What Obama Could Do To Calm Financial Markets, Right Now


He Could Even Touch Off a Huge Rally

I think we’re all getting a quite vivid sense that President-elect Obama’s way of handling tough situations is to set his jaw, furrow his brow, stare purposefully forward, say reassuring things, but on no account to make any clear statements of intent, or to actually do anything.

At least one of the consequences of this extremely risk-averse approach to leadership, is that financial markets are completely in the dark about what they can expect from the new government.

And when financial markets don’t know what to expect, they always err on the side of excessive caution. Hence the great difficulty they’ve been having in finding a bottom to bounce off from.

The stock and bond markets appear to be discounting an economic future that is little short of catastrophic. Since total catastrophe is one of the least likely outcomes, it stands to reason that markets are currently underpriced.

But that’s not to say they can’t very easily become a lot more underpriced!

Obama could sweep away a lot of this uncertainty and unreasoning fear with no more than a ten-minute news conference.

He could stand up, with the towering Paul Volcker, the sour-pussed Larry Summers and the sardonic-looking Tim Geithner standing behind him, and say the following:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve consulted at length with my economic team. We’re acutely aware that our economy is facing great uncertainty. We understand that our system is a capitalistic one. We intend to do whatever it takes to get business and capital working again, for the sake of every consumer and working person in America.

We also recognize our critical responsibility to the rest of the world. As the pre-eminent economic power, it’s up to us to lead global markets back to health and prosperity.

I’m announcing the following key decisions, which we will stand by until our markets are back to normal, employment is growing, and our economy is healthy again:

All tax increases on capital, dividends, and business income are OFF THE TABLE.

All protectionist legislation, including increased tariffs and import duties, are OFF THE TABLE.

All new regulations, mandated costs and taxes on businesses, including export businesses, are OFF THE TABLE.

That is all. Thank you.”

If Obama were to give this speech, you’d see explosive market rallies, and everyone would heave a big sigh of relief.

So how about it, Mr. President-elect?

-Francis Cianfrocca

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97 Comments Leave a comment

Francis...

Aaron Gardner Monday, December 1st at 4:49PM EST (link)

Why is this now reasonable when it was not reasonable when conservatives offered these types of solutions prior to us becoming the bailout nation?

“Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper” Peter Griffin…Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

“I’ll create 5 million jobs from out of unicorn farts and pixie dust” Justatron paraphrasing Obamessiah…yes I love it that much.

The bailout didn't work.

birdmojo Monday, December 1st at 4:54PM EST (link)

Time for Plan B.

(Hey, maybe the problem with the first bailout was that we didn’t give the government enough power to give away even MORE money!)

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. –Voltaire

Bird...

Aaron Gardner Monday, December 1st at 4:59PM EST (link)

Maybe we should just totally give in and allow the gov’t to just put us all on a permanent allowance and use all the saved money to bailout everybody!! Wait…that’s socialism!!!

;^)

“Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper” Peter Griffin…Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

“I’ll create 5 million jobs from out of unicorn farts and pixie dust” Justatron paraphrasing Obamessiah…yes I love it that much.

Compassionate Conservativism

birdmojo Monday, December 1st at 5:07PM EST (link)

Translates to “we’re increasing your allowance”.

Eight years later, we’re wondering why there are fewer adults around than there used to be.

Perhaps more compassion is called for.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. –Voltaire

Bird...

Aaron Gardner Monday, December 1st at 5:14PM EST (link)

A permanent cycle of digressive childhood….you may be on to something…;^)

“Land of the Free and Home of da Whopper” Peter Griffin…Family Guy

conform and celebrate diversity….or else!!!

Steel-Belted Radial Right Winger

“I’ll create 5 million jobs from out of unicorn farts and pixie dust” Justatron paraphrasing Obamessiah…yes I love it that much.

 
 
 
 
 

Here's my offer......

Kenny Solomon Monday, December 1st at 5:20PM EST (link)

If Mr, Obama says that, plus leaves the 1st and 2nd Amendments alone, I’ll buy him a corned beef sandwich for lunch every day of his administration.

I’m serious.

He can’t possibly pass on that offer.

I’m a corned beef addict too, so I know.

Kenneth L Solomon…………..Typical, Bitter, Jewish, God-Clinging Gun Owner and Barking Mad Insane NASCAR Fan………Please support the Jamie McMurray Foundation For Autism Speaks.

