Harper Bails Out Banks
Ian @ October 10, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Harper & Flaherty give banks twenty five billion for mortgages. Most are not in default, which is switch, but why now? Are the banks in trouble, as they are in the States, and Harper simply won’t admit it, or is this just a way to head off possible trouble? Does it help ease the credit crunch, or is there much more to this bailout? And why now, five days before the election? Just what is Harper hiding, and why should he be trusted to tell us the truth? Markets are tumbling and Harper gives banks cash? WHY?
More on page 1519
More Market Chaos
Ian @ October 9, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Is the constant uncertainty in the financial markets due to real problems in the Corporate World, or is it simply fear that there is no answer? Is the tumbling markets because companies can’t afford to expand, or that consumers can no longer afford to buy? If the latter, then why are Governments directing all their efforts to helping the corporate world, rather than the consumer? Surely if consumer spending is key, shouldn’t they be about protecting people from losing houses, rather than helping the one’s who put them into that situation? Scary times, that show that the corporate based parties of Bush & Harper have failed the very people who voted for them. Time to get the bums out, before they are forced to sell your first born, who is already mortgaged as is his first born, thanks to the corporate bailouts.
More on page 1509
400 Million for Tech Jobs
Ian @ October 8, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Prudent planning, tax cuts, are the buzz words of George Bush, of his Republican party, that has mired the world in a looming depression. These are the policies that Stephen Harper now touts as his parties platform, claiming it is about staying the course. This isn’t staying the course, this is letting a sinking ship sink, instead of getting people to bail it out, to get the pumps working to shift the incoming tide of water. This isn’t sticking to a policy that is working, but being stubborn and ignoring the truth, that failed Bush policies didn’t work for him, and won’t work in Canada. The crisis in our economy requires action, not trite phrases taken from a failure like George Bush. Yet that is exactly what Stephen Harper is doing, and holding it up as being prudent sensible leadership. It isn’t , it is arrogance, it is stupidity, and it is dangerous. It threatens our entire way of life, all because Stephen Harper knows it all, because, gee, George Bush told him so.
More on page 1507
Is Credit Too Easy?
Ian @ October 4, 2008 # No Comment Yet
I wonder, how we blindly trust that those on the other end of the phone are who they say they are. Identity theft is up, and its no wonder, as banks try to solicit business over the phone, and people blindly give out personal details, including their social insurance number, to whoever asks. That is just asking for trouble, and the more credit cards you have, the more you spend. That’s great but at what cost? Buying now creates a false economy, and we can see how that works, just look at the USA today. We need to stop being a nation of borrowers and start becoming a nation of builders, a nation of paying for what we want, today, not on the never never plan. Credit is too easy, and then we see how it unfolds, as greed takes precedence over responsible fiscal policies. This is the root cause, but who is willing to make those sacrifices? Who is willing to tell the truth about it, certainly not Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.
More on page 1497
Bailout Passes Congress
Ian @ October 3, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The passage of the corporate bailout bill, that rewards those who are greedy, created an interesting stir. Stock Markets, that this bill was supposed to help stabilize dropped on hearing the news, despite posting gains without it. Now what will be the response? Elected officials today, in Washington, showed that they do not represent the people who voted for them, but instead showed they are bought and paid for by special interests, and corporate lobbyists. This was a victory by the elite, who shoved their bailout down the people’s throat, and now kids not even born yet will be paying for this nightmare mess. Worse, is how it will effect any future plans to bring about universal health care, or restructuring of the education system, or even finance the repair of the aged infrastructure of the country. Pensions will not be boosted, unless you are a CEO, and the housing crisis will not ease. This bill does nothing to protect the Middle Class, merely gives a few more of the upper income earners a chance at the golden goose. Only trouble is, where is all this money going to come from? The depression was also about too much debt, and here we go again, so it makes you wonder, did Congressional members each get paid off in gold coins, or what?
