Robert Reich: Why we should stop obsessing about the federal budget deficit

Bob wrote:We now have a national mindset that believes one political ideology (and it's accompanying pied pipers) can magically fix all that ails us. And believes another political ideology will destroy everything.
Half the population believes one is the messiah and the other the devil, and the other half believes the opposite.
It's all straight out of the Bible and a World Wrestling Federation script.

But the real world, and in particular the national and the world economy, does not lend itself to that kind of utter simplification.
Neither applying "austerity" alone nor continued wreckless borrowing and spending alone is any solution to it. In the absence of some NEW ideas, I'm becoming less convinced that there is any outcome which does not result in a lot of suffering.

Bob wrote:

Sal wrote:Of course there's an incentive.

Money.

It's called disaster capitalism.

Create a crisis, and in response to the crisis - deregulate, crush unions, slash public spending, and privatize everything in sight.[/font]

And in your mind those "plutocrat overlords" would be represented by the Romney crowd.
Only problem is the "deregulate, crush unions, slash public spending, and privatize everything in sight" which romney and the "plutocrats" wanted to happen, required that romney or someone like him got elected.
But that aint what got elected so now it's back to the drawing board for the plutocrat overlords.
In order for a team of football players to get all the endorsements and other perks, requires that it not be the team which loses the Superbowl.
That's rule number one in the overlord business. lol

Anonymous has claimed to taking down the planned electronic voter tampering.

Bob wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:

Yes, they do. It's called GREED. They got theirs; then they took everyone else's...pensions, homes, jobs.

The jobs and pensions were lost because both democrats and republicans sent the jobs overseas.
But in the defense of both, it was probably inevitable anyway. A big part of the rest of the world was a "sleeping giant who awakened". And they were willing to do those jobs for a fraction of what we need (notice I said "need" and not "want". Because to live in that post-WW2 society we had required higher wages).
All the government policy contributed was greasing the skids that were already being built.

We all participated in the "losing homes". The people started living beyond their means. The lenders and builders and everyone employed by those and the whole damn spinoff economy were all in favor of them living beyond their means because they all got profits and jobs as a result of it. The whole country contributed to the "uncollapsible" bubble.
And yes of course the financial system wanted it too because they so easily sold pieces of the bubble as investments.
And since EVERYBODY was in favor of it, so were BOTH the democrat AND the republican politicians. That's how they get elected/re-elected.

Not an "overlord conspiracy". Just human failing. lol

Bob wrote:

Sal wrote:Of course there's an incentive.

Money.

It's called disaster capitalism.

Create a crisis, and in response to the crisis - deregulate, crush unions, slash public spending, and privatize everything in sight.[/font]

And in your mind those "plutocrat overlords" would be represented by the Romney crowd.
Only problem is the "deregulate, crush unions, slash public spending, and privatize everything in sight" which romney and the "plutocrats" wanted to happen, required that romney or someone like him got elected.
But that aint what got elected so now it's back to the drawing board for the plutocrat overlords.
In order for a team of football players to get all the endorsements and other perks, requires that it not be the team which loses the Superbowl.
That's rule number one in the overlord business. lol

Floridatexan wrote:

Bull. Do you think the average man on the street with a mortgage really was paying attention to people who worked at Goldman Sachs basically committing fraud? No, Hell, No. They were out there trying to make a living and pay the bills, and raise their kids, and hopefully have a little something left over for the future. We're NOT TO BLAME. Just like the BOOMERS aren't to blame as a whole for the actions of a few. The problem is that the few have gotten together and decided that they're getting all the spoils and everyone else is getting the shaft. Am I getting through to you yet?

Bob wrote:

Sal wrote:If Congress would've forced banks to write down mortgages to fair market value and refinance them into thirty-year fixed mortgages, and had the Fed printed and distributed money directly to consumers rather than playing around with quantitative easing monetary policy, the downturn would be long over and the economy would be booming.

However, this sort of approach does not please our plutocratic overlords.

Thus austerity.

Now you've finally come full circle and joined the tinfoiler crowd with teo. lol

But regardless if you call it "The New World Order" or the Overlords from Pluto, the premise is just not logical. The overlords would themselves benefit when they're overlording over a "booming economy". They have no incentive to intentionally put the economy their overlording into shambles. lol

Floridatexan wrote:

Damaged Eagle wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:speil

I don't use credit cards.

When you practice what you preach for your daily finances you can give us lessons on national economics and spelling. Let us know if you were able to buy your way into posperity. Go ahead spend two or three times as much as your paycheck for the next ten years and see how it turns out for you. After all it's only...

*****SMILE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkhX5W7JoWI

Look, you cornfed sack of pig manure, I said I don't use credit cards. Nor do I spend more than I have. And I started my career as a banker. I've balanced plenty of checkbooks; I've filed plenty of tax returns...my own, my childrens' trusts, and returns for friends who were behind on their taxes. And one more thing...I was a proofreader of annual and quarterly reports.

Floridatexan wrote:Yes, they do. It's called GREED. They got theirs; then they took everyone else's...pensions, homes, jobs. It doesn't matter to some people how many others they hurt in their quest to fatten their own wallets. Austerity right now would cripple an already weak recovery. The thing about the "overlords" is they want it and they want it now.

