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My goal is to post liberal talking points to combat those from the right.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

So You Think You Can Revolt?

It is a popular for some to suggest that we still have the revolution card to play. I don’t think so. I think it is romantic to think that the downtrodden will rise up and cast off the chains of oppression and reestablish our Democratic Republic, but not likely. First of all let’s look at who is going to be on whose side in this revolution. Let’s break the population into four classes.

The tea-bagger/uninformed voters/gullibles or whatever,

the apathetic middle class that don’t want to be involved as long as Dancing With the Stars(?) is still on,

the informed, educated, liberal, professionals

and the ruling class/corporatists.

So while some of the educated, liberal class pretend to support an armed revolution, the tea-baggers are actually making the motions. And they actually have guns and of course are easily lead. So this is how I see the revolution happening. The tea-baggers, backed by our corporate overlords (the ruling class) will revolt. But they will revolt against the liberals. They will undo whatever is left of our Constitution in the name of “freedom”. Can you spell Patriot Act? They will readily embrace Dick Cheeney as their new Democratic Dictator (or unitary executive as Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts would call him). John Yoo will be their high priest.

Now go ahead and mock me, I am used to it. I survived high school so this is nothing. But if you honestly think there is a way an armed revolution can take us back to a Constitutional controlled Democratic Republic, please tell me, I am honestly interested.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Laying all the blame on BP is counter productive.

Of course BP shares some blame, but remember, they are a corporation and in spite of what the SCOTUS says, they are not human. BP doesn’t not have a conscience. Their sole goal is to make profit and as much as possible. They will cut corners and cheat the regulations at every turn. In some cases corporations have decided it is more profitable for them to neglect safeguards and pay the measly fines.

Bad analogy time:
If the candy store owner doesn’t buy a door and the guard sleeps on duty, should the neighborhood children shoulder the complete blame for getting into the candy?

We have inadequate regulations and very little enforcement of those regulations we have. Sadly, I doubt this president will do much about it. Oh something token will happen to BP, probably a punishment that they come up with. They will promise to never again let the battery run down on their blow-out preventer valve. Trust them. But IMHO they will never clean up this mess and they will do little to prevent the next one. Their sole goal is profit and they are willing to risk extreme damage to the environment and even human deaths (11 died on the Deepwater Horizon. Massey Energy killed 29 miners and nothing was done. I wonder how many deaths are allowed before we would do something.

Unregulated capitalism will be our downfall.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Is Buy Stocks Investing or Gambling?

What happened to our economy? A number of things, many in the Bush years but also Clinton didn’t help by signing the bill that allowed the banks that you and I put our money in to “invest” (read gamble). So some will say that it’s just the “free market” at work, let the chips fall where they may. There are a couple of things wrong with that thinking. One, if I wanted someone to gamble with my money I’d go to Las Vegas myself. Two, we the taxpayers provide insurance to the gamblers (banksters). If they lose big, we make it up to them. Now remember it is our money they are gambling with and it is our money we give them when they fail. This may be win-win for the banksters but definitely lose-lose for the tax payers.
Another thing is that when stocks are bought in the market, we are not really “investing”. We are buying the stocks from another gambler that is betting the price will go down. We of course are betting the price will go up. Millions of these bets are made each day with virtually none of the money actually invested in companies to build factories or increase production.
We have seen plenty of evidence of how easy it is for the insiders to manipulate stock prices. For example, if an investment house strongly supports a stock, the popularity increases and so does the price. We, the general public are just trying to get in on the bubble. Now let’s say the investment company that is promoting the increase of the stock price, bets on the price falling and at some point stops supporting the stock, bingo, the price falls and the investment house (and or their favorite clients, make big money. One guess who loses. The poor bastards (you and me) that are just trying to make some money for retirement.
Goldman Sucks and others have done similar tricks with whole countries economies. In countries like Iceland, Ireland, and Greece they help make the countries’ economies look healthy, and then bet against the strength of the economy (they buy insurance against collapse). Of course they know the economies are over-stretched, because they helped put them in that position.
The banksters without regulations are manipulating our economy and making hundreds of billions and even trillions at our expense. We need tough regulations immediately.
I am sure that if an economist reads this they would cry, but it’s how I see it.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg

Once upon a time their was a goose that laid golden eggs, otherwise known as the American economy. For decades the goose delivered the eggs and everyone prospered. It was very important to protect the goose from the greedy that would want more than the goose could produce, therefore there were regulations that protected the goose. This worked for decades until the American people started to forget the 1920’s, the last time the goose was killed. In the 1980's the powers to be decided to listen to the wizard Alan Greenspan who said that the goose could give more gold. Alan, in the name of his God, Ayn Rand, assured everyone that guarding the goose wasn’t necessary. He said that instead of regulating the amount of gold taken, we should let the smart business minds decide on the amount to be taken. After all, he said, they would never kill the goose because that would be against their own best interest. Many other economists cried out that it was essential to protect the goose, but their cries went unheard. Now the goose is severely wounded and Mr. Greenspan says that no one could have foreseen the disaster. Apparently Mr. Greenspan doesnt understand greed.

A little late but the American people woke up and voted for change. Time to heal the goose. Sadly, the change didn’t materialize. Instead of getting a new doctor to heal the goose, the new president kept the same doctors that harmed the goose. Apparently the new president is powerless against the cons.

Move your money out of stocks. You wont be able to out guess the cons.