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Monday, October 27, 2008

No Obama. No Socialism?

"No Obama. No Socialism", was a yard sign I saw today. Today, that sign put me over the edge. What are these Republicans thinking? Who are they trying to kid? The greatest implementation of a socialistic government program ever put forth by the United States has been launched by the one and only President George W. Bush, the first and foremost Republican master of ceremonies. The head of the dog and pony show. The prince of economic darkness. The broken and deranged toy soldier of mission accomplished. There is nothing worse than a deranged toy soldier running havoc throughout your beautiful White House.

This is one person who decided to take nearly $2 trillion of taxpayer dollars, obtained through the Treasury of the United States, which was begged for from China and other countries telling them that if they bought more Treasuries, then the United States would turn around and bail-out any foreign central bank that was holding toxic mortgage and credit securities, including credit default swaps. "Socialize the losses; privatize the gains." That has been the Republican mantra, and not the call from Democrats.

Now, as you recall the Mr. and Ms. No Obama and No Socialism-property-owner-displaying-such--a-yard-sign McCain supporters, that this all began under Ronald Reagan, and Alan Greenspan, along with the support of the one and only Mr. Johnny Boy Mave-rickie McCain. He and his no-whiner-weasel pal former (thank goodness for that) Phil Gramm deregulated the financial industry, in 2000, so the banksta gangstas could never be regulated by the government when they wrapped and packaged over-leveraged, fraudulent collateralized debt obligations coated with the deadly explosive called credit default swaps timed to go off in 2008 burning down the house! This over-leveraged, toxic securities meth-type lab brought to all of us by registered Republican banksta gangstas from J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, AIG, and the rest drove this train wreck through the Reagan Station, on past the Bush 41 Terminal Building, on into the Clinton Crossroads, and ending the trip with a full-blown explosion and fireball at the G.W.B. Grand Ole Plundering Pavilion. 

So, these No Obama. No Socialism Republicans actually believe they are NOT culpable for this economic disaster? They voted for this president. They twice voted for this incompetent fool!! And now, they support McCain, the very senator who fully endorsed the deregulation, signed on to the Project For A New American Century, voted with Bush 90% of the time, and palled around with terrorists (G. Gordon Liddy, former Army major general John Singlaub, and economic terrorist, Charles Keating). Yet that wasn't good enough for John Boy. He had to go pal with the violent and murderous dictator from Chile, General Augusto Pinochet, back in 1985, with no pre-conditions. McCain tried to keep this a secret, but fortunately, it has now come out in the open as a result of a declassified U.S. Embassy document.

No Obama. No Socialism? Where does that all come from, Mr. and Mrs. Republican? Have you actually listened to John McCain's stump speeches? This ignorantly dangerous and frightening candidate says he does not want to raise YOUR taxes. He wants YOU to keep more of what you earn. He wants to take a hatchet to government programs. Across the board, he says. So, who does that sound like to you? No, not Obama. That sounds like Herbert Hoover, the president who brought us the Great Depression. He gave us a nation of poverty, high unemployment and the loss of working America's personal wealth. That will be the real John McCain, if elected.

You cannot cut everyone's taxes and restore an economy about to experience a raging recession. You cannot restore a raging recession by bailing out failed financial institutions which are hoarding the bail-out money, borrowed from foreigners, prolonging the market's frozen condition, so they can keep their rotten financial institutions solvent and from decomposing. Two trillion dollars is locked up by these Paulson and Bernanke fraudsters. Remember, McCain, Mr. Maverick, voted for this Bush Bail-out. Nothing Mavericky with this guy!

We have heard McCain say over and over that Obama wants "to spread the wealth around." What is he talking about? Spread what wealth? Most of America is seeing their wealth disappear, except for the upper 10% of the income ladder. The upper 10% has been and under McCain will continue to see massive tax cuts resulting from a tax shift from the middle income brackets to the upper income brackets. More of the middle gets their income taxed more than the upper because they don't have as much wealth, capital gains, and right-offs. The middle uses much more of every paycheck to live on.

