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Monday, May 14, 2012 | 2:02 a.m.
The question shouldn’t be: Are we better off today than four years ago? The question should be: Are we continuing on the downhill spiral we were experiencing four years ago?
While job creation under President Barack Obama’s administration is not jumping off the charts, there are more jobs being created than lost. The percentage of unemployed is declining. Imagine what the unemployment rate would have been had Gov. Mitt Romney’s advice to allow GM and Chrysler to go bankrupt been followed.
It is being said, quite often, that government doesn’t create jobs, private industry does. In the case of GM and Chrysler, there was no private industry money coming to save these jobs. Government stepped in and, while not creating jobs, did save them.
While growth is not what we may desire, at least the wagon is going back up the hill. Four years ago it was going downhill at very fast clip.
Terry,
Actually, there are fewer Americans working as a percent of our population now compared to when Obama entered the white house. 60.9% of our population were working back in 2009 when Obama took office, now only 58.5% are working. The pace of job creation during the last three years has not kept pace with new entrants in the job market. Average GDP growth under Obama is 2.2% and it needs to be 3.2% just to keep pace with new job entrants. Compare that with Reagan. Reagan at the end of the 1982 recession had 57.3% of the population employed then had 60.9% employed four years later, an increase of 3.6% for Reagan compared to Obama's decrease of -0.9%.
Terry, 12 to 14 million people are still unemployed and at this pace they will remain unemployed indefinitely which concerns many Americans.
By the way, GM did go through bankruptcy with a Chapter 11 reorganization. See the link below. "At the time of the filing, GM reported $82.29 billion in assets and $172.81 billion in debt. As ranked by total assets, GM's bankruptcy marks one of the largest corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcies in U.S. history."
Next time, you might want to check your facts before you write your letter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mot...
Terry you must be one of the few that are better off today
The vast number American are not better off.
Total employment in America is down by 5 million people
Millions of people have stopped looking for work
50 million are desperately needing food stamps because they can not get by
--------
And what is Obama doing about it - dividing and pitting one American against the other
--------
The Obama re-election approach is to bash, denigrate, regulate, and tax businesses out of existence and Evil rich people will be stripped of their wealth.
Obama and Democrats are divisive and Obama, Democrats and liberal have used various denigrating terms for Conservatives such as evil, Contract Killers, enemy; barbarians to be kept at the gate, demons, terrorist and hostage takers, unAmerican, unpatriotic, sinful arrogance, SOBs, religious, racist bigots who want to hang Democrats from a tree, stupid, dumb, ignorant, bitter, cowards, Capitalist, filthy-rich, evangelicals, Judeo-Christians, Mormons, soldiers, small business owners, homemakers who are raising kids, volunteer workers, having "gone a little soft," "been a bit lazy," unimaginative, losers, gun-toking red necks, religious, and spend-thrifts living within their means.
Bin may be dead but many are expanding terrorism in Yemen Syria, Sudan, world wide. Terrorism is not dead
GM is expanding production in China, GM paid no taxes last year, and GM still owes $50 billion to repay the bailout, and the bankruptcy could have happen without the government bailout.
Unions killed the steel industry in the late 90's early 2000's when 1/2 of them went thru bankruptcy and almost killed the auto industry later on until the government stepped in. Nice job Pres "O"! Did anyone notice none of the auto makers that are based in right to work states asked for a bailout?
"The question shouldn't be: Are we better off today than four years ago?"
Absolutely correct. It should be: Are we better off today than twleve years ago? We had a Federal Budget surplus and projected completely eliminating the $4 trillion National Debt before 2010. Makes you wonder where we'd be if it hadn't been for about 500 votes in Florida.
We'd sure have a lot less to talk about.
You forgot about obama's favorite "government electric" has to go along with government motors. They are the chosen ones that are going keep all of your records and sell you mercury filled light bulbs. I wont buy from ether.
The strength of Terry's letter rides in the absolutely moderate tone, the factual presentation of the way we have adjusted to the legacy of the rapid dissolution of our economic integrity during the Bush years, and the solid performance in our comeback under President Obama.
She emphasizes that our economy is not in perfect shape, but she gives credit where credit is due, and she attributes to our current administration only the recognition of improvement, not perfection.
