Texas Governor Rick Perry wants to lynch Ben Bernanke

Posted by on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 · 21 Comments 

 

 

In typical over the top T-Party fashion, T-Party favorite and republican presidential candidate, Rick Perry, made a thinly veiled threat on Ben Benanke’s life today accusing him of treason if he tried to print anymore money between now and the election.  Typically, a loose monetary policy by the Fed during an election year is perceived to help the incumbent administration by spurring economic activity and Perry’s contention is that any attempt by Bernanke to do that would be political in nature, hence making him a candidate to be strung up from the nearest tree.

There are many who aren’t fans of the Fed’s policies, yours truly included, but this statement by Perry speaks volumes about him and by extension, the T-Party itself.  To be sure, Bernanke has been running the printing presses on overtime, but the only thing he’s been able to juice are the pockets of the Wall Street crowd.  The rest of us have merely been paying higher prices for oil and food at the same time that unemployment and underemployment have been spiraling upward.  If you happen to be a saver, you can also thank Bernanke for the paltry yield on your passbook savings account.  The bottom line is that the average voter has actually been harmed by Bernanke rather than helped and as long as the focus is on saving Wall Street, that will continue to be so.  So, the fact that Perry is either unaware of this or hasn’t been advised about this speaks volumes about how out of touch he is generally.  Moreover, to make a thinly veiled threat on the Fed chair’s life is beyond the pale. Of course, his defenders will claim he misspoke and that his lack of experience on the national stage are to blame for this, but this is the same  guy who suggested that Texas should secede from the nation upon Obama getting elected. 

Perry might also be trying to compete with Ron Paul here.  Paul will either win the Iowa caucuses or come in a strong second.  He came in a strong second in the recent Iowa straw poll, but was ignored by a press that’s enthralled by Michele Bachman.  Paul has consistently been very critical of the Federal Reserve and has built a following around that and his isolationist foreign policies, but the mainstream republicans definitely don’t want him winning.  They do want Bachman and Perry may just be in this thing to thwart Paul which indirectly helps Bachman.  This ought to be interesting.  

 

 

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  • Black Diaspora

    Millions of people are out of work while Republicans sit on their hands while Rome burns. All that’s missing is a fiddle. 

    If we had a work program that put millions back to work, we wouldn’t need billions in unemployment insurance payments, the Feds wouldn’t need to print money to stimulate the economy to make up for Congress’ inaction, a rise in tax revenue would help reduce the deficit, and the economy would get a new shot of adrenalin–a second wind–with which to go a few more rounds up against the formidable opponent known as a recession and a depression.

    The hard truth: Republicans have no interest in creating jobs. A push to create jobs helps the incumbent president who just happens to be a Democrat, the one Republicans are working to limit to one turn.

    “Typically, a loose monetary policy by the Fed during an election year is perceived to help the incumbent administration by spurring economic activity…”

    We’ve had two Quantitative Easings haven’t we? They didn’t help all that much, except speculators on Wall Street. We can only hope that such an easing would spur “economic activity.” And in a job drought (Didn’t Perry pray for improvements to the economy, as well as for rain?) you’d think R.[I.]P. would want his prayers answered in the quickest and most direct manner.

    Well, not that soon, it seems. Perry would rather the economy’s growth wait until after the presidential election, so that Obama will be blamed for it, and he can ride the bad news into the Oval Office.

    Were’s his patriotism, and that of Republicans in general? 

    This country doesn’t need–actually can’t survive–another tough-talking Texan, with a “Take’em Dead or Alive” mentality, and a “shoot’em up” politics that has become the brand of TeaPublicans.

    • http://theafricanamericanclarioncall.com Greg L

      >>>Millions of people are out of work while Republicans sit on their hands while Rome burns. All that's missing is a fiddle.<<<<

      Just today, I was reading yet another article on income and wealth disparity which casts the upcoming elections in a interesting contrast.  Here's a quote from the article:

      "In total, US millionaire households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth, the majority of this wealth is held within the upper one-tenth of one percent of the population.

      If all this isn’t obscene enough, to further demonstrate how the global economy has now been completely rigged, Deloitte’s analysis predicated, based on current trends, that US millionaire households will see a 225 percent increase in wealth to $87.1 trillion by 2020. Accounting for wealth hidden in offshore accounts, they are projected to have over $100 trillion in total within the next decade.