 

When Pigs Fly

Achance Monday, December 1st at 5:25PM EST (link)

What would make anyone think he would do anything other than what his whole history says he would do. He is a leftist radical organizer who studied at the feet of communists and separatists. Tactically, he is a disciple of Saul Alinsky. Sorry, he ain’t gonna become some pro-business center right kinda guy. The First Hundred Days are going to be one Helluva ride.

BTW, he wants the uncertainty and the “crisis.” That way, anything can be justified to “save” us.

In Vino Veritas

 

Government coffers are dwindling; tax increases will be the only option.

phxg Monday, December 1st at 5:31PM EST (link)

Deep pit of despair, The US Economy. The US Economy, Deep pit of despair.

There is no amount of Prozac that will assuage that meeting.

_____________________________

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
–Aristotle

 

being a cynic

jetsfan1970 Monday, December 1st at 5:34PM EST (link)

but i do not believe he wants the markets to level off or go up while george bush is in office. the lower the stock market goes and the unemployment rate rises it will make him look like a hero when everything stabilizes. if it goes up before he takes office the bar is raised and more is expected from him.

 

That explains it...

Jeff Woehrle Monday, December 1st at 5:38PM EST (link)

“…Obama’s way of handling tough situations is to set his jaw, furrow his brow, stare purposefully forward, say reassuring things, but on no account to make any clear statements of intent, or to actually do anything.”

In other words, exactly the same way he won the election.

Zactly. Social justice

redneck_hippie Monday, December 1st at 5:56PM EST (link)

and equality of outcome. What do those have to do with a thriving economy and prosperity for our nation?

The free exchange of ideas inevitably yields both heat and light.

 
 

Do We Want Him To Succeed?

DavidSage Monday, December 1st at 5:59PM EST (link)

I hear a lot of conservatives give advice about what Obama can do to fix the economy, but something I myself question is, “Do we as conservatives want him to succeed?”

I know the “proper” answer for conservatives who are always above the fray is, “Of course we want our new President to do a good job for our beloved country” but we should remember something.

If Obama does institute some common sense “non-leftist” economic policies, and the economy comes roaring back in the next few years, the Republican Party will be on life support for a generation like it was after Herbert Hoover.

Personally, for the long run, I’m almost of a mindset that we should just give the Democrats enough rope to hang themselves with.

The Democrats run EVERYTHING right now. If things are substantially better in the next 2-4 years, our Republican Party is going to be in the wilderness for a long time. Voters will remember how bad it was when the Republicans ran everything for essentially 8 years. If the Democrats are given the reigns, and everything is turned around, our movement is going to be stalled for a long time.

Allow me to be selfish and cynical. The best thing that could happen long-term to our movement and our Party is if Obama and the Democrats screw up really bad by implementing the liberal economic policies they campaigned on. It will hurt in the short term, but it would be a dose of good medicine for the American people.

In the same way it took a Jimmy Carter to give us a Ronald Reagan, if we ever want the American people to give conservatism a shot again, Obama needs to fail.

 

Threadjack

Alberta Monday, December 1st at 6:24PM EST (link)

I was looking for an open thread but this is somewhat talking taxes so im going to jack it.

Oh, yeah, not that I count, but I liked your ideas. I think your 100% right on the money about Obamas pussyfooted leadership and its effects on the market. However, I know youve been market watching. 8000 appears to be at least a temporary bottom. A trading bottom, at the least. Almost like clockwork the Dow gets down to around or a little below 8000, the next day it goes up, the next day it goes down to 8000 again, the next day it goes up…

Although If you think hes not going to kill us with new regulation, brother, I gotta get what your smoking.

Anyways on to the threadjack
How about the GOP take a leadership position and advocate some real change.
1. 0% cap gains (Kudlow called these ‘Necrophelia on the economy’ and Im just in love with that langauge.
2. No payroll taxes. I repeat. No payroll taxes.
3. No consumption taxes.
4. 15% flat tax across the board. End to progressive taxes. I make a dollar, I pay 15%. I make one billion dollars, I pay 15%. The number will be higher (or lower) than 15% because the state will want money too, so whatever the states flat tax plus the federal flat tax would be the #.

Yes, Im aware these measures will take money away from the government. Thats the point. If someone doesnt want to exercise the weight off, you starve them. If our politicians are not capable of restraining government spending, we should starve them.

BTW, if anyone is still reading this, I gotta question. If China devalues its currency wouldnt this strengthen the dollar? Isnt that inflationary? Isnt that what we want if we fear deflation?

