Obama isn't Going to Save You

[Robert Oak]

Now before you think this is an Obama troll post, think again.

That's the title of a blog post over on The Economic Populist, written by a strong Obama supporter.

What he's talking about is really frightening reports on the housing crisis and the potential for real economic collapse because of it.

Obama isn't going to save you. You are going to have to do it yourself.

The one thing I've consistently seen on the progressive web sites whenever someone points out an economic problem is an attitude of, "Just wait until Obama gets in. Then he'll fix this."

This is delusional thinking! It's as bad as the mindless, head nodding of the Republicans when Bush told them that people hated America "because of our freedom."
For instance, there is talk of a "New New Deal". Obama is promising universal health care.

Where exactly is this money going to come from?
First of all, we need to get a grip on what we are facing.

An Economic Time-Bomb

The Bush Administation and Federal Reserve has worked hard to make certain that the costs from the credit bubble bust will be pushed onto the next administration.
For instance, the FDIC has only taken over 8 banks so far, but they'll be taking over hundreds of failed banks in the next couple years

The post is too long to reprint here, so go over to EP to read the rest.

Especially click on his reference links for he has stories, from main stream media that I sure haven't seen, which have numbers that will cause the hair on the back of your neck to rise.

He's concluding that the American people must demand dramatic policy change on the economic front. I agree.

[Deja Q]

1. I got an e-mail from a moderator about a post that had nothing to do with Obama, citing

I had to show support. That was a :wtf: moment.

That ain't nuttin' compared to your thread.

Just sayin'.

If we're all dead, we're dead. Just live for today. It's all anyone on this sodding planet's got. :shrug:

Meanwhile, live in hope. ANYTHING is possible. :think:


Hey, is Fort Knox a myth?

[Robert Oak]

5. DU moderation

Well, sometimes this site moves so fast that maybe they plain didn't read long enough to realize it. Pobody's nerfect...volunteer to be one and I'll bet it's the case. On the other hand, dissent has been squished on more than one site, so...well,

The Economic Populist is an economics blog versus a political blog, although obviously there is major cross over.

So, ya know we're going by the numbers and man, I'm the admin for the site and when I read this post this morning and checked all of the references, even I was like woah on some of these economic statistics.

Seriously, if the housing crisis is as bad as he is indicating, we are really in for some serious financial trouble, there is just no avoiding it (unless of course our Congress took some real action in favor of working America, i.e. the middle class losing their ass in their largest financial asset).

[Possumpoint]

2. Reality Is

That the shit is about to hit the fan and GWB and company plus the Fed have postponed things so It won't happen on his watch. Our new president as well as congress better be prepared for a very rocky road.

[Robert Oak]

7. exactly

and so far in a nutshell....he's sayin' they ain't.

[Bob Dobbs]

3. Neo-cons stole the treasury, then borrowed trillion$ and stole that.

busholini inc must be prosecuted with extreme prejudice and be forced to return the purloined trillions with interest.


Then the guillotines.

We have no economy left to save, and the next administration will be a very grim one.

WPA, anyone?

[LSparkle]

4. I stopped being a conspicuous consumer about 7 years ago ...

No debt now, and I no longer miss going to the mall every
weekend, scanning newspaper ads for the latest gadgets, TVs,
etc. I don't expect Obama's election to help me personally
in terms of my financial health, but I do look forward to the
psychological lift it would provide. (Not to mention not
having to fear running into a GWB presser when I turn on my
TV first thing in the morning.)

Little things -- it's all about the little things.

[babylonsister]

16. We've done the same. We're debt-free except for the

about $1,200-1,500 we need to pay off monthly for the mortgage and bills, but our cards are gone.
I expect nothing other than to finally be able to look at a president and actually want to hear him, to have the rest of the world be happy that we finally did the right thing, and to start working on fixing the problems this fucked-up admin made.

[CrispyQ]

18. Hi LSparkle!

I also stopped being a conspicuous consumer several years ago. We were about to purchase a newer, bigger house when out of the blue my husband offered me the chance to take 1-2 years off work instead. "It would mean we stay here in our little house." It changed my life. My weekly visits to the mall stopped, I no longer looked through the Sunday ads to see what trinkets I wanted to purchase that week, & I started tossing the many, many mail order catalogs in the recycle bin without even looking at them.

Since then we've paid off our house & all our debt. If we had gone with the bigger house, we would be 9 years into a mortgage that would have been twice what our old one was & we would be tied to whatever 40 hour a week jobs we could get. Most of my friends have upgraded their life styles significantly & some are now living in fear of layoffs or that their house is not worth what they owe on it.

