Past performance is not an indicator of future earnings? I say bunk. That man goes through money faster than a drunken sailor on shore leave. (or a drunken air national guardsman bar hopping in Alabama)

I long for the day of no budget deficits so we aren't spending 10% of our tax dollars on debt interest. Let's just be thankful Bush doesn't own the White House, or it would be in foreclosure by now.

People are talking about the gas price and how the traders and oil companies are making so much money and how it is hurting the economy.

People are talking about how much the price of a loaf of bread has gone up because the costs of gas has gone up and how this is hurting the economy.

Post-partisanship utopia.

Job.

Post-partisanship utopia?

Job?

But [Obama's] tax credits and continued deregulation won't solve the mortgage crisis, which threatens to dispossess more than 2 million homeowners this year. "There's no evidence that an unregulated market is going to be a stable market," {Robert] Pollin [Econ prof at UMass-Amherst] says. "The unstable mortgage market is one indication of that. This is not anything new. What is new is that you have a serious presidential candidate who isn't really talking about it and doesn't have advisers that are prepared to deal with it."

I admit to being a fool about the economy. I don't understand half of what is said. Strong dollar/weak dollar unless explained in simple terms goes right over my head. Suspect that's true of a majority of people. But many of us remember the Clinton years with nostalgia about our financial well-being if nothing else.

I grew up being told that you had to live within your income. I believed it and have tried to do just that. Even when said income dwindled to nothing.

I have no credit cards and no credit card debt thus when my significant other lost his job and we had to try and live on my small SS check we were just barely able to hang onto our house.

I find it hard to be very sympathetic to many of the people that find themselves in financial crisis now. How long did they think they could slap that plastic down without the bill coming due?

Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

January 17, 2001 | Issue 37*01

 WASHINGTON, DC-Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over."

"My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

<snip>

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

"You better believe we're going to mix it up with somebody at some point during my administration," said Bush, who plans a 250 percent boost in military spending. "Unlike my predecessor, I am fully committed to putting soldiers in battle situations. Otherwise, what is the point of even having a military?"

On the economic side, Bush vowed to bring back economic stagnation by implementing substantial tax cuts....

Then again, Bush may bomb Iran in October, guaranteeing a Republican victory.

Nothing in life is certain.

This is going to get really, really ugly fast.  There aren't many levers that are available to fix what is ailing us.

The feds decided to use a provision that hasn't been used last since the Great Depression.  They bailed out Bear-Stearns and are now offering all Investment Banks the option to borrow funds at the discount rate previously only reserved for standard banks.

Then I saw the media boys say that Bush "won" the debates, or "tied", or made a darned good showing, when my neighbors' earnest, brilliant, and very conservative kids who had no cable and had come over to watch with us had been squirming throughout the dismal performance that Bush had put on.

encouraged the development of the subprime debacle through legislation like [Clinton's] Community Reinvestment Act, which they say forces banks to lend to otherwise uncreditworthy consumers.[39] Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized [Clinton's] repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the subprime meltdown.