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Small Steps Toward a Better Tax Code
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The Only Thing Worse Than Obamacare is Obamacare Without A Mandate
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Obama “Can’t Wait” to Target Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Health Entitlements
November 15, 2011 | 3 comments
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Supercommittee Would Rather Change the Rules Than Make Budget Cuts
November 14, 2011 | 7 comments
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As Supercommittee Faces Failure, Both Parties Have to Deal With Defense Cuts
November 11, 2011 | 4 comments
The Spectacle Blog
U.S. stocks saw their biggest gains in over a month after European leaders signaled a willingness to tackle the financial crisis brewing there.
Over the weekend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in Berlin that they would come up with a plan to help stabilize and recapitalize struggling European banks.
In financial journalism parlance here, “tackle the crisis” means “bail out the banks.” So of course traders on Wall Street are rallying. There’s news from abroad that the taxpayers of Germany, France and Belgium will be on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars in financial losses of some of the biggest banks! This was started off by the bailout of Dexia, Belgium’s biggest bank. Announced today, Dexia will receive up to $120 billion from France and Belgium to restructure and guarantee depositors.
The title of this post is obviously tongue-in-cheek. Complete incoherence on the part of the Occupy Wall Street protesters renders moot any semblance of a point that they may have. But there is a point to be made, and it is, as Joe Biden said, one that Tea Partiers could get behind: the incredibly cozy relationship between huge financial institutions and governments everywhere is a problem for the market economy. Not because (as the Occupiers would have you believe) capitalism is itself an injustice, but because of the market distortions created when giant institutions capture the regulators supposed to be looking out for them.
The “solution” we got from the Left was Dodd-Frank, a law that does little to nothing to solve the key problems of the financial crisis (government failures everywhere) and enshrines, rather than ends, too-big-to-fail. But I have yet to see a sign carried by any of the Occupiers proclaiming the impotency of Dodd-Frank and a call for real reform.
RJ| 10.10.11 @ 6:44PM
Another reminder that all government bailouts, subsidies and loans are bad. End them; don't reform them.
Clint| 10.10.11 @ 6:48PM
Wall Street & The Ruling Elite Are Setting Us Up For Their Frontman, Mittens Romney, Like They Set Us Up For Obama.
Follow The Campaign Money Trail.
" Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has raised more than twice as much money from Wall Street as Barack Obama -- an edge gained in part by luring away at least 100 donors, mostly investors, who backed the president in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg "
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.
Irish22| 10.10.11 @ 7:06PM
Top Down: Elect a president from thin air . . .
Bottom Up: Occupiers in the streets of every major city . . .
Inside Out: Capitalism gets the blame for everything wrong in this country . . .
Clint| 10.10.11 @ 7:45PM
We Tea Party Patriots Are In Rebellion Against The FED, Crony Capitalism.TARP, Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae....
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.
Simon Templar| 10.11.11 @ 1:27PM
You will be chanting that drivel when the Republic falls and they are hoisting the gold star on the red banner up the flag pole at the WH.
My god, you are an idiot worse in many ways than those down on wall street.
You do not really have a clue as to what is happening.
Yeah, I know..Ron Paul 2012. Firster something..drivel...drivel..on and on.
Dixie Pixie| 10.10.11 @ 8:06PM
Gentlemen it is very simple.
Obama needs a lot of taxpayer money to buy the 2012 election.
However the so called “Jobs Bill” is going nowhere in Congress because it is obviously a giant slush fund to buy Democratic, MSM and Union support.
So as a political favor to Obama, the Unions create an astroturf front group called “Occupy Wall Street”.
The O..W..S.. the stages a set of protest rallies in New York first, then branching out to other major cities.
The MSM then hypes those protests into a faux mass movement to appear as “Major Protest Sweeping America” so “Something Must Be Done Immediately” to “Correct The Widespread Abuses”.
Naturally, Obama being the MSM created “Good Guy” and “Savior” must pressure Congress to pass the renamed “Jobs Bill” to satisfy the O..W..S.. protest groups.
The process is simply to create enough pressure on Congress to free up hundreds of billions of dollars in funds for the Democratic Party support groups.
The MSM goes along with this scam because they know billions of dollars will be spent on media buys.
The scam has worked so well, so many times, no one even tries to conceal it any more.
The unions did not even bother to organize to O..W..S.. protestors into any level of coherence knowing the MSM would coverup any errors.
The MSM is just starting the propaganda to pressure the Republicans with no pretense there is any intelligent thought behind any of this.
Obama is just waiting for the political pressure to build to a point where he can descend from the clouds to render the “Just And Equable Settlement”.