As Mr. Freeman correctly points out, the losses of 800,000 jobs per month during the tail end of the Bush tenure clearly handed President Obama a plateful of problems, and though his efforts have met with considerable push-back, he still has led our country out of that disastrous downhill slide, even though the international economic picture remains bleak and the many young folks entering the workforce are having troubles landing the jobs of their dreams.
We should be focused on whether the policies of this administration are right for the recovery, and on the robustness of the recovery. By those measures the policies fail and the administration should receive a failing grade.
You are, as are most liberal supporters of Obama, of the opinion that Romney was for scuttling the auto industry's major players by subjecting them to bankruptcy liquidation. This is not the case. What Romney was for is a reorganization under the bankruptcy laws. Under this arreangement a bankruptcy judge is assigned to supervise the bankruptcy proceedings and ensure that the organization is reinvented in such a way that it is reorganized to compete and survive. There was nothing to prevent the government under these circumstances from furnishing " debtor in possession" financing to help enforce the warranty obligations of GM during the bankruptcy proceedings. Instead Obama handed the company over to the unions using taxpayer dollars. There is a vast difference between the two approaches and the equitable outcomes achieved.
"You are, as are most liberal supporters of Obama, of the opinion that Romney was for scuttling the auto industry's major players by subjecting them to bankruptcy liquidation. This is not the case. What Romney was for is a reorganization under the bankruptcy laws."
To Bob's point, below is Romney's Op-Ed on GM published in the New York Times seven months prior to GM's bankruptcy filing:
Romney suggested in his OP-Ed a "managed bankruptcy""
"A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinio...
."and sell you mercury filled light bulbs..".
Clyde says he won't buy 'em. He doesn't HAFF to. We started off with a fire in the cave a ways back. Then we had candles. Then gas lamps. Tom Edison came up with the electric incandescent bulbs. Now these things were fabulous when they turned on. But one problem is the daggone HEAT they produce, especially in the desert when we would like to have some light but really DON'T want the heat.
here you have some ways around that problem..
http://www.examiner.com/article/five-eas...
http://www.examiner.com/article/3-ways-l...
But the next step up from Tom Edison's HOT bulbs are the CFL bulbs that do as Clyde says, contain a bit of mercury, less than the mercury released in burning the coal it takes to power Edison's incandescents and way less than the combined total of mercury released from burning coal to both light the place and then run the A/C to cool it back down
But CFLs are truly just a PHASE we are going through. The newer LED bulbs are so bright and so cool, you can light your house for almost nothing, not have to change bulbs for 20 years if a bulb is on for 5 hours a day every day, and they are room temperature so they do NOT increase the cooling load as incandescents do.
But the huge savings in LED bulbs is not just being free of mercury or lasting forever almost and staying cool to save you A/C costs, or the fact that they are dimmable and they make beautiful light.
The best reason to get 'em is to replace the RECESSED lights in your ceiling. The ceiling's integrity is the most influential factor in home comfort. When we had only incandescent bulbs, these recessed light fixtures were little launch pads, blasting our house air up, up and away and at the same time PULLING OUTSIDE air into the house in equal amounts. With LEDs, that heat build-up is not an issue so we can SEAL the recessed light fixture, enjoy our pretty light and NOT have to suffer from having gobs of holes in our houses shooting our conditioned air out and sucking outside air in. The ceiling regains integrity, we regain comfort and keep the place nice while keeping the money in the wallet instead of tossing it to NV Energy for God's sake!
On Earth Day, Philips lowered the price of their LED 60 watt replacement bulbs from $50 to $25, and other international outfits are fighting to compete.
Freeman--great background information. Bob
Dennis--you don't have a clue about what Romney did at Bain.Your comments reveal your fundamental lack of a grasp of what companies like Bain do.
It is a regrettable truth that by significantly increasing the dependency that people have on Federal Government handouts Obama will get re-elected.
Obama has made everything free for those that chose to not contribute their fair share to society.
Plying Everything from Abortion Pills to forgiving student loans, to free cell phones to gain votes.
