Holy Buck, Fatman!

I’m not an economist by any means; I just play one on the internet with my simplified understanding of how things should work. I have read a ton of books, had some interesting discussions and studied the historical implications of other policies that were executed in the past. I often yield to more experienced blogs when it comes to more complicated opinions. My opinions come from the experiences of the common lay person. I suppose that makes me what they call an “armchair Economist” In light of what has recently been happening, here is my take.
The stupidest possible thing the government can do is put together a stimulus package. This has been hammered home in tons of economic blogs, but no one is really listening. Take for instance this quote from the Daily Reckoning: ( a Baltimore Based News letter about global economics. These guys are NOT your typical talking heads you see on 24 hr Business news channels. These guys called the Big Shit pile some years ago and they were spot on.

“I just don’t get it! What would make these people think that? We’ve never been in a debt situation, government or public, like we are today, so I’m wondering how they think a stimulus package that puts money into people’s hands that go out and spend it and it’s gone, whoosh, vanished into thin air, is going to be the magic elixir for the economy”

Lets hear it for B-more. We’re a little unconventional in thought on many issues, but damn—someone needs to listen.

The village idiot we have in the white house has sent out three tax rebates in the past. The first rebate I remember I did not get a check. The second rebate I received a $400 check. This time, I think the government needs the fucking money more then I do. Wtf am I expected to do with this money? Oh yeah—That’s right—I am expected to go out and put a down payment on a flat screen television. Or a Blueray DVD player or buy me some new clothes. Fuck THAT!

One of my guilty pleasures on Teeveee is “Clean House” on the Style network. There are other shows similar to it, but I like Nicey, so…Clean house it is. Mister Fatman groans every single time I put it on, but I’m just fascinated by it. There are major reasons I watch the show. First, It is terribly apparent that shopping/consuming and hording things are the quick fixes for every problem from depression to issues people refuse to face. Stuff is the comfort that makes someone feel good about themselves. It makes them feel wealthy. It brings satisfaction that they got it on “sale”. Stuff defines them as a person and sometimes consumption can get out of control. The other reason I watch the show is—well….YOu should see my effin office. It’s a shithole of stuff that I need to get rid of!!!! After watching several episodes of the show I have come to realize I realllllly don’t need that much shit and my money is better saved then spent. When it’s time for a purchase, it better be functional. It’s taken me a long time to realize that the shit I have, I’m not using. I need to get rid of it or put it to use. I can’t wait to organize my own purge. Lastly–I saw the end results of a friends recent purge and Damn…I’m jealous. Downsizing is good.

WE’ve been told from the very beginning of the bush administration that we need to spend spend spend. From the moment those first tax rebate checks came in to today. Shopping is what holds us afloat. what if everyone decided to take their rebate checks and save it? what if we all decided to open an add on CD at our local bank or Credit union and started to add on to the damn thing? It would benefit the banks and would start a trend of saving like our Asian friends across the pacific pond.
Hell no. No saving in “murka. I just heard on the news today that China is a bit worried about the ‘murkin consumer’s inability to shop. They’re worried about their jobs.

Guess what, china? So are we.

Since I profiled the economic proposals of the top three Dems, It’s only fair that I do the same for the red side of the carpet.

Boy is it dismal. Words simply cannot explain the crap that is coming from these fartknockers.

First and foremost, when you click on the “issues” link on each one of their websites, the issue of the Economy is WAY BELOW “Keeping America Safe” rhetoric. What does this tell me? They all believe the biggest issue confronting them is the evil boogie man: terrorism. The Economy has just RECENTLY gained importance and only because a record number of Americans are facing foreclosure which is ultimately destroying their portfolios. That can’t happen, dammit.

It’s virtually impossible for me to highlight anything good about the Republican plans for the US Economy. It’s all the same shit the Bush Administration gave us, just wrapped up in a neato new package!  Free market this, Tax cuts that, ownership society, social security needs to be priviatized—BLAH BLAH BLAH.