      Most people cannot even comprehend how much $1 trillion is, let alone $46 trillion. One trillion is equal to 1000 billion, or $1,000,000,000,000. To put it in perspective, last year the entire cost of feeding all 40 million Americans on food stamps was $65 billion.

      Now consider, according to the latest IRS data, only 0.076 percent of the population, less than one-tenth of one percent, earned over $1 million in 2009."

      The article goes on to cite a statistic that the richest 400 people own more in the aggregate than than 154 million citizens combined.  Although, we've both addressed this before, these numbers confirm again how extreme the disparity is.  Much of the problem in the country is due to this vast concentration of wealth as this very small group can simply decide to stop spending here and we suffer.  It is also clear that its a very small group that controls the politics in the country.

      These people could resolve expiring unemployment benefits overnight.  Our faltering educational systems and physical infrastructure could similarly be solved overnight.  A substantial dent could be made in the national debt very quickly as well.  All we need to do is to tax them fairly, but that's something that the political class is wont to do mainly because they've been paid to prevent that from happening.

      Perry comes from central casting recycling the old marketing ploys of the past.  He's looking to resurrect the old religious right with the show of prayers reminiscent of George Bush who was the biggest devil that's ever occupied the White House.  Ultimately, he's a corporate shill and will continue to please his masters.
      We don't have democracy in the country any longer and this sideshow with Perry and the rest is a stark reminder of that.

      ________________________________

      • Black Diaspora

        Capital despises labor. The relationship between the two has always been contentious. Yet, you can’t create real wealth without labor. You can create money, but not wealth. Real wealth satisfies an immediate human need or an immediate human desire.

        What we’re seeing is the failure of capitalism. As capitalism concentrates money at the top, it does so at the expense of those on the bottom.  This dynamic was interrupted by unions. Were it not for unions, the income disparity between labor and capital would be more stark than it is now , and the American Dream would be a nightmare.

        However, the current trend is to destroy the hard-won relationship that has existed between labor and capital for decades and allow for more concentration of wealth, and permit more income disparity.

        And the sad reality: Many on the Right are okay with this. They’re so down with it, that they’re willing to give corporations more opportunities to amass money, “Tell government to get out of the way, and let business do its thing,”  by reducing or eliminating many the regulations that stand in their way, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act.

        For example, the EPA is the last line of defense against mountaintop removal mining, which gives mining companies, eager to make a fortune mining coal, easy access to coal seams hidden deep within mountains. One supporter of this type of mining expressed his approval for this environmental unfriendly approach by saying: “If God didn’t want the top of mountains blown off, he wouldn’t have put coal in them,” or words to that effect.

        “The article goes on to cite a statistic that the richest 400 people own more in the aggregate than than 154 million citizens combined….It is also clear that its a very small group that controls the politics in the country.” 

        Plutocrats and oligarchs is how they’ve been labeled. An economic system that creates such a wealth and income imbalance shouldn’t be praised and emulated in its purest form, and neither should it be unleashed without installing certain safeguards to keep it in check. And further, those safeguards should take precedence over the natural tendency of capitalism to ruthlessly exploit labor and to create adverse environmental conditions that are inimical to human existence, and survival.

        Government spending and government hiring have been two of the forces that have helped hide capitalism’s ugly side. Privatization, if it ever catches on, and becomes pervasive in the economy, will reveal just how lacking in compassion this system really is. 

        Capitalism exists purely to make money. It will swallow up its competitors do so. It will pay low wages to do so. It will outsource to China to do so. It will wreck the economy to do so. It will start wars to do so. It will oppress and suppress people to do so. It will corrupt congress to do so. It will influence the courts to do so. It will buy the president to do so. 

        And it will, if left to its own devices, consume every resource this planet has to provide to do so, destroying our fragile ecosystem, and all life on this planet to do so.

        I know: This is a strong indictment. But I’m not a climate-change denier. But we do have several running for the presidency, with Rick Perry the major wannabe Denier and Chief. And we have many in our congress with similar views. And these will be our future policymakers, if the American people don’t wake up from their self-imposed stupor, and realize what ‘s going on in their name.

        “We don’t have democracy in the country any longer and this sideshow with Perry and the rest is a stark reminder of that.”

        Our hold on democracy over the years has been tenuous at best, but, as you say, it’s  now practically nonexistent. But we must remember: It will be a willing people, and not a coerced people, who will catapult Perry to the presidency, if he makes it that far.

