Today was surprisingly sunny in SF so Charles and I went on a long walk today. We started out at Embarcadero then walked our way down to Yerba Buena Garden where we laid out. Afterwards, we went to the Metreon to blow money on some stupid addicting stacking game. While taking the bus back home, I got some super glue on my hair that was written all over the windows. Bastards. We finally got home to cook some dinner then ended our night watching Disney Pixar’s “Up” in 3-D. Great day overall.
A Word To The Wise: FDR Screwed us in Depression I and Obama will do it in Depression II
I’d like to take the words from President Barack Obama himself: one of the problems that caused this crash was that investors were only looking at short term gains and not long term viability.
A lot of people don’t know this, or perhaps don’t care to remember, but FDR’s plan for revamping the American economy after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression that carried into the 1930’s was an upward spiral. His aim was for big businesses to form cartels, true to the predictions of Marx and later Mussolini, by removing competition and regulations from big business so that they could drive up prices by forming monopolies on the market. At the same time, FDR encouraged the growth of unions to keep wages high; therefore, forming his unorthodox ‘upward spiral’ of high wages and high prices. And his planned worked, due largely in thanks to armaments and munition development of WWII, the subsequent role America would assume as a world exporter and manufacturer of weapons and technology, and an inflow of gold or real wealth. However, few people care to look at the ramifications of his upwards spiral to today’s woes and they are plentiful, especially when considering the state of the auto industry today.
The ‘Big Three’ or, the detroit-based, Ford Motor Co, GM, and Chrysler LLC have lived the past decade virtually free of competition from start-ups or rival American companies and have suffered because of it. The shortage of competition has meant a lack of innovation to build more sustainable vehicles and a deaf-ear to new methods of production, such as a switch from the outdated vertical in-house production style of Henry Ford’s assembly line to finding different start-up suppliers that compete to provide the most cost and quality efficient parts. Today these companies are quite simply not viable against their foreign competitors; the ‘Big Three’ are inefficient, spread too thin with dealerships that don’t bring in profits, costly, and have tainted the image of the American auto industry. The result has been widely seen since the recession of late 2007, where now two of these once behemoth companies have declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the last, Ford Motor Co. will soon follow. It is important to note, however, that the problems that plague the auto industry do not rest solely on their chief executives but also on the vicious labor unions that have prevented necessary trimmings in the company to remain viable. In this example, and I can argue a few others but for time’s sake will refrain, one can see that FDR’s ‘upward spiral’ certainly had negative long term effects both psychologically and economically on our the health of our nation.
Similarly, Barack Obama, ironically coined the next FDR by many publications Time magazine among them, has followed in the same reckless manner. In order to ‘save’ the auto industry he has funneled billions of taxpayer money into the Big Three with some very disappointing results. Looking at just GM, the government has given over $40 B to help raise capital and save the company only for it to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, basically flushing those taxpayer dollars down the drain. Additionally, GM has just revealed that in order to make itself into a profitable publicly traded company, once again, it will need another infusion of $30B in return for 60% of its common stocks to the government. This is two negatives, that’s a total of 70B American taxpayer dollars gone to a company cutting expenses i.e. employees and dealerships and giving ownership of the company to the government or nationalizing it. Does this ring a bell, because it should; it’s the same thing that’s happening to the majority of the banks right now after the government stress tests revealed that 11 out of 19 of our national banks will require additional capital to remain solvent. Moreover, for those who may not realize, nationalizing private industries is bad because it undermines free market trade and breeds protectionism and xenophobia. Barack Obama’s idea that a company could somehow be ‘too big to fail’ is absurd and because of his cabinet’s quantitative easing-printing money that we don’t have- the American taxpayer will suffer and we already have.