For Obama this is a spider web that sucks in people temporarily down on their situation - not a safety net
For those that do not feel a need contribute back to the society that is housing them, feeding them, providing obamacare, can only vote for Obama or lose their entitlements
Accommodation - A few of the multiple safety net programs:
Unemployment checks
Housing Vouchers
Assistance for Needy Families
Food Stamps
Supplemental nutrition Program
Medicaid and Medicare part D
Child health insurance
School Breakfast and Lunch
Earned Income Tax Credit
Supplemental Security Income
Pell Grants
Student loan forgiveness
Head Start
Energy Assistance
There is only one question to ask Obama - what does Obama want to accomplish over the next four years? - Over the next four years that Obama demands he needs; and that conservatives and independents should vote him in to do.
..."what companies like Bain do."
leverage money to invest in a compnay
sell off assets for a dime on the dollar
throw the workers out
go to the bank with the profits
pay taxes at a rate lower than schoolteachers
leave abandoned workers, their homeless families and destroyed communities to pick up the pieces
Many call it Creative Destruction
Here's a link
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/mitt-ro...
Joe and O said in June 2009 that it was the summer of recovery. It's been the slowest and longest in American history. Sell it to somebody else, Americans are not buying.
Carmine A. DiFazio
Houstonjac - "You are, as are most liberal supporters of Obama, of the opinion that Romney was for scuttling the auto industry's major players by subjecting them to bankruptcy liquidation."
Another case of pretzel logic. You left out the part where no one in the private sector, absolutely no one, was willing to give the auto industry loans to reorganize. That is why Obama bailed the industry out with federal funding, which saved Ford as well. Ford would have taken a huge hit if their suppliers went under with GMAC and Chrysler.
I wonder? Do any of you nay sayers know Romney used federal funds to save the Olympics?
If Americans prefer to have 12 to 14 million jobless Americans be permanent then vote Obama like Terry Peele the writer suggests. If Americans prefer to have a $16 trillion dollar national debt balloon to $20 trillion then vote Obama. If Americans prefer deficits of $1.3 trillion per year then vote Obama. If Americans prefer to have a President who produces unserious Budgets in 2013-16 like he did in 2011 & 2012 that did not get one single republican/democrat vote the last two years then vote Obama. If Americans prefer to have Class Warfare then vote Obama. If Americans prefer to have a tax plan that picks more winners/losers via the tax code then vote Obama. If Americans prefer to have a President who started his term with 60.9% of the population working but now has only 58.5% of the population working then vote Obama. If Americans prefer to have only 50% of college graduates to get jobs in their chosen field then vote Obama. If Americans prefer a President who is anti-business, anti-capitalist,anti-religion, anti-authority, anti-police, anti-bank, anti-oil, anti-wealth creation, anti-military/guns and anti-state rights then vote for Obama.
The anemic Obumma "recovery" continues...more job-killin by the amateur:
After the BP oil spill in 2010, the White House imposed a radical six-month moratorium on America's entire deepwater drilling industry. The overbroad ban -- inserted into a technical safety document in the middle of the night by Obama's green extremists -- cost an estimated 19,000 jobs and $1.1 billion in lost wages.
In 2010, however, Congress, ravenous for revenue to fund Obamacare, included in the legislation a 2.3 percent tax on gross revenue -- which generally amounts to about a 15 percent tax on most manufacturers' profits -- from U.S. sales of medical devices beginning in 2013. This will be piled on top of the 35 percent federal corporate tax, and state and local taxes. The 2.3 percent tax will be a $20 billion blow to an industry that employs more than 400,000, and $20 billion is almost double the industry's annual investment in research and development.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/t...
According to Mr. FREEman, everything IZZZ Obama's fault.
See, this way he can convince himself that the destroyed economy President Obama received is not just his inheritance but also his legacy. That's not the case, is it?
This way Mr FREEman can convince himself that in spite of many efforts to improve conditions, our current president has faced stubbornly obstinate opposition from ideologues in congress who blocked progress at every possible turn to hand Obama and you and me defeats.
It's ironic to now read from Mr. FREEman's posts about "anti" anything when what we have heard from and his elephant pack is "anti-everything Obama" for 3 years!!! LMAO FREE man!