What I WILL do is highlight the absurdity of the importance of the issues. believe me, this is fucking hilarious.    It will also demonstrate how detached they really are from the everyday economic issues of the common middle class family.  In order of…well…I don’t like any of them so I’ll order it on who currently has the most delegates. Afterwards, I’ll tell you the order of  issues on the website of the Contending em front runner.  After I reach an economic issue, I will stop listing them.  Recent additions regarding the “Stimulus Plan” are NOT included.

Mittens:

His issues page mentions Jihad, Nuclear and Tyrants right at the top, suggesting that the greatest threats aren’t the fact that most Americans haven’t seen a friken raise in a long time, but some perceived dictators overseas.

In layout order:

Keeping Americans Safe at Home and Abroad

Confronting Radical Jihad

Combating Nuclear Terrorism

Strengthening Latin American Allies and Confronting Tyrants

Winning the Global Economic Competition

Clinton places Strengthening the Middle Class as her number one issue.

McCain:

Okay–Disclaimer here: McCain DOES address the Economy as the first issue in the form of a “Tax Cut Plan” Typical. Tax cuts DO NOT WORK! McCain, by far, may appeal to the moderate dem who is disheartened by the current front runner.

Obama’s list of issues:  Civil Rights, Disabilities, Economy.

HuckleFucklebee:

This is, by far, the most disturbing. Luckily, the Evangelicals who believe he will bring on the second coming are showing that their group doesn’t encompass most of the GOP base. Knock on wood.

The Secure America Plan

Immigration

Faith and Politics

Sanctity of Life

Veterans’ Bill Of Rights

Education And The Arts

Health Care

Taxes/Economy

To be fair, he does address health care and keeps “marriage” after addressing the economy. Still…can he get anymore wacky????

John Edwards:

John Edwards lists the economy first under

Standing Up For Regular Families

So now that I have painstakingly shown you the utter disconnect of the Republican front runners, tell me your thoughts on these fuck knuckles.

In 1992 I was 18 years old and had just been granted the important right as an American citizen: The right to Vote. I took this VERY seriously. Being the uber political nrrrd in HS, I was on the debate team, Mock Congress team and the president of the Political Action Committee. I was serious about my right to vote.

Except, I based my vote on the guy who was on MTV. Okay, I was 18. ALRIGHT?!?!?!? I just knew that Bush was bad and Clinton was good. Why? My dad told me so.

In 1992, My dad was pretty worried about the downturn of the Economy. I would watch the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather with him, drinking our evening up of Joe. Dad would often lament about the ‘87 crash, the S & L crisis and everything that lad up to the recession that was happening in ‘92. I had NO clue why he was worried. To me, Dad was a never ending supply of cash when I ran out of money from my part time job. The Dad Economy functioned pretty well and I was able to tap the First National Bank of Dad when I needed it. Except when FNBD decided to call my loan and make me sign every graduation gift check I received over to him to pay back those little loans I had been taking out. I wasn’t aware that I had to pay that back!!!! It was $500.00. In 1992—That was A LOT of money. My economy had crashed and I had to learn to save. Dad was a saver—10% of his salary always went into his savings account. He hammered it into my head, telling me that I would never know when times could get bad.

In 1997 I had started to look for a “real” job and remember him saying to me, “This is the BEST time to look for a job! The economy is BOOMING right now! Companies can’t find enough workers to fill slots in time! You’ll get a GREAT job in No time!” He, of course was correct. Clinton did end up being a good thing. His policies combined with the dot com bubble made it the best of times. So, I stupidly decided to become a bartender. I’ll tell you this, trickle down economics does work on a micro level. Fat cats tip well when they are making bank.

Now that I am relatively in the same position as my father was in 1992, I can tell you that I, too am worried about the state of the economy. For me, it happens to be the most important issue the 2008 candidates can tackle. I now fully understand the depth of the worry experienced by my father in 1992. The problem is, I think things are much worse today. The NYT recently penned an article outlining the similarities of the depth of problems in 1992 that ultimately led to Bush I’s defeat. While we aren’t looking to reelect the head idiot in charge, we are going to experience a changing of the guard. It’s up to us to pay attention to these issues along side the Iraq war. Remember this: When people are faced with losing their homes,or running up major health care expenses, they often turn to their faith in times of financial desperation. Idiots like Huckelfuckabee can “charm” them with promises of rapture like end times while reaching around and grabbing their wallets. So, as a public service to my readers, I’ll offer you the three Dem front runners in order of my support. I’ll highlight their best and not so best economic solutions.

