Desperately Seeking Stimulus

Dear Mr. Samuelson,
Poor financial choices, addictions, spending and subadult logic and ambition is NOT the middle class. These people that are self destructive seem to get the attention. For you information the middle class is quite capable of rational decisions and responsibility. They are capable of "becoming" wealthy if given the opportunity.
Be careful of arrogance concerning these rich people being self-made. Most people with excess money
received this, not thru hard work, but by inheritance.
Also, the remaining people with wealth received this thru govenment hand-outs and the ability to manipulate the "system" to their advantage.
It's commendable for a person to be financially successful, but most are "hand me downs".

Giving a few hundred dollars for every one to spend is dumb. I look at it as the government taxes you 100 dollars, then gives back five dollars (you only get 3 dollars because of the shipping and handling) and says we are helping you. What?!

Lets do something with it, make jobs that benefit Americas problems. For example, it could be used to make wind and nuclear power plants. We can use the money on research into battery powered cars and other technologies for personal vehicles.

This giving of money to banks, wall street, citizens, etc by the government has got to stop. It makes all these entities like spoiled children, when they get into trouble because of bad behaviors, they never learn to make better choices because they never have to face the real consequences of their decisions.

Lets change this dieing consumer driven society into a growing producing society

It would be great if Newsweek would create a special blog for the nutcases on both sides and restrict comments to those that reference the article which they follow. Sheesh! Get a life, people!

Now that we know Obama has PLO buddies, no thanks to the LA Times, looks like maybe Jesse Jackson knows a good bit more about Obama's politics than the national media does.
"Press Releases
AJC Strongly Condemns Rev. Jesse Jacksons Comment on American Jews
October 14, 2008 - New York - The American Jewish Committee (AJC) has condemned the Rev. Jesse Jackson's statement about "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades."
"Rev. Jackson's remarks, which appeared in an interview with the journalist Amir Taheri in today's New York Post, echo classic anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. "This statement, regrettably, is not the first troubling comment by Rev. Jackson regarding Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people.
Arguing as a private citizen that an Obama administration could bring significant change to U.S. foreign policy, Jackson was quoted as saying that "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" would lose much of their influence should Senator Obama be elected president."
http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=849241&ct=6107743
Isn't this the same Democrat leader who once called New York "Hymietown" ? Now that we know Obama has PLO buddies, no thanks to the LA Times, looks like maybe Jackson knows a good bit more about Obama's politics than the national media does.

ACORN is not just another invented issue. Thats is why they have already been fined 25,000.00 in WAshington State and are under investigation in 27 other states. That you cannot make up. check the facts before you make an uneducated post. You can say what you want but there is no denying the facts. ACORN was even accused of trading crack cocaine for bogus registration cards and signatures.

I'm confused here, in one post I read that Holtz-Eakin is McCain's economic advisor and another post I read that Graham is his economic advisor and they both state that he only has the one, well which is it? If there is only one there can't be two!!! You also talk about moving forward instead ob backwards, well with Obama's distribute the wealth idea, not everyone can move forward and you are not creating wealth. You are simply taking it from someone who earns it and putting it in someones hand that has not. I know dr's, lawyers, actors and athletes earn the money they bring home and the check your fastfood cook takes home is what he earned. To be a cook you don't need to spend the 100,000's of dollars it takes for schooling, training or time that you must commit to be a Dr, actor, athlete, etc. The great thing about AMerica is that anyone has the chance to be anyone of those things, and it's nobody's fault but their own for not taking that chance. And to take the money from people who have paid there dues and give it to some of the worst qualified people is outrageous. You uneducated people who think Obama is the answer are the same people making minimum wage asking for handouts, that is not what this country was built on, it was built on hard work and common sense. If it wasn't for people spending more than they make there would be no credit crisis. Don't blame someone for making it easier to access money, blame the people spending it without the means of paying it back. I was watching this great classic movie the other day, "School House Rock". From what it I got from it is that before a bill or anything can be signed by the president it must go through the house and the senate, and for all of you Bush knockers can you tell me who is in the majority of those? Maybe it's time for us to all go back to school and learn the basics. Don't spend more than you make and don't blame someone else for your own faults. It's just common sense which alot of you lack.