Joe,
Face the facts, Obama hasn't turned around the economy like Reagan did. Obama believed in stimulating the economy through a government spending stimulus. The results? We dropped from 60.9% of the population working to 58.5%. Zero growth. AND we are $861 billion dollars further in debt. Obama has ignored pro-growth policies in the private sector. We need a President who can create an environment for businesses to invest and consumers with means to spend. Right now that's not happening like it has in previous economic recoveries. GDP rose 3.5% per annum in the Reagan years despite a severe recession in 1981-2. Obama's GDP growth rate is 33% less than Reagan's. But if the American voter believes Obama, unions and Occupiers can create American jobs then they should vote for Obama.
By the way, Terry is a male according to his Facebook page.
"Cook Medical is no longer planning to open a U.S. factory a year. Boston Scientific, planning for a more than $100 million charge against earnings in 2013, recently built a $35 million research and development facility in Ireland and is building a $150 million factory in China. (Capital goes where it is welcome and stays where it is well-treated.) Stryker Corp., based in Michigan, blames the tax for 1,000 layoffs. Zimmer, based in Indiana, is laying off 450 and taking a $50 million charge against earnings. Medtronic expects an annual charge against earnings of $175 million. Covidien, now based in Ireland, has cited the tax in explaining 200 layoffs and a decision to move some production to Costa Rica and Mexico."
Job creatin-chicago style...LMAO!
"there are more jobs being created than lost. The percentage of unemployed is declining"
The only significant change in the last few months in percent of unemployed is that a significant amount of the unemployed have given up on looking for work. The bunk of those people are women.
For the unemployment number to really go down one needs to create around 400k to 500k a month for a substain amount of time.
Creating 100k or 200K jobs a month just barely keeps with jobs that lost.
One needs to create jobs for the new people that are entering the working force like high school, colleges and immigrants.
Obama has sucked.
Obama admin's promised that the "stimulus" would have brought unemployment down to around 6% by now.
Were they?
a) Incompetent
b) Lying
c) Both
--------)
Thousands of Americans lost their job when Obama took over GM
Bondholders and stockholder and pensions lost everything when Obama took over GM
GM has paid no taxes since Obama took over GM
GM is not invest in new products like Ford is since Obama took over GM
The volt is a dead product
GM is losing money in Europe and the French PM is calling Obama out for layoffs
All spare money that GM has is being spent in China for factories and jobs to built cars for South America's market
-------)
Once again, we see just how ignorant about economics and business those on the left are. Neither GM nor Chrysler would have gone out of business if Osama Obama didn't play the "crony capitalism" card and "save" them for the benefit of the unions. Bankruptcy would have made both leaner & stronger and they would still be cranking out their cars & trucks. It's pretty obvious Peele and his fellow traveler, the guy from Crook County, IL, know nada about investing money in a business and taking the risks necessary to become successful. It would be swell if Crook County. IL, guy would put some effort into cleaning up the corruption, graft and cronyism Crook County, IL, is infamous for.
"romneys expertise was LAYING OFF people not EXPANDING future employment."
Sounds like the right solution for downsizing out of control big gov't and public employment. O fans like to boast about the US jobs created. Really? Gov't jobs not private sector. Your tax payer money is going to pay for a bloated and out-of-control US gov't bureaucracy. That's the Chicago way. And this president is the best at it.
Carmine A. DiFazio
If you consider welfare, unemployment, and all the liberal perks cherish, then yes, America is heading the right direction.
America though isn't heading in the right direction from my point of view along with millions upon millions of other people who don't rely on the liberal system nor do we want the system to control our destiny.
Good letter. But the tea loons have been watching Fixed News all day so their brains and senses are dulled. They won't get it as usual.
Go to romneyeconomics.com and watch the power new ad about Bain Capital and it's founder/CEO Mitt "I'm not concerned about the very poor" Romney.
Few have experienced the car elevator lifestyle Mitt grew up in. Most are just middle class people just trying to earn enough to send the kids to college and save for retirement.
This ad is just the first of many, with words from the laid off workers themselves.
FDR and John F Kennedy were not middle class either.But if you want to make it a prerequisite LastThroes then go ahead. LOL
LastThroes, it all comes back to Obama's record. Do Americans want more of the same as these last four years? Should we just forget about jobs for the 12 to 14 million jobless Americans because right now there isn't sufficient job growth to get these folks back to work. Is that acceptable to you?
