Priorities....
Of all the Bush administration sins, I think long-term the one that might be most damaging and unforgivable (outside of Iraq) is pursuing highly inflationary fiscal and monetary policies without a concurrent crash program of energy independence. The White House and Fed knew years ago what those policies would do to the price of oil. Of course we know why this particular bunch never showed much interest in the second half of the equation. But where would we be right now if, six years ago after 9/11, we had poured a half-trillion into this sort of thing and made it a national priority? Where might we be six years from now if we spent the next half-trillion on it instead of an open-ended occupation?
posted by The Cunning Realist at Friday, January 04, 2008
13 Comments:
O B A M A !
Do you have any idea what the slime machine is going to do to Obama and his family???
I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
It wasn't fiscal policy - Greenspan's squeaming to get out under his mess. The Bush cuts are doing what they should have been doing, i.e., grow the economy.
We need the vehicles and we need to solar power. You might want to read the Solar Grand Plan in the January Scientific American.
Pardon the cross-posting at iTulip...
I don't even know what to make of this one...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080104/ts_alt_afp/commoditiesoilpriceoffbeat
> A lone trader out to win a little fame made the purchase that took oil prices to the historic 100 dollars a barrel level this week but he lost 600 dollars on the deal, analysts said.
> The trader has been named by US and British media as Richard Arens who runs a one man oil brokerage, ABS.
> "The magic figure was hit apparently on the back of a single trade, rumoured to be a local intent on fame," Sucden analysts wrote in a commentary Thursday on the record breaking deal.
> ... He later sold on the contract for slightly below 100 dollars, taking a 600 dollar loss.
> "It was just for the form; he wanted to be the first in the world to buy oil at 100 dollars," said Antoine Heff, an analyst at NewEdge.
...[Necron99 comment] It's as if the press service is pushing the financial equivalent of the "Lone gun nut" conspiracy theory in the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK etc.
But, come on -- this guy thought it an "honor" to buy $100 oil! Yeah, that's a natural reaction there. It's like this article was written to be disbelieved.
Assuming this Richard Arens guy exists, I wonder if he's now going to get death threats from businessmen and economists of the 'Greenspan' school -- who believe that if we just massage certain economic numbers so that they don't hit startling benchmarks, then the sheer momentum of "consumer confidence" will pull the economy through any kind of crisis or systematic breakdown...
...I mean, if this guy really "wanted to be the first in the world to buy oil at 100 dollars", well nothing was stopping him from paying $100 for oil anytime during the past six or eight years... I'm sure somebody would have taken him up on that deal !
It wasn't simply that Bush and friends didn't "show much interest" in the rising price of oil. They welcomed it. They caused it. They have personally reaped enormous financial benefits because of it.
I'm sorry - this might make some uncomfortable - but isn't it time that we openly acknowledge the very real possibility that oil over $100 a barrel was their goal?
it makes me sick to think of the wasted opportunity, and the lives lost and lives destroyed. george bush, the "compassionate conservative", the "man of god", should burn in hell.
Yep, mission accomplished. They're still in the White House, quiet as a mouse. Never mind the smoke pouring out of the vice-president's window. Must have left a door open.
I'm considering going from Democrat to Independent because since gaining the majority the Democrats fast-forwarded to the 2008 election campaign when they should have taken care of critical business at hand. Impeachment. What cowards. If we don't at least try to impeach Bush and Cheney then what kind of monster would it take? Is this a test? They're still in the White House quiet as a mouse.
A couple of quick points for the CR, from a Michigander. Providing any amount of money to the automotive industry to inject this kind of an automotive development would very clearly constitute a bailout of the Big 3, something which Bush has continually and clearly spoken against (although a bailout for the "failing" aviation industry, the absolutely successful and growing oil industry and the never-been-better stock market have most certainly not been out of the question). How anybody can continue to believe under these circumstances that The Current Administration truly supports the common American is beyond me. And yet many common Americans still speak out in favor of this unparalleled exploitation of America's tax dollars. Cue my next point:
Donald Douglas. I don't know what America you've been living in for the last eight years, but this economy is not growing. Yes, stock prices are going up. Those with money to get rich are getting richer. Those without vast wealth are getting less so. I seriously hope you are being sardonic.
Because my freedom of pursuit is being abridged substantially by these policies. If I can't save, I can't invest. If I can't invest I can't grow wealth. If i can't grow wealth, I cannot pursue happiness. I'm not asking for a pound of gold. Only that the salary I receive (which does not increase by more then one or two percent - less than the actual rate of inflation, mind you - annually) is worth the same this month as it was last month, and that it is worth the same next month; which it is not. Every month the world gets more expensive, and I have less to work with. So, Donald do not insult yourself by believing that all is well in the kingdom. The people call out to their ruler for help and he lines his pockets with their blood.
What does it mean that the "white house" knows anything?
Bush doesn't know much of anything, beyond what his gut tells him which is often wrong. The Cheney crowd knows some real and rational stuff I suppose, like that oil was going up, but that has always been a dream for him. He probably sees the downside of three digit oil but nobody could have predicted that accurately.
As far as the rest of the White House it's been 6 years since we were told that they don't do policy. Why hasn't this sunk in? There is no policy save keeping the tax cuts. That's it.
If the markets go non linear to the downside I expect the hives to break out on Bush's face again, finally. If the main street economy really tanks and the fiscal situation goes deeply off I think he might crack up.
Released within hours of the Iowa results.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/04/the-freepers-attack-obama/
I'm not asking for a pound of gold
ummmm...well...that's your real problem!!!!
Goldhorder. I laugh heartily.
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