General John Kelly: "He said that, in his opinion, Mr. Trump met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law."
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Romney vs. Obama
Off for a sunset sail in Bawstin Haabaah.
Watch these two videos, found over at Andrew Sullivan's blog.
I have news for Romney. We've got an American, a good one who can get through a speech without telling a single lie, without distorting the truth or resorting to cheap-shot innuendo.
We could probably pull some average American man or woman off the street, back the person with millions and run him or her for president. That person undoubtedly could and would do pretty much as President Obama does where honesty and taking the high road is concerned. On the other hand, experience tells me that if we were to grab the average Wall Street super-rich big time operator and try to do the same thing, chances are much better than even that he or she would be nearly as deceitful, arrogant and unprincipled as Mitt Romney.
"So what happened three elections ago to give capitalism indigestion? Well, first it involved kicking democracy in the balls and shoving in Mr. CEO President who delivered a near perfect checklist of conservative ideology. Lower taxes on the rich? Done. Capital gains tax cuts? Even done-er. Knock down regulations put in place to save capitalism the last time it went into an autocannibalistic fit? The done-est. Be free, little market capitalism, be free! Oh, and conservative bonus points for starting two massive "we'll show you who's boss" star-spangled wars. So what did we get from this conservative wet dream?
Today, that economic hegemony seems a distant memory. We have watched the bursting of two giant financial bubbles, wiping out the paper wealth many of us thought we had in our homes and retirement accounts. We have suffered through two long recessions and a lost decade of income growth for the average family. We continue to rack up large trade and budget deficits. Virtually all of the country’s economic growth and productivity gains have been captured by the top 10 percent of households, while moving up the economic ladder has become more difficult. And other countries are beginning to turn to China, Germany, Sweden and even Israel for lessons in how to organize their capitalist economies.
Um. Yeah. And before anyone strikes up the "but Bush ran up huge debts, so he wasn't a real conservative" band, note that everything, everything, Bush did was strictly from the conservative handbook, the one that promised if we did all these things, the nation would grow so quickly that we could strike the word "debt" from the dictionary."
Anon << We have watched the bursting of two giant financial bubbles, wiping out the paper wealth many of us thought we had in our homes and retirement accounts >>
Very true. Like you might be, I am back in the position I was in 30 years ago. In hindsight, the wealth was never there unless a person cashed out or didn't play the game. That's the way bubbles work.
Going forward, unless you live along the coast in SoCal or wealthy hoods in the east, I don't think residential real estate is an investment, it is simply a roof over our heads (if one can get back in or isn't underwater).
If interest rates rise the value of homes may drop further. And when Fanny and Freddie shed toxic assests, as they must, it could drop again.
As far as business goes and the stock market, I see nothing good on the horizon. China has over manufactured for the last six quarters as demand has slowed and is about to do a world wide dump of cheap products hurting business in America.
Which party is in the White House will not effect these matters much. I see a prolonged period where most everyone is hunkered down. Both parties are to blame. And in the end I think Congress (both parties) deserves the most blame, with the Fed a close second, dating all the way back to the late 80s and early 90s. Some of those characters revolving between Wall Street and the Fed look like flat out crooks. I would place our Presidents third in line to blame.
I certainly am not able to predict the future as well as others like to think they can. What looks clear to me is that neither Obama or Romney will have the success we all would hope they might have.
3 comments:
I hope the cruise was terrific.
I have news for Romney. We've got an American, a good one who can get through a speech without telling a single lie, without distorting the truth or resorting to cheap-shot innuendo.
We could probably pull some average American man or woman off the street, back the person with millions and run him or her for president. That person undoubtedly could and would do pretty much as President Obama does where honesty and taking the high road is concerned. On the other hand, experience tells me that if we were to grab the average Wall Street super-rich big time operator and try to do the same thing, chances are much better than even that he or she would be nearly as deceitful, arrogant and unprincipled as Mitt Romney.
"So what happened three elections ago to give capitalism indigestion? Well, first it involved kicking democracy in the balls and shoving in Mr. CEO President who delivered a near perfect checklist of conservative ideology. Lower taxes on the rich? Done. Capital gains tax cuts? Even done-er. Knock down regulations put in place to save capitalism the last time it went into an autocannibalistic fit? The done-est. Be free, little market capitalism, be free! Oh, and conservative bonus points for starting two massive "we'll show you who's boss" star-spangled wars. So what did we get from this conservative wet dream?
Today, that economic hegemony seems a distant memory. We have watched the bursting of two giant financial bubbles, wiping out the paper wealth many of us thought we had in our homes and retirement accounts. We have suffered through two long recessions and a lost decade of income growth for the average family. We continue to rack up large trade and budget deficits. Virtually all of the country’s economic growth and productivity gains have been captured by the top 10 percent of households, while moving up the economic ladder has become more difficult. And other countries are beginning to turn to China, Germany, Sweden and even Israel for lessons in how to organize their capitalist economies.
Um. Yeah. And before anyone strikes up the "but Bush ran up huge debts, so he wasn't a real conservative" band, note that everything, everything, Bush did was strictly from the conservative handbook, the one that promised if we did all these things, the nation would grow so quickly that we could strike the word "debt" from the dictionary."
Anon << We have watched the bursting of two giant financial bubbles, wiping out the paper wealth many of us thought we had in our homes and retirement accounts >>
Very true. Like you might be, I am back in the position I was in 30 years ago. In hindsight, the wealth was never there unless a person cashed out or didn't play the game. That's the way bubbles work.
Going forward, unless you live along the coast in SoCal or wealthy hoods in the east, I don't think residential real estate is an investment, it is simply a roof over our heads (if one can get back in or isn't underwater).
If interest rates rise the value of homes may drop further. And when Fanny and Freddie shed toxic assests, as they must, it could drop again.
As far as business goes and the stock market, I see nothing good on the horizon. China has over manufactured for the last six quarters as demand has slowed and is about to do a world wide dump of cheap products hurting business in America.
Which party is in the White House will not effect these matters much. I see a prolonged period where most everyone is hunkered down. Both parties are to blame. And in the end I think Congress (both parties) deserves the most blame, with the Fed a close second, dating all the way back to the late 80s and early 90s. Some of those characters revolving between Wall Street and the Fed look like flat out crooks. I would place our Presidents third in line to blame.
I certainly am not able to predict the future as well as others like to think they can. What looks clear to me is that neither Obama or Romney will have the success we all would hope they might have.
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