Two sayings that I keep in mind:

Time is the essence of our lives.

He who dies with the most toys, still dies.

:hi:

[Hannah Bell]

24. Downsizing is fine, but not out of fear, & not when the top 5% is upsizing.

We could all consume less of some things & it probably wouldn't do us any harm, but our lives ARE harmed when a small group of people controls most of the earth's resources & power, & saying "well, they'll die too" is cold comfort. In fact, the way genetic research & biotech is going - maybe they won't.

[grasswire]

6. can you link directly to that blog?

I can't seem to find it on the links you provided.

[Robert Oak]

8. links working

I just checked them. Here is the direct raw link:

http://www.economicpopulist.org/?q=content/obama-isnt-going-save-you

and to the top of the site

http://www.economicpopulist.org/

[Hugin]

9. After much reflection...

K&R

Yes, it's up to the citizens.

[sendero]

10. That's correct...

.. because NOBODY can stop the train that is barreling towards us.

Not Ben Bernanke, not Henry Paulson, not a president, not a senator, not anybody.

It is coming, and those folks have already figured that out, they are trying to slow it down a little, but even that is coming undone.

No, Obama is not going to save anybody.

[Robert Oak]

11. can be undone

that's the point. while it is a tsunami, if they act now with some serious policy changes in trade policy, economic policy, regulation, investment stopping/curtailing outsourcing....they sure as hell could minimize the damage and start rebuilding the nation.

[Yavin4]

12. McCain's Economic Plan: Tax Cuts and War in Iran

He will pass more tax cuts for corporations and start a war in Iran. So, when the economy collapses, he, and the idiot punditry class, will all blame the war for the bad economy.

[Tigress DEM]

14. Tax cuts for the rich - bah - trickle down, my arse.

Time to start auditing these freakish billionaires down to the penny and freezing their assets for every wrong dime misspent.

[Tigress DEM]

13. Even Obama is calling for all out cooperation to "get er done"

No one person can do this alone. Bush and his minons have been pissing on the Constitution and ripping up our rights and robbing us blind for 8 years and Reagan before him did a good job of taking a surplus and turning it into a deficit.

Most of us DEMS have been living on close to nothing or just enough to get by on for so many years we can all pool our skills and figure this out together. Everyone will find things we can do, just like during WW II without having to send our soldiers somewhere to kill and be killed.

The policy can and will change, but we all have to adjust ourselves to a different way of living for it to work.

[WhiteTara]

15. There are no political miracles

but we do have an mandate to do what we can to live.

[Dover]

17. ....and Obama will guide us through the economic wilderness and part the red sea of Republicans!

Have no fear, oh children of Miserable!

[Truth4Justice]

19. Obama wont save us but a McSham presidency would wipe us out for good.

By that I mean the poor and the disadvantaged, the hadicapped and anyone who
can barely make ends meet now. I am going to sea working on a cargo vessel for
four years if McSham wins. At least I will have a place to work and eat. And I wont be
here when the really nasty stuff begins to happen.

[AnneD]

20. Obama may not save me...

but he sure as hell could level the playing field.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

21. FDR wouldn't have saved us, except that we demanded it! NT

[Hannah Bell]

22. The pattern in europe has been that "the left" has been used to push

through changes that the right wouldn't be able to. it's been the pattern here too - e.g. clinton with welfare & telecoms.

the truth is, "the economy" is people & resources. if there's a will to do something, it's perfectly possible to do it. roosevelt signed off on social security when 1/4 the population had no jobs, & truth be told, he could have done more.

"Where exactly is this money going to come from?" is the wrong question, it's the question that keeps people from seeing what's possible. Money is fictional, sometimes a useful convenience, more often a means to enslave people.

[Hannah Bell]

23. To be more blunt, this "line" - "we're insolvent, china is going to be dictating

to us!" is how they're going to get ordinary people to accept a reduced standard of living to maintain corporate profits & finance continuing concentration of wealth & power.

Oh, mortgages are going into default? Well, duh, do you think the bright boys in charge didn't understand that would be the end game when they changed the banking laws & made the loans, while holding down wages & shipping out jobs?

Oh, we're borrowing money from China? Do you think they don't know this? Who in the hell do you think has been financing China's "boom" since the 80s but Europe & the US: their banks, their corporations. & who's been enabling it via law but their politicians, on both the left & the right?

They're creating the crisis to justify the economic & political changes they want to make, changes that will leave them with more money & power & most people everywhere with less. It's the same pattern, over & over again.