Mr. McCain has stated in his stump speeches that Joe Biden told all of us that Obama would be challenged within the first 6 months of his presidency like never before, and not unlike John Kennedy. THAT IS RIGHT JOHN! If you become president, you will be challenged in the very same way! Are you that inept and stupid that YOU cannot admit that YOUR presidency would be challenged, too?

McCain is a fraud. Whatever he accuses Obama doing, it ends up that McCain is worse than guilty of doing the same thing. Is McCain so clueless that he believes he won't be exposed for being a fraud? It seems that more and more of McCain's sleazy past gets unfolded. So, is "No Socialism" a code word for racism? First, they tried it with "pals with a terrorist". Was that code for 'be afraid of the black guy', too? The way McCain has so poorly run his campaign is a perfect example of how he will act as president. He is reactionary, unstable, loose with the mouth, confused, and mentally ill.

And as Palin goes around the nation propagandizing her talking points stirring applause from drunken Kool-Aid drinkers whose personal wealth has been burned up in the economic bonfire brought to us by the Republicon Party and the upper 10% who have gotten rich off of them, she proclaims that Obama is all about big government. HUH? John McCain, Bush and the Republican party have now given the United States the biggest government this nation has ever seen with the Pentagon taking 1/3 of the yearly budget, along with Homeland Security's many useless and Treasury draining projects that have been totally ineffective while invading America's privacy to a point where one can describe it as only neo-fascism, and concluding with Bush's gluttonous and impotent FEMA, as well as a bail-out package to beat the band. So Sarah, what are YOU talking about? She is nothing but an agitprop barnstormer for her self-destructing political party.

So, what will happen in 6 months? We will be embroiled in a raging recession in 6 months, John? Will the next president have to take drastic economic measures to begin to restore an economy headed for a depression? Are you aware of that? What about an expansion of the Middle East conflict? The Bush military attacked Syria this week? Might you do the same? And then, there is Iran.  Obama might actually try and talk with the Syrians, or the Iranians before killing them. You, John, are not like that. You don't believe in anything but winning a war. "I have to give you some straight talk, my friends. There will be other wars. I am sorry to say, there will be other wars. We will never surrender, but there will be other wars. There will be terrible combat wounds to treat. There will be a lot of PTSD to treat. More wars, my friends. There will be more wars", as we heard this Maverick say over and over again.

It really amazes me that Republicans continue to drink the Kool-Aid by the gallon full. As I said in my last post, they suffer from an extreme case of the Republican Psychological Disorder, ie. the Patty Hearst Syndrome. They still have a chance to show they can rise above such a disabling condition and send McCain back home where he belongs.

Thanks for reading, Jerry

P.S. Thanks for the comments written regarding this post!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was the most incredible post I've read in a very long time! Great job & keep them coming!

The New York Times Above The Fold said...

Spread the word, tell all your friends.

The New York Times Above The Fold said...

and thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi Jerry. I am the owner of the house with the "Nobama No Socialism" sign. I was initially interested in engaging you in a friendly debate from your postcard. Then I logged into your blog and read you accusing me and my wife of being racists solely because we do not support Obama. Who in the hell do you think you are to accuse me of this when you know nothing about me, my positions or my history with race. You owe me an apology for that - although I doubt you are stable or man enough to do that.

As far as your complete distortion of history and sad little blog, it took very little reading to figure out you are a sad, miserable little old liberal whose sense of self importance and intellectual superiority are clear evidence of your delusion. And you suggest I am mentally deranged for believing in the principles that made this country great - freedom to pursue your own future and prosperity without prejudice.

I would go through the trouble of refuting of each of your silly and distorted arguments but after reading a little of your writing, I am sure it is a futile effort.

"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism."

- Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev, 1959

You owe me an apology - I am not holding my breath - liberals are incapable of seeing their own faults from my experience, it is always someone else's fault.

Anonymous said...