        This is a race to watch for many reasons, one of which is to take the pulse of the American people: How many of us are willing to drink the Kool-Aid laced with ideological quick fixes, and shortcuts that pit one group against the other, rather than insist on steady, but real solutions over time, to this nation’s multifaceted problems. 

      • Anonymous

        “In total, US millionaire households have at least $45.9 trillion in wealth, the majority of this wealth is held within the upper one-tenth of one percent of the population.”
        .
        Is this money kept under their mattress or in a cookie jar?

        • http://theafricanamericanclarioncall.com Greg L

          >>Is this money kept under their mattress or in a cookie jar? <<<
          Wherever it sits, the effect is the same. Basically it's not circulating and not creating employment or going into investments of the type that would create that.  Unfortunately, the policies that have been pursued by the Fed reinforce this hoarding behavior and the low tax and trade policies support it was well.
          Basically, concentration of wealth tends to seize up the system.  A wider diffusion of income and wealth is the oil that keeps the system going.

          ________________________________

    • Anonymous

      “The hard truth: Republicans have no interest in creating jobs. A push to create jobs helps the incumbent president who just happens to be a Democrat, the one Republicans are working to limit to one turn.”
      .
      Obama as a one termer is an excellent idea. The first step to recovery would get someone in the White House who knows business. The next step would be the removal of the left wingers he populated his administration with. We need people in government who deal in the real world.
      .
      A pro business government will do wonders for the business environment.

      • http://theafricanamericanclarioncall.com Greg L

        >>>A pro business government will do wonders for the business environment. <<<
        It could be argued that the spate of deregulation created a pro-business environment and yet that's the greatest contributing factor to the mess we have on our hands now.  Playing musical chairs with who sits in the presidency will have absolutely no positive impact whatsoever.  The republicans have no ideas other than mumbling about low taxes and deregulation–both of which are discredited as failed ideas.  Quite frankly, republican obstructionism has blunted anything that Obama would have proposed and it really can't be argued that he's done much of anything as he's been blocked mostly from implementing much.  But Obama has also largely failed to communicate what his objectives and proposals are and in that sense, he's helped the republicans place the noose around his neck.

        ________________________________

        • Anonymous

          “The republicans have no ideas other than mumbling about low taxes and deregulation–both of which are discredited as failed ideas”
          .
          The United States became the premier industrial power becomes of those policies. American economic history began in 1789, not Oct 1929.
          .
          .
          “But Obama has also largely failed to communicate what his objectives”
          .
          The problem is, he did. The bigger problem is, America didn’t listen until it was too late.

      • Black Diaspora

        “Obama as a one termer is an excellent idea. ”
        I know: Let’s give the reins of the federal government to a corporate raider and j0b killer like Mitt Romney. That’s in keeping with the Republican party ruthless approach to problem solving: Threats and Leverage. 

        Sure, let’s make Obama a “one termer,” and have a Republican takeover of Congress. Your Republicans and TeaPublicans will continue what they began: The economic destruction of this country. And if folks like you find that possibility palatable, be my guest. This country has outgrown its usefulness at any rate: Why else would it outsource jobs to China?

        “A pro business government will do wonders for the business environment.”

        “He [Romney] made his money mainly through leveraged buyouts — essentially, mortgaging
        companies to take them over in the hope of reselling them at big profits in just
        a few years. It is a bare-knuckle form of investing that is in the spotlight
        because of the exploding profits of buyout giants like Bain, Blackstone and the
        Carlyle Group. In Washington, Congress is considering ending a legal quirk that
        lets fund managers escape much of the income tax on their earnings.” 
        http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/04/us/politics/04bain.html

        For sure: Romney can sure identify more with this bunch of corporate pirates, and cut throats, than an Obama. 

        Or how about Citizen Cain the Pizza King?

        “Before long, some of those restaurant owners found themselves on the outs with
        Cain. The new CEO initiated deep cuts to bring down expenses. He closed 20
        percent of the company’s 640 restaurants and fired 300 to 400 people.”

        http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_26/b4234036592835.htm 

        Oh, the price of success! Oh, the price of making a fortune? 

        A business model imposed on government will be just the ticket for our salvation. We can privatize what the government is now doing–for one, keeping the environment (water and air) safe from corporate excess and greed.

        But, why privatized when you can eliminate?

