Ah yes... the bad old days are here again

There's something about listening to Benny Goodman that makes a national/global depression slightly more bearable... I don't know why, but I think that we're in for another Swing/jazz revival, and it couldn't come at a better time. Play on brotha-man...

In other news, when people stop buying real estate, developers stop building, and architects stop designing. And receptionists at architecture firms are laid off. It is an inevitable truth that the receptionist is always one of the first to go when the economy contracts and squeezes a business. As a receptionist, I saw this coming. As someone who will not be doing reception for the rest of her life (even the rest of this year), I was able to come to terms with it right away and decide that it was time for me to jump with both feet into the world of being self-employed.

Because I was planning to have my Mary Kay business be my primary income while in law school (so that the Schmoogie wasn't wholly supporting me, something I cannot even fathom asking of him -- and to his credit, he insists I have some kind of income while in law school, which may seem callous, but it's really a good thing as it demonstrates how important my independence is to him), this is a good time for me to start growing my business and really getting rolling. I've got a plan in place, I'm excited, and basically, if all goes to plan I'll be working slightly less (more time to volunteer), and making about the same amount of money.

I'll also be listening to Benny Goodman. You should too.

The Fleecing of the American People

Is the media going to stand by and let this happen? I fucking hope not. So far, the news results are encouraging. And while you can't exactly expect everyone to read the article on Alternet "10 Things You Should Know About Bush's Trillion Dollar Fleecing Plan", (to steal a turn of phrase from Shark-fu) a bitch can tell a news article is important when it's on the front page of Yahoo, (see screen shot -- NYT article linked from the Yahoo homepage here.)

So, what the hell is going on? Why is everyone panicking? Why is everyone panicking about the panick?
America, the Bush Administration is asking you to bend over, again, and take it... again. Blaming the current financial collapse, congress is once again being ordered, yes ordered to pass a piece of legislation drafted by members of the Bush Crime Family^TM , specifically Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen, former CEO of GoldmanSachs. That's right. Someone who benefited tremendously from the circumstances that lead directly to the current financial collapse, and who stands to benefit even more if this fleecing plan does pass congress (god forbid!) ...drafted ...the ...plan? Yes. Welcome to America. Those who benefit most from proposed policy are the ones drafting said policy... kinda like the Secret Energy Meetings Darth Cheney had with the likes of Enron and Haliburton (we think). Only back then it was so antithetical to the American people that those who would get all the money draft the legislation that the meetings and the plan had to be secret.

No more. Nope. Since the Bush Crime Family^TM has managed to pull this stunt so goddamn many times in the last 8 years, they're not even being coy about it. Fortunately, Americans aren't as dumb as the Republican party wants them to believe they are, and people are getting pissed. Fortunately, Chris Dodd (D-CT), who today called the 700 BILLION dollar bailout "unacceptable" (amoung other things), is the chair of the Senate Banking Comittee... and pissed. Matt Stoller reports that a number of other congress members are pretty pissed off about this nonsese too, including Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama who is the ranking member of the Senate Banking Comittee), who called the plan "un-American" (amoung other things).

Radio Goddess Randi Rhodes has a good round-up of other articles in today's homework that you should read in order to get up to speed on this whole mess. Meanwhile, on today's Thom Hartmann program, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), theorized that this bailout (which is pretty much doomed to failure) is the "October Surprise", an attempt to tie Democrats to Bush and the economic collapse with this bailout since Democrats are in charge of congress. As noted above, congress isn't falling for it. Congress thinks this is bullshit too.

But just in case you're concerned: contact your congressperson (you have one) and your senators (you have two of them) and tell them that you don't want to pay for the mistakes made by Wall Street. Also, keep a weather eye on the news-reportage of this whole thing... and just remember, that 700 BILLION dollars is coming out of your pocket and going into the pockets of people like Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen.

The McConomy in McCrisis

Harry Reid (D-NV) may be the most boring Senator in the history of our bicameral legislature, but when you're as right as he is in this clip you don't have to be interesting.

