So now it's ok to make dog eater jokes?

[Memorex]

1. Changing the direction of Iraq/Afghanistan war. Ending the Iraq war, where we had NO business to do with and focus on war on terror which leads into #2
2. Killing Bin Laden.
3.Provided tax credits to first-time home buyers through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 to revitalize the U.S. housing market.
4.Saved the collapse of the American automotive industry by making GM restructure before bailing them out, and putting incentive money to help the industry. While Im not in favor of bailouts or "rewarding those who fail", the GM/Chrysler bailout was needed to save our auto industry.
5.Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

I actually hesitate to reply here because it's a whole different can of worms. But, here's a shot.

Bush negotiated the end of the Iraq war. Obama stuck to the timeline. Obama did not change it, did not help it really get there, he just followed it - right or wrong. So if you agree that we left at the right time, then give the credit to Bush. If you believe we should have never been there, blame Bush. It was not Obama's war and it was not Obama's end.

Now some say leaving the way we did was wrong. That we had originally intended to leave some forces. That didn't happen and now this are starting to slide a little. We'll see how things go.

Changing the direction of the Afghanistan war - I wish we had a little more troop build up than we did and been a little more decisive, or just gotten out. Because as it stands, more troops are dying and being injured there now than in previous years. At least through last year. Also, things appear to be a little worse than what is being reported:

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-us-n ... 25507.html

Revitalize the housing market - Maybe time will tell, but home prices are the lowest in decades. Ownership is the lowest maybe ever. It's been all downhill. Obama didn't start this, but he sure hasn't helped. And you will be seeing a lot of foreclosures here shortly.

Auto - This whole thing of GM having repaid their loan. That is an utter joke. Obviously the bailout helped them for a bit, but it's the bankruptcy restructuring that will truly save them. And that should have happened sooner. As much as you agree with the left, the source of the problem is very much a left issue - unions.

I thought we already had the fair pay act. It's called the 14th amendment. I have no issue with this.

I thought you were going to say things like torture (still happening), lack of transparency (worse than ever), corporate money dictating policy (worse than ever), etc. And trust me, I know it won't be any better under Romney.

[verslibre]

More pix from the party:

[artist4perry]

Have you heard of the Chinese cookbook ... 1,000 Ways to WOK your dog?

[verslibre]

Do they serve the entrée with a side of cream of sumyungai?

[Behshad]

25 Horrible Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Barack Obama Does Not Want You To Know .


Monday, 30 April 2012 07:17


The human capacity for self-delusion truly is remarkable. Most people out there end up believing exactly what they want to believe even when the truth is staring them right in the face. Take the U.S. economy for example. Barack Obama wants to believe that his policies have worked and that the U.S. economy is improving. So that is what he is telling the American people. The mainstream media wants to believe that Barack Obama is a good president and that his policies make sense and so they are reporting that we are experiencing an economic recovery. A very large segment of the U.S. population still fully supports Barack Obama and they want to believe that the economy is getting better so they are buying the propaganda that the mainstream media is feeding them. But is the U.S. economy really improving? The truth is that it is not.


The rate of employment among working age Americans is exactly where it was two years ago and household incomes have actually gone down while Obama has been president. Home ownership levels and home prices continue to decline. Meanwhile, food and gasoline continue to become even more expensive. The percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at an all-time record high and the U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars under Obama. We simply have not seen the type of economic recovery that we have seen after every other economic recession since World War II.

The horrible statistics about the U.S. economy that you are about to read are not talked about much by the mainstream media. They would rather be "positive" and "upbeat" about the direction that things are headed.

But lying to the American people is not going to help them. If you are speeding in a car toward a 500 foot cliff, you don't need someone to cheer you on. Instead, you need someone to slam on the brakes.

The cold, hard reality of the matter is that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than it was four or five years ago.

We have never come close to recovering from the last recession and another one will be here soon.

The following are 25 horrible statistics about the U.S. economy that Barack Obama does not want you to know....

#1 The percentage of Americans that own homes is dropping rapidly. According to Gallup, the current level of homeownership in the United States is the lowest that Gallup has ever measured.

#2 Home prices in the U.S. continue to fall like a rock as well. They have declined for six months in a row and are now down a total of 35 percent from the peak of the housing bubble. The last time that home prices in the United States were this low was back in 2002.

#3 Last year, an astounding 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

#4 Back in 2007, about 10 percent of all unemployed Americans had been out of work for 52 weeks or longer. Today, that number is above 30 percent.

#5 When Barack Obama first became president, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was 2.6 million. Today, it is 5.3 million.

#6 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

#7 Despite what the mainstream media would have us to believe, the truth is that the percentage of working age Americans that are employed is not increasing. Back in March 2010, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2011, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2012, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. So how can Barack Obama and the mainstream media claim that the employment situation in the United States is getting better? The employment rate is still essentially exactly where it was when the last recession supposedly ended.

#8 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#9 In 1962, 28 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs. In 2011, only 9 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs.

#10 In some areas of Detroit, Michigan you can buy a three bedroom home for just $500.

#11 According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.

#12 Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

#13 The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

#14 Incredibly, one out of every four jobs in the United States pays $10 an hour or less at this point.

#15 Household incomes all over the United States continue to fall. After adjusting for inflation, median household income in America has declined by 7.8 percent since December 2007.

#16 Over the past several decades, government dependence has risen to unprecedented heights in the United States. The following is how I described the explosive growth of social welfare benefits in one recent article....


Back in 1960, social welfare benefits made up approximately 10 percent of all salaries and wages. In the year 2000, social welfare benefits made up approximately 21 percent of all salaries and wages. Today, social welfare benefits make up approximately 35 percent of all salaries and wages.

#17 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

#18 Right now, more than 25 percent of all American children are on food stamps.

#19 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, today 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives some form of benefits from the federal government.

#20 Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

#21 During the first quarter of 2012, U.S. public debt rose by 359.1 billion dollars. U.S. GDP only rose by 142.4 billion dollars.

#22 At this point, the U.S. national debt is rising by more than 2 million dollars every single minute.

#23 The U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars since the day that Barack Obama first took office. In a little more than 3 years Obama has added more to the national debt than the first 41 presidents combined.

#24 The Federal Reserve bought up approximately 61 percent of all government debt issued by the U.S. Treasury Department during 2011.

#25 The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.

But the horrible economic statistics only tell part of the story.

