Masa. Specijalni izbori u Senat......uzmite TOG Obamu!

Yes....I am sitting here with an adult beverage celebrating that the "borrow and spend, spend, spend" Democrats have taken a mighty hit in the Mass. special Senate election. 

Hopefully, this will at least put some brakes on Obama and the Polosi Democrats tanking our nation.

Ahhhhhh....Ted Kennedy's seat going to the Republicans!  Karma is such a bit..h!

I'm gonna drive my truck to D.C. just to watch the the progressive's squirm.

I think that it was in part the news leaking out of all the perks and sweetheart backroom deals and her onw attitude which led to this defeat. I saw a clip from a John Stewart show in which Coakely was asked about her campaigning and she responded

"Be out in the cold next to the ballpark shaking hands?"

That kind of an attitude would even turn me to vote for anyone else no matter if they were my party or not. I oly think this will be interesting in the coming months to see what occurs.

I am ECSTATIC of the outcome of that election in Mass!!  Holy Moly, if that doesn't send a strong message to the current administration about Americans being fed up and that we aren't going to take anymore....I don't know what will.  I've been waiting patiently for the REAL truths to come out after Obama was elected and they are slowly coming to the surface.  I'm terrified of what the govt run health care plan would do to this country, her people, and just hope...and pray....that with the newly elected Mass Senator, it will lose its momentum.  Yep...take THAT Obama

Amen hymacaw!

What is supposed to come out about Obama?  He is not GOD and he is about change, maybe not the change some people wanted but it was a change from the good ole boy network...as far as the change of guard in Massachussets, well the Kennedys held on it to it forever and now thats a change for: we will see.  President Obama inherited a lot and so its gonna takea lot to fix it, but working together is the change I was hoping for and some folks dont want that change and thats the bottom line here and thats my take on it.  I do feel President Obama needs to focus more on jobs and the economy because that it was needs some care ..and as far as health care...well I wish i had some but I will survive that too as I have for 54 and counting years.  It has been a year since he took office and it will take more than that too make some positive changes and there is a President but he doesnt rule alone, you have the senate the house and the lobbyists, the crooks, the special interest groups .....he has so much opposition, there are those that are out there too see him fail so that we will never have a president that is not from the good ole boy network and that is how  I feel about the whole darn situation.  GOD Bless America.....land that i live in.

I think the one good thing about this is that Brown said "We don't want to throw out health care, we just need to redo it"

Now that I can agree with. I am for all people having it, seen too many suffer due to the lack of it after I came back to WA. Just without all that BS that was put into the original.

I sincerely meant NO disrespect towards Obama in my previous posts, more of a frustration coming out of the let downs from all the promises made from his campaign.  But...that IS what politics are all about...what POLITICIANS are all about and I really don't care for ANY of them.  Yes, Prez Obama was left with a mess from the previous administration (as was the Bush administration) and I do believe he had the best intentions to try and fix what was broke.  Perhaps one year is not enough time to judge ones abilities as the "free world leader" but gosh darn it....we are heading down a path that has all the signals of self destruct and quite frankly, it frightens me.  I am conservative in my political and moral views and what I have seen evolving in the current administration's agenda, well, just sends shivers down my spine.  I think he is in way over his head. I have never condoned the 'good ole boy' politics and think it too, has done great injustice to our country.  Politics and religion are always such passionate, personal and emotional topics for us all aren't they?  I don't have the answers to our problems by any means, just don't agree with how those problems are being handled by our current leader.  But I still believe and hold steadfast to the love and respect of my country...for our freedoms to speak our minds without fear of persecution and WE as a people, are one wonderful nation.

ok...one too many drinkies tonight....off to bed I go.  I don't speak much here on LCB, mostly gambling conversation but there are some topics that are just worthy of engaging in...respectfully of course 

arizonadback I think it's not that he's spending money, but it's how it is BEING spent. When I first heard about the "Stimulus Money" and grants I applauded this as I was sure that our crumbling infastructure would be brought back up.

Nope, we're seeing companies who are well established getting it for some inprovements which they could have "Borrowed" for. However, the banks now won't lend!

Or some of the money is going to states and what happens? They repaved roads already in fair to good condition. Is it any wonder that bridge collapsed in Minn?

We DO need to spend the money, but spent wisely, we'll reap the benefits way down the road. As it is now, I fear more bridge failures and then the fingers will start to point. But it'll be too late for the unfortunate.

I am not frightened, but wary of what is to come, but I hold out hope that this nation will recover, and discover a return to what we know what is right and continue to do so.

genenco.......He is spending money that is BARROWED and we cannot pay back.

Other than bailing out some state workers and hiring more federal workers....all of which is temporary....one is hard pressed to stated what the Stimulus accomplished.

I am glad I am not any younger.  I really feel sorry for the young kids.  They will be the ones paying it back.

medtrans

Genenco & drpsyce,

I happen to be one of those state workers. I can tell you that my state did not use the money to pave roads, nor to bail me out. I work for a revenue generating division that does not need to be bailed out and assists some of the most important citizens of this country-our children-by making sure they receive the support they deserve.