Monday's McCain said our economy is strong. Tuesday, McCain said our economy is broken. Wednesday's McCain said it's because of lack of regulation.

The thing that Reid left out is that on Monday McCain claimed to be "fundamentally anti-regulation" then said that we needed more regulation just hours later. Proving once again that not only do I know more about the economy than the Republican Presidential candidate, but that that same candidate is fundamentally a panderer. He will do anything and say anything, including contradicting his own statements, his own record, in order to get people to like him.

The other thing that Reid neglected to mention, and that I fear too many people are neglecting to mention here is that John McCain's economic adviser (the one that was fired after calling us a "bunch of whiners", the man that wrote McCain's financial plans and policies) Phil Graham is one of, if not the person most responsible for the lack of regulation that McCain says is to blame for this economic disaster.

It's Reaganomics people. Pure and simple. Put all of the money into the hands of the big businesses, let them do whatever they want (make loans to people they know can't afford those loans; tack on $5,000 in extra closing costs every time a house gets sold; give tax incentives to American businesses who want to "save money" by having their products made elsewhere) and in turn over-regulate the regular people who want to simply live their lives. A business can ban people from forming or joining a union, but unions can't solicit new members. What?!

Oh, I forgot, Reagan=good, Unions=bad. Well America, how are the Reagan/Bush/Bush economic policies working for you? Our (under reported because the Unemployment agencies don't count all of the people who are out of work) employment rate, nationally has topped 6%! Before Reagan our national debt was about 2 trillion dollars. Now it's 10!!! (Reagan trippled it to 6 trillion, and Bush's dirty oil war has added another 4 trillion.) The policies of the last 25 years have set a precedent in American minds that we don't have to be responsible with our money because there's always going to be some other world power who will buy our debt. For individuals, there's always more credit cards, there's always another mortgage. Except that when the financial institutions (and countries) that own our debt go belly up and we lose our life savings and our homes, our jobs, AND CAN'T FORM A UNION to help fix things -- what then, oh mighty spectre of the so-called Best President Ever? What then President Bush? What then President McCain?

Don't you fucking get it?! The policies of the 80s, borrow and spend voodoo economics has landed you exactly where you are right now. The reason you don't have a cent of retirement money (except social security, whose "trustfund" Reagan may have created, but subsequently robbed; you know that "entitlement program" that the Bush/McCain policy seeks to turn into another welfare program so they can more easily kill it?) is because of the economic policies of the last 25 years. You even voted for these policies, America, by voting for people who told you that taxes were bad, and that it's okay to run up a 10 trillion dollar credit card because, hey, the taxes of my generation will pay for it.

This shit isn't going to fly anymore. Industry needs regulation. NEEDS it. People need less, industry needs more. Seriously. I can't smoke a bowl in the privacy of my own childless home, but Wal*Mart can sell unsafe toys to your children? Really? That seems kind of backward! That seems kind of corporatist! These policies aren't new either! I can't declare bankruptcy because of medical bills, but AIG can get a loan from the American people to bail their asses out?! Meanwhile their profits go straight into the hands of their corporate executives and shareholders? We can socialize the losses of the banking industry but we can't have socialized healthcare?!

WAKE UP AMERICA!

John McCain wants you to believe that the reason we are perched on economic collapse is because of "greed", but he won't tell you that he and his closest friends have been instrumental in deregulating industry to the point where a financial institution that had been in place since the fucking Civil War was able to hang itself with its own unbridled greed. Regulations are placed on industry because greedy people lack foresight. This shit has all happened before, and regulations were put in place to keep it from happening again -- then removed or edged around by John McCain and Phil Graham.

And John McCain is trying to scare you with "Barack Obama is going to raise your taxes". He may, but ONLY if you make over $250,000 a year, and if you make that much, at least you'll still be able to keep your shirt and your rice because Barack Obama's economic policies will NOT continue the devastation of the last couple of days, and that $250,000 you earn will still be worth something.