering blow to the male ego!) .

6. The ripple effect of fuel and labor costs on our trucking & rail industries, the loss of jobs in transport, warehousing, distribution, the post office, even UPS, all asking their employees, the ones they do keep, to do more but with less. How does that message signal some sort or RECOVERY, a word that, when casually uttered by Obama or Romney or Paul or anyone at all, makes me want to p&k$.

Right now, Obama's only hope for political survival and his high-paying job is to convince the liberal populist non-thinkers out there that he alone can resurrect it all, by forcing those who have consistently worked hard for their money, their high incomes and their accumulated wealth (which is not income, BTW,), that they alone should shoulder the entire burden for economic recovery, via government employment tactics (Which NEVER work. BTW. Last time it barely did was Grand Coulee Dam, at which the desperately out of money Depression workers did not balk at 6 day work weeks, huge unpaid overtime, and a truly minimum wage). Nope, to buy that new diesel truck next year, and seriously upgrade that disgusting 4-year old kitchen, you'll have to pay Bubba and his grumbling cohorts at least $80k+ a year, with health care and life insurance and a retirement plan. Oh, and scheduled pay increases. And Collective Bargaining if'n they get disgruntled at the workplace! Riiigghhhhtttt...)

I am so tired of listening to some lazy type, who didn't bother to get a good higher-education, but who wants a big-screen Internet-capable 56" HD TV, ranting on about "the rich!"

What will work here, pray tell? Or are we truly destined for a period of vast pitchforks-in-the-streets civil unrest? And what will that achieve anyhow? Somehow, we've simply got to reduce the number of workers and folks who depend on the state & big gov'mint.. (PS: socialism won't work; Proven!)

I know: a WAR!

Yeah! China has some of the same problems, so let's foment a nice contained and non-nuclear (that'd really be fun to try to manage...) intermittent war,but with lots and lots of casualties. You know; to rid us of a few (million) good men!

Yeah! that's the answer!

Otherwise, I'm all ears, but don't you dare blame the rich, or Big Business. Yep, for sure some of them in the bigger scheme of things, are really greedy, but all those small to medium biz owners out there, who worked 7 day weeks for many years and happened to figure it out, and now make, let's say, $250k a year gross for their original total investment of time and personal capital?? Yah wanna tax them into instant shutdown? Go for it, but don't wonder why you then all get laid off!

And let's also remember just how many living, breathing folks actually work for Exxon, Shell Oil, BP, etc. Or at Boeing or Lougheed or Martin some other big contractor. And then roll in government (socialist) price controls and gouging on gas taxes. And huge pay-backs to Senators and select Committee members. And then let's look at how cities and counties have squandered their resources in the past.

And also, how many folks should NOT have gotten those instant no-credit check home loans for, let's say, $450k, when they didn't even have a job? All soz they could hopefully flip those homes and have the realtors make a commission that they did essentially nothing to earn? You want to spread the blame around? Then at least be fair!

If they are going to get some sort of special fiscal help, why not me? I'm not even asking for anything, but if they are going to get, free, a part of my investment, why not me? I'm just asking....

So. We won't likely be turning back into endless spending gluttons ever again, nor will we be working at some impossible $40/hr wage just for being there, working only half-a$$ed hard down at the union shop? What then?

Barely making it, you and the wifey picking fruit down on the farm, and chasing your chickens back into their coops each night as you gather a few eggs for tomorrow's breakfast? Or getting under that truck to fix the muffler yourself, since the local mechanic had to shut his business down? And then working on some road crew out in the sun/wind/rain/snow? Even if that were possible, there's simply not enough jobs to fill the bill and drive this economies vast interdependencies.. So where do we go? Tell me, oh brilliant ones!

Perhaps it'll be you working down at the new Chevy factory for $15/h max, plus a subsidy on your very limited health care? (PS: if ever there was a badly run company that deserved to fail and make room for a few better-run companies, GM was it. I know: I worked for them. But instead, "we" (Obama, wanting the union vote) spent untold $$BB$$$ of mine and your monies to bail them and their greedy shareholders out! <Sigh> Now, watch them fail anyhow. Give them 5 years, max. )

What do you say? How's it all going to go/end? Whimper or BANG???

___________________________

*ETHANOL: big to-do over an essentially OK idea, but it's not ever going to be enough to fuel this countries' needs or to completely replace middle-Eastern oil. We'd have to convert literally all of our ag-land to fuel up all the rigs we insist on driving everywhere, at about 25 mpg average max. Try an ethanol diesel or similar, at a minimum efficieny of at least 35-40 mpg (easily done now, BTW, but Big Oil would NOT like that!... At All!), with small personal cars getting a mandated 50+ mpg, and then we might get it down to about 50% of our energy needs. But then, we'd have nothing to feed to our cows, pigs and chickens! As for high-speed rail, don't get me started. It won't work as a means for me to get from Seattle to Chicago any time soon. Two days, even @ high speed, and only if we completely completely restructure the right-of-ways for 300+ mph passenger traffic. Nope. No Deal There!)

Last edited by rifleman; 10-24-2011 at 12:22 PM..
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