In communities all over America there is a feeling that something fundamental has changed. Businesses that have been around for generations are shutting their doors and there is a lot of fear in the air. The following is a brief excerpt from a recent interview with Richard Yamarone, the senior economist at Bloomberg Brief....


You have to listen to what the small businesses are telling you and right now they are telling you, ‘Hey, I’m the head of a 3rd or 4th generation, 75 or 100 year old business, and I’ve got to shut the doors’ or ‘I’ve got to let people go. And if I’m hiring anybody back, it’s only on a temporary basis.’

Sometimes they do this through a hiring firm so that they can sidestep paying unemployment benefit insurance. So that’s what’s really going on at the grassroots level of the economy. Very, very, grossly different from what you’re seeing in some of these numbers coming out in earnings releases.”

All over the country, millions of hard working Americans are desperately looking for work. They have been told that "the recession is over", but they are still finding it incredibly difficult to find anyone that will hire them. The following example is from a recent CNN article....


Joann Cotton, a 54-year-old Columbus, Mississippi, resident, was one of those faces of poverty we met on the tour. Unemployed for three years, Joann has gone from making "$60,000 a year to less than $15,000 overnight." Her husband is disabled and dependent on medicines the couple can no longer afford. They rely on food stamps, which, Joann says, "is depressing as hell."

Receiving government aid, however, has not been as depressing as her job search. Joann says she has applied for at least 300 jobs. Even though she can barely afford gas, she drives to the interviews only to learn that the employers want to hire younger candidates at low wages.

The experiences have taken a toll: "I've aged 10 years in the three years that I've been looking for a job," Joann told us. "I want to get a job so I can just relax and exhale ... but I can't. After a while you just give up."

Meanwhile, Barack Obama and his family continue to live the high life at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

Even many Democrats are starting to get very upset about this. The following is from a recent article by Paul Bedard....


Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations” because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters.

It simply is not appropriate for the Obamas to be spending millions upon millions upon millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on luxury vacations when so many Americans are deeply suffering.

But Barack Obama does not want you to know about any of this stuff.

He just wants you to buy his empty propaganda one more time so that he can continue to occupy the White House for another four years

Im gonna pick a few here and see what YOUR answers are, not a copy and paste job please.

The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

Education in this country costs and it costs a lot of money. Are you blaming Obama for the high costs of education? or are you blaming people wanting toget educated during his term ?

The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.

Guess I didnt know that Obama is responsible for anything and everything that happened prior his time in office. 38 years prior to his time in office !

Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

And of course he should be held for the next 75 years. If thats the case , then lets blame our current problems on Roosevelt who was in office 75 years ago !
Do you know that one of the reasons Medicare funds go down so quickly now is because more people live longer than 65 vs what they did 40 years ago
Last but not least, why do you care so much about Medicare, if youre against Socialism

In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

In 2000 17.2 million Americans were on foodstamps. By 2005 26.7 millions were on food stamps.

Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

When Bush stepped in office gas was $1.17, by 2005 it was @ $2.47 , which is more than 100 percent.

The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

As usual anything that happened during 2000-2008 had nothing to do with this , only 2008-present, correct ?

[Behshad]

Do they serve the entrée with a side of cream of sumyungai?

[Monker]

25 Horrible Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Barack Obama Does Not Want You To Know .


Monday, 30 April 2012 07:17


The human capacity for self-delusion truly is remarkable. Most people out there end up believing exactly what they want to believe even when the truth is staring them right in the face. Take the U.S. economy for example. Barack Obama wants to believe that his policies have worked and that the U.S. economy is improving. So that is what he is telling the American people. The mainstream media wants to believe that Barack Obama is a good president and that his policies make sense and so they are reporting that we are experiencing an economic recovery. A very large segment of the U.S. population still fully supports Barack Obama and they want to believe that the economy is getting better so they are buying the propaganda that the mainstream media is feeding them. But is the U.S. economy really improving? The truth is that it is not.


The rate of employment among working age Americans is exactly where it was two years ago and household incomes have actually gone down while Obama has been president. Home ownership levels and home prices continue to decline. Meanwhile, food and gasoline continue to become even more expensive. The percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at an all-time record high and the U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars under Obama. We simply have not seen the type of economic recovery that we have seen after every other economic recession since World War II.

The horrible statistics about the U.S. economy that you are about to read are not talked about much by the mainstream media. They would rather be "positive" and "upbeat" about the direction that things are headed.

But lying to the American people is not going to help them. If you are speeding in a car toward a 500 foot cliff, you don't need someone to cheer you on. Instead, you need someone to slam on the brakes.

The cold, hard reality of the matter is that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than it was four or five years ago.

We have never come close to recovering from the last recession and another one will be here soon.

The following are 25 horrible statistics about the U.S. economy that Barack Obama does not want you to know....

#1 The percentage of Americans that own homes is dropping rapidly. According to Gallup, the current level of homeownership in the United States is the lowest that Gallup has ever measured.

#2 Home prices in the U.S. continue to fall like a rock as well. They have declined for six months in a row and are now down a total of 35 percent from the peak of the housing bubble. The last time that home prices in the United States were this low was back in 2002.

#3 Last year, an astounding 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

#4 Back in 2007, about 10 percent of all unemployed Americans had been out of work for 52 weeks or longer. Today, that number is above 30 percent.

#5 When Barack Obama first became president, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was 2.6 million. Today, it is 5.3 million.

#6 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

#7 Despite what the mainstream media would have us to believe, the truth is that the percentage of working age Americans that are employed is not increasing. Back in March 2010, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2011, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2012, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. So how can Barack Obama and the mainstream media claim that the employment situation in the United States is getting better? The employment rate is still essentially exactly where it was when the last recession supposedly ended.

#8 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#9 In 1962, 28 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs. In 2011, only 9 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs.

#10 In some areas of Detroit, Michigan you can buy a three bedroom home for just $500.

#11 According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.

#12 Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

#13 The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

#14 Incredibly, one out of every four jobs in the United States pays $10 an hour or less at this point.

#15 Household incomes all over the United States continue to fall. After adjusting for inflation, median household income in America has declined by 7.8 percent since December 2007.

#16 Over the past several decades, government dependence has risen to unprecedented heights in the United States. The following is how I described the explosive growth of social welfare benefits in one recent article....


Back in 1960, social welfare benefits made up approximately 10 percent of all salaries and wages. In the year 2000, social welfare benefits made up approximately 21 percent of all salaries and wages. Today, social welfare benefits make up approximately 35 percent of all salaries and wages.