        I was going to suggest that we privatize the courts, the congress and the presidency, but then I realized that those three branches of government are already privatized–working, not in the interest of the people, but corporations, and the super-rich that are amassing wealth at a rate that would make Midas envious.

        Hell, rest assured: I’m voting Republican in the next presidential election cycle. Rev. Wright’s curse on this nation is exactly what it needs to wake it up.

        • Anonymous

          “Sure, let’s make Obama a “one termer,” and have a Republican takeover of Congress. Your Republicans and TeaPublicans will continue what they began: The economic destruction of this country.”.
          I never said the Republicans were perfect, I always said they were headed in the right direction. I have had some problems with their generalities.
          .
          The Cain article didn’t say that much, it appeared to be a hit piece and was all too light on key details.
          .
          I will remind you how Barack likes flying out to San Francisco and get big checks from the likes of Steve Jobs. He slaps Steve’s back, says whatta  guy, puts the check in his pocket and flies back to Washington, DC. Obama doesn’t mention Jobs created more jobs in China than here. No Democrat complained when Obama put us on the hook for $500 million for Tesla Motors.
          .
          Wealth flows towards those who offer services or goods. If the wealth scale is out of balance, it is due to the job loss on the lower end of the job scale. The issue of job creation in America is a difficult one to comprehend and more difficult to fix. Taxing the rich more will not fix the basic problem, that America is a high cost producer of goods. High tech is helpful in wealth creation, but not everyone can work in high tech. Part of the problem is Obama’s rich snob buddies, people who have not worked in a world outside of office complexes and have no idea what is involved in industries outside of computers and medical. Many find basic industries, quaint, old tech, dirty and undesirable and are doing their best to regulate them out of existence. A country’s wealth can not be built on Facebook and internet servers. You need a complete menu of industry.
          .
          At least Herman Cain actually made a pizza, waited on a table. Barack did what? Party down?

          • Black Diaspora

            “I never said the Republicans were perfect, I always said they were headed in the right direction.”And what direction is that? Defaulting on the national debt? Scuttling all regulations that will allow polluters like the Koch brothers to make a few more billion, but will leave us with an environment that’s not livable?

            “The Cain article didn’t say that much, it appeared to be a hit piece and was all too light on key details.”

            You mean, like the “hit piece,” ”all too light on key details” comments that you make here: “Part of the problem is Obama’s rich snob buddies, people who have not worked in a world outside of office complexes and have no idea what is involved in industries outside of computers and medical.”

            And this: “At least Herman Cain actually made a pizza, waited on a table. Barack did what? Party down?”

            Well, let me throw a bomb back: The Partier is Cain, a Tea Partier.  Citizen Cain will never be president,  but the “Party down” Obama–well, we know how he turned out.

            If all you have is Obama bashing, then that’s a strong indication that you have a weak argument. Now, you don’t want to give that impression, do you?

            “No Democrat complained when Obama put us on the hook for $500 million for Tesla Motors.”

            Why should they? At least he tried to save a company. With what Bush has squandered in bail outs, and two wars, $500 million is small potatoes. To break even would require two millennia, and even then, we may still be behind the curve.

            “Wealth flows towards those who offer services or goods.” 

            “My goodness,” said Shirley Temple, but you’re showing an incredible naivete. Not all “services” are equal and neither are all “goods.”

            “The
            State 2011-05-25: WASHINGTON – A group of financial speculators
            made $50 million by manipulating the price of oil in 2008, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged
            Tuesday. The high-profile case underscores how high prices for oil and gasoline
            increasingly are believed to result significantly from financial speculation
            rather than solely from conventional market forces of supply and
            demand. In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern
            District of New York, CFTC attorneys alleged that a group made up of oil
            speculators Parnon Energy Inc., Arcadia Petroleum Ltd. and Arcadia Energy
            (Suisse) S.A.”

            • Black Diaspora

              “the electric car maker in a California whose products are too expensive for most Americans (Steve Jobs could afford one of their cars).”

              ["Innovative electric-car startup Tesla is unveiling the latest addition to its
              lineup this afternoon in Southern California. The sedan is meant to serve as a
              more affordable entry to the Tesla lineup that will appeal to the mainstream,
              with a ticket price of around $50,000 (as opposed to well over $100,000 for the
              Tesla Roadster). Current estimates peg release of the car in late 2011.']