Comment: Obama has 63 Nobel Laureates working on his policy team. They are developing a plan to push America back to the top. Who is responsible for McCain's planning? Americans would be shocked to find that Douglas Holtz-Eakin is the sole person responsible for planning McCain's policy for America's future. Holtz-Eakin is also McCain's economic advisor, filling two full time positions on McCain's team. How can one single man (an economist) be responsible for developing a viable technology plan for our future? Obama has an enormous pool of the most intelligent, talented men and women in America working for him. Soon, they will be working for US.

And let's not forget that the McCain campaign spent more on Palin's makeup artist than it did on it's foreign policy advisor. When you pay your makeup artist DOUBLE what you pay your foreign policy advisor, it is time to start examining your PRIORITIES.

You look just fine without makeup, John. And Sarah is young enough not to need any. So cut the crap, and start paying some good ECONOMIC ADVISORS so you can have a fiscal plan to present to America. We're in the middle of a huge global financial meltdown, and you are worried about hair and makeup? PLEASE start worrying about the middle class, John. Please.

BUSHES LITTLE SIDEKICK
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen next
is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
The government took them over because they are bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything seen in generations
McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand how its been broken.
It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use quantum mathematical models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
No one in this country can afford for that to happen. . Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a budget surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
If you are tired of going back instead of forward hold them accountable this time
This is our last chance to cushion the impact of of a economic meteor.
If mccain cant use a computer even to send email do you really hes qualified to run our country during a depression
Your common sense knows the answer

Bush may not be on the ballot this year but his policies are
You can have more of the same our we can turn the page NOW
Elect Obama Biden 2008






Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ

THE GREAT BUSH DEPRESSION
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
He perfectly predicted the current meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen next
is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide ,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch , Fanny and Freddy Mae ,AIG
The government took them over because they are bankrupt. Even with the goverment nationalizing hundreds of billions of dollars in debt the stock market is crashing
the credit markets are frozen and all of us may suffer beyond anything seen in generations
McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand how its been broken.
It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use quantum mathematical models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.
Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He was the last to know somthing was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime. Check out this link to the truth http://my.barackobama.com/keatingvideo
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a budget surplus like Bush did but a crashing economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit. Most of it Bush created and it will take decades to pay it back.
If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
So why are the polls even close then ?
Mccains team just said they no longer want to talk about the economy.Instead they would like to spend time talking about obama
which means running the biggest smear campaign in history.
They think they can just tell you lies and you wont be smart enough to see through it
Let's teach him we are smarter than that
Stand up and hold them accountable
Bush isn't on the ballot this year but his policies are
Elect Obama Biden 2008






Check out this video of sarah palins interview and ask your self if she understands what she is talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4iQ

Now there is proof. In the exchange with "Joe the plumber" Obama unintentionally revealed that he really is as radical as his early political acquaintances, Davis, Ayers, Wright, etc., (gee, there sure seem to be a lot of them) and that he is into the failed economic policy of wealth redistribution. Now there is absolute proof. In 2001, Obama, the "community organizer" turned legislator, said in an interview:

"And I think one of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was that the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think there was a tendency to lose track of the political and organizing activities on the ground that are able to bring about the coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change, and in some ways we still suffer from that,"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

2001 Chicago Public Radio Interview.

Obama's tax and spending plans alone would be bad enough, but add Reid and Pelosi to the mix, with the three of them controlling both houses of Congress and the executive branch without any effective restraint, and you have something that should causes concern even among moderate Democrats.
See Wall Street Journal: A Liberal Supermajority:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122420205889842989.html

Indeed, some democrats are publically saying as much. See Barney Franks comments on the news, including face the nation last week, stating essentially that Democrats in Congress intend to greatly raise taxes and go on a spending spree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Mazjm_A5k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJGnSAlqjoU

