The Command T.O.C.

What If The Soldiers Come Home to.. A Dead Economy?

First, I apologize for not writing for a while. I took a much needed vacation and when I came back, as usual, there was a lot of "catching up" to do. I am back however and have a lot of thoughts I want to share. The biggest one is on the economy.

Many years ago, back when this blog was actually hosted at a completely different site, I wrote a piece called "What if the Soldiers Came Home and There was No Country?". The basic theme of this was while the soldiers were fighting for "freedom" (I cannot remember which excuse it was back then.. started with WMD, then went to Get Saddam and then to freedom for Iraqis .. let's just call it freedom) our Country's economy was in a shambles. Our debt was out of control (both trade deficit and public debt), the personal debt was out of control, companies were moving production overseas at a rapid pace and the leeches on Wall Street were extracting more and more of the wealth from the people who were really doing the work. My fear at that moment was the soldiers would eventually come home and find the Country they were defending was in tatters as the swarm of grasshoppers who consumed the land had moved on to other pastures.

This was, of course, a prediction and like any prediction it was tough to prove. The warning signs were all there but you could not prove it. The expected right wing lunies came on the site to say "No, everything is fine.. don't worry...". In fact, I remember one statistic they used to tout was to "look at home ownership" and how rich people are with their homes.

Well, I think the announcement by GE yesterday was kind of the solidifying force which told the Country that yes, we are in a recession and yes, things are really really bad. Yes, the soldier is coming home to a Country in tatters. Of course, the White House is quick to bail out Wall Street with a "Bear Stearns" bail out but thinks the "market" should handle the fact that many are losing their homes. A very predictable response from this administration.

At the end of the day, the Bush administration will be the one known as the administration which brought the United States on the brink of collapse. We are caught up in wars we have no business in, our economy is beyond a recession (can anyone spell depression), our military is busted and we are far less safe and far less comfortable than we were just a few short years ago.

This is the legacy of the Bush administration. It would not be so amazing if it were not so predictable. Many on the left predicted this and because it took a while to develop the right wingers continued to say we were "nay sayers". Well, here we are.

Osama Bin Laden could not have dreamed of a better outcome than what he has been handed by the Bush Administration. He must be celebrating wildly that he suckered Bush into this disaster.

UPDATE: Here is what the G-7 Has to say about the World Economy and the slide in the dollar.

Investment Firms Tap Fed for Billions: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Link: Investment Firms Tap Fed for Billions: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance.

I guess the "rich and famous" who do not like Government intervention like it a lot when it favors them. These are the same crooks who, I can assure you, would all sit in a room, smoke fat cigars, and talk about how horrible the Government is.

They would talk about how people need to "fend for themselves", "work their way up", "take care of themselves". But, as soon as the Government tit opens for business for them they are suckling away like a piglet who has not eaten since it was born.

Waiting for Fed

Waiting for the fed to determine interest rates.

Bush on economy: We're 'on top of the situation'

Link: Green Bay Press-Gazette - Bush on economy: We're 'on top of the situation'.

Does this comfort anyone? I mean he was "on top of" the Iraq invasion wasn't he? He was "on top of" Katrina right?  Having him "on top of" anything except maybe Laura Bush worries me.

I heard something today... "Oh how I long for the days when our President was "on top of" an intern versus the economy." Both are messy but the first cost a lot less!

More on Bear Stearns: Survived Depression, Could Not Survive Bush

Link: More on Bear Stearns.

Another article on the BS melt down. Friday at the close, the stock sold for $30 per share. Investors will wake up on Monday seeing it is now $2.00 per share. Well, I hope they got a good night's sleep anyway.

The firm survived the Great Depression but could not survive the idiotic policies of the Bush Administration.

Asia Markets Down, Futures Lower, Dollar Plunges (11:34pm EST)

Link: Bloomberg.com: Worldwide.

Hard to go to bed when the markets are plummeting like this.

J.P. Morgan Rescues Bear Stearns - WSJ.com

Link: J.P. Morgan Rescues Bear Stearns - WSJ.com.

And now for act II. JP Morgan buys Bear Stearns for $2.00 per share!! Total value of the Bear Stearns (BS for Short)? $236 Million. And here is the troubling part. The employees own almost 1/3 of the company in stock. Can you say "Enron" and "Employees lose their entire pension"?

Bush, for his final act, will have the entire Country implode on itself.

Fed Takes New Steps to Ease Crisis: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Link: Fed Takes New Steps to Ease Crisis: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance.

This is incredible. They must know that the economy is collapsing faster than even they predicted. They meet on Tuesday don't they? The are trying to stop a Monday meltdown.

Not a Good Omen for The Market - Tokyo Stocks Dive

At the opening, Tokyo stocks dive and the yen rises in Asian Monday Market trading. Not a good omen for wall street for Monday.

Buyers stretch car loans - The Next Subprime Disaster Coming to A Neighborhood Near You!

Here is where we can prevent the next "subprime" meltdown if we want. The Detroit News is commenting that the new trend in car loans is to extend them.

Taking out a loan, any loan, on a depreciating asset is crazy. However, taking out a loan for 6 and 7 years on an automobile has to be the stupidest financial decision a person can make.

It will increase dramatically the amount of people who are "upside down" on their car loans. My prediction is that just like houses today, in the future, people will be walking into dealers and throwing car keys on the desk saying "here, take it, I can't pay the loan anymore".

We should be telling people that if you have to take out a 84 month or 72 month loan on a car YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE CAR!!! Period!! You should buy a lower priced car!

Starting about 15 years ago I made a vow that I would only buy a car I could pay cash for. This means I drive a very modest, small, no frills car. That is what people should be told to do.

Internet stocks, then houses and now cars.. we will never learn.