              With a price tag around $50,000, surely you can afford a Telsa. And if you can’t, then capitalism hasn’t served you that well. 

              “Silicon Valley’s electric car manufacturer, is receiving $465 million from the
              program. The money will go towards completing the development of its Modern
              S sedan and its electric power trains, which are being licensed by other car
              makers such
              as Mercedes. Last month, Mercedes’ parent company Daimler also invested $50
              million for a 10 percent stake in Tesla. That brought the total debt and
              equity invested in the company to more than $200 million. Now, with the
              government loan, that brings the total capital raised to $700 million.

              If the government is going to be giving out loans to help car makers produce
              more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is good to see some of that money trickle down
              to helping electric cars get off the drawing table and into driveways.” 

              Telsa’s groundbreaking, breakthrough technology will be shared with other automakers. It represents, by the government, an investment in a technology that could eventually give this nation an economic edge on the world market. 

              You do know: We’re running out of oil, right? Much of the new technology (as patents) that would assist us going forward has already been bought up by the oil industry.  This monopolistic approach to guarding their oil investments, and forcing people to pay exorbitant prices for the few drops of oil that these producers will manage to squeeze out of oil fields in the coming years, will be assuaged somewhat by our government’s investment in electric cars.
              Surely you’re not so myopic as not to see this: Innovation on this grand scale requires venture capital. You may argue that this kind of investment is outside the purview of the government, but then you have to argue that all government investments into business ventures over the years was unwarranted. Perhaps, but we have a long history of providing such assistance, by guaranteeing loans, and providing bailouts. If it’s good enough for China (soon to be our biggest competitor for the Numero Uno spot in the world), perhaps it should be good enough for us.

              And did I say: It will create American jobs?

              Can you spare some of that outrage, and rigtheous indignation for this?
              “The AP revealed Tuesday that according to a report prepared at the request of
              former top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus, nearly
              $360 million in contract money for reconstruction and combat support had been
              lost to the Taliban, criminal groups, and local leaders since the war in
              Afghanistan began (AP,
              Politico,
              DT).”

              Aren’t we at war with the Taliban? 

              Now, I wonder why? On 9-11, the Taliban didn’t attack us, and neither did the Iraqi government or its people, but somehow we made them the enemy. Could it be that we used the 9-11 attack to secure oil fields in Iraqi, thought to be the second largest oil reserve in the world, and to transfer billions of tax dollars to the military industrial complex?

              Got to love those wars! Everyone gets rich–everyone that is, but the American people who finance them. Asking the rich to pitch in to help pay for these wars, and the fallout from these wars (which has benefited the rich more than the average tax payers)  is not asking too much. Besides, how many of the super-rich put on a uniform, and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan? How many of their kids? Our military, and combat personnel, have come mainly from the ranks of the poor and the middle class. This should be reason enough to ask those who have benefited the most (the richest among us), to pay their fair share, and to sacrifice (if not their blood at least their money) as have the poor and the middle class–who have paid out their money in taxes, and have given both blood and guts.

              No! It’s not too much to ask!

              “Taxing the rich more will not fix the basic problem, that America is a high cost producer of goods.” 

              More you say? 

              Hedge fund managers pay less taxes than their secretaries, and make a thousand percent more money. The effective tax rate for most of the uber-rich is around 15%, which is why Warren Buffet would like to see the rich taxed a bit more. Besides, the middle class, and the poor, thanks to capitalism’s disdain for labor, have lost income over the years, while the rich have seen their income grow.

              Sure, we could produce goods here as cheap as they do in China, but we’d have to find workers who’re willing to work under the same austere conditions as many Chinese worker: Some “work more than 80 hours a week and make only 42 cents an hour.”

              “Pinning down what Chinese production workers are paid can be tricky. Based on
              Chinese government figures, the average manufacturing wage in China is 64 cents
              an hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and demographer Judith
              Banister of Javelin Investments, a consulting firm in Beijing. That rate assumes
              a 40-hour week. In fact, 60- to 100-hour weeks are common in China, meaning that
              the real manufacturing wage is far less. Based on his own calculations from
              plant inspections, the veteran compliance manager estimates that employees at
              garment, electronics, and other export factories typically work more than 80
              hours a week and make only 42 cents an hour.”

              Any takers?

