Good post!

Phil, I think you maybe right. But, what if there are weapons of massive destruction? I know that not one person I sold a house to is going into foreclosure - maybe I'm just lucky or dumb or both. I don't feel like I should share the blame. There are going to be some winners and some losers from all this hype. Citigroup seems happy and so does BofA. I'm never happy.

Who can we trust anymore? Will the world end if the Dems and Repubs can't agree on the Bush plan? I do know one of my favorite books was the Grapes of Wrath, but I don't want to live it. I live within my means but I've only sold four homes this year with zip on the table. My house needs some things fix and or repaired, my car has over 200,000 miles and the other one has over 120,000. My son had an injury that pushed four of his "just got the braces off" teeth and it's not covered by insurance. I expect a long cold winter and my utility bills are almost double from a year ago.

On the bright side, the NY Giants may get to re-visit the Super Bowl this year. Life is Good! And, NO - It doesn't get any better than this. Only I think I am a good dancer!

Phil, I feel your anger. I don't know what the answer is for the current economic situation. Is $700,000,000,000 going to fix it? I don't know. I know that most republicans blame everything on Clinton and Democrats put the blame on Bush. I'm a Democrat.

I didn't say my bills were not getting paid. What I was saying that I am putting off any purchases until I sell more houses. I have no credit card debt, no car payments, a monthly mortgage that is less than the area rental cost.

As a matter of fact, I have a nice vegetable garden every year in my backyard just like the old victory gardens our parents grew in times of trouble. But, my dance affects the way my neighbor dances and your neighbor dances. Some refer to it as the "trickle down" theory as their Knight in White Armor had declared it.

So, if I don't buy a new car and just do some patch work around the house and pay the dentist bill off in installments. How do you think that is going to play in your neighbors backyard?

Being angry is different from unhappy. Isn't that saying, "The chickens have come home to roost" a Malcom X remark that caused such a problem for Obama's minister? Or, was that the difference between a pitbull and a soccer mom - lipstick; that caused such commotion?

PEACE!

Phil I don't know that I share your guilt or feel that I was part of the problem, therefore there is a flaw in your analysis. I never took part in any sub prime loans nor did I ever do one with less that 20% down. It is more the area I work, than anything I had control over, however, I have been opposed to that program because it put people in homes that ended up being the American Nightmare rather than a dream. The program was well intentioned but also was mismanaged.

I believe that I elect people to represent me and make the rules that I live by. They failed at their job and offered a program that is socialism at its finest with the bailout plan that was proposed. Perhaps they will improve it where the tax payers will be kept whole. If so, I am willing to review it and fix something that is broken. Far to many people will be hurt, that had nothing to do with this mess, if something is not done.

There are ways to solve this problem short of giving the money away if they will just spend the time to put a program together that doesn't make the taxpayer the fall guy.

Your dance would be stepping all over a lot of toes that did the dance right but because some were not dancing to the music, you want to cut their legs off, as well!

FEBRUARY 4, 2008

All the Trouble in the World Doug Casey, Chairman, Casey Research, LLC

The business cycle is driven largely by government intervention in the economy, in the form of taxes, regulation and, most importantly, currency inflation.

These things give false signals to businesses and investors, which cause distortions in the market, and misallocations of capital.

When, inevitably, the errors start to be corrected, the result is an economic downturn. It will be called a “recession” if the government succeeds in preventing widespread bankruptcies and unemployment through one more dose of inflation.

Or it will be called a “depression” if today’s economic tempest slips out of the government’s control. From a financial point of view, a depression is a period when the distortions of an inflationary boom are liquidated — a mass die-off of the economically misbegotten. From an economic point of view, it’s a period when the general standard of living decreases significantly.

The point is that the more highly taxed, regulated, and inflated an economy is, the more likely that it’s eventually going to experience a real depression.

Perversely, the more control a government has, the longer it can put off the day of reckoning. But the longer the artificial structure is propped up, the bigger the mess will be when it eventually collapses. From my point of view, what will happen next is almost written in stone. The only real question is: When?

My previous comment was a quote from Doug Casey, Chairman, Casey Research, LLC.  It is titled All the Trouble in the World written in February 2008.

I happen to agree with it in principle although there are some cases where government intervention might be benificial in the short term.  But very few instances.

I am an INDEPENDENT and registered as such as a voter and proud of it.  In my opinion there is huge blame to both Democrats and Republicans for our economic situation.

How can you expect the same idiots on both sides of the aisle in Congress and in the Administration who caused the problem to effectively fix it?

The Democrats and Republicans together wanted everyone, no matter how poor, to own a home.

The banks and other lenders went overboard but they were pressured more and more by the politicians through the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, as years went by.

Now they point the fingers at each other.  Both sides are in massive denial of the facts.

THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH or BREAKFAST or DINNER.  Period.

Mark, I respect your analysis of the situation. But, why pin it down to 1977? Why not 1928 when Hoover promised a chicken in every pot? Or, maybe that other Texas president who declared the plan for the Great Society?

Phil is right about those golden parachutes - they should all be up on criminal charges. That's what our government is suppose to do - protect us from the likes of these crooks. But, we have no government by the people for the people; just lobbists.

There is a price to pay for living in America - it's called taxes. And, they are to be used to pay for things that business won't or can't while protecting us from enemies "foreign and domestic".

