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Daily Journal

buckle up it’s going to be a bumpy night

1 in 10 homeowners behind on mortgage or in foreclosure. 533,000 jobs lost in November. Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. US Big 3 automakers asking for $34 billion bailout. 30 daily newspapers up for sale from New York to Los Angeles. Temp worker crushed to death in black friday free-for-all. Pirates make a comeback in Somalia.

Welcome to earth, 2008

Do you clean your own toilet? My definition of prosperous depends solely on whether or not you have a toilet to clean. If you have your own toilet, you’re not doing too bad. What about this other stuff? Not really important.

Fat and happy

Ignore practicality and common sense and go with what feels good. Believer of belief, believe and all that you wish will dematerialize. Stay within predefined, controllable boundaries of observation and comprehension, disavow ideas that don’t suit you. Blindfolded travel.

Don’t look back

Forward thinking.  Irrelevant past.

Next.

Same as it ever was.

Dedicated to Neil Aspinall 10/13/1941 – 03/23/2008

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Daily Journal

10 oversimplified steps illustrating why the bailout is bad idea from a historical perspective

And 8 easy ways to fix it

by David Kelsen

Here is the chain of events as it has played out over and over again, throughout history, because people just don’t pay attention.

  • A country incurs an expense it cannot fund organically
  • A country borrows from a source other than it’s own government to acquire the funds necessary to complete or continue whatever that thing is.
  • After much more borrowing, the country no longer has the ability to borrow
  • A country decides to print more currency (or make currency available based on a theoretical expectation) to further support the thing, whatever that is
  • The amount of money (or the promise of more money) increases, the amount of goods and services do not
  • Demand increases with the advent of more money, the costs associated with suppling the new demand increase incrementally
  • Prices go up – goods and services progressively become less affordable – money is devalued
  • A country sets price limits on goods and services
  • Suppliers and manufacturers can no longer afford materials or the labor to produce materials –  supplies diminish – people starve (or fling themselves from buildings and bridges)
  • Rationing rears it’s ugly head – unemployment and crime grow like bacteria on roadkill

Over-dramatic?

Maybe…, well actually no, events similar to this have been recorded as early as 218 A.D. in Rome.  If interested look up Diocletian, John Law, Germany (1920-1923) or just google “Hyperinflation”.  This is not a new thing, and yet the powers that be insist on reliving the past, as in:

“My foot is still bleeding from the last time I shot a hole in it”.

What do we do?

  1. The housing market needs to hit bottom (estimates; late 2009 to mid 2010)
  2. Financial derivative bundling needs to vanish
  3. Companies that operate poorly need to fail
  4. Banks that participated in funky practices need to take the hit.
  5. Executives that commandeered a failed business and/or presided over questionable practices need to be compensated on bottom-line performance
  6. Politicians need to leave the party behind and start working for the people and the country (instead of their buddies)
  7. Oil companies should disburse profit-sharing checks – TO THE WORLD POPULATION
  8. Potato chip packagers need to fill the damn bag
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Daily Journal

John, George, Dick and Sarah

(Weds. September 24th, 2008)

Telephone rings, an elderly gentleman in a nice suit picks up the phone.

John:

Hello?

George:

Hey John, what the hell’s going on down there?

John:

Things are going really well George.

George:

What the hell are you doing stopping the campaign, are you loco?

John:

Well, Sarah thought people’d think I really care about this wall street thingy if I suspended the campaign, you know, align my priorities …

George:

John, you’re not making any sense, did you clear this through Dick?

John:

You mean Rick?

George:

NO! Dick you idiot, everything goes through Dick!

John:

Well, no, ah..

George:

Oh my god, he’s gonna be pissed…

Look, I’m gonna have to call you back, I gotta call Dick and see what he wants to do.

(10 minutes later)

George:

Hello John,..

John:

Yes

George:

Look, if we’re lucky we can still turn this thing around, Dick said you still have mileage on that “Maverick” spin, so I’m going to invite you and the “boy” down to sort things out, you follow me…

John:

Ah..

George:

…then you’re going to walk in there with this plan that’ll kick the s**t out of the Dems plan and come off looking like, you know, a hero.

John:

But, I don’t have a plan.

George:

Dick will have one ready by the time you land in DC, bring your reading glasses this time.

John:

Okay, what about the debate?

George:

What about the debate?

John:

I don’t want to go.

George:

We’ll talk about that when you get here..

(the above conversation is fictional, any resemblance to actual people is purely coincidental)