Barack Obama:

Best:

Create a Climate that Promotes Business Innovation

Invest in American Innovation

Barack Obama will implement a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the level recommended by top scientists. Obama will invest $150 billion over ten years to deploy clean technologies, protect our existing manufacturing base and create millions of new jobs. And the Obama plan will reduce oil consumption overall by at least 35 percent, or 10 million barrels of oil, by 2030 to put America on the path to energy independence.

My Comment: long term goals to boost innovation in the green & technological sector will ultimately create jobs, spur investment and move our GDP away from being dependent on consumer spending. This is a slow fix.

Not so best:

Provide a “Making Work Pay” Tax Cut for America’s Working Families.

My Comment:Tax cuts have already proven to NOT work.  While these cuts are aimed towards the Middle class, I just don’t think they will provide the stimulas that we need. Cut PAYROLL taxes. That will put a little more cash into our pockets and the results will be immediate.

John Edwards

Best:  Trade deals need to make sense for American workers, not just corporations. Edwards will make sure any new trade agreements include strong labor and environmental standards and will vigorously enforce American workers’ rights in existing agreements. He will also expand trade adjustment assistance to do much more for the workers and communities that are hurt by global competition and reform our international tax code to remove incentives for companies to move overseas.

My Comment: Edwards addresses the offshoring and outsourcing issues that has turned this country into a consumer & credit country. We don’t make anything anymore and the companies that make stuff have moved to china.  In order to help the American worker, we need to give businesses incentives to stay in the country.

Not so best: End Poverty by 2036

My Comment: That’s a pretty lofty goal. However, it’s not realistic. We can work to reduce poverty, but ending it isn’t ever going to happen. This is mostly an issue of semantics, I suppose.  I like Edwards and his ability to reach out to the working families, especially in rual areas. However, most of my Dr. Friends don’t like him for the sheer fact that he is a Tort Lawyer. Drs. and Tort lawyers aren’t good friends.

Hillary Clinton

Best: Return to fiscal responsibility. After six and a half year of President Bush’s fiscal irresponsibility, Hillary wants America to regain control of its destiny. She will move back toward a balanced budget and surpluses. Hillary believes that we should develop a set of budget rules similar to those we had in the 90s which required us to fund new expenditures with new revenues or cuts in other areas.

My Comment: Well, we know that it was actually done in the 90’s, so I’m assuming that it can be done again. I guess Slick willie will lend a hand, call some of his old economic advisors and assist on cleaning up the mess that Bush made. again.

Not so best: Lower taxes for middle class families by: extending the middle class tax cuts including child tax credit and marriage penalty relief, offering new tax cuts for healthcare, college and retirement, and expanding the EITC and the child care tax credit.

My Comment: PAYROLL TAXES! CUT PAYROLL TAXES!!!! uhg.

Today some of the talking heads started being less optimistic. Bernake said things weren’t too great. Congress Critters started discussing a “stimulus” Package. Again with the retroactive tax rebate checks. What the fuck? 600$ in my pocket isn’t going to help me pay off any of the bills I might be behind on. I suspect that it isn’t going to save anyone from losing their house from foreclosure, either. It might, however, spur some short term spending. woopdefucking doo. Provide some incentives to businesses to pay us more. Dammit.

Good LORD—No pun intended but Huckabee is one crazy wingnut. Crazy to point that it’s starting to scare the living shit out of me.

This crazy mofo was actually advocating revising the constitution to reflect “God’s Standards”. Uh…Here–Read for yourself:

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,” Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. “But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”

Allllrighty then.

I’m sure my fine readers have figured out that while I don’t profess to any faith, I do not stop anyone from worshipping. I believe that is what the first settlers were escaping when they came over to settle here in the first place. Correct me if I’m wrong, but would Fuckabee be negating the last 450 of US history? Oh, That’s right—Christians like him try to revise American History to fit their dominionist viewpoints.

