"Many Iraqis, however, believe al-Zeidi was a hero for insulting an American president widely blamed for the chaos that has engulfed their country since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003." Total hogwash! Regardless of the errors of his ways Bush--goes without saying--does not deserve this arrant disrespect. I thought Iraqis were sandal-footed?--guess the perpetrator got the shoes from the US Army. Well, at least the shoes were bomb-free.  

    Since WAMU went under with a reserve of $45 for every $10,000 loaned, I shudder to think what the ratios of government bailouts are. I suppose with the exclusive right other than counterfeiters to print the Fed’s own money, it probably does not technically apply; on the other hand, the Fed does pretend to "borrow" in order to meet the demands of the bailouts. They keep saying the "taxpayer"—actually China taxpayers—must be protected by so-called assets when...

  W will soon be heading  to the ranch of oblivion and Cheney to his happy hunting wilderness; The trillion dollar shovel will be taken out of the hands of Paulson; The war on terror will be downsized to police action; Bush is handing over a better Iraq than if he had had to hand it over to Kerry four years ago; Wall Street seems to be returning from insanity; Apparently Obama is keeping Gates and listening to Patraeus; Ted Stevens finally put to rest; Hillary w...

    I have no idea what the ideal leverage ratio should be among lenders but it’s reasonable to conjecture that it should not exceed 10:1. For the past twenty years I have been sufficiently fortunate to maintain a zero balance on my credit cards each month. I often wondered why the credit companies are so generous to continue to carry me without charge and tolerate 0% which strikes me as a losing proposition by granting me this grace period—that is, until I began to t...

  At the drop of a hat Citibank gets its second bailout while the Big 3 must sit in the corner of the classroom for not doing their homework. Normally I would attribute this to class warfare except 50,000 white collars are out of luck as the bailout is unrelated to rehiring. Nevertheless, it is still glaring that Paulson favors Wall Street over Main Street as there’s been little movement with the exception of Fanny and Freddie in relation to forestalling home foreclosures, which ar...

Granted the economy is tanking, but that is no reason for Obama to back down on increasing the tax rate on those above 250k income. Nevertheless, to avoid further roiling the market, he should do it in increments of 1% until Bush's increase expires in 2010. It would be ridiculous for a new president to allow himself to be intimidated by Wall Street's thugs and economic pundits. The wealthy need to invest regardless of the rate. And as for capital gains, there's not going to be very muc...

Is Wall Street's post election down trend really attributed to more bad news on unemployment or are they venting a vicious caveat to Obama?

  Let’s face up to fact, despite the current financial crisis, this country is a nation of consumers and to regain its lifestyle must continue to spend. Still, there is such a thing as moderation in pursuit of happiness. Oh, the wealthy must still have their car museums and mansions; the slightly lower scale their spacious homes and semi-private neighborhoods, together with flying first class to vacation lands or more moderate family trips via super SUVs to a resort, ranch or Disne...

  MSNBC which is clearly for Obama is running every ten minutes or so ads on Reverend Wright at his worst sponsored by the Republican party. I suppose in the station’s defense it is honoring free speech, but the bottom line is profit and greed. To McCain’s credit he has steered away from such negatives—much to Palin’s distress—for he is an honorable man, although he has had his own religious issues that could have backfired. Speaking of MSNBC, I wish the ...

•            O pportunity for middle class growth and prosperity, putting an end to the widening gap •            B etter solution for healthcare, particularly in ending the preexistent clause and catastrophically financial personal disasters •            A uthentic leadership in reaching out for solutions in foreign rela...

  The much talked about Redistributor in Chief took place in 1981 when Reagan took the progressive tax structure on the wealthy from 70% down to 28%, the inevitable consequence of which simply brought into reality the adage the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The additional bonus was the rise in numerous tax shelters to the point that true earnings were distorted. and to rub it in, investors looked to cheap foreign labor to enrich themselves further. Meanwhile in Washington unio...

Particularly during the Reagan and the Bush years though Clinton was not completely inculpable, financiers did not care for these controls and regulations of principals, thus, they exploded leverage in order to inflate the interest takeover where profits are harbored. When domestic investors were no longer satisfied with Government Securities and stodgy corporate holdings—as China, Japan and Saudi Arabia are today—they jumped for the over inflated bubbles blown by an irrational hou...

  On this site for years I was arguably the only one who would on occasion mention the New Deal in EARNEST. It seems with Reaganomics in disarray the ghost of FDR hovers between the headlines. Apparently the time is right to terminate Ponzi's funny money game and begin establishing an economic system that prioritizes real investments in making THINGS that truly matter in lieu of money making money and losing sight of the pragmatic aim of wealth.  

    There's little doubt that the race would not even be close were the Dem candidate white. There are still those who perceive Obama as Jackie Robinson in his first rough years in the majors rather than cheering him on in later years for his greatness. After these sixty years it will depend on the electorate  gradually coming around to Obama as a Jackie of later years to make the race not even close. I don't think that perception will happen unless Obama edges out this clos...

    Remember the old-fashioned collateral--you know, what made you the guarantor of your own loan? Your assets or at least very secure employment and minimal debits used to be pre-requisites for the financial institution to approve a loan. Not anymore: the Ponzi principle is now the mantra for the financial sector by keeping the flow of funny money until the "capital" is exhausted with minimal assets to back them up. It's not pretty if you ever drove by a huge lot where thousa...