Sal wrote:

Bob wrote:

Sal wrote:If Congress would've forced banks to write down mortgages to fair market value and refinance them into thirty-year fixed mortgages, and had the Fed printed and distributed money directly to consumers rather than playing around with quantitative easing monetary policy, the downturn would be long over and the economy would be booming.

However, this sort of approach does not please our plutocratic overlords.

Thus austerity.

Now you've finally come full circle and joined the tinfoiler crowd with teo. lol

But regardless if you call it "The New World Order" or the Overlords from Pluto, the premise is just not logical. The overlords would themselves benefit when they're overlording over a "booming economy". They have no incentive to intentionally put the economy their overlording into shambles. lol

Of course there's an incentive.

Money.

It's called disaster capitalism.

Create a crisis, and in response to the crisis - deregulate, crush unions, slash public spending, and privatize everything in sight.

alecto wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:
Look, you cornfed sack of pig manure, I said I don't use credit cards. Nor do I spend more than I have. And I started my career as a banker. I've balanced plenty of checkbooks; I've filed plenty of tax returns...my own, my childrens' trusts, and returns for friends who were behind on their taxes. And one more thing...I was a proofreader of annual and quarterly reports.

Yet that is exactly what you expect the government to do.

2seaoat wrote:Did anyone offer to refund property taxes for sending my kids to private schools? Who helped me educate my kids? I paid double....go screw yourself.


If you made a good choice and got a good return on your investment....why the hostility.....I would think you would be proud of your sacrifices and the education you kids received.....unless....

Floridatexan wrote:Some people are incapable of understand that someone else's good fortune/hard work/ sacrifice doesn't diminish theirs. There's something known as win/win.

And the hog farmer can kiss it. I've had enough of you trying to justify your sickness. I certainly wasn't born with a silver spoon...not by any stretch of the imagination. What I was born with and acquired throughout my life is ability...and that came through hard work on my part.

Floridatexan wrote:

alecto wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:
Look, you cornfed sack of pig manure, I said I don't use credit cards. Nor do I spend more than I have. And I started my career as a banker. I've balanced plenty of checkbooks; I've filed plenty of tax returns...my own, my childrens' trusts, and returns for friends who were behind on their taxes. And one more thing...I was a proofreader of annual and quarterly reports.

Yet that is exactly what you expect the government to do.

No, it isn't. There's no comparison. And there's really not much choice, since the Republicans decided to give away the economy to their "base". It's the revolving door that keeps the masses satisfied with bread and circuses. We elect and expect policies that are for the benefit of the many; what we get instead is something CALLED the greater good, which is actually NOT. What we had is Cheney-style "greater good" which ended up making piles of cash for the few on the backs of the many. There's no reason to compound that error, and there's NO WAY BACK EXCEPT THROUGH SPENDING. FDR did it, but he got cold feet or bad advice and reversed course. He should have stuck with Keynes; instead he prolonged the Great Depression. There's no reason the majority should accept the terms of a small minority...we need austerity like a hole in the head.

Sal wrote:If Congress would've forced banks to write down mortgages to fair market value and refinance them into thirty-year fixed mortgages, and had the Fed printed and distributed money directly to consumers rather than playing around with ineffective quantitative easing monetary policy, the downturn would be long over and the economy would be booming.

However, this sort of approach does not please our plutocratic overlords.

Thus austerity.

Damaged Eagle wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:

Damaged Eagle wrote:

Floridatexan wrote:speil

I don't use credit cards.

When you practice what you preach for your daily finances you can give us lessons on national economics and spelling. Let us know if you were able to buy your way into posperity. Go ahead spend two or three times as much as your paycheck for the next ten years and see how it turns out for you. After all it's only...

*****SMILE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkhX5W7JoWI

Look, you cornfed sack of pig manure, I said I don't use credit cards. Nor do I spend more than I have. And I started my career as a banker. I've balanced plenty of checkbooks; I've filed plenty of tax returns...my own, my childrens' trusts, and returns for friends who were behind on their taxes. And one more thing...I was a proofreader of annual and quarterly reports.

If you're so wise in the matters of money finance then why are you supporting spending more government money on ventures that will most likely fail?

I've had enough business and economics courses in college to know that nine out of ten start up businesses fail.

Want proof? How many green companies failed after the current president financed them billions of dollars?

Right now I view you as nothing more than a valley girl who's always had a silver spoon and doesn't know how to tighten the old belt for the bad times. By the way... Your Daddy got his little girl that job at the bank and secured her future didn't he?

You're so out of touch with reality that perhaps you should take your protein pill and put your helmet on...

*****CHUCKLE*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKE3FSPJu-4

Floridatexan wrote:
Look, you POS. I've had enough of your sick, demented, fetid soul. You know NOTHING about me except what I choose to disclose. My daddy was well known and well liked in the community, but I was chosen for the job at the bank when my high school launched a vocational program, and I was selected because of my high grades. So, I worked part-time my last year in high school, part-time throughout my college years, and full-time every summer. That's how I paid for my own tuition and books. There were no handouts in my family of 5 children.