the next couple of weeks......

[sneoh]

And it is still Bush as the worst president ever,      although I'm sure that Obama will equal or surpass him with another four years.

Yes, and maybe true, though for the sake of EVERYONE, I sure hope not.

[M_Sprague]

Well, Obama has made me mad with some things, but I don't know how anybody in their right mind could vote for Romney, least of all due to the fact that he was surrounding himself and bringing back some of the worst neocon types from the Bush administation. I would dread the resulting Supreme Court if Romney got to pick new Justices. I don't see it as coke vs pepsi at all, maybe coke vs sour milk.

[Admin Al]

I don't see it as coke vs pepsi at all, maybe coke vs sour milk.

+1

[sneoh]

I don't see it as coke vs pepsi at all, maybe coke vs sour milk.

Not much choice for me since I do not drink Pepsi or Coca-Cola/Coke or sour milk.  I eat cheese and yogurt though

[JBro]

So glad this is over.  Everyone worked up over the choice between Coke and Pepsi.  Whoever wins, we lose.

Maybe, but we lost a lot bigger this way.  I am deeply, deeply saddened. This was not a Coke/Pepsi year. BHO is without question the worst President of my lifetime; that the people could re-elect such an abject failure means that, to me, the social compact is ruptured: The assumption behind a democratic society is that, eventually, the electorate will make the right--or at least a rational--choice. Even with so many economically and politically ignorant people. Wisdom of the crowds kind of thing. You can expect an electorate to take a flyer now and then on something new and different; to re-elect such when it has not only failed so completely but has been actively inimical to a system that has benefited so many is appalling.

I can only give you the perspective of someone who started and is building a high tech manufacturing business (you, know the kind that provides jobs that are good not only because they pay well, but also provide the satisfaction of actually producing something useful): I will be managing for the least possible number of employees. I will not, for the first time in twenty years across three companies, be offering health insurance starting in 2014. I'll be making decisions whose primary focus won't be on building the business or growing profits but on avoiding taxes. I'm currently in the PRV and was going to move anyway--I just can't take the ignorance and insanity anymore--and was seriously considering NH, but now I'm so pissed with NH I don't know.

I know a lot of very smart, highly productive people--you know, job creators. None of them aspire (this was true even before this disaster) to a bigger house, more expensive car, etc. We all aspire to just one thing: To make enough money to run and hide. I once saw a sign on the desk of an engineer at Lawrence Livermore that read: "Evidence is not the plural of anecdote," (one of my favorites. I'd like to see it tattooed onto every legislator), so take it for what it's worth, but the rest of you should think about that.

We are likely facing some very tough times. This bozo and his enablers (and thank you MA for adding another, especially ignorant one to the mix. a$$holes) blew through $6 trillion we don't have, with no discernable benefit, and with no end in sight. This was not financed by the Chinese, like so many ignorant twits think, two thirds of the debt issued by the Treasury last year was bought by the Fed. They do that by making up the money. Believe it or not, that is not sustainable, nor can it be made up by taxing 'the rich': We could have seized every penny the top 1% made last year and it would not have covered the deficit for that year--and good luck finding that 1% to fleece the next year. The chickens will come home to roost, and these birds are going to be black with flaming red eyes and razors for talons. Likely most people won't understand the worst result--those things that might have been and aren't, the medical technology that won't be commercialized, the businesses that won't be pursued--because we don't require people to learn economics and they don't get that concept of 'opportunity cost', which is a far more real and important cost than, say, the 'hidden' cost of carbon emissions.

It will become obvious except to the most obtuse, although I suppose that covers the bulk of those who voted for BHO, why I will expect an apology from those who did. Whether I will accept it depends upon how bad things get.

[JBro]

Ok ok I'll play nice. This might help.

[strandman]

The worst ever I'm sure some of you remember Ronnie

[Jeff]

The worst ever I'm sure some of you remember Ronnie

Indeed I do remember Ronnie, although "W" gave him a good run for his money (with our $, BTW)-- two wars still on our credit card, which pappy and others seem to want to blame on President Obama! Of course Mitch McConnell  ("our job is to see that the President has only one term") will accept no blame for the current state of the economy--after all why should Congress support a Jobs bill and, more particularly, one which would help Veterans returning from the above mentioned wars find employment? Now that the election is over and the re-elected president (by Popular Vote as well as by the Electoral College!) can now only serve this one term, maybe (ok I'm an optimist) the Congress will see fit to take their oaths seriously and actually serve the People instead of the Party! Of course that would require some of them to sack up and refuse to follow the lead of the "Bat-Shit Crazies" of the Tea Party!