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.
Abraham Lincoln

Yeah, well...

Taniwha Monday, December 1st at 6:31PM EST (link)

Let me simply say this about that:

If Obama succeeds, and the economy comes roaring back because he institutes the kind of good, ‘non-leftist’ market based policies that the GOP ought have been instituting themselves, his success will have been fairly bought, and I will do nothing but applaud.

Thing is, a) he won’t, because it wouldn’t create the kind of America he wants, b) in any case, his own people would eat him alive for it, and c) the success of such a plan would itself just prove to a whole new generation that the kind of market based solutions real conservatives have always called for really ARE the way to go.

If he does that, good for all of us. If not, his failure, and how he achieves it, will be there for all to see. And even if he gets the credit for succeeding on those terms, would it really be all that bad for the Democrat party to have come around to our way of seeing it economically?

I say we should only BE so lucky. But I don’t think we will.

————————

“42 months.”

-Rev. 13,5

You stole my response

Next93 Monday, December 1st at 6:31PM EST (link)

I was going to say that if Obama made that statement, the next phrase out of his mouth would be “watch out for that flying pig!”.

_______________________________
Celebrating Xmas: Commercial cheer to men of good credit

I'm not sure it didn't work (nt)

Neil Stevens Monday, December 1st at 6:31PM EST (link)

Nobody can claim a “free speech” right to suck the fun out of our lives. Certainly not on a private board. – Steve Jackson

I love America more than I hate the left (nt)

Neil Stevens Monday, December 1st at 6:32PM EST (link)

Nobody can claim a “free speech” right to suck the fun out of our lives. Certainly not on a private board. – Steve Jackson

Don't you mean...

Next93 Monday, December 1st at 6:34PM EST (link)

Don’t you mean:

“People will remember how bad things where in the last 6 months at the end of 8 years of prosperity when Republicans ran essentially everything”?

_______________________________
Celebrating Xmas: Commercial cheer to men of good credit

Don't you mean...

Next93 Monday, December 1st at 6:37PM EST (link)

Don’t you mean:

“People will remember how bad things where in the last 6 months at the end of 8 years of prosperity when Republicans ran essentially everything”?

_______________________________
Celebrating Xmas: Commercial cheer to men of good credit

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What can Obama do to calm market?

Greg Monday, December 1st at 6:47PM EST (link)

How about taking back his victory speech and refusing to take office on Jan. 20th.

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected.” — Chesterton

"just enough rope"

Ginger Cleary Monday, December 1st at 6:53PM EST (link)

In theory I agree with you… and I have no doubt that his economic “plan” will do just that.

However, there ARE things the Conservatives absolutely MUST not give on. One of those things is “card check”. The other is Holder for AG.

If the Dems want them bad enough let THEM pass those things with NO help from Republicans.

Ginger Cleary - Rome, GA
http://www.rihadin.com
Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. Alexis de Tocqueville

Did anybody see Paulson on t.v.?

Alberta Monday, December 1st at 6:54PM EST (link)

I was very amused because they had Paulson on TV and in a PiP box in the corner they had the Dow numbers.

What was amusing is that the numbers kept going down as Paulson kept speaking.

Im not saying, Im just saying…

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.
Abraham Lincoln

 
 
 

Well blackhedd ...

John Steele Monday, December 1st at 7:00PM EST (link)

… he lied for two years of the campaign, so I suppose he lie some more as you suggest.

The man intends to remake America in the image of his Marxist teachers and friends.

John
———-
Why would God invent something like whiskey? To keep the Irish from ruling the world of course.

I have to live in this country.

Moe Lane Monday, December 1st at 7:11PM EST (link)

So until I can get a Republican in the White House, I’ll settle for breaking a Democrat to our will on economic policy.

“Don’t mourn me, boys. Organize!” - An earlier Joe.

 
 

Asking Him to

redneck_hippie Monday, December 1st at 7:16PM EST (link)

calm the financial markets? Hope. Fundamental Change. I used to think all that was a clever(?) distillation of the liberal mindset. In hindsight, it’s merely His inanity masking His gross ignorance. We shall now get to find out what would happen if Rahm Immanuel were in charge of America. Or something like that.

The free exchange of ideas inevitably yields both heat and light.