#17 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

#18 Right now, more than 25 percent of all American children are on food stamps.

#19 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, today 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives some form of benefits from the federal government.

#20 Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

#21 During the first quarter of 2012, U.S. public debt rose by 359.1 billion dollars. U.S. GDP only rose by 142.4 billion dollars.

#22 At this point, the U.S. national debt is rising by more than 2 million dollars every single minute.

#23 The U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars since the day that Barack Obama first took office. In a little more than 3 years Obama has added more to the national debt than the first 41 presidents combined.

#24 The Federal Reserve bought up approximately 61 percent of all government debt issued by the U.S. Treasury Department during 2011.

#25 The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.

But the horrible economic statistics only tell part of the story.

In communities all over America there is a feeling that something fundamental has changed. Businesses that have been around for generations are shutting their doors and there is a lot of fear in the air. The following is a brief excerpt from a recent interview with Richard Yamarone, the senior economist at Bloomberg Brief....


You have to listen to what the small businesses are telling you and right now they are telling you, ‘Hey, I’m the head of a 3rd or 4th generation, 75 or 100 year old business, and I’ve got to shut the doors’ or ‘I’ve got to let people go. And if I’m hiring anybody back, it’s only on a temporary basis.’

Sometimes they do this through a hiring firm so that they can sidestep paying unemployment benefit insurance. So that’s what’s really going on at the grassroots level of the economy. Very, very, grossly different from what you’re seeing in some of these numbers coming out in earnings releases.”

All over the country, millions of hard working Americans are desperately looking for work. They have been told that "the recession is over", but they are still finding it incredibly difficult to find anyone that will hire them. The following example is from a recent CNN article....


Joann Cotton, a 54-year-old Columbus, Mississippi, resident, was one of those faces of poverty we met on the tour. Unemployed for three years, Joann has gone from making "$60,000 a year to less than $15,000 overnight." Her husband is disabled and dependent on medicines the couple can no longer afford. They rely on food stamps, which, Joann says, "is depressing as hell."

Receiving government aid, however, has not been as depressing as her job search. Joann says she has applied for at least 300 jobs. Even though she can barely afford gas, she drives to the interviews only to learn that the employers want to hire younger candidates at low wages.

The experiences have taken a toll: "I've aged 10 years in the three years that I've been looking for a job," Joann told us. "I want to get a job so I can just relax and exhale ... but I can't. After a while you just give up."

Meanwhile, Barack Obama and his family continue to live the high life at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

Even many Democrats are starting to get very upset about this. The following is from a recent article by Paul Bedard....


Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations” because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters.

It simply is not appropriate for the Obamas to be spending millions upon millions upon millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on luxury vacations when so many Americans are deeply suffering.

But Barack Obama does not want you to know about any of this stuff.

He just wants you to buy his empty propaganda one more time so that he can continue to occupy the White House for another four years

Im gonna pick a few here and see what YOUR answers are, not a copy and paste job please.

The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

Education in this country costs and it costs a lot of money. Are you blaming Obama for the high costs of education? or are you blaming people wanting toget educated during his term ?

The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.

Guess I didnt know that Obama is responsible for anything and everything that happened prior his time in office. 38 years prior to his time in office !

Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

And of course he should be held for the next 75 years. If thats the case , then lets blame our current problems on Roosevelt who was in office 75 years ago !
Do you know that one of the reasons Medicare funds go down so quickly now is because more people live longer than 65 vs what they did 40 years ago
Last but not least, why do you care so much about Medicare, if youre against Socialism

In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

In 2000 17.2 million Americans were on foodstamps. By 2005 26.7 millions were on food stamps.

Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

When Bush stepped in office gas was $1.17, by 2005 it was @ $2.47 , which is more than 100 percent.

The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

As usual anything that happened during 2000-2008 had nothing to do with this , only 2008-present, correct ?

All of this is statistical magic to force a conclusion. If you start looking at it, none of this is in the context of Obama's presidency...it is in the context of taking the "best" timeframe they can possibly find and comparing it to today.

In general, things are better then 4yrs ago. You have to be stupid to not know that. But, then again, we DID reelect W, so many people ARE stupid out there.

The 'real' campaign has just begun and I can't see Romney being electable.

[Memorex]

I really have no idea how you can say things are better than four years ago. I really don't. On top of that, there are always recessions - always. This one is very much near going back to a second one.

If you are satisfied with the way this country is progressing then I really have no idea what anyone could say to you to point out all the negative numbers that are putting us on edge. It's really just insane. Absolutely insane.

You have to want better from our leadership. If blind allegiance is going to allow you to defend where we are at, then nothing will ever get better.

[Rick]

25 Horrible Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Barack Obama Does Not Want You To Know .


Monday, 30 April 2012 07:17


The human capacity for self-delusion truly is remarkable. Most people out there end up believing exactly what they want to believe even when the truth is staring them right in the face. Take the U.S. economy for example. Barack Obama wants to believe that his policies have worked and that the U.S. economy is improving. So that is what he is telling the American people. The mainstream media wants to believe that Barack Obama is a good president and that his policies make sense and so they are reporting that we are experiencing an economic recovery. A very large segment of the U.S. population still fully supports Barack Obama and they want to believe that the economy is getting better so they are buying the propaganda that the mainstream media is feeding them. But is the U.S. economy really improving? The truth is that it is not.


The rate of employment among working age Americans is exactly where it was two years ago and household incomes have actually gone down while Obama has been president. Home ownership levels and home prices continue to decline. Meanwhile, food and gasoline continue to become even more expensive. The percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at an all-time record high and the U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars under Obama. We simply have not seen the type of economic recovery that we have seen after every other economic recession since World War II.

The horrible statistics about the U.S. economy that you are about to read are not talked about much by the mainstream media. They would rather be "positive" and "upbeat" about the direction that things are headed.

But lying to the American people is not going to help them. If you are speeding in a car toward a 500 foot cliff, you don't need someone to cheer you on. Instead, you need someone to slam on the brakes.

The cold, hard reality of the matter is that the U.S. economy is in far worse shape than it was four or five years ago.

We have never come close to recovering from the last recession and another one will be here soon.

The following are 25 horrible statistics about the U.S. economy that Barack Obama does not want you to know....

#1 The percentage of Americans that own homes is dropping rapidly. According to Gallup, the current level of homeownership in the United States is the lowest that Gallup has ever measured.