              • Anonymous

                “will appeal to the mainstream, with a ticket price of around $50,000 (as opposed to well over $100,000 for the Tesla Roadster). Current estimates peg release of the car in late 2011.’]”
                .
                $50,000, wow. Maybe I’ll buy 2 cause they are so cheap. If this technology was so fabulous, why did Tesla have to go hat in hand to the government? Why didn’t Tesla’s ideas sell themselves? It’s not like the electric car is a new and unusual idea with no market already established.
                .
                The government from time to time may have to back a totally new and novel idea where the purpose may not have current commercial demand (such as some technology used in the space program). In products such as automobiles, you have established markets and ideas. Tesla was a make work program for California. Keep in mind a lot of research falls into this category, more make work then any real accomplishment. Embryonic stem cell would be a good example, few results, lots of expense and other technologies are running circles around it. Yet we are told we just have to invest more money into it.
                .
                .
                “to pay their fair share, and to sacrifice (if not their blood at least their money) as have the poor and the middle class–who have paid out their money in taxes, and have given both blood and guts”
                .
                “Fair share” is a nice way of playing the emotions. The well to do have been paying the largest share of federal personal income taxes. This creates a dangerous detachment from fiscal responsibility by non taxpayers plus you run an increasingly more expensive federal government with fewer and fewer tax payers. I really wish the phrase “fair share” would disappear from the conversation.

                • Black Diaspora

                  “Tesla was a make work program for California. Keep in mind a lot of research falls into this category, more make work then any real accomplishment. Embryonic stem cell would be a good example, few results, lots of expense and other technologies are running circles around it. Yet we are told we just have to invest more money into it.”In your opinion, right? I’m afraid that you offer nothing more substantive than opinions to back your claims. You know what they say about opinions! Do your own research and stop falling prey to the nitwits at Fox News. I know that facts are an “inconvenient truth,” but if you give them a chance they may just win you over.”"Fair share” is a nice way of playing the emotions.”"Oh, my goodness!” We can’t let our “emotions” run amuck and get in the way of doing the right thing; we may end up like those “bleeding heart liberals.” We have to maintain our conservative stiff upper lip, and emotionless detachment from our fellowman. We may be persuaded to do for them what we readily do for corporations.”The well to do have been paying the largest share of federal personal income taxes.”On paper only. Many corporations, like G.E. don’t pay any taxes at all. Besides, “personal income tax rates” are at their lowest.And you haven’t refuted my previous statement on this issue of taxes:”Hedge fund managers pay less taxes than their secretaries, and make a thousand percent more money. The effective tax rate for most of the uber-rich is around 15%, which is why Warren Buffet would like to see the rich taxed a bit more. Besides, the middle class, and the poor, thanks to capitalism’s disdain for labor, have lost income over the years, while the rich have seen their income grow.”Read before you respond. It saves me a great deal of typing, and cutting and pasting.”plus you run an increasingly more expensive federal government with fewer and fewer tax payers. I really wish the phrase “fair share” would disappear from the conversation.”If corporations would “play fair,” and offer up their “fair share,” the government wouldn’t have to spend so much to keep them honest. But, then, I guess you don’t care about corporate polluters, tax cheats, and tax dodgers, safe food, and effective medicine, safe air travel, and rounding up nuclear material from around the world.I know: the term “fair share” is self-indicting, especially for those who advocate for the rich over the poor and the shrinking middle class. You can’t have your conscience prick by something like “fair share.”"If this technology was so fabulous, why did Tesla have to go hat in hand to the government? Why didn’t Tesla’s ideas sell themselves? It’s not like the electric car is a new and unusual idea with no market already established.”Perhaps for the same reason that the federal government back the building of nuclear power plants. “It’s not like  [nuclear power] is a new and unusual idea with no market already established.”I’d rather the government back start-ups in this country, than start-ups in Afghanistan, build and repair infrastructure here, than build and repair infrastructure in Afghanistan, invest in innovative ideas here, than watch our tax dollars fall in the hands of our enemies.What say you?