Yes, Terry is a male. When my parents gave me the name 73 plus years ago there were very few female who used the name and they spelled it Teri.
Seems as though what I'm hearing here is that since we are not doing as well as in the Reagan administration we would better off still going downhill. WOW!
I contend that to give tax breaks to those with money will not create jobs in this country. That because private industry money believes that workers in this country want a standard of living they do not deserve. They would rather create job in China, a Communist country, where there are no unions to raise the worker's standard of living.
Terry E Peele
RefNV - "If Americans prefer to have 12 to 14 million jobless Americans be permanent then vote Obama like Terry Peele the writer suggests."
You like posting numbers, how many of those jobs were out sourced to China and India? I made a service call to a local phone company and ended up speaking to someone in Colombia, South America.
RefNV - "Face the facts, Obama hasn't turned around the economy like Reagan did."
Again, Reagan never faced the problems Obama had to deal with. Not even close. Wall St. and banking, although screwed up, wasn't nearly as economically devastating as Sept. of 2008. Again I'll point out that Reagan and Bush the Elder raised taxes several times. Ignoring those facts doesn't rewrite the reality of history.
What will Obumma do about this? Zilch. The taxpayers are suckers.
"The report documented illegal aliens filing the IRS Additional Child Tax Credit form for children -- often nieces and nephews -- who have never lived in the United States. To legally qualify, a child must be present in the filer's U.S. residence for over half the year.
"We've seen sometimes 10 or 12 dependents, most times nieces and nephews, on these tax forms," a tax preparer-turned-whistleblower told WTHR News. "The more you put on there, the more you get back."
"Here's a return right here: we've got a $10,300 refund for nine nieces and nephews."
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/irs-field-age...
"Again, Reagan never faced the problems Obama had to deal with. Not even close. Wall St. and banking, although screwed up, wasn't nearly as economically devastating as Sept. of 2008. Again I'll point out that Reagan and Bush the Elder raised taxes several times. Ignoring those facts doesn't rewrite the reality of history."
These are non sequitor arguments. You might as well have said the car doesn't crank because the color is blue. Growth policies in the private sector are the way to go. It's either that or continue waiting for jobs to materialize from Obama, unions or Occupiers.
If Bush was still in office we could invade another country that had no part in 9/11 and hope it helps revive the economy, unlike his last nation building adventure. If nothing else it'd provide a diversion for the flag waving armchair patriots.
Mission Accomplished!
Who needs four more years of excuses and the "inherited thang".
http://www.bls.gov/jlt/
The question should be if joblessness is such a problem why aren't Americans taking the 3.7 million jobs that are out there. Last week's job listings report reflects the most listings in many years.
If people took those jobs the unemployment rate would be back down to about 5%. This is roughly the post-World War II average.
The recovery has been slow. But, there have been 47 recessions in this country. Nearly every president has gotten stuck with one. This last recession was the only Great Recession in the history of the nation. You only get a calamity like this once or twice every hundred years and it is difficult to claw your way out of it. That combined with 10,000 to 20,000 people a day retiring and intense foreign competition makes for a set of very complicated circumstances.
Not only is GM a success story it took the number one spot back last year from Toyota. Hundreds of US companies have a massive presence in China. They have a huge middle class and are becoming consumers of EVERYTHING.
My wife's BMW X5M was put together in South Carolina. Whats the point??? You go where the customers are. Buick is one of the most sought after brands in China. Watch the last couple minutes of the video.
I guess this defines "success" in Obamaville:
But in a revelation by the special inspector general monitoring the TARP bailout program, GM and GMAC together still owe the biggest share of the remaining $119 billion TARP debt.
Of the top bailout recipients, GM is the biggest laggard, the TARP watchdog says in his latest quarterly report to Congress. Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial all have paid off their debt and left the TARP program. Even AIG has paid back more than 75% of what it owes taxpayers.
GM, on the other hand, still owes more than half the $50 billion in federal funds it received when the combination of the recession and its costly union contracts drove it into bankruptcy. And its lending arm, GMAC (now Ally Financial), still owes $14.5 billion.