 

Seems odd to me

Scope Monday, December 1st at 7:23PM EST (link)

that on the day that Obama has named his choices for Foreign Policy, Gates, Clinton and Jones that the market would close down more than 600 points. I may be wrong in my thinking but, to name gates, who favored the surge, has really PO’d alot of his supporters. In light of the Mumbai terror attacks, he seems still to favor the old Clinton tactic of ignore the situation, and maybe it will go away. Or, maybe he believes that brushing it all under the carpet as B. Clinton did will appease his supporters. Today’s announcement to me caused alot of uncertainty as many must believe that the US is now in a world of hurt, and an open invitation to attack.

Ding! Ding! Ding! You ring the bell.

Kowalski Monday, December 1st at 7:33PM EST (link)

Barack Obama is going to do almost nothing Blackhedd from Redstate asks and in fact my guess is that he enjoys the turmoil in financial markets. In the first place, they’re what landed him the Presidency, and in the second, they are creating the impetus for even bigger government.

He doesn’t want that to stop, and he’s not going to do much to stop it.

The balance of power in the economy has decisively shifted from New York City to Washington and our President Elect wants to keep it that way. My sincere guess is that he will do nothing substantive that Blackhedd recommends simply because it’s not what he was elected to do. He doesn’t want to strengthen Capitalism, he wants to weaken it.

Playing A Losing Hand

DavidSage Monday, December 1st at 7:47PM EST (link)

I would like to believe that if Obama enacted pro-market economic policies, and the the economy bounced back, it would vindicate what we’ve been saying all along. But since when is politics ever fair? We know this is going to be spun.

Republicans=bad for economy, Democrats=good for economy. You’re average swing voter is not going to be able to tell you why this is true, just that it is.

Every intelligent economist knows (if they’re being truthful) that Bush’s conservative economic programs like cutting income and capital gains taxes, in addition to some modest deregulation had absolutely nothing to do with the current financial crisis we’re in. But ask your average voter, and they’ll tell you Bush’s economic policies are completely to blame for our current situation. It’s the same as it was during the Great Depression.

Free-market capitalism wasn’t to blame for the Great Depression, but that’s not how voters felt. Everyone seemed to forget how prosperous the 1920’s were, just like they’ve forgotten that the last 8 years were actually pretty good economically.

Once things got better under the Democrats, voters concluded that Democrats were better stewards of the economy and voters were then receptive to liberal, big government solutions.

That’s why we still have a large amount of elderly voters that are still die-hard Democrats, simply because they remember what life was like when Herbert Hoover was President, and that things got better when FDR became President. That was 70 years ago.

I would rather have a few rough years economically now (like the late 1970’s under Jimmy Carter) with Reagan-type conservatism making a comeback, than 30 years of socialist Democrats completely running this country, like they were after Herbert Hoover. I happen to think that if the Democrats become a permanent majority in America, we’re screwed.

So yes, I want Obama to fail, even if it hurts our country economically in the short term. I absolutely wouldn’t want a military catastrophe on his watch just for the benefit our party, but I feel a few years of economic stagnation is a worthwhile trade.

I’m glad Jimmy Carter was an absolute failure. Think what would have happened had he been successful after Nixon as post-Watergate President, and the economy was doing well? Can you honestly say that you would have preferred Carter to have a good economic cycle under his belt for the good of the nation, as opposed to having a Ronald Reagan come in and actually make this country great again? The conservative movement started by Barry Goldwater would have died off completely.

If the economy does well under Obama, go ahead and count on a 40 state landslide for him in 2012, similar to what Reagan had in 1984. You can also expect a 60 plus seat, filibuster-proof Senate majority, along with a 40-50 seat Democrat majority in the House. Democrats will also dominate Governorships and State Legislatures.

I guess I’m just not as patriotic as some here, I don’t think it would be good for America for Obama to succeed. Sometimes failure for this country can be a good thing.

 
 
 

No Obama, don't make that speech

Scope Monday, December 1st at 7:47PM EST (link)

I want nothing more than for this man to fail. I live very simply, I don’t need alot. I can survive very well on my own frugal practices. I want him to do everything wrong from not holding to his promises of giving money to the poor at the expense of the rich, to implementing his “America will be the leader on Global Warming, to his promise of bankrupting the coal industry. I don’t believe that his 20,000 member Obama Army will be effective against the millions that will surely rebel against his administration, hopefully sooner rather than later. The dumb will wake up soon enough.

