Which would you say best describes...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

Poll question: Which would you say best describes...

...the near term outlook for our economy expressed by the author of the editorial linked below?

And secondly, have you started your emergency provisioning for the kind of chaos (runaway inflation, panic, crime, etc) that may accompany a sudden and severe economic downturn?

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http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2734.shtml

---SNIP---

A nation's economic system is a reflection pool. The face that looks back from the water is the face of the culture and the prevailing ethos.

It's no different with America. The stewards of the US economic system -- Paulson and Bernanke -- are inextricably linked to a political/military establishment which has been thoroughly marinated in a culture of violence and corruption. Paulson's “Marshall Plan” for subprime homeowners is just the gloved hand of the autocrat. The other hand is still busy gouging out eyes at Guantanamo, or clubbing foreign nationals at CIA black sites, or dropping incendiary bombs on schoolchildren in Falluja. It's all the same. The culture of war and demagoguery has its roots in the economic system. Its financial leaders are just as culpable as any low-ranking GI at Abu Ghraib.

The Paulson plan has nothing to do with saving working class people from the ravages of foreclosure. Oh, no. The Bush administration is ideologically opposed to helping people in need. We know that already. Just look at Katrina. The real purpose of the proposed “bailout” is to allow enough people to keep making minimal payments on their mortgages so the banking system doesn't collapse in a heap. That's it. It's a sign that desperation has set in at the Federal Reserve. The last time the government orchestrated a bailout of this magnitude was during the '30s. And, guess what? George Bush is no Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The truth is, the system is reeling and the Fed is in a state of panic. They are doing everything in their power to keep the train on the tracks, but nothing is succeeding. They've slashed rates, accepted dodgy collateral (like commercial paper and shaky mortgage-backed securities) as repos, and extended the length of the repos indefinitely, which is the same as “monetizing” the debt. Paulson has tried to set up a Super SIV to help the major investment banks offload their mortgage-backed junk on the wary public, but that isn't working either. Nothing is working. Meanwhile, the economic headwinds keep getting stronger, the waves keep crashing over the bow, and ship-o-state keeps listing perilously on its side. It's a real mess. . .




On edit: Minor spelling/grammar fix.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

1. Kick for a larger sample. nt.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. Kick for a larger sample. nt.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

3. Kick for a larger sample. nt.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

4. Kick for a larger sample. nt.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

5. Kick for a larger sample. nt.