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles...
The GM-Chrysler bailouts were the right thing to do considering the dire circumstances and any honest person will admit it.
The GOP has boxed itself in on the issue, hence Etch-a-Sketc Romney's claim that he deserves credit for saving the auto industry. Too bad for the GOP that most voters aren't nearly as gullible as their own members.
LastThroes,
Romney suggested a managed bankruptcy 7 months prior to GM's bankruptcy filing and that is what happened although GM did not trim it's cost structure quite enough.
Unless I missed somebody posting this, I have failed to see anyone write about the two billion dollar loss by the JP Morgan financial institution.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10...
Who is to blame on this? Was it President Obama's failure to have financial regulations passed? Or, is it just another irresponsible act of Republicans on Wall Street? Could it be both? I can't wait to see the responses on this!!! Or, the lack of responses.
Managed bankruptcy would have been fine. Many ways to skin a cat.
The folks at fox (Cavuto Dobbs) wanted to let the entire company collapse. Even Mulally from Ford said that would have been a catastrophe. GM buys billions of parts a year from domestic suppliers. The entire OEM parts business would have collapsed according to Mulally.
Rusty...had these industries gone bye bye the social welfare cost of having vast numbers of dislodged auto workers on unemployment and medicaid would have been enormous. I left Detroit and moved to Santa Monica in 1961. Jobs lost in Michigan and Ohio have never been recovered.
Its manufacturing and construction that are the biggest unemployment drivers according to the Dunn&Bradstreet monthly business trends reports. When we lose these jobs they don't come back.
http://securities.stanford.edu/1039/SCHW...
Brad....the entire $516 trillion derivatives market is a sham. I was one of larger share holders in the Schwab SWYSX fund. They had $416 million of these instruments in the portfolio and didn't even know it.
40% of the portfolio.
There are countless commodity funds, long/short funds, leveraged funds etc...very few make money but generate huge fees and commissions for the industry.
During the 87 crash computers took the markets down 30% in a few days, a fortune was lost, numerous suicides, and to this day we don't have a clue as to what caused it.
If Obama had let the auto companies go bankrupt the unions would be thrown to the wayside by the reorganization. That's the only reason "the first gay president" saved GM. He needs their votes. He paid for those votes with your money. The school teachers are making much less money than the auto workers. I'd rather spend more money on teachers than give it to some big dummy bolting on fenders for 78 dollars an hour plus many overly generous benefits. You left wing frauds should rethink this thing. Obama is a nasty taker and he hasn't done enough to impress anybody.
Hilariously, Etch-a-Sketch claims he saved the auto industry. What he really wanted to do was give it one of his famous haircuts.
Just what you'd expect from a guy with a Swiss bank account.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/emps...
Jobs have been created every month for a couple of years. The labor force participation rates have been dropping since about 1995 because of the 50 million plus that have retired.
That is the fact.
Read my 1028 post. There are millions of job listings. NOW
BChap---You ask, Who is to blame for the $2B loss by JPMorgan?
"Big Banking", with, no doubt, help from their Republican friends, did everything possible to narrow/limit regulations concerning synthetic credit securities. The resultant fiasco can hardly be attributed to a failure by President Obama.
JPMorgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon (in the article you've provided a link to): "In hindsight, the new strategy was flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored." The resultant fiasco can hardly be attributed to a failure by President Obama.
Today, news reports mention that a couple of JPMorgan officers will be/have been forced out and that some are calling for Dimon to step down.
So, who do you think is to blame for the $2b (that we know of) loss?
Many here like to quote polls when they show their fave in front. I don't but can't miss the opportunity to give pay back.
Latest string of polls showing O is below 50 percent approval rating with Americans. According to Rasmussen last 8 in a row show O struggling in the 40 percentile of approval and over 50 in disapproval. That's a danger zone for an incumbent. Doesn't take a PhD in political science to know that the White House is circling the wagons to figure out what to do.
Carmine A. DiFazio
"So, who do you think is to blame for the $2b (that we know of) loss?"
Here are the two questions that should be asked:
Were these JPM investors' funds? If yes, then go to next question. If no, no problem. JPM under Dodd-Frank has the right to make risky investments with its own money and lose it.
