For those of you who familiar with my writing, you've probably seen me use the term "Wall Street exists to separate you from your money."
It occurred to me the other day that I need to justify that opinion. Therefore here is a partial list of reasons why you should keep your money out of the hands of the Wall Street crooks and banksters. This article will not encompass every way that Wall Street steals from average people like you and me, but it might inform you of a few ways that you may not have been aware of.
As the old saying goes, "Forwarned is forearmed."
So without further delay, here's a list of ways that you are being robbed, day after day, year after year.
It is difficult to feel good this 4th of July given the mess the Bush/McCain Republicans have led this nation into. This year alone 438,000 people who lost their jobs. We are well into the Bush's SECOND recession (first president ever to preside over two recessions) with almost no recovery between them. We are officially in a bear market. Food prices are rising worldwide. Oil is at record highs suggesting Americans will have a very, very tough winter. The deficit is WAY above where it has ever been before and no end in sight. And I am not even going into the inept, idiotic and completely useless Bush/McCain Iraq war.
Not only did they help cause this disastrous economy with their tax cuts for the rich, allowing of massive corporate fraud, ignorance of the coming mortgage crisis and laws encouraging shipping jobs overseas, the Bush administration is now working to shut up those who have fallen victim to their terrible policies, redefining the term "unemployment".
In the wake of a sixth straight month of job losses, official unemployment numbers reaching 5.5% and a recent estimate that nearly 10% of workers in the United States were jobless, the White House on Thursday redefined the term unemployment, classifying "bitching and moaning" as a full-time occupation and thus lowering the percent of out of work people to zero.
When I think about Barack Obama, the first thing that comes to mind is the staggering number of actions he and his staff will need to begin as soon as they've gotten their coffee and found the West Wing restrooms. The problem is, everything must be done at once, in both senses of that phrase. There's no time to waste if we're to turn the country around.
Imagine it's next January and Barack Obama is in the first week of his presidency.
Why oh why does this man irritate me so? Now don't get me wrong, John Stossel is probably a nice man. But for a man who can garner audiences, he is "dangerous" (well not really, but the guy's on TV and he is on the ra-ra free market Right's side promulgating this crap) with his half ass grasp on our economy. Recently, on Daily Kos's evil twin, he wrote up a piece on how the economy really isn't doing bad. That it was all media hype.
Even if your assessment is true and these untapped fields would only replace the current production that is dropping off. Don't you think it would be wise to keep our production at current levels rather than forcing it to drop by not allowing new fields to come on line as the old ones lose potency? Do you think the answer to our oil problem is to have less of it?
I've been on and off DailyKos for awhile now, and haven't really gotten a chance to finish the last installment of my 'They Also Ran' series because of a lot of camps I've been into this summer (one of which was actually a government simulation, Boys State, put on by the American Legion), but I'd like to say that I'm still around, and that series will be finished with all due speed as soon as possible.
Today, however, I felt the need to write another such diary, in celebration of our nation's independence from political tyranny through the signing of our Declaration of Independence. Yet, I would wager that I'm going about this celebration a different way - I won't be talking about 1776, I'll be talking about 1936. I won't be talking about political tyranny - I'll be addressing the very economic tyranny that rules this nation with an iron fist...
From the steps of the old Historic Court House at 11 a.m. Monday, July 7, Democratic Congressional challenger Tom Perriello will announce a 7-point economic plan.
Joining Perriello will be area Union leaders and some folks displaced by plant closings, job outsourcing and layoffs.
Perriello's visit comes just after American of Martinsville announced it will layoff 400 workers at the end of August.
I got into a discussion with my son today [who is in his mid twenties] about the real costs of oil and coal. Trying to put it into perspective, I realized one thing about the price of gas: we carp here about the price of gasoline and diesel, but in Europe they have been paying more for many years, as we know.
If one compares the price of gas and diesel and the rise in price, Europeans have seen almost exactly the same rise in price, about 3 dollars [maybe a little more] since 2000. We feel it more, because going from roughly $1 to $4 has a much bigger impact than going from roughly $6 to $9, as they have. Our price has quadrupled, while theirs has increased by half.
Europeans have partially worked in the real costs of using petroleum based products into their tax structure. They have socialized the costs of using petrochemicals; some use these funds to help alleviate the deleterious effects, others may not.