Fundies like him give my Christian friends a very bad name. Not one of my christian friends have ever tried to forcefully convert me or even tell me I am going to hell because I don’t believe. In fact, we engage in healthy debate about all kinds of ideas from all sorts of faiths.  It’s what I believe America is all about–a healthy exchange of ideas, faiths and experiences that translates into the human experience.

What WOULD happen if Fuckabee got his way? Would I be mandated to join a church? Would Tithing be taken out of paycheck and forwarded to my mandated place of worship? It seems a bit outlandish, but rhetoric like his quote above leads me to believe that he would like to make changes that would essentially demonize people like myself and shame us into joining the mainstream of fundie thought in order to avoid persecution. While drastic changes won’t occur right away, the national discourse will start to sound like this:

It is as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They are wrong.

That was Mitt Romney’s attempt at pandering to the Fundies who kinda find his religion..”Cultish”. In order to even try and bridge that gap, he needed to figure out who they could agree the bad guy was. Those Damn Secularist!  You know, the ones who chose NOT to worship anyone? Yep—that would be me.

I’m pretty sure I live a decent lifestyle. I’m married, raise a child who choses to follow a faith, I follow the law, help my fellow neighbor in need and don’t bother to stop anyone from worshiping whomever they want. Why am I a bad person? why do these fuckwads insist that my choices in life are “wrong”? Why do they wish to force their belief system on me when I am not bothering anyone? HUH?

The constitution doesn’t mean that I have the right to stop anyone from worshiping who they want. It also doesn’t mean that I should be forced to worship something I don’t believe in, either.  Freedom of religion—that means I am free to chose no religion at all. Fuckabee can take his God’s standards bullshit and shove it up his preacher ass.

I’m stuck in a rut and I want to write but I can’t seem to agree on what to write about.

Right now, the political arena is heating up. The Blue side of the Blogosphere can’t seem to agree on who to throw their support behind and the Red Side seems to agree that they all hate Hillary. I think the red side of this plate has all gone batshit insane and decided that Huckabee the Great will lead them to the rapture. Seriously, folks. If the Rapture were to occur, I think the world would be a better place.

With the Presidential race comes the muck raking. Pundits are currently analyzing every single word that spills from Hillary’s mouth and all they seem to come up with is the fact that she is a women. You don’t say! It’s as if these pundit boneheads are  just now figuring this out and they can’t seem to understand how a Woman could possibly lead the country. I mean…she cried! The fact that she has a chance really ruffles their feathers. On the other hand, they have a Black Man who could win. Oh! GASP! a BLACK MAN! while I was trolling for fodder on RedState, I came across a comment that basically stated the commenter was not ready for a woman or a black president and can’t figure out why not. At least the commenter was honest about his or her prejudice instead of hiding it behind racist code words like our agent of satan, Karl Rove. In the highlighted WSJ article, Satan’s right hand man uses the words, “Trash Talking” and “Lazy” to describe Obama.  It has long been known that political speech has been ridden with coded words to appeal to a group of people either blatantly or subconsciously. David Kuo explained in his book “Tempting Faith“  that he often used many coded words and phrases directed at the evangelical community in many speeches delivered by the village idiot we have in office. A few nights ago, Mister Fatman said that he was excited to be a part of the generation that will potentially elect a black man to be President. Not just A Black man, but someone who has demonstrated that he is worthy of the job by his past record. The Bullshit that some say about his “lack of experience” can eat shit. We have a man who has failed at every business venture he’s ever been involved in, currently running our country. No wonder we’re running both a huge trade deficit and budget deficit. Bush can’t Lay off the American people to cut costs. Obama actually succeeded in his community outreach days, while attending Harvard Law and when he was a part of the Illinois State Legislature. If you count the man people Bush fried while Gubbner of Texas, well…Okay. I guess that can be measured as a success. Depends on who you talk to.

In the huh? department—Snow Fell in Baghdad.  Since President CooCoo Bananas and his Sith  Lord Darth Cheney said that they wouldn’t leave until Hell Froze over–I suppose that means they have to leave Iraq now.

Riiight.