If ans to 1 is yes, then ask the next question: Did the JPM investors agree to their funds being used in this hedge fund of derivatives? If yes, it's on them. If no, they have a right to sue JPM for reimbursement.
Now, my question: What business is it of mine? I'm a taxpayer. I don't invest in JPM. As long as the gov't says No to any JPM bailout, it's none of my business.
On another note: JPM made $19 BILLION last year. It's net worth is $200 Billion. It's loss is $2B. Do the math.
To his credit CEO Dimon went public. He didn't have to. All that was needed was a press release. It's none of anyone's business except the company.
Carmine A. DiFazio
Okay terry Peele,
your letter was a good one for its moderate tone and BROAD-based appeal. The facts you LAID out were clear and relevant, and your conclusion was logical.
For these reasons and by contrasting them with most of the guys blabbering here, I erroneously concluded that you were a female Terry.
I apologize for my error and congratulate you for your uncommon vision, you polite and respectful respect of the truth and your willingness to take a minute to share it all with us. Most posters have a great deal of investment in their POINT-of-view, and I applaud your OPEN-mindedness and decency in these matters.
Please take no offense for my apparent imputing of softness to the realistic view in your letter. You make me proud of our gender and our race.
Carmine...read my 104 post. Investors don't have a clue as to what is going on. The big banks and brokerages are lost.
The guys that invented the instruments that are floating around the world admitted they made a huge error in risk computation. It's a 500 trillion disaster that will cause blow ups for at least 30 years.
Financial firms are bogged down with leverage and they don't have a clue what to do about it.
"You make me proud of our gender and our race."
Joe....really??
Wait until you see what the debt is going to be when 30 million more boomers retire and medical doubles a couple more times. Today's debt will look like mattress money.
It's all about aging America and high health costs.
IMO we are better off than we were 4 years ago, but certainly NOT from either side of the political spectrum, as both are equally greedy AND corrupt (Big Money means BIG $$$) in perks and reelection dollars to the incumbents. We have turned it around because so called Big Business finally found the economic conditions were favorable to start back up operations....and specifically manufacturing, as THAT has been the backbone of the American economy. The experts knew the DIP was coming, and did not want market conditions to change and impact their investment portfolios (until they dumped them for a tidy sum), so they continued to paint a rosy picture of a manure field.
Even in my own little professional world (here in Nevada), hiring has begun to increase and more mid-level management positions are becoming available. The companies were so quick to eject the managing talent they had acquired (highest wage), they now find a need to fix the mess that a lack of mid-level management has allowed to happen, and to begin to mentor the junior staff for continued professional growth and development. Yea, it is getting better out there, but we still have a LONG way to go before it gets to what I would classify as GOOD.
Terry......GREAT LETTER, RIGHT ON.
YES, GM and CHRYSLER are alive and Bin Laden is
dead.
YES, PRESIDENT OBAMA already drove GM and Chrysler
OUT OF THE DITCH!!!
Over a million jobs saved and over 4 million new
jobs created thanks to our great President Obama.
If greedy republicans were still in power, we
would already be in soup lines with half of the
country out of work.
We would already be a third world country.
That's what these crazy, anti-union republicans
will do to this country.
Anti-union republicans created our economy by
sending our jobs to COMMUNIST CHINA.
And super-rich republicans hide their profits in
Swiss banks and in the Caymen Islands.
YES, these anti-union, republican liars, thieves
and crooks are the last people on earth to run
this country.
Haven't heartless republicans done enough damage
already?
AND YES, we are way better off today, under
PRESIDENT OBAMA.
LIVE BETTER/WORK UNION!
Carmine.....
I thought you didn't like polls?
You said the only poll that counts is in Nov.
And now you list a Rasmussen poll?
Everyone already knows that Rasmussen is a
republican poll that nobody believes.
You should know better than that.
You need to get used to the fact that President
Obama will easily be re-elected and everything
will be ok.
We won't let Romney drag us back to those
horrible bush/cheney years.
No way in hell.
"Carmine.....
I thought you didn't like polls?"
Here's your answer.
"Many here like to quote polls when they show their fave in front. I don't but can't miss the opportunity to give pay back."