Like all of Obama's crises, it is so phoney that it reeks of obvious political machination.
Brian| 10.10.11 @ 8:59PM
Dixie Pixie,
You are wrong. Oh, I'm sure that Democrats and Unions would love to capture this movement but it's not happening. We've learned after watching what happened to our Tea Party brethren as to how organizations can come in and destroy a movement from the inside/out.
This isn't about Dems & Unions. This is about ALL Americans, not just the liberal side of the fence.
Americans know that our political parties, our politicians, our SCOTUS has been corrupted. We are building unity and are going to be demanding change that we all agree on.
Dixie Pixie| 10.11.11 @ 12:11AM
Brian....I would love to proven wrong.
This is the best analyst I can give.
Obama and his minions are on the move.
His political play is so obvious it is consistence with his methodology.
Obama is behind this O..W..S.. movement with hundreds of billions of dollars at stake.
Of course he is playing for political blood.
The labor unions, Democratic Party and MSM are behind him all the way.
We would be fools not to notice it.
Simon Templar| 10.11.11 @ 1:07PM
Dixie, you are one of the few who can connect the dots and see the whole picture. Excellent observations.
Brian| 10.10.11 @ 8:53PM
It may seem like incoherence at the Wall Street Protests, but that is what initially happens when you're trying to pull in every American.
It's not just liberals or people wanting to bring down Capitalism. There are conservatives there promoting the free market. Basically, this movement is for everyone. We are trying to build unity, saying that every American is against the corruption in our government.
We are choosing our goals and agenda based on CONSENSUS between all factions. This is how we can make sure that any reforms we make will appeal to all and not just a one sided ideology.
We need reform and we need to work together to get it.
Simon Templar| 10.11.11 @ 1:05PM
I see you are one of those useful idiots that is either one of these OWS protestors of just another Obama liberal troll. You do not build a solid coherent political movement on a bunch of losers and ill informed ignorant dregs unless you are funding them and using them as a foil and you are an organized Left wing organization with very specific aims. That is exactly what is going on here so spare us the stupid drivel. There is a mountain of evidence that this is nothing more than a well funded and orchestrated political distraction.
Food, money, newspapers, literature, and actual protestors are being bought by front organizations of Acorn, Michael Moore, the Unions, Soros, the tides Foundation, etc., to manufacture this 'spontaneous' event. Your comment is filled with contradictions, downright distortions, and lies. So which is it capitalism, the government, bankers, wall street or little green martians.
It really is a mockery of the Tea Party frankly. This movement is for everyone? LOL. You and your generation must be the stupidest ever produced. My God, the childish sophmoric thinking and ignorance is astounding. You are being played by powers you do not even have a clue about.
joshua gamen | 10.11.11 @ 1:47AM
Growing up, most of us were taught that if we wanted to change things in America, we could do it at the ballot box. Well, today large numbers of Americans are realizing that both major political parties have been bought and paid for. http://youtu.be/p3Ven1km2y4
Simon Templar| 10.11.11 @ 1:18PM
That has not changed. In a republic, this is your most powerful way to change things. The issue is we have relied on a biased liberal media, career politicians, and the other guy to tell us what is going down and who to vote for.
This nation was intended to be self governed. That involves citizens being not only well informed but actively leading and running for office. Thus, the Tea Party. People have known a long time that the partys are corrupt; your generation has discovered nothing new and offers no solutions, greater understanding, or sensible direction.
You do not even recognize the greatness or beauty of this nation. All you do is parrot like we see you doing in videos of these demonstrations..chanting like a demonic mob. We are legion!
You are the sick by-product of 60 years of post world war two liberalism, big government, and the spawn of a really screwed up sixties generation born thereafter.
martin j smith| 10.11.11 @ 6:45AM
Brian maybe you were born yesterday but many of us know what6 is going on. Keep thinking what you think--As for me this is the Obama Mob,Protest,Riot,Demonstration whatever. he and the Socialists Party and their allies and that includes
Ron Paul people as well. And,many of those participating do not have a clue as to what is going on and neither do you.
Its about Crony Capitalism its about pay for play
its about the biggest hudlum we have ever had and all his czars and terrorist friends from the 1960s plus the Unions of course. That is what its all about.
Kenny| 10.11.11 @ 8:24AM
BHO's economic policies can be called either crony capitalism or economic fascism, take your pick.
Both are pretty accurate descriptions of what Obama has been doing to date.
ys| 10.25.11 @ 1:22AM
slewing ring is a kind of comprehensive load to bear large bearings, because of its appearance resembling plate, so it is also called "slewing bearing". http://www.1stbearing.com