Socialism cannot compete!

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    • Tue Oct 14th 11:52 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Main Problem with the Office of Financial Stability Is Needing It in the First Place
      "There are no liberals vs. conservatives, only owners of capital and those without it."

      B.S.!! There are liberals with capital and without it; likewise for the conservatives. The difference is that liberals without capital believe that the rich owe them something; conservatives without capital get off their butts and go work to get it.

      You might want to think extra hard about this heading into the election. Obama claims he will tax only the top 5%. Many economists doubt he can keep this promise, given the conflict with all the spending he proposes. More importantly, though, there is a philosophical problem -- the same that has always been with socialist redistribution of wealth: it is not only unjust, but you remove incentive to excel. That was the downfall of the Soviet Union. And it will be the downfall of the U.S. as well.

      We see the welfare queens in our town driving Caddies while the county assists (i.e. pays the bulk of) their housing! They have no incentive to up the ante and change their lives...they love the system as is. Obama will not only perpetuate that, but enhance it for them. Look at his promised tax credit -- the bottom 30%, who don't even pay any Federal income tax, will receive the $3000+ check! That's not a tax *rebate*...it's a frickin' vote buy!! Oughta be illegal!

      Meanwhile, you have those who are entrepreneurs, and they will get *KILLED* by the Obama plan -- 80% of jobs in the U.S. are created by small business (which is defined as 500 or fewer employees). Many of those businesses are over Obama's 250K limit!! Their taxes are going to go up. So much for job creation! But...keep in mind, it is NOT ABOUT JOB CREATION for him -- it's about payouts, even without jobs, to HIS UNDERCLASS, in return for voting him into power. His plan would also remove the ceiling on the Social Security taxes -- another hindrance to job creation. Just the type of change we DON'T need!!
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    • Tue Oct 14th 11:39 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      First Thoughts on the Fed Plan
      "Direct investment by the Treasury is smart." No!!! It is NOT smart!! As Eric Macke said last night on CNBC's "Fast Money"..."We... become a socialist nation, and I don't know how to price that."

      Terrible moves by our government -- the direct buys into banks, and the bailout in general!! We're sitting here printing money now, to help banks deleverage and ramp up for more lending...when too much lending was the core problem to begin with!

      What we really need is a much smaller finance industry -- we never should have been living on credit to begin with. Why have we gotten used to it? Why do we assume that we *need* a mortgage in order to purchase a home at all? Because the Feds take 30-40% of your gross if you're a middle-class American. Let's do something about THAT. And let the American worker deleverage, so that we can buy on money we have, not on borrowed money. That's the *only* solution that will set the foundation for long-term prosperity!! In contrast, all I'm hearing has to do with greasing the wheels for more credit, more socialism, increased welfare and food stamps. Cut the damn taxes -- drastically -- end the entitlement era (yeah, I know, that means end of government control of our lives, too)...and give us OUR money back!! Then we can spend without credit bubbles, and there will be economic growth.
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    • Tue Oct 14th 11:31 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Market Outlook: Value Investors Rule
      "Hopefully, Congress can agree on a bailout bill before the momentum changes. If not, another major sell-off could occur."

      Actually, we just saw what happened following passage of the bill -- a hellish week on the Street. Socialism and ramped-up government spending are *not* the answer -- we're going to enter a period of stagflation as a result. Should have let the rotten fall!
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    • Mon Oct 13th 18:24 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Are More Big Falls Ahead?
      Depends...I think we'll see earnings determine the direction from here. We expect them to be lower due to what is going on. But if they are just somewhat lower, and not catastrophically lower...we continue going up, because we're sooo cheap still.
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    • Mon Oct 13th 18:22 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Main Problem with the Office of Financial Stability Is Needing It in the First Place
      THANK YOU!! I've been saying this for the last few weeks, as the bailout was debated, passed, and then as we've watched the market dive-bomb last week...this notion of needing to grease the wheels for credit is *completely* backwards!! Too much credit is what got us here...it's time to deleverage, and that has to start at the grassroots...those who are trying to pay their mortgages and account for 2/3 of GDP!! Middle-America has been attempting to do so with the overhead of 30-40% federal taxes...and now, the misguided bailout will cause an increase in that, as well as *inflation*!!

      Not the answer. Deleverage by *massive* spending cuts, accompanied by *massive* tax cuts. They claim this is not the answer...but that's because lending is how banks make money -- and the goal here is not to make banks money, but to get Americans out of debt so they can begin spending money that is free-and-clear...truly discretionary...rather than spending borrowed money!! Then and only then, have we bottomed!!