We are beginning to see tip of an economic iceberg rearing its ugly head. It has existed for years, but every politician in the past 50 years has ignored it, because there was always tomorrow and someone else down the road who would have to fix it. Unfortunately, there is no tomorrow and the next president will be responsible for "beginning" the process of fixing the problem, if it can be fixed. If not, we are all in deep shit.
I like the Constitution as much as anybody. But given that the CIA and FBI have always done shit under the table, and that Obama says he intends to try to work against key provisions of FISA in the Senate and as Pres: I have to ask, What the heck are we focusing on here? Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
In June alone, employers got rid of 62,000 jobs, bringing total losses so far this year close to a staggering half-million -- 438,000, according to the Labor Department's report released Thursday. The economy needs to generate more than 100,000 new jobs a month for employment to remain stable.
And the unemployment rate is moving steadily higher:
The jobless rate held steady at 5.5 percent after jumping in May by the most in two decades. Still, June's jobless rate was considerably higher than the 4.6 percent of a year ago. The unemployment rate is expected to climb through the rest of this year and top 6 percent early next year.
The first half of today's show was about patriotism, and it was juicy. The second was about Barack Obama's shift to the center and John McCain’s Campaign Shake up.
I just watched the report about those hostages in Columbia being released after five years of captivity. I know this has something to do with McCain's visit, the official story being just a little implausible. I'm going to take it as a good sign for things improving in Central America. Now on with my original wonderful blog.
The more I watch this campaign suddenly the more hopeful I get. I see both candidates mostly running a straight forward clean campaign talking about things that are possible for America. I'm impressed, as both candidates seem to be staying away from radical proposals that are sure to be endorsed only by fringe partisan groups. Without being specific you can still infer this by looking at the Fundamentalist's dissatisfaction with McCain and the Progressives growing discontent with Barack Obama. Some may call this centrism and then say it means nothing or anything, others may call it realism knowing it will take moderate solutions to get the reforms the country needs.
Well, people... Today was a big day in the financial arena. So, in that light I want to post a few resources to mark the day.
First I want to start with clarifying something that many know but not all. And that is the difference between a bear market and bull market. There are technical definitions, but all you really need to know to understand what is meant is to think of the animals themselves.
A bull is a gentle giant that you can put a yoke on and capture his power to work for you. Clearly this is a good thing as a metaphor for the markets.
A bear is unpredictable, destructive, and will eat you if he has the chance. Clearly this is not a good thing as a metaphor for the markets. Apparently today, the bear walked into the market.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Straight Talk Express is officially the McBullshit Extreme.
If there weren't video, one couldn't make this sorta stuff up... if there were ever anything the DNC needs to get on the air, it's McCain's lies about being economically challenged.
There are some items up on News Unfiltered that may interest the community.
DNC Vice Chair and Economist for UNITE HERE discuss McCain's recent trip to Mexico and Columbia:
On a conference call today, DNC Vice Chair Linda Chavez-Thompson, the first woman appointed as an executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, and Mark Levinson, Chief Economist for UNITE HERE, discussed John McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico, his insistence on continuing George Bush's failed economic policies and his reliance on shady lobbyist advisers like Charlie Black. As they made clear, McCain's trip shows he won't stand up for America's workers, but he will stand up for lobbyists like Charlie Black and the special interest friends funding his campaign.
As usual, the ever-expanding economic divideremains the most under-considered issue worldwide. Through the prism (pyramid) of its creation, the ways it maintains itself, and its long and short term ramifications, every other major issue of our time is better understood, if not directly tied. This includes war, immigration, education, crime, health care, even climate change and national security. At what point should we (they)be more afraid of our own economically terrorized 90+%than of bands of 'extremists' holed up in caves on the other side of the world, disenfranchised and radicalized by the exact same forces?
The economic slowdown & rising gas prices were expected to take their toll on car sales, and it did. With people either losing their jobs or losing a chunk of their disposable income to $4 gas, sales of automobiles in the United States showed their worst half-year performance since 1993, including a more than 18% sales plunge for the month of June compared to the same time last year, and June 2007 wasn't exactly a good month for the auto industry either. It's also double the sales drop experienced in the wake of the September 11th attacks.
Detroit automakers were hit hard. Ford Motor was down 28 percent in June, General Motors was off 18 percent, and Chrysler dropped 36 percent.
Despite its sharp decline, G.M’s results were better than expected, which industry analysts attributed to a sales blitz with offers of zero-interest, long-term financing deals. The cut-rate loans helped G.M. retain its historic position as the top-selling United States automaker over Toyota, whose sales fell 21 percent.