More on page 1493
The New Bailout
Ian @ October 2, 2008 # No Comment Yet
As the pressure mounts for the House of Representatives to pass the billion dollar gift to Corporate America, one has to wonder, just who do they represent? Is it the people who elect them, or the ones who contribute millions to their election campaigns? Then too you have to wonder, what or who, will defend the interests of the average working persson? While billions are being readied to be spent in the plush boardrooms of the corporate elite, what is happening to help the average person sitting at their kitchen table, trying to figure out their food budget?
More on page 1475
Bribery or Inducement?
Ian @ October 2, 2008 # One Comment
By adding a $110 billion to the package, the Senate came on board to pass the bailout of Corporate America, or at least the Fortune 100. The need for this bailout is not to just protect banks, but to get credit flowing again, so that people can buy more. Course it doesn’t answer the question as to why that is so important. After all, it was those very people, who extended themselves financially, that helped create this nightmare mess, because banks extended more credit, than they could afford to pay back. It is like having the barn door closed, then once again opening it to let the animals out at will. This bailout is nothing but a bribe, a payoff, for all that campaign money delivered. It isn’t about protecting American citizens, but about protecting giant conglomerates.
More on page 1473
Feel like a Yo Yo?
Ian @ October 1, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Truth is, that the financial markets are a gamble, and yet for those in it for the long haul, the roller coaster rides of the last week, month, has no real impact on one’s wealth or investment health. This is just fear mongering by politicians too closely aligned with the Corporate Elite. Instead of reducing their big salaries, corporate execs lay off workers, move plants to foreign countries, yet expect the taxpayer to bail them out. They make wrong decisions, but their salaries don’t drop, instead they run to their hand picked politicians to give them more tax cuts, to bail them out. Banks screwed up, got greedy, mortgages became worthless and instead of paying the price for their greed, they want the taxpayer to bail them out. And leaders like Bush & Harper rush to do just that, because after all, they are the chosen one’s, by the Corporate Elite, to run the Government. The tax cuts, tax breaks, bail outs, are the price they have to pay for the support of these rich elitists. It is our money, but while we get no breaks, we pay the price. When we screw up, we pay, when they screw up, we pay. That is Harpernomics, that is George Bush politics.
More on page 1464
Politics or Skepticism?
Ian @ September 29, 2008 # One Comment
Does the failed bailout mean we are in a depression? If you listen to Bush and the conservative fear mongering it does, but truth be told, it doesn’t. The fact is, this was a bailout for Corporate Elite, that really wasn’t going to make it easier for the average citizen to pay their bills, keep their homes, or keep their jobs. This was an attempt to make the taxpayer eat the cost of corporate greed, helped by the conservative mantra of free trade, and tax breaks for the rich. This is what Stephen Harper, George Bush, engineered, with their policies of giving huge tax breaks to the corporate world, and in reducing government oversight & regulation. This is the price of policies like giving mining companies the right to dump toxic waste in rivers, to save them money. This is about allowing cheap labor by failing to secure one’s own borders. This is about giving tax breaks to companies who ship jobs overseas, to get even cheaper labor. This is about letting food companies self regulate and then making jokes about those sickened by the lack of proper sanitary care. This is George Bush, John McCain, Stephen Harper.
More on page 1452
Shades of 1929?
Ian @ September 25, 2008 # No Comment Yet
If it is a ruse, a scare tactic, you have to wonder at what kind of idiot came up with that one, because the last thing the stock markets need, is panic, or the specter of the crash of 1929 being raised in their faces. Yet that is exactly what George Bush and his incompetent team are doing, in an effort to push through their 700 billion dollar bailout package. At the same time Stephen Harper tells us how safe our economy is from US fallout, should things continue downwards, over there. Now I don’t know, but that is like the pot calling the kettle black. Naturally we won’t escape, specially if there is a crash similar to 1929, so what kind of leadership is it to tell us we won’t? Better to tell us he has a plan, but then, who would believe him? Not like he has an energy plan or an environmental one, so why would he have an economic one? Just like Bush, his plan is tax cuts, and give aways to the corporate elite, which really doesn’t help you and me, now does it?