      The root of the problem is that we ever got into credit-based living to begin with: the banking industry is much bigger than it ever should have been, because we should not have ever *needed* to be borrowing...at least anywhere near the extent that we do. Why do we just take for granted that in order to own a home, we will need a mortgage?? My grandparents were poor: lower-middle class at best, but they worked and saved and bought their (very small) house outright. It is hardly possible to do so any longer. I blame the humongous growth of taxation and the bloated, corpulent behemoth that we call the federal government. And now they want to do us one better, and have the wise among us who didn't buy what we couldn't afford help pay the difference in the mortgages of those facing foreclosure!!

      Enough. End the bailout. Kill the Fed. Cut the government to the core. They clearly don't know how to manage an economy. Just give us *OUR* money back -- I'm willing to bet we know what to do with it!!
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    • Fri Oct 10th 16:56 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      This Isn't a Bottom, It's a Disturbance in The Force
      @sheople: he didn't say throw *all* your cash back in now. those who bail out in panic right now...and wait too long to come back in...only serve to be the out side of the trade for those who don't panic and are willing to get in there first. you don't go all-in right away...but at these valuations, dipping the toes back in is a must.
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    • Fri Oct 10th 13:04 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      What Happens When Banks Are Nationalized
      @carey_jim: There are good reasons for protective tariffs! They can cut both ways. So it's not de-facto a refusal to compete -- tariffs can also be used to force other countries to compete on fairer terms, rather than under-cutting on labor because of their lower standard of living, or fascist governments that create cheap labor conditions and exploit their own people. Or do you deny that the loss of so many jobs overseas has helped kill the American middle class and helped bring us to this point? That and the excessive taxation have brought the American worker to ruin!! And we are now paying the piper.
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    • Thu Oct 9th 17:44 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      What Happens When Banks Are Nationalized
      People are complicating the obvious when they talk about all of this. The core problem is simple, and the solution is simple. Core problem: too much credit. The average American is tapped out. Why? 30-40% of their gross goes to Fed taxes. That's the first hurdle. Then they face the others -- state, local, property, sales taxes, etc. Hardly any discretionary left after that, so they turn to credit. The solution: we've GOT to lower that first hurdle...DRAMATICALLY.

      The solution the government has been pursuing, and continues to pursue, is *more credit*...more socialism by ever-bigger government, as it buys *private* debt and assets...and attempts to clear the way for easier credit again! It's a big ramp-up of spending and debt!! The absolute opposite of what is needed.

      Kill the debt problem by drastically lowering that first hurdle, and you *automatically* get consumer spending going again -- it will help many with their mortgage payments, thereby resolving a good portion of that...and also help with additional discretionary spending. And not only *without* the moral hazards of the government socialist big-spending "solution"..... with an *increase* in the justness and moralness of the economic structure!! Because giving people back more of what is theirs is **ALWAYS** the right thing to do!!

      C'mon people, let's get on our Senators and Reps to rethink all this and CHANGE DIRECTIONS!!
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    • Thu Oct 9th 17:32 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Treasury Anomalies: Disruptions in the Relationship between Swaps and Bonds
      50-70T? Try 500T. Can you say...toast!?
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    • Wed Oct 8th 17:34 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Is This the Nasdaq or a Dollar Store?
      @SmartyPants: WRONG!! Buy on the way down, in increasing increments!! Sell on the way UP, again in increments!!
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    • Wed Oct 8th 17:32 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Attractive Values - Fast Money Recap (10/7/08)
      One guy says FCX is cheap and get in...the other says it doesn't matter, noone wants in. Who to believe? Believe yourself...and the fundies. Forced selling may have put the price in the crapper for a while now...but we're heading into earnings season, and those who don't sell...or avoid buying tremendous bargains due to fear and panic...will be sitting pretty after earnings come out!

      Another point:
      "Najarian told viewers to look at General Electric and Goldman Sachs, which are trading below the prices that Buffett bought in at."

      Um...fine...but Buffett is diluting everyone else. And he didn't buy common stock -- he gets his own preferred shares that pay 10%! I'm not jumping in on that deal -- both GE & GS now have additional cost overhead to pay Mr. Buffett.
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    • Wed Oct 8th 15:47 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Global Coordinated Rate Cut: Nice Try, but the Party Is Over
      The consumer is tapped out, but I disagree entirely with your cause. At the root of things, the average worker is FAR OVERTAXED. You need to look at the long view to see this building over decades. It is how we have become a credit-driven economy. The first hurdle is now too high for the average person to jump over...and thus the 2nd or 3rd is barely cleared or not at all. Translating the metaphor: we have now reached a point where most average households watch 30-40%+ of their gross income go to the Federal government (first hurdle). Then there are state taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, vehicle registration, fees for burning or disposal of "special" garbage. The list goes on and on, ever-building, never lessening. Is it any flippin' wonder that we can't make the bloody mortgage payment??

