Economy

How to Steal $700 Billion in 3 Steps?

If you want to be rich, take notes ... like any bank robbery, you must plan it and most importantly execute it with little mistakes.

First, you want to be a bank, preferably in the United States. Second, you want to start giving away all your money so that the Government has to step in to give you some more money because you messed up pretty bad the first time around. Finally, take the money and when anyone comes around snooping around asking questions about what you did with the money ... plead the fifth.

Pretty simple, right?

The Associated Press reports:  Read More »


Republicans Block Auto Industry Bailout

Even thought the Auto Industry Bailout passed in the House, it was nothing but a circus where the big boys hang out. Republican Senators displayed a dog and pony show to front their opposition to the bill.

They employed this tactic for the mere purpose so they could claim that they were against the bill. They will pass a revised version of this bill because if all hell breaks loose they do not want to be on the short end of the stick.

The Associated Press claims, “Republicans left a closed-door meeting where they balked at giving the automakers federal aid unless their powerful union agreed to slash wages next year to bring them into line with those of Japanese carmakers.”  Read More »


The 10 Worst Predictions of 2008

Foreign Policy has taken ten quotes from commentators, pundits and leaders around the world that were just plainly off and quite possibly the worst predictions of 2008. Good thing these guys are not quitting their day job to become fortunetellers. Here is my favorite four of the ten.  Read More »


$1 a Gallon Gasoline in My Lifetime?

If you told me 4 months ago that gasoline could drop as low as $1, I would called you crazy. I would have even gambled on it reaching $5 before it ever went back to $1. Well, it seems with the steady drop of crude oil, gasoline may once again reach pre-Bush levels of $1.

In fact, it is speculated that gasoline may go for 90 cents by January. In a time where everyone else should be ecstatic about the drop, that is not the case. Economic times are so hard that people cannot afford to do anything with their $1 a gallon gasoline.  Read More »


Rick the Idiot

When I heard that Barack Obama was meeting with the Governors of the United States, I was ecstatic. Finally, we were getting the ball rolling about stimulating the economy. Obama was meeting with the Governors to discuss about federal aid aimed at the state level.

My only problem was that two Governors did not participate in the meeting. And no, it was not Sarah Palin … she actually showed up. To my disgrace, one of the Governors that did not show up was no other then Rick Perry of my home state of Texas. Editor's Note: It cannot be confirmed that Rick Perry did or did not attend the event thus we shall assume that he did attend.
 Read More »


It’s a Recession … Stupid!

Not that the American people needed any more proof that the current economy is in a recession, the National Bureau of Economic Research has concluded that the United States has been in a recession since December 2007.

That is 12 months of turmoil that the economy has suffered under W. Post World War II recessions typically last around 8 months but there was two times that it went as long as 16 months.

This current recession is the third longest and with no end in sight it may well challenge the 16-month mark. On the brightside if this recession is to be over anytime soon, it will happen over the next 4 months.  Read More »


The Bush Snub?

When I first saw this video, I agreed with Rick Sanchez about the implication the video seemed to portray. President Bush did not look comfortable nor welcomed in that clip. Interesting enough, Jeanne Moos of CNN sheds light into what may have happened.

As they dug into the story, the White House responded to the assertions that Bush had already greeted those individuals. That sort of clears it up.

But, why did he just not shake their hands again. In that given situation where everyone else is doing it, he should have acknowledged the other individual as a courtesy even if they had done so earlier in the day.  Read More »


Blame the Unions!

Conservatives are creative when it comes to spinning issues; I have to give them credit for that. In light of the newest crisis to hit America, the Auto Industry is on the brink of collapse and the right wing pundits have released the newest memo with the culprit for this mess.

It turns out that the reason why GM, Chrysler and Ford are in this crisis is because of the United Auto Workers Union. What did these folks do that sparked this mess?

They fought to maintain wages and benefits for the workers that mass-produce the vehicles that the Big 3 sells.

This latest excuse for why the Big 3 are in a dire situation is laughable at best.

I mean come on … really the reason why the Big 3 are in a bad situation is because of the workers?  Read More »


Putting Houston on the Right Track

Tory Gattis, a Social Systems Architect from Houston, has some great recommendations for infrastructure projects that the City of Houston should undertake in the near future. I normally entertain these same ideas and I was pleasantly surprised to find some of my ideas in the mix.

One savvy strategy that FDR implemented during the Great Depression was to spend money on building infrastructures in the American communities because those investments would pay off for years to come.

When over 25% of the population of the Unite States was unemployed, instead of having them sit around waiting for big business to rebound, FDR put people to work and built the schools, libraries, roads and public venues many cities still use to this day.  Read More »


Bush Economics Dead Weight