The TARP bill or Stimulus Package has given a total of $3.5T to the bailing out of the financial and auto industries; almost all of these infusions have been failures. That is money that could have been spent on trickle-up or WPA projects for a much needed infrastructure overhaul-step towards sustainability and a green economy-that is now gone. And for the critics who would say $100B was set aside in the TARP bill for infrastructure building, look into the details because that money was allocated to failing state governments like California not the metropolitan areas that require it and would make the most use of it. Actually, I did the math and if Obama would have distributed the Stimulus Package evenly among all men, women, and children in the U.S. everyone would’ve received $300,000; so think about that when you’re thanking the president for your ‘tax cuts’. As for long term disasters, forget about deflation and its effects: growing unemployment reaching 10%, shrinking costs and the subsequent mitigation of our economic output, which is down 6% while our national deficit grows to 12% of our annual GDP. Lets look to the near future and the heavy if not hyper inflation, the likes of current day Zimbabwe or the past Weimar Republic in Germany, that the treasury and Federal Reserve are going to cause. In final notes, FDR’s policies set the foundation of today’s economic upheaval and if were not careful Barack Obama’s policies may be much worse.
“Actually, I did the math and if Obama would have distributed the Stimulus Package evenly among all men, women, and children in the U.S. everyone would’ve received $300,000”
This makes me a little angry. They should’ve let the financial institutions and auto industry tank so I can get me some $300,000. shieeeetttt.
Daily Confession #21
One of the main reason why I want to be skinnier? So I can wear really tight clothes.
Official Toy Story 3 Teaser Trailer!
Directed by Lee Unkrich. The creators of the beloved “Toy Story” films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in “Toy Story 3.” Lee Unkrich (co-director of “Toy Story 2” and “Finding Nemo”) directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of “Little Miss Sunshine,” brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings. Hits theaters June 18, 2010 in Disney Digital 3-D
Hello Friday/Saturday. Instead of going out with Charles, I decided to stay behind and relax in bed since I’ve been feeling sick, which may explain why I am looking a little shiteous today. Last night, I spent an hour of my life painting zebra stripes on my nails. I’m very proud at how ambidextrous I am. Oh, and please ignore how wrinkly and fat my fingers look. I wanted to make sure I got a nice close up shot of my artistry. They are actually beautiful, smooth, and skinny. serious.
"Drag Me To Hell"
This is by far the scariest movie I have seen in years. Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi has gained my respect! I completely underestimated this film and recommend that you don’t see this alone. It was unpredictable and surprisingly funny (in a non-cheesy way). Don’t be fooled by their shitty trailers. This movie is a MUST-see.
shouldn't it be the other way around?
sophiniefresh: you don't have any schools you have your heart set on?
vincent: uc berk is my no 1
vincent: stanford is my safety
I hate how these pants are “in style.” I don’t care what anyone has to say, these MC Hammer/Parachute pants are fugly. Don’t wear them. They will make you look like you pooped yourself.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Another one from Diplo’s album “Top Ranking.” I can’t help myself, this album gets me jumping all over the place when I put it on. Sorry it’s such a short sample again… just get the album already!
Santogold Feat. Kid Cudi - Find A Way (Graeme & Switch Mix) / Lunar Camel.mp3
The universe seems wondrous to me, with or without God. It has powerful lines and uncompromising ways. Patience and time sit like sages on the planets, strong and impersonal. There is a stark beauty to all of this.
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The Healthcare Riddle
“The only troubling thing about the President’s statements today concerning health care reform was what he did not say: that he wanted any health plan that emerges from Congress to include a public insurance option for Americans who do not want to buy private insurance. But without this option, there will be no pressure on private insurers to adopt all the other reforms to control costs or give all Americans access to affordable care.”
That being said, lets recap:
So first Barack Obama reinstates the Patriot Act, doesn’t close Guantanamo Bay, drops all criminal prosecutions for those involves with renditions, doesn’t pull troops out of Afghanistan or Iraq or Pakistan, and now he’s not so sure about single-payer or universal healthcare. I personally was never in favor of it anyways, but for die hard, tin hat Democrats this should be a wake up call. This man is not honoring any of his campaign promises; in fact, in a matter of a few months he’s managed to spend more money in the middle east and increase our budget deficit more than the Bush administration did in their atrocious eight years in power. He’s also wasted billions of taxpayers dollars on the financial institution and the car industry, that the are dropping like flies. But I guess the three-fourths of our ignorant country that continues to support him can also continue to hope for a third quarter recovery, that isn’t going to come.