#2 Home prices in the U.S. continue to fall like a rock as well. They have declined for six months in a row and are now down a total of 35 percent from the peak of the housing bubble. The last time that home prices in the United States were this low was back in 2002.

#3 Last year, an astounding 53 percent of all U.S. college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.

#4 Back in 2007, about 10 percent of all unemployed Americans had been out of work for 52 weeks or longer. Today, that number is above 30 percent.

#5 When Barack Obama first became president, the number of "long-term unemployed workers" in the United States was 2.6 million. Today, it is 5.3 million.

#6 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

#7 Despite what the mainstream media would have us to believe, the truth is that the percentage of working age Americans that are employed is not increasing. Back in March 2010, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2011, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. In March 2012, 58.5 percent of all working age Americans were employed. So how can Barack Obama and the mainstream media claim that the employment situation in the United States is getting better? The employment rate is still essentially exactly where it was when the last recession supposedly ended.

#8 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#9 In 1962, 28 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs. In 2011, only 9 percent of all jobs in America were manufacturing jobs.

#10 In some areas of Detroit, Michigan you can buy a three bedroom home for just $500.

#11 According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.

#12 Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

#13 The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

#14 Incredibly, one out of every four jobs in the United States pays $10 an hour or less at this point.

#15 Household incomes all over the United States continue to fall. After adjusting for inflation, median household income in America has declined by 7.8 percent since December 2007.

#16 Over the past several decades, government dependence has risen to unprecedented heights in the United States. The following is how I described the explosive growth of social welfare benefits in one recent article....


Back in 1960, social welfare benefits made up approximately 10 percent of all salaries and wages. In the year 2000, social welfare benefits made up approximately 21 percent of all salaries and wages. Today, social welfare benefits make up approximately 35 percent of all salaries and wages.

#17 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

#18 Right now, more than 25 percent of all American children are on food stamps.

#19 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, today 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives some form of benefits from the federal government.

#20 Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

#21 During the first quarter of 2012, U.S. public debt rose by 359.1 billion dollars. U.S. GDP only rose by 142.4 billion dollars.

#22 At this point, the U.S. national debt is rising by more than 2 million dollars every single minute.

#23 The U.S. national debt has risen by more than 5 trillion dollars since the day that Barack Obama first took office. In a little more than 3 years Obama has added more to the national debt than the first 41 presidents combined.

#24 The Federal Reserve bought up approximately 61 percent of all government debt issued by the U.S. Treasury Department during 2011.

#25 The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.

But the horrible economic statistics only tell part of the story.

In communities all over America there is a feeling that something fundamental has changed. Businesses that have been around for generations are shutting their doors and there is a lot of fear in the air. The following is a brief excerpt from a recent interview with Richard Yamarone, the senior economist at Bloomberg Brief....


You have to listen to what the small businesses are telling you and right now they are telling you, ‘Hey, I’m the head of a 3rd or 4th generation, 75 or 100 year old business, and I’ve got to shut the doors’ or ‘I’ve got to let people go. And if I’m hiring anybody back, it’s only on a temporary basis.’

Sometimes they do this through a hiring firm so that they can sidestep paying unemployment benefit insurance. So that’s what’s really going on at the grassroots level of the economy. Very, very, grossly different from what you’re seeing in some of these numbers coming out in earnings releases.”

All over the country, millions of hard working Americans are desperately looking for work. They have been told that "the recession is over", but they are still finding it incredibly difficult to find anyone that will hire them. The following example is from a recent CNN article....


Joann Cotton, a 54-year-old Columbus, Mississippi, resident, was one of those faces of poverty we met on the tour. Unemployed for three years, Joann has gone from making "$60,000 a year to less than $15,000 overnight." Her husband is disabled and dependent on medicines the couple can no longer afford. They rely on food stamps, which, Joann says, "is depressing as hell."

Receiving government aid, however, has not been as depressing as her job search. Joann says she has applied for at least 300 jobs. Even though she can barely afford gas, she drives to the interviews only to learn that the employers want to hire younger candidates at low wages.

The experiences have taken a toll: "I've aged 10 years in the three years that I've been looking for a job," Joann told us. "I want to get a job so I can just relax and exhale ... but I can't. After a while you just give up."

Meanwhile, Barack Obama and his family continue to live the high life at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer.

Even many Democrats are starting to get very upset about this. The following is from a recent article by Paul Bedard....


Blue collar Democratic voters, stuck taking depressing “staycations” because they can’t afford gas and hotels, are resentful of the first family’s 17 lavish vacations around the world and don’t want their tax dollars paying for the Obamas’ holidays, according to a new analysis of swing voters.

It simply is not appropriate for the Obamas to be spending millions upon millions upon millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars on luxury vacations when so many Americans are deeply suffering.

But Barack Obama does not want you to know about any of this stuff.

He just wants you to buy his empty propaganda one more time so that he can continue to occupy the White House for another four years

Im gonna pick a few here and see what YOUR answers are, not a copy and paste job please.

The student loan debt bubble continues to expand at a very frightening pace. Recently it was announced that total student loan debt in the United States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.

Education in this country costs and it costs a lot of money. Are you blaming Obama for the high costs of education? or are you blaming people wanting toget educated during his term ?

The Federal Reserve continues to systematically destroy the value of the U.S. dollar. Since 1970, the U.S. dollar has lost more than 83 percent of its value.

Guess I didnt know that Obama is responsible for anything and everything that happened prior his time in office. 38 years prior to his time in office !

Over the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

And of course he should be held for the next 75 years. If thats the case , then lets blame our current problems on Roosevelt who was in office 75 years ago !
Do you know that one of the reasons Medicare funds go down so quickly now is because more people live longer than 65 vs what they did 40 years ago
Last but not least, why do you care so much about Medicare, if youre against Socialism

In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, more than 46 million Americans are on food stamps.

In 2000 17.2 million Americans were on foodstamps. By 2005 26.7 millions were on food stamps.

Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the price of gasoline has risen by more than 100 percent.

When Bush stepped in office gas was $1.17, by 2005 it was @ $2.47 , which is more than 100 percent.

The average duration of unemployment in the United States is about three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

As usual anything that happened during 2000-2008 had nothing to do with this , only 2008-present, correct ?

All of this is statistical magic to force a conclusion. If you start looking at it, none of this is in the context of Obama's presidency...it is in the context of taking the "best" timeframe they can possibly find and comparing it to today.