I do not have to know someone that has a Christian cross in their window, to know they are a Christian. I do not have to know someone that has a carved pumpkin on their stoop, to know they recognize Halloween. I do not have to know someone that has a Christmas tree in their home, to know they celebrate Christmas. I do not have to know someone who has a "No Obama. No Socialism" yard sign to know they erected it without any empirical data or evidence to prove he represents socialism. But I can figure out that if there is an accompanying "McCain for President" yard sign that the person who displays both those signs is ignoring the overwhelming evidence that McCain has endorsed socialism through his actions, while Obama is innocent of such proof!

So then why the "No Obama. No Socialism" sign?

It is similar to yelling fire in a crowded theater when there is no fire. It is to stir up fear. A fear that Obama will take what you have away from you and your family. And to incite others to also experience that fear, as well. What comes to mind is a fear of finding one's personal debt pyramid crashing down resulting from the invisible socialistic boogieman, namely Barack Obama, being elected president.

If one's personal debt pyramid ends up crashing down on top of one's head, it would not be because of Barack Obama, but because of the economic policies of President Bush, John McCain, and their fellow Republicans, most importantly.

Now Anonymous doesn't see such an analysis of the situation as being possibly viewed as racist. Well then, so be it. But one could be rest assured that others may strongly disagree and see it as being so.

The apology you are requested should not be directed to you, but given to Barack Obama.

Anonymous said...

Gee now were talking communism. It's called potent simplification. It's been used for years by the far right to dumb down it's followers. When the Dems strike back with some potent simplification of their own, look out.
That socialist, communist,terrorist,non-citizen,satan worshipping name calling dog won't hunt anymore. So Jerry, you're looking in the rear view mirror at a traffic accident caused by those republicans over the past 30 years. The future is what we need to care about. Keep on moving forward and don't let that twig stop a great rino as it charges forward.

Anonymous said...

As I read over the post tonight, I wanted to make sure that I did not call out anyone, generally or specifically, in the post as being a racist for having a "No Obama. No Socialism" yard sign. And I must say that nowhere in the post did I call anyone a racist. I asked the question if such a sign was a code word for racism.

As the yard sign says, "No socialism" when referring to Obama. That is calling him out as a socialist. And as he says, was it for sharing his sandwich with a school friend in third grade?

The commenter became extreme offended and irate for "accusing me [him] and my wife [her] as being racists solely because we [they] do not support Obama." Where did I accuse them? Nowhere did I accuse them!!! They were being very defensive over me having asked a rhetorical questions to my readers. These were my thoughts, and I was asking a question to see if others felt the same way; or not.

Did the yard sign say, "No Obama. Is he a socialist?"
NO!! The sign was accusatory, indicting, charging and exploitive. The sign asked no question. It was specific and without question--Obama is a socialist!

Anonymous went on to call me names, such as I am delusional, sad and miserable, little old liberal

(I believe that part was correct! And I am somewhat proud of that description. I ain't no kid anymore.),

acting intellectually superior (Hum--I will have to digest that one. Maybe around 1% of the time, but all the rest of the time I am very open, sharing, and believe that I am just an average person--no better, no worse.)

Anonymous concluded with a statement "...a jump from capitalism to communism...small doses of socialism before they find they have communism."

You know, that was very telling because that is what the Republican party, especially under Bush and McCain have created right here in the United States, but change the word communism to facism. That is what we have today. With Homeland Security spying on Americans, listening to phone calls and reading emails, searching mail all without warrants, infiltrating benign social and political groups, trailing innocent people, torture, rendition, suspension of habeus corpus, a secret court where all the judges are secret, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, the creation of fake news broadcasts using planted partisan propagandists to sell lies as news, Stovepiping false intelligence in order to sell the Iraq war to Americans, Congress, the UN, and the world, bailing out the richest 10% of fraudster bankers who created a recession which could head into a depression, and the list goes on and on.

I believe those who actually thin that Obama is the socialist should look at the last 8 years and learn how John McCain has assisted this president and his Brownshirts in the process that has begun to move the nation away from democracy and into a form of government much more frightening and oppressive.

Here is the poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller and I believe it is true when looking at what has happened to this nation as a result of this current administration :

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Anonymous said...

