Comments on: LATTE ECONOMICS

By: acne scar treatment before and after

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By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:24:34 +0000

I was barely skating by last year with my paycheck. I had just enough to pay all the needs that needed to be paid. I thought that with my raise at the beginning of this year, I'd have more money to save and actually help avert unexpected money issues as they arose.

Not so. I still find that I'm still barely skating by as utilities go up, etc. Ugh, it's so frustrating.

By: ladiesbane

ladiesbane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:09:47 +0000

@jazzbumpa: I agree wholeheartedly. My "eat the rich" days were about 25 years ago, when millionaires were a big wow, and not just workers who had a stock split and bought more Oracle. I now miss the French Revolution, and believe that if it weren't for television, there would be a guillotine in the square and guards outside the boardrooms. (Stay tuned for CSI: Opiate of the Masses.)

Wars, their true costs and false booms, KBR, the constant drain of the defense budget even in peace — it's staggering. Yes, living on lentils instead of rice will save you two cents, but it's the Hummer payments that are killing us. Penny wise, pound foolish.

By: jazzbumpa

jazzbumpa — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:28:52 +0000

Let's revisit eating the rich. From Ed's link to his 10/15/08 post:

FY 2008 Bush tax cuts to top 1% of income earners alone: $79.5 billion,

Eight years of that = > $60 Billion in round numbers.

The last 30 years have demonstrated a massive redistribution of wealth from the least well off to the most. The richest 400 families have been further enriched by over 1.5 billion each, during the Bush years. That's just about enough to pay for the original stimulus package. Poverty level citizens have seen their quality of life deteriorate at about 2%/Yr since at least the 80s.

Yes, our wars are the big ticket items – Over the entire span of U.S history wars (including Reagan's phony star wars fantasy) have been the only significant contributors to the national debt. Wingers always talk about social programs breaking the bank. It has always been an absolute fucking lie.

Cheers!
JzB

By: Desargues

Desargues — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:10:10 +0000

Also: note how Doug confirms that invoking the name of Ronnius Maximus has become an acceptable substitute for sound arithmetic. They've reached the stage where theological correctness takes precedence over the basics of financial management. The conversion into a cult is now complete. Glenn Beck is their Jim Jones.

By: Desargues

Desargues — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:58:55 +0000

'Cutting pork' was also John McCain's universal answer to all economic woes last year, during the campaign. (Also: going back to typewriters; and bringing back the Model T to get Detroit out of its doldrums.) Eliminating 18 billions in earmarked spending was supposed to fix a deficit in the trillions. Of course, the liberal media never called him on his retarded bullshit. Nobody wants to lose their invitation to the barbecue parties at the ranch. Mmm, ribs!

By: St. Louis Wedding Photographer

St. Louis Wedding Photographer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:38:33 +0000

Ed, are you married? B/C I have started waking up to your blog every morning, and I never fail to laugh out loud. They say a man who can make you laugh is all you need ; p Keep up the fantastic commentary!

By: Barbed Wire

Barbed Wire — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:16:47 +0000

…half in reply to last Friday's post: THIS is why I read ya – first thang every day. My little corner of wild west TX has great sunsets… but it's full of teabaggers, and if not for a ray of sanity coming from you each morning I'd have to wonder if the sun was gonna come up again on these mushrooms.

To hear them tell it, micro is macro, and vice versa.

A mind is a terrible thang….

By: ladiesbane

ladiesbane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:06:42 +0000

The magic phrase “cut the pork” is to the Cons what “eat the rich” used to be to the Libs. If we slaughter one bank exec, we get to take away his Rolls and somehow redistribute his wealth so that every poor person in the world gets a bright, shiny penny. Hear that, kids? A penny!

But part of the reason why this works on people is not just that they are as innumerate as they are illiterate: it’s because the only understanding we have of astronomically huge things is that they’re bigger versions of what we see around us every day. That’s how Superman can pick up a house without worrying about distribution of mass, that’s how God looks like my almighty Dad, that’s how the sun is like the fire in the grate (and please don’t mention the nuclear reaction; it just makes me confused and uncomfortable.)

Credit card over-use and retail therapy have been around for decades, so you’d think we’d be very familiar with the difference between debt and deficit. Maybe we’ll learn now. But a lot won’t, because it’s easier to rally to the Cons’ battle cry than it is to do math.