Bail out : the truth!

[jp5]

They are all crooks, republicans and democrats alike.

I'm voting for Carmen Miranda.

[GGSkater]

[quote="theq"]

[pzwinakis]

Does anyone know how to turn off these posts so they don't display on the bottom of my website? A preference somewhere maybe? It's just that the VERY LAST THING I want to be looking at is a financial meltdown topic on the only website I pay for, that is dedicated to fun and physical recreation... Not that I want to hear how "rad" someones ill-fated first chop-hop was either...

[swchandler]

No worries pz, you only need to read the stuff you like. Pretty simple really. Of course, reality is out there and it's often tempting to take a peek.

Given the hits and responses being tallied, seemingly the political and financial debates are quite popular overall. I have to admit, I find it refreshing that so many folks that enjoy windsurfing like I do also have a keen awareness and concern about many of the important issues of the day. With only a few exceptions, I'm very impressed by the quality and focus of thought being voiced here.

[pzwinakis]

The question was.. how do you turn off the forum posts showing up on all the screens? The fact that I am forced to look at the mindless drivel from people who, lacking friends, find a captive audience to aim their innermost feelings at so they can finally be heard... I could care less if they have something wonderfully insightful to say about anything! I don't even want to see the post's title. If I don't meet any of you online or in person for the rest of my life, I'll be happier for it. I have enough friends and am not looking for any more. If I want insightful commentary, I'll search it out myself on the web.

[windoggi]

[jp5]

[mac]

Read George Will's column of today; he gets it almost entirely right (no, I do not intend a pun.) The one thing I object to is conservatives piling on about home ownership. (Says Will, "Suppose there had never been implicit government backing of Fannie Mae and Freddies Mac.... would there have developed the excessive diversion of capital into the housing stock?") It is a fact that home ownership is a very important way to create wealth and shield it from taxation. It is also a very significant reason that black family incomes are well below that of white families. There is a direct tax subsidy in sheltering interest payments for houses, including multiple house ownership, from taxation. If we limit home ownership to the wealthy, then that policy is regressive, protects established wealth regardless of the merits of the current generation, and is patently unfair. There might be better ways to make the tax code more equitable--such as only allowing interest deductions for one's primary residence. That might also reduce speculation and make housing a tad cheaper. But it is the despicable part of the Republican creed to attack any measure that tries to balance subsidies across different income levels. The rising tide does not lift all boats equally.

[isobars]

Fidelity's bailout assessment, FWIW, is at http://tinyurl.com/5xmo7v.

Its bottom line is:
Perhaps the most important consideration at this point is not whether this is a perfect plan but whether it is a necessary one. Its most powerful potential is to stem the insidious psychological momentum behind the vicious cycle of falling asset prices and deteriorating confidence that have accelerated in the credit markets in recent weeks. From this standpoint of market psychology, the strong attributes of the plan's simple objectives (massive amounts of new money to remove troubled assets) are likely to outweigh the complex uncertainties that lie ahead with its implementation. Whether it will be sufficient in aiding the housing market and stemming the financial crisis will be determined in the months to come. It is not likely to be a near-term panacea for the U.S. economy, which has demonstrated recent signs of deteriorating significantly. However, previous crises have demonstrated that when the financial system no longer functions properly, the quicker public money is injected into the system to replace bad assets, the less painful the impact will be on the broader economy, and the faster a recovery can become possible.

[boggsman1]

Buffet to the rescue again, puting 5B into GE. I love it when liberals save the day .
Boggsman