I believe that John McCain wants everyone to believe that his presidency would be free of significant challenges from watching his slimy styled television ads. Senator McCain wants to depict Senator Obama as a horrible person by stirring up fear from the viewers. Such a parallel can be made by the Repugicon Party for allowing "No Obama. No Socialism" signs to be circulated. I agree that the Bush-McCain-Republican Party has built the biggest socialistic government since LBJ. The Republican Party, including Bush and McCain touted free markets, no regulation, private laissez-faire capitalism, while creating a massive socialistic state. I do agree that the yard signs do ask a broader question, which is--are they a code word word for racism? I do not feel that Jerry called anyone a racist in his article. For Anonymous to think so, and become so defensive, might indicate that he is in denial about his own racist tendencies.

By the way, this is a great site! The opinions written on this blog are spot-on! The video show is really cool, too. The two of you bring up some very important and relevant information that really cannot be found easily.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jerry, Just checked in to see if you made an apology - only to find one of your commenters accusing me of it again - sad that this is where you guys have to go every time. It is inappropriate to insinuate it as my motive for supporting McCain and you and the commenter owe me an apology for it.

I would enjoy an ongoing debate with you but your writing style is so ridiculously long-winded I cannot. You are clearly in love with the sound of your own voice and the rhyme of your own written word. Luckily, based on the lack of comments and readers here, few others agree with you and your opinion of yourself. I am bored tonight so I will take a few minutes to highlight some of the hypocrisy in your posts.

I cannot tell if you think Bush and conservatives are really socialists and you are against this or if your argument is that they too are socialists so we should not worry about Obama's self-professed socialist agenda. How can be so put off by the governmental expansion under Bush and not be more angry about the proposed massive expansion by Obama? I, too, disagree with the growth in the size of the government under Bush and did not favor the bailout. However, I recognize the root cause is the attempts at social engineering in the mortgage market - playing on White Guilt (check out Shelby Steele's great book on the topic) to force banks to make loans they otherwise would not make. Of course there would be a point of reckoning and correction. I love that you think someone would engineer it to explode just before the election - that is the single thing that swung the momentum of the election to Obama. Liberals created the problem.

I also love how you guys do not get it with Joe the plumber. First, you discredit yourself by constantly saying he is not a plumber - just because he does not have a license. That is common - often the license is under the company. He most certainly is a plumber - works in plumbing every day. Second, the point is not that has a realistic chance of actually purchasing the business he aspires to own. The point is that his dream is the American Dream - to own your own business some day and achieve significant wealth. Putting heavy taxes on wealth kills that dream - why would you want to work so hard and risk everything just to have the government take 60-70% (fed + state + SE tax) of your earnings if you are successful. People relate to that. I own my own business and have struggled for years to make it work. Risked everything I have. I don't think it is fair to pay that much of it to people who do not want to work as hard or risk as much. All boats have risen - just chek out what the poverty level buys you now versus 30 years ago. And enough about this being the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression - absolutely not - great campaign blurb for fear mongerers but completely inaccurate. Carter's economy was much worse (interest rates over 20%, unemployment over 12%, real hunger among the impoverished, higher gas prices than now(inflation adjusted)).

The only objective of tax policy should be to maximize tax revenues without stifling growth. Libs use it for class warfare and nothing else. Reagan got that and doubled our tax base by lowering taxes on the people who create wealth for everyone. This has always worked and the opposite has also always been true - raise taxes and watch revenues shrink (excepting the 90's when a boom in technology was able to overcome the increase in tax rates). Libs just refuse to accept this reality but many other countries now get it and have adjusted their tax structures accordingly and are reaping the benefits of it now.

Fascists? Libs are the ones always trying to stifle speech - fairness doctrine being a prime example, but many others are available. How about the Civilian National Security Force Obama proposes? That is a very scary step towards not just socialism but communism - ignore it at your own risk. Talk about the brown-shirts...

Lastly, and then I really have to go, is that this entire mess of energy is caused by the enviro lobby. The rest of the world laughs at how we allow them to prevent us from tapping our own resources. There is no other conclusion that can be reached if it is looked at objectively. We can all agree that a migration to better options is needed but we have to work for the now too.

Good night. You have turned me long-winded in rebuttal and I apologise for that.