Is there anything, at all, that would?

birdmojo Monday, December 1st at 8:35PM EST (link)

Convince you, I mean.

Is there any measurable thing out there that you would accept as a reason to say “okay it didn’t work” as opposed to “but you don’t know that we wouldn’t be living in a Mad Max world if we didn’t pass the bailout!”?

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. –Voltaire

Yep, I told those Obama supporters what would happen

izoneguy Monday, December 1st at 8:37PM EST (link)

I hate it when I am right on the bad stuff.
Anyone with any economic knowledge (small business owner)
could see Obama’s beliefs were not based on capitalistic theory. He has been raised as a communist. He believes in the nanny state. He believes that profit is evil and that the “wealth must be spread around”. Pretty soon there will not be any wealth to spread around. Taxes will only kill the golden goose.
All the business people I know are pulling back and have been since September. Once the leftys supporters get a hard dose of reality then hopefully (there is the hope Obama promised)
the economic ship can stop leaking and we can start sailing again. The first thing America needs to do is to drill for oil to make money. When you have something you can produce and sell you do that first.

“Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.”
Ronald Reagan

There's no way to be sure either way

Neil Stevens Monday, December 1st at 8:41PM EST (link)

The bailout’s job was to prevent 1929. We didn’t have a 1929. The hard part is that 1929 wasn’t certain without the Paulson plan.

So we can’t prove it worked and we can’t prove it didn’t.

Nobody can claim a “free speech” right to suck the fun out of our lives. Certainly not on a private board. – Steve Jackson

 
 
 
 

Cap Gains and Windfall Profits

Vladimir Monday, December 1st at 8:41PM EST (link)

Both have become moot since Sept 1.

There are no longer capital gains or windfall profits to tax.

He could do exactly as you say, become a big tax-cutter, at a cost to the treasury of exactly $0.00.

“Everyone in this room is wearing a uniform, and don’t kid yourself.” - Frank Zappa

Well, look at it this way, DavidSage:

Moe Lane Monday, December 1st at 8:44PM EST (link)

A knock-down, drag-out war between the executive and legislative branches in 2009 would be very, very helpful for us. And I’m pretty sure that McConnell’s ready to play Let’s You And Him Fight in the Senate.

“Don’t mourn me, boys. Organize!” - An earlier Joe.

"proof"

birdmojo Monday, December 1st at 8:51PM EST (link)

Without getting all epistemological and discussing the theory of knowledge and the limits of our sight, could we discuss whether there is reason to believe that taking tax dollars from productive people/companies (as well as printing money at a rate that could well devalue the money held by everyone) to companies proven to have poor judgment rather could, in theory, be a worse choice than letting them be sold for pennies on the dollar to new, fresh companies that have not yet demonstrated terminal levels of misjudgment (as well as discussion of the unintended consequences including moral hazard, adverse selection, and all sorts of economic terms)?

Or is there no way to know, either way since I can’t prove that I wouldn’t be fighting with hoboes over the leftovers that might be found in the dumpster behind the recently-closed McDonald’s in the hopes of finding something that might give me and my family nutrients for another day in the alternate universe where the bailout that Congress voted through didn’t pass?

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. –Voltaire

Here's the deal

Jack_Savage Monday, December 1st at 8:57PM EST (link)

America rejected Republicans because they were acting like Democrats. Why have a cheap imitation when you can elect the real thing?

If Obama succeeds, it will be because he governs like a conservative. Voters will then reject Democrats because they were acting like Republicans (the rejection will be by Democrats, in great measure). Who needs a cheap imitation when you can elect the real thing?

I expect four years of excuses and low expectations, with a stagnant economy and a standard line being “well, when we looked at what we inherited..”. I also expect an international incident in the next 18 months that will be Obama’s Katrina.

“Compassionate Conservatism” is neither.

How about the fact that the "core" of the Paulson plan was never enacted and was essentially renounced by Paulson

JSobieski Monday, December 1st at 9:03PM EST (link)

Two months ago buying up the paper was essential.

Now, buying preferred stock is clearly the way to go.

Can we not state that the buying of bad paper was in fact not necessary to prevent 1929?

Bad paper was not purchased.
No 1929.