Yep, take #7, for instance. In three years, it was 58.5, and they want to know how it is better and not just the same. It's better because of the growth in population. That means more people are at work than the year previous, even if the population grew by one in that category.

[Liam]

Anyone get yet why I don't dive into politics??

[Memorex]

Rick - that is simply not correct. While people enter the workforce, some leave it.

If this administration figured unemployment numbers the same way, mathmatically, that the Bush admin did, the rate would be something like 10.7. But they have taken many people off of the count that past admins never did. There are many stories out there about how this Admin has not been counting people that have stopped looking for work because they can't find anything. 8.2% is a completely made-up number. On top of that, many of the jobs they are counting are at significantly lower wages or part-time jobs. I would not say things are much better today. And I think the next few months will actually turn worse, unfortunately.

What I really want is for people on both sides to stop with the partisan blinders so we can actually hold leaders accountable, even from our own "side". Anyone that sits here and says we are better off is letting this Democrat administration, Democrat Senate, and Republican Congress get away with murder. It's sad.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/is-the-real-unemployment-rate-stuck/2011/08/25/gIQAVyiTiQ_blog.html

[Liam]

Everyone's stupid but me.

[Memorex]

Anyone get yet why I don't dive into politics??

I totally get it. Every day I tell myself to bury my head in the sand and just let this stuff go by. But then I have friends out of work and I'm on the tipping point. I'm not even all that pissed at the politicians. I mean, I know they are corrupt scum. I'm angry at Americans for allowing them to divide us so successfully.

[Liam]

I'm angry at (most of) Americans letting the skin color decide a fucking election.

[Memorex]

I'm angry at (most of) Americans letting the skin color decide a fucking election.

I think that's isolated. And let's say for a second that was true, which I don't think it is. Then I am fine with that. Because while I don't think we need to sit around and act like this country is racist (although much of it is), and I don't think we have to continually wallow in our past sins, I have no issue with a by-product of our past mistakes being the election of someone that represents our "victim". In other words, if it takes an election of someone black, solely because they are black, to help us come to terms with our evils, that's cool. I do think many voted for Obama because he is black. Many admit that. But compared to people that voted for him because he was the anti-Bush, it's pretty insignificant.

Some guy was talking to me and said he was glad we elected a black president so we could see what a mistake it was and not make the same mistake again. That was all I needed to hear to never speak to that person again. That's beyond ignorant.

[Monker]

I really have no idea how you can say things are better than four years ago. I really don't. On top of that, there are always recessions - always. This one is very much near going back to a second one.

If you are satisfied with the way this country is progressing then I really have no idea what anyone could say to you to point out all the negative numbers that are putting us on edge. It's really just insane. Absolutely insane.

You have to want better from our leadership. If blind allegiance is going to allow you to defend where we are at, then nothing will ever get better.

The economy was in free fall when Obama took office. Banks were not lending causing some business to not even be able to pay wages to employees. People were not only not investing, but pulling their money out of the market (which was VERY stupid). Our 401k's and other investments disappeared. Billions of dollars exited the economy. Entire industries in this country were collapsing. We were in endless wars that we could not afford....and, no don't think Bush would have pulled out of Iraq...he would have fucked Iraq until this country was dry and had nothing left - that is the neo-con way.

So, yes, we are much, much better off. Unless, like I said you are stupid and can't see how close to oblivion we were...and you just don't remember what it was like after Bear/Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG...and then the auto industry...all went to hell under Bush and was left to Obama to mop up. I honestly believe we would be on the verge of another civil war if W had any more time in office....I can't imagine it being any worse.

And, Republicans have been threatening this 'double dip' recession for years now. Get over it...not going to happen. It's just scare tactics to keep votes.

There are always 'bad numbers' to pull out of someone's ass to make any point you want. No, I don't think everything is roses and perfect. I do think Health Care bill was a mistake...very bad timing. But, to say we are not better off now then we were in the middle of the worst financial crisis in my lifetime is just plain stupid.

And, BTW, blind allegiance is what led to the Iraq war...by Republicans...and Democrats who were pussies and wouldn't stand up to Presidential power. Now, blind allegiance ties the hands of getting ANYTHING done...for the exact same reasons...Republicans who do not want Obama to get ANYTHING done, and Democrats who are pussies and refuse to stand up to them. Country does not come first, reelection does...that is US politics.

[Memorex]

I remember them saying how bad it would be. I remember all the terrible warnings and all the end-of-world commentary. I remember Bush bailing everyone out. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now. And it's so funny how you talk about the collapse as if it wasn't almost entirely the housing market in which bad loans were pushed because of democrat policies. And republican policies.

You think the bail outs were great, I imagine. I don't. Let it crumble. Let us pay for the bad decisions that were made. Let us suffer. And if that was allowed to occur, most agree it would have been for a shorter term.

If things were better because of real growth, real jobs, good old US innovation, then we'd be sitting pretty good. But it's completely propped up. There is nothing there to support what's going on except for money being printed.

Answer me this one question. And I would pose this to an Obama fan or a Romney fan. And if you can answer this honestly and confidently and truly believe in your answer, then I will hand you the win. Here it is:

There are more people on some type of government assistance now than ever before. The roles have exploded in the last 2 years. What do you see happening in America right now that will bring those millions of people back to the work force? What industry? What policy?

With Reagan and Clinton, I saw the spark of the next growth. You could see it, feel it. At this time, I honestly see nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not from Obama and not from Romney. Wherever you think we are today, there is nothing out there to put us back to where we were. And we've got an extra 5 trillion of debt just to keep things floating. Even I could pretend things are better by spending 5 trillion unearned dollars. Romney would probably equal that under our current conditions.

Because I am headed to bed, I will answer the question as far as I see it. You and others like you need to stop pretending that we are some how in a much better place. You and others like you must hold Democrats responsible for the state of this country. Folks on the other side must hold Republicans accountable for the same. Reagan brought folks together, Clinton brought folks together. That does not exist today. Class warfare will NEVER work. Partisan bullshit will never work. When you see what happens tomorrow, ask yourself how many independents will be pushed toward Romney because Obama generally supports the antics of the OWS crowd.

[Liam]

I'm angry at (most of) Americans letting the skin color decide a fucking election.