            • Anonymous

              “Well, let me throw a bomb back: The Partier is Cain, a Tea Partier.  Citizen Cain will never be president,  but the “Party down” Obama–well, we know how he turned out.”
              .
              Cain may not be president and despite your bashing, the Tea Party has made Americans think about loose government spending  Bashing the Tea Party is a way many left wing circles can play the race game while not appearing “racist”. This allows them to play on emotions while avoiding the unpleasant facts and figures of run away federal spending.  As for Obama, yes, we know how Obama turned out.
              .
              .
              “Why should they? At least he tried to save a company. With what Bush has squandered in bail outs, and two wars, $500 million is small potatoes.”
              .
              I didn’t say Bush was a great success. The Democrats went along with the bail out or did you forget that?
              .
              .
              “My goodness,” said Shirley Temple, but you’re showing an incredible naivete. Not all “services” are equal and neither are all “goods.”
              .
              Basic economics, people buy services or goods they see fit. You buy the burger you like, you do not buy it on the basis of what is “fair”.
              .
              .
              “Tuesday. The high-profile case underscores how high prices for oil and gasoline increasingly are believed to result significantly from financial speculation”
              .
              Any product or service seen in good supply can not command a premium price. Basic economics.

              • Black Diaspora

                “Cain may not be president and despite your bashing, the Tea Party has made Americans think about loose government spending  Bashing the Tea Party is a way many left wing circles can play the race game while not appearing “racist”. This allows them to play on emotions while avoiding the unpleasant facts and figures of run away federal spending.  As for Obama, yes, we know how Obama turned out.”What with this obsession with “emotions”? I don’t “bash.” I did play your tit for tat just to see where it would lead. It was circular, with you projecting on me your shortcomings. No surprise there: It was expected.You say many in  ”left wing circles can play the race game while not appearing “racist”.” Aren’t you overreaching here? Making unsubstantiated claims? Here’s Herman Cain invoking “racist” imagery to trounce black liberals, when he said: ”DES
                MOINES, Iowa — Herman Cain lit up a crowd of Iowa conservatives Saturday, as the
                lone black GOP presidential hopeful blasted President Barack Obama for a
                “liberal attack” on the nation and declared that he himself “won’t stay on the
                Democrat plantation.”

                And then we have this from Alan West:
                “Rep. West who is part of the Congressional Black Caucus calls his colleagues
                “21st Century Plantation Owners” and calls Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) “the
                Plantation Boss”, while citing himself the “21st Century Harriet Tubman”….

                “Congressman West’s brother, Arlen West is unemployed and living in Atlanta,
                Georgia. Arlen West contacted his brother, the congressman about employment and
                Congressman West told him to go to the CBC Jobs Fair and contact Congresswoman
                Waters.”Now, who’s playing the “race game.” It’s a despicable game, and it’s being played on the Right, and not the Left, but you’ll never agree, and you’ll never call it that. You can’t, because your allegiance to the Right is all-consuming, and all-forgiving.”the Tea Party has made Americans think about loose government spending.”
                And thanks to TeaPublicans, and other Old School Republicans, their effort brought more uncertainty into the national collective consciousness (and putting an unnecessary drag on an already weakened economy),  forcing us to contemplate whether the nation would default on the debt ceiling, taking the nation right up to the edge of the cliff with their brinkmanship, and threatening to jump and taking the nation with them.

                And this after the president offered substantial cuts to entitlements, which he called the “really big deal,” in exchange for a modest increase in revenue.  Since then, Republicans running for the presidency in their latest debate thumbs-downed the notion of increasing revenue, even at a ratio of 10 dollars in cuts for ever dollar of new revenue, and their audience went wild, as cheers with up, resounding from sea to shining sea.

                Their reckless act of brinkmanship was rewarded with a Standard and Poor’s downgrade (AA+rating), which brought a precipitous drop in the Dow, resulting in a loss of a few trillion in value.

                Oh, the American people are paying attention now to Washington, but it’s not the kind of attention that Republicans wanted. A few Republican congresspersons are hearing it from their constituents, and, as a way to silent dissent,  are now charging those who would like to ask question a fee for the privilege.  

                What kind of democracy is that! 
                “Basic economics, people buy services or goods they see fit. You buy the burger you like, you do not buy it on the basis of what is “fair”.”This almost too unintelligible to respond to. It’s certainly an inadequate response to my counterargument. ”Tuesday. The high-profile case underscores how high prices for oil and gasoline increasingly are believed to result significantly from financial speculation”.”Any product or service seen in good supply can not command a premium price. Basic economics.”

                Basic gibberish. Did you read the statement. Speculation can drive up almost anything, whether it’s a commodity or houses, especially if you’re allowed to speculate on more of a commodity than actually exists anywhere in the world. 

