This Was The Moment That The Economy Began To Heal

Hockey stick graph with illegal blade size?

Beep Beep!

The scary part is the size of this deficit is that it is based on some revenue projections that have had a large amount of sunshine blown up their butt.

And when the bond and note holders in China figure out that these policies will stifle initiative, economic freedom and hamper the most valuable asset America has - the ingenuity of its people, that the Administration just wants to divvy up the pie not grow it, there will be hell to pay.

America is marching down the road to being surly fek'd.

Less than two years to the mid term elections.

I gotta get one of those stickers.

Have none of these Democrat imbeciles ever heard of Japan? They're going to BE Japan by next year.

Yep, I need one of those.

See what happens when you get low rates on Treasury securities? ;)

Haters!

/(sarc off)

Actually, there are several typos on that bumper sticker. It should read, "Honky, you're paying my mortgage".

This is just the deficit year per year, let's remember.

I've posted before about the US debt, here's another graph:

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/history.gif

Do you remember that old story about the chessboard, and the "doubling" effect, one grain, two grains, four grains, etc?

The final square of the chessboard would then contain 2.6 km e2 of wheat

Could this be the analogous final stages of reckoning for our credit based society?

I shudder to think of it.

Barry Owe

Hawaii 5-Owe

Owebama

Owed to the Democrats

Owe we are saved

Owe you can believe

I'm glad I'm not the only one to think that it is unwise policy to spend ones way out of debt.

Paying your mortgage is a moral hazard.

And they said Bush was a big spender.

CBC News
Bush's last budget deficit sets record
Red ink gusher estimated at $438 billion US in latest year
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 7, 2008
The U.S. federal budget deficit hit a new record in the just-completed 2008 budget year under the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

The record $438 billion for the budget year that ended last week is up from $162 billion posted last year. The previous record of $413 billion was posted in 2004.

Now Obama is going to raise the deficit to 1.75 trillion.But CBC does not call this an "Red ink gusher".

wonder how many of the "going to be taxed to broke" rich folks are already quietly moving assets out of the country????

Wasn't the surplus when the republicans controlled Congress? They made Clinton a centrist.

That graph is scarier than surfboard shark-fishing.
(Why do you Eskimos have to make everything about race?)

Hey, I wasn't calling him the Big Owe for nuttin'.

What I wanna know is exactly when will the general population realize that the Wall Street bank bailouts are BS?
Just letting Mr Market sort things out would have been simpler and cheaper in the long run.

Most politicians hate Mr Market because he rewards people careful with their own money, and can brutally assault those that aren't.
Mr Market doesn't reward stupidity, only the Dems are doing that.

Can you say 'Currency Devaluation' ? aka Hyperinflation.

It should read "HONK if I'm Paying YOUR Mortgage"

Perhaps Canada should start divesting itself of US assets (ie. dollars) and buying gold (since we've literally got tons of the stuff lying in the ground in our Far North). Furthermore, we should start looking overseas for buyers of our natural resources--who will pay us in gold.

Imagine if our dollar was backed by gold--we would not only have the most stable banks in the world..we'd also have the most reliable money--maybe even become the financial centre of excellence. Who says we can't become what the NYSE was during the 20th Century?

Let's be realistic, manufacturing is going the way of the dodo here in North America...since our workers will not be satisfied with the $10/day jobs people in Third World countries kill each other for. However, the financial industry requires literate and numerate "workers". Places like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands make huge amounts of money from providing financial services to everybody else. And we've also got thousands of lawyers graduating every year from Canadian universities who can assist well-heeled, overseas patrons in the investment of their money here in Canada.

Let's break it down:

1) The World Economic Forum stated that Canada has the "soundest" banks in the world--so publicity isn't a problem (we just have to keep putting it out there to the world);

2) All the major European economies are going down the toilet; and

3) Our largest trading partner is going down the path of socialism which may force their richest inhabitants to hide their money outside of the US--and perhaps look for a more tax benign country to live in--somewhere they can speak English and get all the US TV shows.

Why aren't we taking advantage of this again?

~~favill~~

Bottom line: Clinton was good.

Just look from 1993 to 2001. Then the mess came.

This was the moment the economy began to heel.

There, fixed that for you.

Oh, say! will you buy by the quarter's next end
Banks so proudly we bailed at Lehman Bro's last gleaming?
At Broad Street and the Wall, with drinks clenched in their hands,
Investment bankers watched with tears morosely streaming.
And the red ink's bright glare, the bonds bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that the cupboard was bare:
Oh, say! does that IOU note yet choke
In the throats of the free and the home of the broke?

US banks leveraged 25 to 1

European banks leveraged 60 to 1

PM Harper has very pointedly suggested to Canadian businesses that they begin finding markets outside the USA. I wonder why?

Bottom line: Clinton was good.

Just look from 1993 to 2001. Then the mess came.

Posted by: quebecois separatiste at February 26, 2009 9:38 PM

No QS....2001 onward,Clinton chickens starting coming home to roost.Now the Big Zero ain't even waiting for them to come home,he's raising them himself.
Man.If turkeys could fly as well as the lie,it sure would be esay to spot the leftards.