I think that's isolated. And let's say for a second that was true, which I don't think it is. Then I am fine with that. Because while I don't think we need to sit around and act like this country is racist (although much of it is), and I don't think we have to continually wallow in our past sins, I have no issue with a by-product of our past mistakes being the election of someone that represents our "victim". In other words, if it takes an election of someone black, solely because they are black, to help us come to terms with our evils, that's cool. I do think many voted for Obama because he is black. Many admit that. But compared to people that voted for him because he was the anti-Bush, it's pretty insignificant.

Some guy was talking to me and said he was glad we elected a black president so we could see what a mistake it was and not make the same mistake again. That was all I needed to hear to never speak to that person again. That's beyond ignorant.

I'd never vote based on race, but I DO believe that most people had this notion of "OH...first black man in office controlling the country. HELL YEA". Yea..it was obviously the WRONG black man. Before his struggles in the beginning..I actually thought Herman Cain would be a good choice. For me...it was between him and Newt. Obviously THEY'RE out..but I can't take 4 more years of NObama. I never thought that I'd be paying more for gas than a pack of smokes. A LUXURY ITEM COSTS LESS. REALLY??
And can someone tell me WHY THE FUCK I'm contributing on this??

[SF-Dano]

Anyone get yet why I don't dive into politics??

I totally get it. Every day I tell myself to bury my head in the sand and just let this stuff go by. But then I have friends out of work and I'm on the tipping point. I'm not even all that pissed at the politicians. I mean, I know they are corrupt scum. I'm angry at Americans for allowing them to divide us so successfully.

+1, I hear you on this and totally agree.

[conversationpc]

I'm angry that we've got a supposed President in the White House who's surrounded himself for his entire life with Communists and Socialists and no one really seems to care.

[artist4perry]

I'm angry that we've got a supposed President in the White House who's surrounded himself for his entire life with Communists and Socialists and no one really seems to care.

I care. I don't hate the President, I just cannot agree with his vision of where he wants to take our country. You cannot borrow your way out of debt. There comes a time when no one will loan money to you to bail you out. You just cannot spend, spend, spend and have no end in sight to spending. It is insane to think we can afford the current Health bill as it is written. It will not pay for itself, and it will become another bloated money skimming market for the unscrupulous who know how to milk the system.

We are growing government at an alarming rate. Cradle to grave comes with a high price. It is nice to say we have to pay for all the human needs in the world. But it is improbable. If you robbed the coffers of every rich person in the world you would not wipe out world hunger, sickness, and homelessness. It has been an age old problem since the beginning of time.

Should we as people do what we can? Yes. But Government always screws it up. They end up making a bigger mess of it than ever existed before.

Don't believe me? Look at all the cheap rental apartments that the Government bought to help the poor in the 70's. Most are condemned rat infested holes now. Most had to be condemned and torn down.

The housing crisis came about because of loans being given to people who could not afford them in the first place.
Medicare and Medicaid. Look at all the problems with that!
How about Social Security?
The Post Office...because of it not being privately regulated it is a mess! They screw it all up! We don't need to throw more money at them, they spend as foolishly as a 17 year old with an credit card.

We don't need bigger Government. We need to put Government on a budget and a spending diet!

[Monker]

I remember them saying how bad it would be. I remember all the terrible warnings and all the end-of-world commentary. I remember Bush bailing everyone out. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now. And it's so funny how you talk about the collapse as if it wasn't almost entirely the housing market in which bad loans were pushed because of democrat policies. And republican policies.

That is not what I've said. And, you're wrong...that is NOT the 'entire' problem. People were applying for loans they knew they could not afford. They were at fault. Banks were making loans to people they knew could not pay. They were at fault. Those same banks then tried to offload the risk by brokering the risk. The banks were at fault again, as were the buyers who knew how high of a risk they were buying, and they did not have the assets to cover them if they went bad. But, they could combine such risk with the risk of other loans and then sell a package of high risk...and the buyer and seller were at fault again because they knew how much of a risk they were selling and buying and they did not have the assets to cover it. And, the auditors were at fault for not understanding how deep the systemic risk really was and how widespread...until the very end when TARP was first instituted and those first banks had NO CHOICE but to sign on to TARP or be declared insolvent by their auditors and go into bankruptcy.

You think the bail outs were great, I imagine. I don't.

No, I don't think they are 'great'. But, I think they were IMPOSSIBLE to avoid. Do you think Paulson 'liked' them? He stood up and gave a speech after Bear/Stearns and said that was it....no more bailouts. And, he let Lehman Brothers go into bankruptcy...which led to AIG because they held the risk of much of Lehman Brothers high risk loans. THAT was the problem. EVERY large bank would have FAILED...not just in the US, but worldwide. The economy would not just be in recession....there would be no economy.

Let it crumble. Let us pay for the bad decisions that were made. Let us suffer. And if that was allowed to occur, most agree it would have been for a shorter term.

That's just nuts. When banks worldwide start failing, people panic and pull money out. That is the Great Depression all over again. Even Paulson, a "let them fail" guy saw that. You can't let ever large bank in the world fail, causing consumers to lose trillions of dollars, and not expect anything other then a worldwide depression.

If things were better because of real growth, real jobs, good old US innovation, then we'd be sitting pretty good. But it's completely propped up. There is nothing there to support what's going on except for money being printed.

I just don't believe that's true at all.

There are more people on some type of government assistance now than ever before. The roles have exploded in the last 2 years. What do you see happening in America right now that will bring those millions of people back to the work force? What industry? What policy?

There should be cooperation to do things like getting us off of oil and into alternative energy. But, instead of cooperating, the two sides fight and NOTHING gets done. The Volt is a perfect example of that...instead of being constructive and offering useful critique...all they do is use it as a political tool...all the while imports are seeing the demand for alternative fuel cars and are going to squash the industry, just like they did in the 80's.

That's just one symbol of what the bigger issue is. It's like I said in another post, politics in the US is not about what is good for the country. It's about being reelected. There was no coming together for the greater good to get America back to work. It was all about taking Obama down, or taking the Republicans in congress down. Why do you think we talk about dogs on top of cars, and dogs for dinner? Because it's a lot easier to push the other side down for such things rather then building yourself up.

With Reagan and Clinton, I saw the spark of the next growth. You could see it, feel it. At this time, I honestly see nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not from Obama and not from Romney. Wherever you think we are today, there is nothing out there to put us back to where we were. And we've got an extra 5 trillion of debt just to keep things floating. Even I could pretend things are better by spending 5 trillion unearned dollars. Romney would probably equal that under our current conditions.