More on page 1438
Seven Hundred Billion?
Ian @ September 22, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The Bush administration is pushing Congress to act quickly on its bailout package. A bailout that puts seven hundred billion dollars of taxpayer money on the line, and for what? Does it ease the dropping housing prices, does it make it easier for the mom & pop operations to stay in business, or the average citizen to pay their bills easier? Does it push the price of gas down, making it cheaper to get to work? Does it add or even protect any job losses? After all, the taxpayer is on the hook, what about the corporate executives that caused this mess, are they on the hook for anything?
More on page 1422
The Big Bail Out Grows
Ian @ September 19, 2008 # One Comment
The move by Bush to shore up the ailing financial markets is supposed to provide confidence, to reassure people that their money is safe. Course he doesn’t say is that he is using your money for the bailout, to help those who are putting the squeeze on you to begin with, on who created this nightmare mess. While it may be necessary to do, he has no plan to protect you from it happening again, and again. After all, you can keep on bailing them out, until you run out of money.
More on page 1413
Oil Under $100 a Barrel
Ian @ September 15, 2008 # No Comment Yet
When oil goes up, the price at the pump goes up. When it was at $147 a barrel, the price per liter here was $1.45. Crude Oil today hit $97 a barrel, and the price at the pump is at $1.52. Now something isn’t right, that even a blind person can see. This artificial price is nothing but the Oil Industry gouging the people. And what is Stephen Harper’s answer to this rip off? Why he thinks it is basically okay, that there will be ups and downs in the market, and we shouldn’t worry. Basically he says our economy is strong, even though the USA economy out performed us for the first part of this year. Think about it, with their housing crisis, their own high gas prices, but they did better than we did? When Harper came to power, we had the strongest economy going, now we are at the bottom of the G8 leader board, and when you take into account that Harper is supposed to be an economist, you have to worry. How can he take a strong vibrant, growing economy, and in less than four years, bring it to its knees? And he expects us to give him and his financial wizards another four or so years to run our economy? Just where is he going to run it, it’s already nearly into the ground, so what, bury it next?
More on page 1380
Bailing Out American Banks
Ian @ September 15, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The world banks, including the Bank of Canada, are rushing to make it easier for failing financial institutes to borrow our money, to stay afloat and continue their policy of ripping off the people. This is a bail out of firms who created the mortgage crisis in the United States, and we are stuck with bailing them out, while the same governments, refuse to step in and help us survive the higher fuel prices. Just as they let the Financial Markets screw up the housing industry, screw up the safety net of owning property, to where houses have dropped by as much as 50%, they are bailing them out, while the Oil Industry gets it’s turn at screwing the public. Higher fuel prices, higher everything as a result, but who gets the bail out? Banks for screwing up the housing industry, Oil Companies with tax cuts, with immigration breaks to hire cheap labor, and we get stuck with paying for it. Thank you George Bush, Republicans, Stephen Harper, Conservative Party. Thank you for ruining our countries, for putting us smack into a depression.
More on page 1378
Do We Import Refined Oil?
Ian @ September 12, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The overnight rise in gas prices of 13 cents, in some cities, only shows how greedy the Oil Industry has become. They are afraid of the proposed changes by Layton & Dion, and should they get elected, then the gravy train will end. So in the meantime, using the pretext of possible disruption in the USA, they raise the prices in Canada. Tell me again why we don’t need to regulate these greed merchants? Oh right, because then they couldn’t give millions to the Harper Conservatives. Figures, bought and paid for, just like his mentor & hero George Bush. Using fear & attack politics, the Republican President has destroyed the US Economy, and now his clone, Stephen Harper is trying for the same record in Canada. When will we, the people, wake up?
More on page 1365