Okay. Rut cured.

clinch the Nomination. While I would like Billy boy back in the WH, I just can’t get behind HRC.  I also believe that HRC getting the Nomination will effectively bring out EVERY WINGNUT imaginable and leave us stuck with the horror that is Huckabee. and Nothing—NOTHING could be worse than that fucking crazy bastard nutball.  I honestly believe he will send out
“The Delta Force” to liberate Iran. Think about it…seriously. Uuuuhg.

Well, folks, It’s On.

I’ve been wavering on my official choice for US. Prez for a while. I was all out for Obama and really wanted to throw all my weight behind him until the Mcclurkin bullshit. Obama has gone for the Black homophobic vote and that may have done him well. It didn’t sit too well for me and I was waning on my support for Obama. However, Politicians are all panderers in some way shape or form; i needed to stick with a canidate i can live with.

Obama it is.

I do like Edwards, but seriously—does he have a chance? can he pull it off or will too many people have bad memories of 2004?  I dunno.

This is all subject to change, of course. I will not, however, support Clinton. I just can’t live with her. There are too many things I don’t like.

As outlined previously, I did have a great Christmas (aside from the crappy ass flights). However—those crappy ass flights have given way to a hazard people are faced with when stuck on airplane for more time then they wish. On Saturday, Mister Fatman brought home Rockband for the xbox thingy we own and we made merry with the neighbors. I had mentioned that i felt a cold coming on. Not to bad—just a stuffy nose.

The next day I was in bed. Headache, body aches—you name it. It was awful. Monday, New Years Eve—We had a party to attend.  I made it to midnight and then totally crashed. I was dead to the world.  The next day was a freaking joke. Mister Fatman and I were supposed to host a New Years Day Brunch. It turned out to be only Mister Fatman’s show. I was down for the count. Later on that evening, a quick reading of the thermometer told us that I had a fever of 104. yes, Folks—I was THAT sick.

Which leads me to today. Today—at 6pm est—is the first time I have felt good enough to get out of bed. That doesn’t mean that I feel 100%—I just feel good enough to get out of bed and type on my ‘puter.

Now I’m not typically a superstitious person, but being sick on the new year can’t be good.  Eh—Fuck that. I’m not superstitious. It is what is is. I got handed a bunch of lemons. I makin’ some lemonade. I may throw some Jack Daniels into it and make it the Lynchburg Variety.

The Following is EXACTLY what happens in our home on ANY given morning.

You just can’t make this shit up.

It’s ironic that just this morning I was discussing the fear that some righties feel when confronted with a *gasp* brown person that may (or may NOT) be a Muslim. While surfing my daily feeds, I stumbled across this post that cracked my shit up. Apparently, this wankstain thinks that Nancy Pelosi is going to cause a dirty bomb to go off in Manhattan. Does Wankstain even live in Manhattan? I seriously doubt it. Wankstain is probably too busy studying his stats and referrals to leave his well padded suburban home in Safe Town, USA.

I think it’s hilarious that fear drives these idiots to believing that every brown person is out ta get’em. They’re the types that don’t talk to their neighbors, unless, of course, they know them well enough. (and know that they are worthy enough i.e. white, rich, Christian)

Shame. I take mass transit into a targeted city every day. I don’t look over my shoulder. I don’t fear Brown people, Muslims or someone with a different viewpoint then myself. What I fear is shit that spews fourth from people like these:

Most of the likely targets of these terrorist attacks are bastions of liberals, so I am really starting to say the h*** with it.

If they really want to walk blindly around in a Gaza-type world of exploding cars, trains, malls and pizzerias just so they can get one over on President Bush and conservatives, then I say let them go for it. After all, it will be their children and families scraped off the walls and streets. Fewer liberals would not hurt this country.

Just so we are clear, no relief funds or federal help should be available to states or areas represented by Members of Congress opposed to these safeguards when the events occur.

That would include DC, Mass, NY, California or Nevada, among others.

and this:

Who’s got the battery cables so we can begin torturing the lefty bloggers?

These people are scarier then “Joe Jihadist”. I will defend their right to say what they want, but I will not allow them to silence me.