The Fox Still Has The Keys To The Hen House!

Devil505 wrote:we are practically back in the Depression of 1929

The difference is in 1929 people were in long lines for bread & milk today people stand in long lines for the latest Iphone.

spc wrote:

Devil505 wrote:we are practically back in the Depression of 1929

The difference is in 1929 people were in long lines for bread & milk today people stand in long lines for the latest Iphone.

!!!

I'm laughing but you are right.

spc wrote:The difference is in 1929 people were in long lines for bread & milk today people stand in long lines for the latest Iphone.

Without the massive government (us taxpayers) bailouts that we are now seeing Stephen , I think you may very well again see those food lines & soup kitchens. (On a forum specific topic here, how many Americans will be cold this winter because they can't afford to heat their homes? No one here for sure , but plenty of other, hard working Americans in the richest country in the world!)
Just look at the retail sales figures recently, people aren't buying Iphones like they used too.....They are lined up to buy coal stoves & coal! (I can walk into any Best Buy & buy an Iphone right now........ but I couldn't find a new coal stove anywhere on the entire east coast at this point!)

Devil505 wrote:They are lined up to buy coal stoves & coal!

Yea, I wish Leisure Line went public.

Devil505 wrote:To my way of thinking what is needed here is a more realistic overall attitude towards business & its regulation by government. We have tried a "Free Market"....no rules approach to government oversight for the last 8 years & we are practically back in the Depression of 1929 because of it. We have also tried to much regulation, which does tend to stifle business. IMO, what is needed is a little common sense, which has been recently lacking but understands two pretty solid principles:

1. Left unchecked, most businesses will succumb to a mentality of "Corporate Greed" & therefore must be reasonably regulated.
2. Business will always be more efficient & productive than government.


Therefore, we need to grow up (mentally) in this country & admit that some regulation is necessary but too much is not good either, & that any politician that tries to sell you a simple, "I can explain it in a 2 minute "Sound Bite" idea is full of you know what! It will never be simple or easy & will require compromise on both sides to ever really work.

We do need more regulation in these areas, problem is congress is the last bunch of people to do it as they do a very, very poor job of it. They are quickly bought off by lobbyists (look at Fannie & Freddy). A democracy will not succeed without self control, and as a country we have lost that critical element. It's now just "all about me". The pork debt congress has rolled up is not payable. It's something like $50k per family for every family in America. That ain't going to happen. And the debt just keeps piling higher and higher each and every day. IMO, we as a country are doomed.

That is one reason why I bought property in Costa Rica. Great people, very low cost of living, spectacular weather, ocean fishing 365 days per year, a very clean & neat, pro American country with excellent healthcare at very low cost. You know, the way things used to be in America...

coalmeister wrote:IMO, we as a country are doomed.

That is why I bought property in Costa Rica.

I don't think we need to be jumping out any windows yet!

What I think we need to do is realize that this is a complex situation & to reject any political BS messages promising a quick, simple solution.....We need to come together politically & work together to straighten things out. Otherwise, we would all be smart to join you in Costa Rica!

Devil505 wrote:I can walk into any Best Buy & buy an Iphone right now

But you can't buy a Nintendo Wii game console at BestBuy.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 6203165702

I hate to bring this up but when was the last time we had headlines of the government going to ok billions in spending in just a weekends time frame ?

I really don't think that what they are saying is happening is happening. First of all who is being fired for this ? Second of all who has been sent to jail for this mess ?

If they know whats wrong then they know where, when, and why it happened so fire the bum's and put them behind bars. But we have heard nothing.

I believe that this country is being held hostage for mistakes we have done, mistakes that the government does not want us to know about.

The only time I have ever heard of "we have a weekend to get the money together" is when somebody had somebody hostage. If they next say that it all has to be in small older bills I guess we will know for sure.

jeromemsn wrote:If they know whats wrong then they know where, when, and why it happened so fire the bum's and put them behind bars. But we have heard nothing.

Fire the bums?? They claim they have learned their lesson & want us to rehire them in November!

Our economy is still strong but we face many challenges. The gov is trying hard to keep us from spiralling into a deep recession. I'm ambivalent about what the goverment has done. I do know that the people who are responsible for the bad loans should be fired. It's not fair that shareholders are bilked out of their money becauset the stocks of many of these companies have fallen so much while the big wigs get to keep their cushy jobs and high paying salaries. Make no mistake about it - what the federal reserve has done in the last few months is historical and books will be written about it. The jury is still out on whether or not they have done the right things but the financial markets are obviously very happy - right now.

Yes thats what I'm really afraid of is that the markets seem to like whats going on with the bailout............oh but wait they were happy up until a couple of weeks ago also so is that what happens now a bunch of the bigger stock fellas sit down have a cigar and say hey we need something else to do for a while lets watch the ants scramble ? Sheesh whats next ?

Well a depression is coming sooner or later. It's part of the business cycle. Here's a list of economic depressions that happened in the United States
1807-1814
1837-1844
1873-1879
1893-1898
1929-1941

The people who survive the next depression will undoubtedly be as frugal as our grandparents were. My grandmother lived with us most of her life. I remember as a teenager saying when are we going to eat, I'm hungry. She used to get really pissed at me and said I don't know the meaning of the word. Unfortunately I think I'll see a depression in my lifetime.
I learned a long time ago to prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and deal with what is. That's pretty much all we can do.

“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world - no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”

— U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, a few years after authorizing the creation of the “Federal” Reserve

Support Ron Paul and his proposal to eliminate the Federal Reserve!!

Manny

Lets say we get rid of the federal reserve and the IRS like Ronny boy proposes. What would be the alternatives. I would be in agreement to downsize and work on efficiency but some of his ideas seems way to radical for me.

Traderfjp:

Get rid of the fed and have Congress exercise its authority under the Constitution to reconstitute a US currency tied to something of value (gold, silver, etc). As the founding fathers knew all too well, fiat currency leads to nothing but the exact problems we have been experiencing, and giving the power of contracting and expanding the fiat money supply gives unbridled power to destroy the value of our fiat currency to the bankers (i.e., the federal reserve).

Eliminate the income tax and instill a national sales tax, so that all people contribute based on consumption. No more tax cheats based on "hidden income," and you should also be able to eliminate 2/3 of the bureacracy of the IRS for compliance. The income tax is an based on the "honor" system, and that is not serving us well in a recession/depression environment. In fact, reduced revenues will spiral the economic downturn to more serious depths.

Yes, Ron Paul has radical ideas, but all reasonable radical ideas need to be considered, debated and voted upon given these desperate times. No viable, reasonable solutions should be off the table, and all candidates and elected officials need to be focused on these issues sooner rather than later. It is clear to me the federal reserve is not serving the best interests of the American people, but rather, the best interests of the banking industry, and those interests are quite diverse at this time.

Manny