Of course there is no going back. We had a HUGE amount high risk credit floating around making a lot of huge corporations trillions of dollars. A huge part of our economy was being sustained by money that instantly taken away and replaced by TARP and government control.

Because I am headed to bed, I will answer the question as far as I see it. You and others like you need to stop pretending that we are some how in a much better place. You and others like you must hold Democrats responsible for the state of this country.

1

I'm sorry, but if you can't see how close we were to oblivion in 2008, then there is no hope for you. I think we would be in a situation worse then the great depression.

And, I'm not a Democrat nor a Republican.

Reagan brought folks together, Clinton brought folks together. That does not exist today. Class warfare will NEVER work. Partisan bullshit will never work. When you see what happens tomorrow, ask yourself how many independents will be pushed toward Romney because Obama generally supports the antics of the OWS crowd.

I would generally agree with this. But, that's the way politics is today.

[Monker]

The housing crisis came about because of loans being given to people who could not afford them in the first place.

That's only partially true...and very simplistic.

Why would a lender lend to somebody who could not pay back the loan? How are they going to make money from it? By offloading the risk to somebody else.

Say you are broke, have no job, pennyless, no assets to speak of...and you ask to borrow $100 from me. I say OK! I charge you %10 interest, blah, blah blah. Then I turn to Andrew and tell him I will pay him $10 to take the risk of this loan. So, if you default, HE owes ME the balance.

Now, let's say everybody on the forum does the same thing with me. So, I bundle up $10,000 worth of these loans and I tell Andrew I'll pay him $1000 to take on the risk of these loans....and he'll owe me if any of these loans go bad. And, he does it.

Alrighty then! I'm sitting pretty with $10,000 worth of loans + interest....and ANDREW is taking on the risk, not me! Awesome!

Well, the loans start going bad. I start demanding my money from Andrew. He can't pay so he declares bankruptcy. Suddenly that $10,000 becomes $0...and I have nothing either...I have bills to pay so I declare bankruptcy as well...which in turn affects any business I have credit with.

In a nutshell THAT is what happened. The system had a back door where it SEEMED they could offload the risk of these loans. But, all it did was inject the system with a huge amount of high risk. And, it was risk that did not have to be reported to ANYBODY because of how lax regulations are.

So, the housing crisis came about because of a system that any risk was acceptable because it could be offloaded. That was possible because of lax regulations. This allowed practically anybody to be able to get a mortgage loan...regardless if they could pay it back or now.

[Memorex]

Let's agree to disagree on what you think may have happened if we had of let things fail. And even if the bailouts worked, The regulations and Obamacare that followed was something we could not afford. There are reports out today that say most business will save money by not carrying insurance for their employees anymore. It's a $2000 fine per employee vs an average of over $5000 per employee when they carry it. So here is the grand policy that just put more money in the pockets of the 1% and put more people on government roles. And we all get to be a part of the system that brought you the gold old VA and Medicare. I'm thrilled.

You said you didn't believe the economy was propped up, but you offered nothing in the way of where the growth is occurring and can continue to grow at a rate to bring all those folks back to work.

That you mentioned alternative energy is just so disappointing. I believe in innovation. I believe in the next frontier. But come on, Joe needs a job on Monday. And for all the money and all the effort we have put into alternative energy, nothing has paid off. Nothing. Now, I am not saying don't invest in those things. But it should be more private money than government money. And if you want to grow those things, at least don't demonize the one industry that keeps this country going. Oil is responsible for an immense amount of success and growth in this country. No matter how you feel about it, there is no facet of this country that cannot operate without it. So while you are investing and developing in other industries, keep the one that supports you going. And I think all parties would support sensible investment. I do.

See the story about wind farms yesterday? They actually heat the earth. The areas with large wind farms have risen an average of 1c. Now that actually made me laugh out loud. An industry that cannot turn a profit and cannot sustain without subsidies, has ruined landscapes, upset the wildlife, driven home prices down, where the energy cannot be efficiently stored, and is ugly as all fuck, causes localized global warming. Awesome.

There are over 50 million people that voted for Obama. Most of them alive at the time. Most of them only voted once. All of them adults. I would assume that a high percentage of them would be open to buying a Volt, no matter what the critics say. On top of that, I think you got something like 4 times the value in stimulus money (I exaggerate) and a free puppy. So someone that was interested in this thing has every good opportunity to purchase one. The fact that there were no sales in the last few months - I don't know? It's a puzzle to me.

Until an actual good alternative comes along, a profitable, efficient, clean alternative, let's praise the fact that we have oil. Cause without it, I could not be typing this on my plastic keyboard and my electronic computer. Like I said, we need people working Monday, not 40 years from now.

[Memorex]

The housing crisis came about because of loans being given to people who could not afford them in the first place.

That's only partially true...and very simplistic.

Why would a lender lend to somebody who could not pay back the loan? How are they going to make money from it? By offloading the risk to somebody else.

Say you are broke, have no job, pennyless, no assets to speak of...and you ask to borrow $100 from me. I say OK! I charge you %10 interest, blah, blah blah. Then I turn to Andrew and tell him I will pay him $10 to take the risk of this loan. So, if you default, HE owes ME the balance.

Now, let's say everybody on the forum does the same thing with me. So, I bundle up $10,000 worth of these loans and I tell Andrew I'll pay him $1000 to take on the risk of these loans....and he'll owe me if any of these loans go bad. And, he does it.

Alrighty then! I'm sitting pretty with $10,000 worth of loans + interest....and ANDREW is taking on the risk, not me! Awesome!

Well, the loans start going bad. I start demanding my money from Andrew. He can't pay so he declares bankruptcy. Suddenly that $10,000 becomes $0...and I have nothing either...I have bills to pay so I declare bankruptcy as well...which in turn affects any business I have credit with.

In a nutshell THAT is what happened. The system had a back door where it SEEMED they could offload the risk of these loans. But, all it did was inject the system with a huge amount of high risk. And, it was risk that did not have to be reported to ANYBODY because of how lax regulations are.

So, the housing crisis came about because of a system that any risk was acceptable because it could be offloaded. That was possible because of lax regulations. This allowed practically anybody to be able to get a mortgage loan...regardless if they could pay it back or now.

This is all fact. I think Dems would say it was lack of Republican regulation and Republicans would say it was Clinton, Barney and the gang forcing lenders to loan to low income families. Either way, someone should have went to jail over that. Starting with Congress.