P.S. I am sure you noticed someone stole our lovely sign - glad it was such a thorn in the side of libs for a while - the truth cuts the deepest.

muralsigns said...

Anonymous, I am about to give you a long winded answer because I love the sound of my own voice! Anyway, no one has accused you of anything. That is only your defensiveness coming through again. And in regards to your sign being stolen, I do not approve of vandalism of any sort. And that goes for your sign.

I want to commend you for working hard to develop your own business. That is terrific. Only one word of caution, you should have one year's worth of capital to ride out the coming years of recession or worse. If not, then raise it quickly!!!

I believe your facts are wrong in your comments. Over the last 30 years real wage income has been stagnant or has declined for the average American worker. We have seen Reagan's trickle down economic theory fail and fail miserably. It has brought us to this very point in our economic history. It only created an unregulated financial sector given complete permission to rob the Treasury, Americans and other foreign sovereign wealth and private equity funds. This was all sanctioned by the Republicans who have been in power for 30 years, and to include Clinton, as well. You wrote about how other countries of the world have lowered their corporate/business tax structures. That will now end and end forever.

The latest data has shown that Iceland is virtually bankrupt. The Eastern European countries will likely follow suit. The Eurozone is falling into recession:
2Q GDP at -0.2%. German GDP fell by -0.5%. France Q2 GDP fell by -0.3%. 2Q Italian GDP fell by -0.3%. Spain 's GDP growth at +0.1%, yet their central banks might go belly up.

U.S. consumer spending has fallen to a 17 year low, and consumers make up over 70% of GDP. The data shows from 1969 to now wages are stagnant. Over the last 8 years, wage income growth was 0.4%, but under Clinton it was 14.7%. Real wages fell under Bush.

The ratio of federal debt to GDP rose from 57.3% in 2000 to 65.8% in 2008. Foreign indebtedness rose from 13.6% to 17.9% during the same period. Under Carter, real family income was 1.6% higher; under Bush, real family income was up only 0.4%.

Obama's top marginal tax rate will be 39% for those earning $250,000 or more. It was 90% for years 1944-45, and 1950-1963. Note, the years we were at war, the top rate exceeded 90%, yet we are involved in 2 wars, but our top marginal income tax rate is the lowest since the depression. Obama's income tax plan imposes far lower tax rates than were imposed by FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and even the first Reagan term. The top marginal tax rate was 50% or higher between 1932-1986.

The current marginal tax rate is the lowest, yet we have the worst economy since the depression. It has not brought wealth and prosperity. Bush's tax cuts has not brought economic growth, either!

What call prosperity to working Americans was created not by wage income growth, which has been stagnant, but through debt asset creation. That is homeowners taking the wealth out of their homes and spending it like it was additional earned income. It was not! It was debt! Credit card debt has also been used in the same way, therefore idea that people are doing well is an illusion. Corporate debt will soon see its bubble break, too.

Social engineering-white guilt-brought on our mortgage crisis. Are you kidding? Turn off Right wing radio, man! Subprime mortgage debt, encouraged by Bush who forced Freddie and Fannie to create subprime so the big banks could get rich off of prime, amounted to ~$600 billion. The other $3.5 trillion in defaulted or delinquent mortgages are prime!!!!

I am not put off by social programs, but am so by hypocrites who remained quiet under the massive Bush socialism agenda, while calling Obama a socialist when he has NOT created a single social government program. Yet McCain supported these programs under Bush.

Joe is NOT a licensed plumber. A teacher's aide is NOT a teacher. A physician's assistant is NOT a physician. He works UNDER a licensed plumber within a very restricted region in Ohio. He lied and misrepresented himself. He can dream about winning the lottery or owning a plumbing business. he is in NO position to buy that or any business. A DREAM. That is all he's got. That is all it is!

" All boats have risen over 30 years"? I don't think so! You have not read the data. The government unemployment data says 6.1%. But according to the private researchers--over 2 million marginally employed; 12, 395,000 unemployed or underemployed; 400,000 monthly discouraged workers. The true unemployment rate is between 12-14%--worse than Carter!