See http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23617.html

Obama's ill-conceived programs will require him to tax, and his health care plan alone is a substantial hidden tax on all business, large an small. In reality, it does not really matter who he taxes, those taxes are going to be passed through the economy. He has to tax, because it is they only way he can pay for his massive social engineering experiments. Any first year economics student knows that taxation is a tool used to contract an economy experiencing inflation, because it reduces demand by reducing the amount of money individuals and businesses have to spend. It is contractionary, which is exactly what you do not want to do when the problem is that the economy is contracting already into recession. Like Hoover and FDR, Obama's plans will only make it worse for longer.

See e.g. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/03/opinion/main4499465.shtml
And
http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FDR-s-Policies-Prolonged-Depression-5409.aspx


The democrats failed social engineering policies are what brought us to ruin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1M1T2Y314&feature=related
Even Bill Clinton says so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsynspIqAoE
Obama and a supermajority of Democrats simply is not the change we need, nor is it change we can afford.

Author basically is suggesting putting the squeeze on the average citizen to force changes in industry and government. Also limiting citizens' right to make their own decisions in these areas. NOT FAIR! Regulate industry to get the changes needed. And there's no logic to the cause/effect statement regarding retirement age and Congress' willingness to tackle other issues. By the way, privatization of SS will hugely benefit large insurance and financial services companies (in many cases owned by insurance companies like Nationwide).... you can be sure they are lobbying heavily for privatization..... it will give them even more power over our lives than the huge power they have now.......

What an idiotic idea. Contract an independant agency to eliminate waste in all areas of the Federal budget. Start with the elimination of ALL pensions for government employees, replace with 401K. Implement the plan with a goal of a 35% reduction in Federal Budget spending. Implement plan to eliminate the national debt in 10 years. My plant went from 1100 employees down to 350 and still made the same amount of parts. It's time for our government make due with less. Then instead of raising the retirement age, we can provide the benefits PROMISED to future retirees!

What an idiotic idea. How about REAL change in our government. Contract an idependant agency to find and eliminate waste on all levels in the federal government with a 35% reduction in federal expenditures. Eliminate ALL pensions for government employees, replacing with a 401K like the rest of us have. Put in place a plan for a 10 year elimination of the National debt. Then, instead of talking about increasing the retirement age, we can provide the benefits that were PROMISED to them!

You talk about a stimulus package and then "first thing" you would do is raise taxes. When you raise taxes everyone pays more for things. When companies pay more things they pass it on to the consumers. Just how many times do you think each consumer will be paying for those higher taxes.
Yes we do need to get away from the oil. People are using less. Our family has reduced our consumption by about 10 gallons of gasoline per week. Now that prices are lower I do not plan on increasing my consumption. I plan on using the extra money for essentials around my home and for my family. I will reduce my debt load, pay down my mortgage, make home improvements, etc.
Raising taxes does not stimulate anything. It stiffles business. When businesses are stiffled they lay off people. Oh I forgot, Mr. Obama is going to give me $500. Whoooo Hooo! That will last about 3/4 of a week.

I agree with the first two. But the last ignores the fact that oil companies have been allowed to drill in most of this area all along! They choose not to drill, because it is more beneficial to them, financially, to repurchase their stock. So, "allowing" drilling is not a change. It has not helpe to date, and will have no effect. Instead, bring back significant tax credits for alternative energy - that is truly the only way to wean us off our dependence on foreign oil.

It'll never work. It makes too much sense...

It'll never work. It makes too much sense.

DB

By the way, Robert J. Samuelson, isn't it great to have such a medium that gives you a voice to push your own specific agenda? But that's the beauty of technology - it evens out the playing field. Now everyone's voice can be heard, and not just those of rich, powerful, and affluent. Funny thing is that it's the kid working on his senior project, that can't even buy his own beer, that makes it all possible. The whole scene is amazing when you zoom out and take a bird's eye view.