Picky, picky, picky... ya notice that, huh? :lol2:

Possible repeat?
Why should I have to pony up, to save your 401k, that I had no decision in planning and get no benefit from? Redistribution of wealth?

I can see it from your point of view. Your job is safe if we go into a depression because the government is probably your number one customer. The rest of the country faces some serious uncertainty.

My comments about my 401k were just from a purely selfish perspective looking at easily tangible figures. Potential loss of jobs is harder to calculate because nobody has a crystal ball.

Are you playing devil's advocate here, or do you really not understand that allowing our banks to crash will be bad for the economy?

Yes, I am.
These are questions people are throwing at me, everyday. They know I'm a smartass, and in times like this, the forget the ass part.

Hey, my job is secure... the gumint will need helicopters to help put down the insurrections of the great unwashed.
Besides, in another year or so, I'll be retired, and a good depression would keep prices down. :D

Hopefully I won't be one of them. I can always bathe in the Potomac to keep clean. In the summer anyway.

The Great Miami River, though not that great, is pretty clear and clean where I live. Just a hop, step, and a jump! :)

Hey, I've heard of the University of Miami in Ohio, is that on the banks of the river?

To be honest, I don't know if it's on the banks. Miami River does run down through Dayton and Cincinnati (and Miami U is in Cincy) but there are a lot of miami named things around here presumbly due to the Miami Indians who were very "big" in the Ohio area. The Miami have close relation to the Shawnee.

btw, Miami University in Ohio is a wonderful school.

My son says the girls there are "extremely Hawt"

Hawt/high maintenance stuck up hoes who demand to be treated like princesses 24/7. You are merely the red carpet upon which they walk, nothing more.



So says my brother who went there anyway.

Hmmm, it does have a high population of well-to-do people, from all I've heard...so that's where the princess thing comes in I guess. It does have a good rep academically though, for sure. My friend who I worked with every summer at the farm market went there as I was going to my school, and she was pretty down to earth, and talked about the air of snobbery she ran into from time to time. But she loved it!

Given this, why hasn't anyone created a thread, "Does anyone feel like Balling?"

The Game Changer

By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com
Thursday, September 25, 2008

The financial meltdown will change many things in America, and we can start with campaign promises. You can say goodbye to universal health care, a cornerstone of Barack Obama's campaign strategy. Massive medical benefits are now impossible because the bailout will take all the money.

Also, sayonara to John McCain's across-the-board tax cuts. The Democrats will likely control Congress again and, in the face of a $750 billion expenditure, there is little chance taxes will decline in any significant way.

So, both candidates find themselves losing a major core issue because of the greedy, stupid mortgage scandal.

Polls show that the folks are angry, as they should be. A Fox News survey puts President Bush's approval rating at 26%. Shortly after 9/11, the President had an approval rating of 88%, so you can clearly see how the once-mighty have fallen.

Just two weeks ago, the Palin bounce had John McCain leading Barack Obama in just about every national poll. Now McCain has fallen behind Senator Obama, and it's directly because of the economic madness.

Some Americans object to the feds bailing out companies that trafficked in risky mortgages. But if the government does not allocate taxpayer money to stop the economic bleeding, then what? Do you let the United States slide into a depression? The American economy is greatly dependent on foreign investment—oil sheiks and Chinese entrepreneurs buying our stocks and bonds. If overseas investors believe the U.S. economy is fundamentally unstable, they will pull their money out. That would be catastrophic for America.

Basically, the feds are playing a confidence game right now. They are assuring the world that our economy will not collapse. That assurance is vital.

But, once again, it is the folks who have to pay the bills, and pay we will. For the next four years, our tax dollars will be basically used for two things—fighting terrorists abroad and bailing out greedheads on Wall Street.

The FBI is investigating some corporate managers who made big money while their companies burned. People like former Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal who allowed his company to buy bad mortgage paper and then, when things went south, walked away with a reported $150 million severance package. Meanwhile, millions of Merrill stockholders got hammered.

In any federal bailout, two things have to happen. First, the companies involved must pay back any "loans" after they get back on their feet. Secondly, the government must control the pay of the managers. That is non-negotiable. No more tax dollars for greedhead incompetents like O'Neal.

In the end, the American working person will pull the country out of this mess, just like we always do. But no longer can we the people trust the government to look out for us. The covenant between the folks and Washington has been badly damaged, there's no question about it.
And that may take a longer time to repair than the stupid mortgage mess.

From Wikipedia:

Oh yeah...I see the trick now.