[sneoh]

Michele Bachmann was able to retain her seat only be the narrowest of margins, even though she had outspent her opponent 12-to-1.

Thanks Jeff, I was trying to figure out who had said this ("our job is to see that the President has only one term") last night.

[eyebolter]

Well, Obama has made me mad with some things, but I don't know how anybody in their right mind could vote for Romney, least of all due to the fact that he was surrounding himself and bringing back some of the worst neocon types from the Bush administation. I would dread the resulting Supreme Court if Romney got to pick new Justices. I don't see it as coke vs pepsi at all, maybe coke vs sour milk.

How in your right mind can you vote for Obama? 

He has a "kill list" that has executed American citizens, including a 16 year old, without any charges or trial.  He swore to uphold the Constitution, and is allegedly a "Constitutional scholar," but apparently is unfamiliar with the Bill of Rights.

He signed into law the extension of the so-called "Patriot Act," which allows the NSA to spy on us without a warrant, another clear violation of the Constitution.

He has started additional undeclared wars by bombing and killing people in Yemen and Pakistan.

I'm still waiting for the war in Afghanistan to end.  Why are we there again?

Thank God he got the Peace Prize, lol.




And the ship is sinking, whatever he does.  For every two dollars the government takes in, it spends three.  This is not going to be made up for by raising taxes.  Even if they cut everything 100% but entitlements, the budget would STILL be out of balance.   Current US citizen debt per citizen is 35% higher than the Greek's (and this doesn't include literally tens of trillions in unfunded mandates like Social Security).

Get your lifeboats ready, gentlemen.

[DWT]

Democrats and Republicans are wings on the same bird.  The real enemy is the debt-based fiat monetary system.  Of course politicians are going to spend more than they take in.  It's how they buy votes.  Romney would have spent just as fast(albeit on battleships and tanks) as Obama.  Politicians couldn't spend the money if the FED wasn't buying 40 billion in treasuries every month.   The largest holder of US debt is our own central bank which, by the way, is a PRIVATE corporation.  They print money(out of thin air) and loan it to the gov at interest.  R or D doesn't matter, the money supply is always expanding (MAKING YOUR DOLLARS WORTH LESS EVERY DAY).



I'm with Ward.  MAN THE EFFIN LIFEBOATS FOLKS!

[sneoh]

How much is 1USD really worth?  A very tough question to answer since the Nixon Shock of 1971, which totally decoupled the USD from the value of gold.
As already pointed out, billions of USD can be, and has been, created, seemingly out of thin air.

So, yes, a house of cards.  Everything is fine until enough people stop drinking the Cool-Aid, start disbelieving, and topple the house of cards.

Here's a quote I managed to drag up and it sure seems that Paul Krugman might be clairvoyant (read last sentence) -
In 1996, Paul Krugman summarized the post-Nixon Shock era as follows:
"The current world monetary system assigns no special role to gold; indeed, the Federal Reserve is not obliged to tie the dollar to anything. It can print as much or as little money as it deems appropriate. There are powerful advantages to such an unconstrained system. Above all, the Fed is free to respond to actual or threatened recessions by pumping in money. To take only one example, that flexibility is the reason the stock market crash of 1987—which started out every bit as frightening as that of 1929—did not cause a slump in the real economy. While a freely floating national money has advantages, however, it also has risks. For one thing, it can create uncertainties for international traders and investors. Over the past five years, the dollar has been worth as much as 120 yen and as little as 80. The costs of this volatility are hard to measure (partly because sophisticated financial markets allow businesses to hedge much of that risk), but they must be significant. Furthermore, a system that leaves monetary managers free to do good also leaves them free to be irresponsible—and, in some countries, they have been quick to take the opportunity."

[strandman]

The last balanced budget was under which administration??

Bubba

last time we weren't at war ?

Bubba

[triguy]

The most shocking statement I heard last night was a Senator spending $100 million on her lelection campaign.

Let that figure sink in for a bit......

How much did you spend trying to get your last job?

Why do they get to spend that much money trying to get hired?

I can think of a lot of good that can be done with $100,000,000.....money that was wasted if she is not elected.....prolly wasted if she is. 

[DWT]

How much is 1USD really worth?

In 1949 1USD bought nearly four gallons of gas.  Today I paid $3.50 for one gallon.  During the time period between 1949-2012 oil exploration and drilling technology has(at the very least) kept up with the demand.  Soon it'll be cheaper to heat homes by burning dollars instead of oil.