      The solution: cut the overgrown government to the core, and drastically cut taxes for *everyone*!! That first hurdle needs to be alot lower so that the hurdlers can keep running --> have some discretionary income left over to both save and spend -- that's how we get growth without ending up over-indebted!!

      The Paulson plan (as well as both candidates' economic plans) calls for socialist bailouts of banks and homeowners. It WON'T WORK. Maybe short term. But not in the long term!! Because all it amounts to is more bloating of government...higher spending...and re-greasing things for renewed lending...how often did you not hear all the talking heads talk about needing to get the credit markets working again, or we'd all perish?? That's *exactly* the problem!! Why are we reliant on credit?? Well-run businesses don't need short-term credit. If it's not turning a profit...LET IT FAIL!! Those are businesses that aren't getting it done to begin with. Seizure of the credit markets is not the cause of their going down!

      Quit the socialism...it does NOT work!
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    • Wed Oct 8th 15:34 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Crazy P/E Ratios
      @JasonC:

      "Because authorities have decided to indulge a populist desire to slaughter the banks out of envy and resentment."

      Huh?? Wrong! The authorities have decided to BAIL OUT the banks at populist expense!!! You, sir, are an idiot and have it exactly BACKWARDS!!

      "Support capitalists or you have no capital. Law of nature, not up for discussion."

      Yeah, the way to support capitalists is to LET FREE MARKETS WORK. Not to socialize the downside. Again, you have it backwards. The authorities right now are tampering in a bad way with capitalism -- they are taking out those who were wise at the knees: a) by making them help pay for the failures of the unwise, b) by artificially inducing pricing that reneges the value of their wisdom to wait for market correction before buying in. This is NOT conducive to capitalism for the long haul -- it teaches the wrong lesson to the unwise, and punishes the wise.

      Try again another time.
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    • Wed Oct 8th 15:26 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Cramer: Dow Could Drop Another 14%, Oil's Going to $50



      On Oct 07 08:09 PM jcrash wrote:

      > I love people bitching about raising the cap gains tax. You really
      > think you are gonna have any cap gains to report in the next 4 years?

      Um...yeah, actually! :) Sorry you aren't doing as well.


      >
      > And you can quit debating McCain vs. Obama, because Obama has it
      > in the bag at this point, given the economic situation. Iraq + Palin
      > + Economic Calamity is the perfect storm for the Republicans.

      Not. Cuz more taxation and more socialism are exactly the *wrong* answer to an over-indebted economy!

      > And yeah, I'm a Republican, but I'm also tired of having my rights
      > revoked by lies, my President lieing to his country, and my money
      > disappearing.

      You better check your facts again, then. Both regarding which presidents have lied to the people (vs. just making unpopular decisions, that regardless of popularity, have prevented further attacks on Americans). And you want to watch money disappear? Get ready for the Great Obama Tax & Spend show!! Because he's all about redistribution of wealth...the politics of envy...increased reliance on government...and he's *NOT* gonna be able to do it by taxing only the top 5%. Not with the government taking over payment for healthcare...that single initiative alone will bankrupt this country. Noone is even mentioning that Medicare is failing...if we already can't afford it for just the elderly, how in hell are we gonna pay for *everyone*?? Government as a provider is NEVER CHEAPER than the private sector!! Competition drives the cost down.

      Please...quit falling for the style and rhetoric, and examine the policy proposals, and the facts surrounding them!!
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    • Tue Oct 7th 18:10 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Inflation Could Cure Our Economic Ills
      "Similarly, household debt as a percentage of disposable income (measured as income after taxes) grew from 89% to 127%."

      And THAT is exactly the problem!!! TOO DAMN MUCH TAXATION!! Cut the legs out from under the government -- it needs massive shrinkage. We need to cut it to the core, and return the bulk of THEIR OWN money to the people!!

      The overhead of the "big government" we have is far too high: it prevents the consumer-investor from being nimble, and constrains disposable income to a much smaller percentage of gross than it should be! This amounts to a high hurdle that the consumer (who is 2/3 of GDP) must jump over *before* being able to do discretionary spending. Since we are spoiled and have gotten used to "things"...w... have borrowed (excessively) in order to have them. Meanwhile the government burns our money.

      IT MUST STOP. We want and need back what IS OURS.
      View article »
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