It is a fact that homeowners make better citizens. They take better care of the property than tenants and therefore contribute more to society as a whole. It is also a fact that we judge a society not by how big they can build a building, but by how they treat their citizens. Therefore, we pay taxes to care for those who can't care for themselves.

Oh to live in a perfect world where business is not more powerful than the government by the people.

God Bless.

Gregory,  you are right about there is "no government by the people for the people."  That is what needs to be fixed and I have no confidence that your guy or party has the will or ability to do anything about it anymore than the other guy running for president or his party.  Democrats act like Republicans and Republicans act like Democrats.

Right now both candidates are saying the sky will fall and the Earth will stop turning if the government doesn't do something immediately.

I didn't go back further than 1977 because I was analyzing the immediate cause of what is going on now, not the root cause of all past and present problems.  You can go back to the Garden of Eden if you want to find out why there is ego and greed in this world.

Well, Mark........ if we want to stay "current" on the housing maybe you should check out the White House report at this link:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040809-9.html

before a certain political party has it taken down.

Gregory - The president's programs from 2004 in your link above are noble endeavors that a wealthy society should strive to achieve.  It's how the government goes about doing it that I object to.  Neither party knows how to make it all work out the way you and I want it to.  The system is broken on all sides.

Republicans have been acting like Democrats.  The Republican party had to learn how to buy votes with special interest programs for every group to compete with the Democrats for votes.  The voting public says "What's in it for me?"  "Where's my handout?"

The Democrats have been acting like Republicans by courting business and large corporations for funds.  Its all mixed up.

Gentlemen,  I think " the chicken is in every pot"  but it is way over cooked.  Bailout or not, does it really matter?   Tomorrow we wake up, go to work, buy cheap products "MADE IN CHINA" and wonder why our "chicken" is overcooked.  

Mark, I am confused. You mentioned the 1977 CRA as if to place our current problems on a law (written by congress) and signed by Jimmy Carter as the cornerstone. This is a republican party tactic of blaming everything wrong with our country on the "liberal" ideas of democrats.

You fail to mention that both Regan and GHW Bush had interjected changes to that bill. You fail to mention that between Carter and Clinton we had 12 years of republican control of the White House and and even more in the congress and senate. This followed by 8 years of Bush that had 6 years of congress in lock step.

The CRA was enacted because Banks at that time were guilty of "red" lining poorer sections from getting mortgages - not fraudulent mortgages. But, mortgages of people of color who wanted to buy a home in their communities. You know, where people bank and work. The same red lining that the insurance industry does today.

Then when I point out GW Bush boosting about minority home ownership during his watch, you remark that it is a "noble endeavor" - and I'm guessing you think has nothing to do with our current situation.

Are you sure you are an Independent Voter?

Greg, I am not going to try to explain what Mark meant since he is more than capable of doing that if he chooses but what I read is that you can have a noble cause and turn it into less than noble results.

It isn't the program but how the legislators ran it into the ground because they forced Banks through law suits and pressure to change the standards that were basic to having a successful program. In 2004 when they were warned that Fanny and Freddie were in trouble and needed to be addressed they chose to deny the facts.

When you combine a Congress unwilling to address a problem and greed you have the current results. The Dem's have had Congress for the last two years and I see no change be offered until the house of cards had fallen. In addition if you go back to 2004 and 2005 you will see they were the ones that fought to not impose new regulations on Fanny and Freddie.

So blame who you want but examine your own party a little better and I think you will find there is sufficient cause to be disappointed in them as well!

Gary, of course I am disappointed in my party. They have been too liberal in many cases. I also understand that when bills get passed there are always pork added to get the necessary votes to get it to pass. Should a President have the power of line item veto? Well, that's another subject and as complex as our economy.

Is John McCain the best man to lead our country. Well, no. Is he the lesser of two evils? That depends on who is getting the blame.

My point is - I don't except and will challegne these mud slinging tactics where I see it. You can't blame Carter or Clinton for everything that has gone wrong with our government.

I once fell for that vote them out of office just to find the other side kept their guy who then advanced to the "senior" representative. I'm to going to fall for it again.

I respect and even admire you, Gary. But if we go back to 2004 and 2005 the republicans had full control of the house. And, besides that, the wheels of our government move slowly. You don't turn an ocean liner around or reverse course with a flip of a switch. It is often referred to as a pendulum between the far left and far right for good reason.

If someone wants to hold on to a party line - fine. But, don't tell me that your independent or worse "fair and balanced".

Greg I am not defending the Republicans since you are correct they had the power to do something and failed to move. I am hoping that this year there is a change. It won't come from the Presidential Race but it could come from Congress. Out with the old and in with the new.

Perhaps with the old boy network voted out, we could see line item vetoes, term limits, and some other things that would put this country back to the way it was originally designed.

Well, I'm hoping for the best, too. It is hard to understand how we can have "representatives" in committees with names like "oversight" in them and end up in such a mess. Where's my Lobbyist?

I am going to sell wooden arrows and get out of real estate.

Right now, any commission split would be better than what I am seeing right now.

I agree with some of the above comments...any bill should pass on it's own merits, none of this slipping in a favor on page 383 for a buddy back home. That item will provide that manufacturer a $200,000 break.

I am all for line item vetos.