Please note the difference between the American Congressional System and our Parliamentary System. In the Parliamentary system only the executive (ie the government) can request spending of tax money or the levy of tax. Parliament must approve the executive's request but cannot initiate the requests, The Congressional system allows the legislative branch to initiate taxes and spending. It must also approve the taxes and spending. The executive (ie the President) presents a budget but the legislature can alter the requested budget as it sees fit. It may pass laws requiring the executive to spend money on programs it has no political desire to run. The President's only remedy is a veto of the entire legislation and the veto may be over turned by sufficient congressional votes.
In Canada it is fair to blame the government for running huge deficits or praise it for balanced or surplus budgets but in the USA the blame/praise rests with the Congress. True, a President has influence through arm twisting/horse trading or moral suasion (LBJ was the master of these tactics!) but at the end of the day, the Congress must wear the hat.

Clinton was a nightmare in 1993 until the republicans got controll of Congress. Clinton had no option, but to work with Newt, et al. It was blissful. Now, it's a f***ing nightmare. I have never consumed so much vodka in my life. And now, I probably won't be able to afford Ketel One anymore. Crud!

Québec separatiste - I'm not so sure it's as simple as looking at one graph and making conclusions based on that.

For example, a losing company can boost its bottom line by selling properties that it owns that aren't profitable, (making them look as if they've turned the company around), but they can only do that for so long, and then they lose money again.

During Clinton's term, there was a tremendous stock bubble, which meant that people had a lot of money and spent freely, increasing taxes, etc etc.

I'm convinced that any current government essentially runs the present day based on the previous government's decisions and policies. I think it takes a long time to steer the big ship of government.

Cordialement

As somebody noted this foolishness is heavily dependant on overseas credit....China and India...and the oil sheiks....
If these wisely refuse (they may and should)...the BIG 0 losses his credit card and all fall down.....
The Zero will have an extremely short 1st term.........

A trillion here, a trillion there pretty soon it adds up to real money.

Oh them printing presses will be churning.

This certainly fits the change category of promises. But hey he didn't say it was positive or negative change. Maybe spare change?

Come now President Obama, surely you can toss little ol me a billion?

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group "True North"

As somebody noted this foolishness is heavily dependant on overseas credit....China and India...and the oil sheiks....
If these wisely refuse (they may and should)...the BIG 0 losses his credit card and all fall down.....
The Zero will have an extremely short 1st term.........
Posted by: sasquatch at February 26, 2009 11:36 PM

sasquatch, I do not believe there will be a sufficient demand internationally to fund Obama's foolish 2-trillion-dollar experiment. The US treasury will be forced to print money, causing inflation. With rising unemployment in the US, stagflation is an entirely probable outcome.

This is truly frightening stuff.

3) Our largest trading partner is going down the path of socialism which may force their richest inhabitants to hide their money outside of the US--and perhaps look for a more tax benign country to live in--

Why aren't we taking advantage of this again?

~~favill~~
Posted by: favill at February 26, 2009 9:17 PM

--------------------------------------------

Because favill American citizens are subject to U.S. tax laws for FIVE years after they leave the the country.

re Mr g @ 12:25

too bad US taxpayers cannot reach an agreement with the taxman like the one the Bronfman family trust did with CCRA under the Liberals: ie take all your untaxed capital gains out of the country without paying any tax! C'est une bonne bargain! A great return on all those contributions to the Liberal Party over the years.
Too bad the Bronfmans moved their money to the USA and now it will come back to bite them in the bum.

this is the moment the economy started to Heil

Keep the Change.

Posted by: Colin from Mission B.C. at February 26, 2009 11:52 PM

You're too right, Colin. Perhaps maobama has plans to use that inflation in the future: with a highly devalued US peso, it'd be pretty easy to repay the chinese and other creditors with worthless greenbacks! Just print 'em, hand 'em out, and move on...

mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm

Don't you just love people like Quebecois? People who don't realize that the House controls the budget, not the president. People who have no idea how financial systems work. The only thing Clinton did that was reasonable was expand free trade and get rid of those stupid regulations that prevented interstate branch banking. That's it.

QS, don't you remember Waco? Clinton did that. In 1993. With a Dem congress and a Dem senate.

Then there was an election. 1994. The eeeeevile Republicans gained power in the congress. No more Wacos.

Damn Republicans.

From the frequently hilarious dealbreaker.com:

Yes, we could be angry. We could be very angry indeed. Fortunately, cooler heads have prevailed, and instead we have begun the slow process of financial fraud recovery. Specifically:

1. We admitted we were powerless over Ponzi schemes and fraud--that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than money could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of unemployment checks as we understood them.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our assets.

5. Admitted to the bank, to ourselves, and to another investor the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have the bankruptcy judge remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him (the judge) to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all creditors we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such creditors wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it to our auditors.

11. Sought through our attorney to improve our conscious contact with Him as we understood Him, pleading only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a financial awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

So, this news seems... well... beneath us. We'd write more, but we have a meeting to go to.