One poll that is a mainstay and has always been is the disapproval rating of the incumbent. When that remains below 50 percent, it is a danger zone. Only applies to incumbents like O.
Carmine A. DiFazio
"Carmine...read my 104 post. Investors don't have a clue as to what is going on. "
I did. I disagree with your last statement and conclusion.
"During the 87 crash computers took the markets down 30% in a few days, a fortune was lost, numerous suicides, and to this day we don't have a clue as to what caused it."
We knew after the crash in Oct 87 why and what happened. In fact as you know market limits down were instituted to prevent it. The word you should think of is decoupled. Acted independently of each other. We thought wrongly then that markets here and in the world were decoupled. Turns out Oct 1987 proved otherwise.
Carmine A. DiFazio
Re,
When a person offers a realistic version of our society's condition as Terry Peele does, we benefit. In a stark contrast to the selfish and counter-productive visions you and your ilk repeat ad nauseum, it glorifies our human condition.
Just a few decades back abolitionists did something nearly unthinkable. They stood up for folks they did not even know. Mind you, Re, 3 of every 4 people in the world at the time were SLAVES, 3 of every 4 in the world!
Your life of ruining communities and seeking starved-out discards to provide your ilk some greater profits is a throwback to slavery. When we see how the impacts of this taking for profit's sake has weakened our culture, something inside of a decent group of people revolts. Here's why.
We have failed bankers advising failed regulators on how to save failed assets. We are the only species on the planet without full employment. Brilliant. We have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time rather than renew, restore, and sustain it.
Your kind of ownership and profit-driven enslavement can print money to bail out a bank but you can't print life to bail out a planet. At present we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross domestic product.
We can just as easily have an economy that is based on healing the future instead of stealing it.
We can either create assets for the future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the other exploitation.
And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people and cause untold suffering.
Working for the earth is not a way to get rich, it is a way to be rich. And rich is clearly not what you have, who you are or even what you think of yourself, Re. Rich is who you have beside you.
From your pinnacle of extravagant wealth, it may be difficult to see or accept that billions of our community have nothing by comparison. Some are working with gratitude to empower others, not enslave them.
If slavery and beggaring thy neighbor is the path to the future in your book as you frequently espouse here, tell me why MIT and Harvard chose to give it away - free education for billions - through the Weapons of Mass Instruction...
http://www.examiner.com/article/building...
Joe,
I'm glad Terry makes you "proud of our gender and our race." Whatever that implies.
"The man who DOSEN'T read is no better off than the man who can't read"...from my uncle Sam Clemens. Whatever that implies
Doctors Without Borders, Wikipedia, school teachers, pro bono, loving parents, Firefox, MIT and Harvard, NGOs...the list goes on..."Whatever that implies" aka the restoring and developing of our community through respectful honesty, rather than the beggaring of your neighbor, Re, the enslavement practices you endorse and continue to profit from.
To whatever that implies...
As President Bill Clinton just said on NPR's dialogue with Tom Brokaw, that we all need to recognize the needs of others, to represent the facts, not exaggerate or overstate the issues because the credibility and integrity plummets with that, and then to compromise to benefit all of us, but compromise with honor.
No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, peace, deforestation, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and education.
This is the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection.
Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power.
We are blessed with such a curse that we can not fail because we will all fail together, and nobody wants that.
This isn't a Reagan recession, they are very different causes and effects. comparing them is not valid.
Additionally one reason we have slower job growth is all the construction workers that used to build houses and businesses and their supply chain are still sitting on the sidelines since that mess hasn't fully been cleaned up. So of course the numbers will be lower! DUH!!!!!!
There isn't a lot the government can do to get the housing market "stimulated". Would like them to offer loans like in the past to spur on home buying? Force the banks to eat the difference on all underwater loans to spur housing turnover? There just isn't much any president can do about the housing industry until it all finishes unwinding and while it does that we have to make sure our banks don't go under and are still able to lend money. Even if they are greedy Bastards!
So lets be realistic about expectations... Reagan didn't have a housing crisis and housing was a key factor in his economic recovery. We don't have that today so we are stuck with this recession and the reasons for it.
This ain't your Reagans recession!