                For the same reasons, the Hunt brothers cornered the market on silver:
                 
                “Beginning in the early 1970s, [Nelson Bunker] Hunt and his brother William Herbert Hunt began
                accumulating large amounts of silver. By 1979, they had nearly cornered the
                global market. In the last
                nine months of 1979, the brothers profited by an estimated $2 billion to $4
                billion in silver speculation, with estimated silver holdings of 100 million ounces
                (6.25 million pounds)
                During the Hunt brothers’ accumulation of the precious metal, prices of
                silver futures
                contracts and silver bullion during 1979 and 1980 rose from $11 an ounce in
                September 1979 to $50 an ounce in January 1980.”

                • Anonymous

                  “Now, who’s playing the “race game.” It’s a despicable game, and it’s being played on the Right, and not the Left, but you’ll never agree”.
                  You’re right, I never will agree. In 2000, the NAACP ran that infamous ad if the Republicans get in, black churches will burn. The list of racial suggestions, the innuendos, the comments is getting longer and there is now a right wing press that actively covers these comments. Blacks can no longer claim they are not racist, they no longer have a monopoly friendly press that can run cover for them.
                  .
                  I have been reading with great interest events in California. Seems the diversity types are causing racial splits all over the place. Those poor oppressed Mexicans seem to be trying to cut the Asians out of political power and in Orange County the Asians pretty much told the Mexicans to go f*ck off. Interesting. I thought the Democrats were supposed to bring us all together.
                  .
                  If we have a race war in America, it will be due to the efforts of the Progressive left and their Democrat allies. This is one reason why I suggest we start getting rid of left wingers in our colleges and universities. We just do not need these people.
                  .
                  .
                  “And then we have this from Alan West:
                  “Rep. West who is part of the Congressional Black Caucus calls his colleagues 
                  “21st Century Plantation Owners” and calls Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) “the 
                  Plantation Boss”, while citing himself the “21st Century Harriet Tubman”
                  .
                  I used to be a Democrat many years ago and I do agree with Alan West. Now, if Maxine Waters is in charge of a job fair, she should be contacted. Probably be the first work she will actually have to do. 
                  .
                  .
                  “And this after the president offered substantial cuts to entitlements, which he called the “really big deal,” in exchange for a modest increase in revenue”
                  .
                  The Republicans made deals before the Democrats later did not honor. The Republicans should not only demand cuts first they should have the cuts written into law. Then talk about tax increases. Spending needs to be put under control. As an aside, I do think some tax increases are needed, but only after we get solid, non-reversible  spending cuts.
                  .
                  There is NO reason what so ever to think Obama will honor his word.
                  .
                  Diaspora, you have given me a lot of emotional arguments. I used to be that way too. Then I left the plantation.

                  • Black Diaspora

                    “Blacks can no longer claim they are not racist, they no longer have a monopoly friendly press that can run cover for them.”"If we have a race war in America, it will be due to the efforts of the Progressive left and their Democrat allies.”
                     ”Seems the diversity types are causing racial splits all over the place.”

                    “I used to be a Democrat many years ago and I do agree with Alan West.” 

                    “Diaspora, you have given me a lot of emotional arguments. I used to be that way too. Then I left the plantation.”
                    And aquietday we were doing so well. You have some serious issues. This is not my blog, so I’m going to conduct myself with civility.For the record, emotionalism is not a bad thing: You’ve exhibited a fair amount of it here, as well. Unfortunately, this will be the last time we’ll talk. I bore easily for one, and for two, check out the the several statements above, all yours, that I have highlighted by placing quotes around them. This conversation has hit a dead-end, and from it I can extrapolate the gist of future conversations. You have nothing to offer, and, it appears, I have nothing to give. May all of your tomorrows be better than your today, and give you more than you experienced throughout all your yesterdays. 

                    • Anonymous

                      “You have nothing to offer, and, it appears, I have nothing to give.”
                      .
                      I always like the variation from Star Trek, The Wrath of Kahn:
                      You are in a position to demand nothing, I on the other hand am not in a position to grant anything.

                    • Anonymous

                      By the way, I almost forgot. As I understand it, the major silver lodes have been mined out decades ago so the Hunts could run up the price of silver because the supply is for all practical purposes… finite.
                      .
                      On the other hand, major new reserves of oil in the US have been found. Environmentalist and their polices create an artificial shortage which allows for speculation.

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