[artist4perry]

The housing crisis came about because of loans being given to people who could not afford them in the first place.

That's only partially true...and very simplistic.

Why would a lender lend to somebody who could not pay back the loan? How are they going to make money from it? By offloading the risk to somebody else.

Say you are broke, have no job, pennyless, no assets to speak of...and you ask to borrow $100 from me. I say OK! I charge you %10 interest, blah, blah blah. Then I turn to Andrew and tell him I will pay him $10 to take the risk of this loan. So, if you default, HE owes ME the balance.

Now, let's say everybody on the forum does the same thing with me. So, I bundle up $10,000 worth of these loans and I tell Andrew I'll pay him $1000 to take on the risk of these loans....and he'll owe me if any of these loans go bad. And, he does it.

Alrighty then! I'm sitting pretty with $10,000 worth of loans + interest....and ANDREW is taking on the risk, not me! Awesome!

Well, the loans start going bad. I start demanding my money from Andrew. He can't pay so he declares bankruptcy. Suddenly that $10,000 becomes $0...and I have nothing either...I have bills to pay so I declare bankruptcy as well...which in turn affects any business I have credit with.

In a nutshell THAT is what happened. The system had a back door where it SEEMED they could offload the risk of these loans. But, all it did was inject the system with a huge amount of high risk. And, it was risk that did not have to be reported to ANYBODY because of how lax regulations are.

So, the housing crisis came about because of a system that any risk was acceptable because it could be offloaded. That was possible because of lax regulations. This allowed practically anybody to be able to get a mortgage loan...regardless if they could pay it back or now.

Simplistic yes, but the truth in a nutshell. Not everyone should be guaranteed to buy a home, especially if they cannot afford it. There is no shame in rent. I did it as a single mom. Again, it was like a ponzi scheme.

[Behshad]

The housing crisis came about because of loans being given to people who could not afford them in the first place.

That's only partially true...and very simplistic.

Why would a lender lend to somebody who could not pay back the loan? How are they going to make money from it? By offloading the risk to somebody else.

Say you are broke, have no job, pennyless, no assets to speak of...and you ask to borrow $100 from me. I say OK! I charge you %10 interest, blah, blah blah. Then I turn to Andrew and tell him I will pay him $10 to take the risk of this loan. So, if you default, HE owes ME the balance.

Now, let's say everybody on the forum does the same thing with me. So, I bundle up $10,000 worth of these loans and I tell Andrew I'll pay him $1000 to take on the risk of these loans....and he'll owe me if any of these loans go bad. And, he does it.

Alrighty then! I'm sitting pretty with $10,000 worth of loans + interest....and ANDREW is taking on the risk, not me! Awesome!

Well, the loans start going bad. I start demanding my money from Andrew. He can't pay so he declares bankruptcy. Suddenly that $10,000 becomes $0...and I have nothing either...I have bills to pay so I declare bankruptcy as well...which in turn affects any business I have credit with.

In a nutshell THAT is what happened. The system had a back door where it SEEMED they could offload the risk of these loans. But, all it did was inject the system with a huge amount of high risk. And, it was risk that did not have to be reported to ANYBODY because of how lax regulations are.

So, the housing crisis came about because of a system that any risk was acceptable because it could be offloaded. That was possible because of lax regulations. This allowed practically anybody to be able to get a mortgage loan...regardless if they could pay it back or now.

Simplistic yes, but the truth in a nutshell. Not everyone should be guaranteed to buy a home, especially if they cannot afford it. There is no shame in rent. I did it as a single mom. Again, it was like a ponzi scheme.

Monker tried to explain it to you , in such a simple way that even YOU should understand, yet you failed to get the point he was trying to make .

[Michigan Girl]

The three c's ...Carter, Clinton, Congress

[artist4perry]

The housing crisis came about because of loans being given to people who could not afford them in the first place.

That's only partially true...and very simplistic.

Why would a lender lend to somebody who could not pay back the loan? How are they going to make money from it? By offloading the risk to somebody else.

Say you are broke, have no job, pennyless, no assets to speak of...and you ask to borrow $100 from me. I say OK! I charge you %10 interest, blah, blah blah. Then I turn to Andrew and tell him I will pay him $10 to take the risk of this loan. So, if you default, HE owes ME the balance.

Now, let's say everybody on the forum does the same thing with me. So, I bundle up $10,000 worth of these loans and I tell Andrew I'll pay him $1000 to take on the risk of these loans....and he'll owe me if any of these loans go bad. And, he does it.

Alrighty then! I'm sitting pretty with $10,000 worth of loans + interest....and ANDREW is taking on the risk, not me! Awesome!

Well, the loans start going bad. I start demanding my money from Andrew. He can't pay so he declares bankruptcy. Suddenly that $10,000 becomes $0...and I have nothing either...I have bills to pay so I declare bankruptcy as well...which in turn affects any business I have credit with.

In a nutshell THAT is what happened. The system had a back door where it SEEMED they could offload the risk of these loans. But, all it did was inject the system with a huge amount of high risk. And, it was risk that did not have to be reported to ANYBODY because of how lax regulations are.

So, the housing crisis came about because of a system that any risk was acceptable because it could be offloaded. That was possible because of lax regulations. This allowed practically anybody to be able to get a mortgage loan...regardless if they could pay it back or now.

Simplistic yes, but the truth in a nutshell. Not everyone should be guaranteed to buy a home, especially if they cannot afford it. There is no shame in rent. I did it as a single mom. Again, it was like a ponzi scheme.

Monker tried to explain it to you , in such a simple way that even YOU should understand, yet you failed to get the point he was trying to make .

Blow it out your Butt B. It still falls down to people giving loans to folks that cannot afford it. I got what he is saying. Even if someone else could "offload the loan" it doesn't mean they will honor it. I am not as stupid as you think. But if the "risky" loans were never made in the first place we would not be in this mess, and that is my point. Regardless of how well they played the game borrow from Peter to pay Paul. I am not saying what he said was wrong. I happen to agree with him on that. So take that stick it in your tail pipe and and blow Dixie for me... I always said you were a musical fool! What got a burr up your backside grouchy?

[artist4perry]

The three c's ...Carter, Clinton, Congress

Things full of Crap! Or what is a peanut farmer, a womanizer, and a drain on everyone's wallet! Sorry MG, nothing against you personally.