Liberals stifling speech, drilling off-shore in earthquake-prone oceans, etc is the best you can come up with?

You brought up Reagan, remember, he brought out 2 tax increases during his 1982 term because his debt was exploding. In 1983, he raised the social security tax rate on working Americans, limiting their spendable income. In 1984, he signed in an $18 billion tax increase. In 1985, he raised taxes again. All taxes were felt mostly by working Americans, who do the most spending, and that was the beginning of end. The end as we see it today. It was all trickle down, with tax cuts for the rich, which did not create wealth down the pyramid. All that was created was debt for working Americans as a way to increase their spending and keep up, which boosted the overall economy and production. Debt is not sustainable. And now, working Americans are going down.

The bottom line is that federal revenues have failed to grow as a share of the GDP (economy) as a result of the Bush tax cuts. The Bush tax cuts have actually lowered government revenues as a share of GDP.

Regarding your comment on the blogspot, just because the readers don't write comments, does not mean we are not getting readers. Actually, we get around 120 hits per day! Our readers come from all over the world. Google our site under our posting titles and you will see we are ranked even above some of the most well-known websites and blogs.

So, that is it. I just love to talk!!!

Anonymous said...

Karl Denninger, a very rich and well connected person, and life long Republican cannot vote for McCain. He is voting for Obama. Read why......

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

Reagan
Goldwater
Buckley
Powell

are just 4 life long Republicans saying NO to McCain.

Anonymous said...

Tax revenues exploded after the post-9/11 collapse (remember that Clinton handed Bush a recession and that is reflected until early2002 when Bush's tax cuts kicked in).
http://www.heritage.org/Research/features/budgetchartbook/fed-rev-spend-2008-boc-C1-Federal-Spending-Is-Growing.html

We will never agree on anything so no use pursuing this further.

In a magical world - I could raise capital as quickly as you suggest - Maybe Obama will give it to me. I worked in banking in the mid-90's and the requirement to lend in unsavory areas was obviously going to create a long-term problem and it came true. You are just wrong on your facts - knowingly I suspect.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, you are right. We will never agree on anything. In a magical world, maybe you could ask Hank Paulson, or Ben Bernanke, or Bush to give you the capital you need, since they so willingly handed it out to those who created this economic mess.

You make the claim that tax revenues exploded in a post-9/11. You posted a graph from the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. It showed that spending was massive. We all know why that is. 1/3 of the yearly budgets went to the Pentagon and two wars. The rest went to many programs, such as the bloated Homeland Security Agency and the related contracts.

Revenues grew, too. The graph never explained why. I will tell you why. Americans pulled trillions of dollars from their homes and went on a massive shopping spree sending tax revenues to the federal government. Now look what has happened. The piper has come a calling for the payments due, with interest. But wait, those same Americans used their credit cards, along with compounded interest payments, to begin paying their mortgage payments, and bills. OOPS! Now we see a significant tax revenue decrease, and consumer spending on the decline. The worst in 17 years.

In addition to what I mentioned above, huge tax revenues came in the form of capital gains, such as from hedge funds, stock trades, and from other equity gains. Monies were coming in from all over the world to buy what ended up being toxic derivatives that were worth-less pieces of paper, also contributing to the biggest economic disaster the nation has ever seen since 1931. Your post 9/11 economic boom led to the biggest socialistic intervention the nation has ever experienced. This too was delivered to us by the Republicans, McCain and the Bush administration. You must be proud of it because you seem to be bragging about it.

So Anonymous, this is your bragging rights? The 4 short years beginning with 2002 that increased tax revenues through fraud, and careless over-spending by homeowners using their homes as ATM machines is your idea of a grand way to increase tax revenues, only to see those revenues evaporate in the two years following your 4 year bull market? You call this bragging rights? You want to brag about such cheap, short term and limited growth?

And you actually can claim that I have my facts wrong? You have not once, not once given any facts to support your position, nor presented a single fact to counter my facts. I know my facts are right. I am sorry to say that your claim is pretty lame.

As you said, "We will never agree on anything so no use pursuing this further."