Birdmojo, the problem was that the bailout did not focus more narrowly on the children

JSobieski Monday, December 1st at 9:03PM EST (link)

Doesn't matter. The point was psychology. (nt)

Neil Stevens Monday, December 1st at 9:05PM EST (link)

Nobody can claim a “free speech” right to suck the fun out of our lives. Certainly not on a private board. – Steve Jackson

Amen! If Obama can keep Reid/Polosi from sinking the country, he is more capable than we give him credit for

JSobieski Monday, December 1st at 9:07PM EST (link)

Rahm Emanuel said just as much

scottbomb Monday, December 1st at 9:17PM EST (link)

As Obama’s own Chief of Staff recently quipped,

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

  1. Why would Obama say something NOW that would cause a rally under President Bush’s watch? (He’s still president, ya know.) Obama wants to come into Washington blaming Bush for the recession. No recession, no savior.

  2. Not raising taxes would go against his campaign promises. He promised to raise taxes, not lower them. To flip on that promise now just gives us more ammo. to use against him in 2012. Sure, we could point out how he let the economy burn, but he can just blame it on Bush and the 60 million lemmings who voted for him this year will buy it.

  3. Obama is either a Roosevelt or a Lenin wannabe. He needs a crisis and the worse, the better. He needs a desperate America. Nothing would help his political aspriations more than to have us sink into another depression. Just ask Rahm!

Mark my words, we’re screwed.

http://www.scottbomb.com

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. — John Adams

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It's Scary How Correctly Some Conservatives Predicted This Situation

Nelsen Monday, December 1st at 9:53PM EST (link)

Got to laugh.

unseennc Monday, December 1st at 9:58PM EST (link)

Market underpriced? All the talking heads are saying the same thing. Bottom is in sight. Market is underpriced. And then the market makes a new low.

Newsflash. The nasdaq lost 80% in 2001. The period between 1929 and 1932 saw a loss of 90% for the DOW.

I remember in 2001, 2002 the same talking heads saying the market was underpriced and would recover. They kept saying it all the way down. I’m sure they were saying the same thing in 1929. 1930, 1931 and 1932 as the DOW lost 90%.

Until I start to hear the talking heads scream to get out of the market. That there is no reason to invest, that we will not see a bottom for 2 to 4 years from now then and only then will I invest.

We will test the 7,200 level again by Jan 21st. I believe we will bust thru it.

I see DOw 1500 by 2012. There is no way the gov can spend its way out of this problem.

Socialism and capitalism do not mix.

 

I'd eat my hat

JakePrime Monday, December 1st at 9:58PM EST (link)

We can only hope that he’ll change his tune

I hope the people who were laughing at this guy in 2006 pay up on their bets.

Mord Monday, December 1st at 10:35PM EST (link)

He predicted everything that we are seeing today. Subprime collapse, credit freeze, the works, and everyone literally laughed and mocked him. I remember watching this guy and thinking he was a gloom-and-doomer, no way could our entire economy collapse the way he was predicting. Boy was I wrong. If I could afford to buy another hat, I would eat the one I currently own.

I hope he wasn’t entirely correct in his predictions or we may not have seen the bottom yet.

————————————–

“Republicans never win polls, they win elections,” - Rudy Giuliani

————————————–

 
 

Shorter, Markets Calming Speech:

Tbone Monday, December 1st at 10:46PM EST (link)

“I have just had all the Congressional Democrats shot.”

Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.

I think that's grossly unfair.

mbecker908 Monday, December 1st at 11:02PM EST (link)

If he’s going to shoot Congressional Democrats, in the spirit of bipartisanship I think he should shoot Congressional Republicans as well.

Think of it as term limits.

Redstate Strikeforce CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.

To an Extent Yes

buckeye Monday, December 1st at 11:03PM EST (link)

But even more so our burden is we don’t get to triangulate because it comes down to policy and the results policy creates. Freedom works and government doesn’t. So when Bill Clinton cuts capital gains taxes, accepts a balanced budget and signs welfare reform the policies lead to prosperity and he’s rewarded with votes. At the aggregate, he isn’t rejected for behaving like a Republican. But when we go with the same “have it both ways” strategy from the other direction we end up damaging the economy and society because that’s what left of center actions produce. Voters then reject us on results and for being frauds.

Delivering results will get people to forget you’re a fraud, but delivering poor results only compounds the disgust of being a fraud. The Dems have a built in advantage because stealing our policies produces positive results and allows them to work both sides of the street. When we do the same from the other direction, we do damage and people pay attention to our being frauds.

Perhaps Obama knows this too.

“Honor is self-esteem made visible in action.” - Ayn Rand, West Point, 1974

I'm Not Too Sur