The stimulus money has been used to keep many programs operating allowing us to continue to help the most vulnerable citizens in this time of crisis.

Thousands of people have lost jobs and homes and if weren't for government programs, those thousands of people, many, many with children ,would be living on the streets, their kids would be going hungry and would not be receiving medical care during a flu epidemic. The stimulus has helped AZ continue to provide services to the developmentally disabled, child protective services, medical care, schools, the unemployed, and many others.

The AZ government has many flaws and I am not a big fan of our current governor or legislature, but I do think they did the right thing with the stimulus funds by using it where it was most needed.

I know I have been a little long winded on this subject and apologize for that, it's just that it's a subject that I am personally involved with.

arizona....
I certainly empathize the unemployed and the homeless.  I was there myself in 1996.

For you state workers and your state programs.....Will Obama give you another stimulus this year?  2011?  2012?  Simply throwing a very, very temporary bandage on your state just prolongs hard choices.  Because of the wild borrowing by Obama and the Democrats, not only will state workers loose their jobs AND state services be cut...but MORE will loose jobs and more services cut because the borrowing will worsen the economy.

Case in point:  Obama said WITHOUT the stimulus unemployment would go above 8%.  Well, we passed the stimulus and unemployment went to 10% with no signs of immediate improvement.  Thus, we have learned tanking the overall economy does state workers and state services little good in the long run.

Now, if you are a FEDERAL employee you have seen pay raises and those ranks INCREASE. 

drpsyce,
We will most likely not receive continuing stimulus money, however, it has given the legislature a little more time to attempt to come up with other options. Many cost saving measures have been made, and will continue to be made such as closing offices by merging and selling state owned buildings, among other things.
I know further cuts are likely and it hurts everyone, but by delaying the cuts, I remain hopeful that the economy will start rebounding and further cuts will not be as bad or as long term as they would have been without the stimulus assistance.

of course, these are my opinions for today. Tomorrow, our legislature may make some really dumb decisions, which they are know for doing, and I could have totally different thoughts about them!!

arizona.....Oh, my hat is sure off to you as a public servant.  It's a shame that police, teachers, firefighters, state workers, etc.....tend to get the shaft.  It's not fair.

Well be part of the solution not the problem.  President Obama does not rule the U.S. by himself, so he just got left with a problem and it will take more than a year or more to work it out, about the time things get better there will be another president and they will give him/her credit.  There are more than civil service workers included state, federal, and firefighters losing hours and days and jobs from work, some dont have a day of work.  I am working to be part of the solution, but this is America and everyone has opinion just like everyone has an asshole and sometimes some folks act like one...I am not speaking of anyone at the LCB and if you take it that way then that were you are acting like the above word.  GOD Bless America....land that I live in.

I get confused with all this, but does anyone here happen to know off hand where we borrow the money from, and if there are many who our greatest debt is owed to?

How we get it, is issuing bonds among other things.

Major holder of our debt is China I believe..

Please correct me if wrong

When the Government Writes Checks, Where Does the Money Come From? 

With billions of dollars paid out or promised for financial industry bailouts and the stimulus bill -- and more requests on the way -- Paul Solman looks at where the government is getting the money to pay for the rescue measures.



   

   
   
 
JIM LEHRER: The rescue money source question comes from our economics correspondent, Paul Solman.

PAUL SOLMAN, NewsHour economics correspondent: Time and again, viewers like you have visited our Q&A Web site, "The Business Desk," and asked the following Q: Where is the government getting all the money, several trillion dollars so far, for all its bailouts and stimuli?

Here's the A: The government gets the money two ways, as we're about to explain by putting it graphically.

The Treasury Department borrows money; the Federal Reserve creates it. We'll start with the Fed and creationism and, this being PBS, with a bit of history.

Once upon a time, money -- that most convenient stand-in for value -- was itself valuable, often made of precious metals like gold and silver. Rulers minted the metals into coins and stamped them to vouch for their content, a kind of "Royal Housekeeping Seal of Approval."

But with the industrial revolution came an explosion of new wealth. The supply of gold and silver couldn't keep up; that shackled the trading of wealth and thus economic growth.

So folks came up with paper money: printed promises issued by rulers or rich merchants or banks redeemable for something precious, like gold or silver.

In fact, the U.S. government issued gold certificates from the 1880s to the 1930s. And as recently as the 1960s, all one-dollar bills and most fives and tens were silver certificates, payable to the bearer on demand.

Until recently, few wanted to meddle with the metals, preferring to trust the paper. After all, it's a real hassle to store the shiny stuff, as we learned on a recent visit to a gold and silver dealer in Oakland, California.

CHARLIE MAMMOSER, Northern California Coin Exchange: I've had people come in, and they say, "I want to buy 10, 20, 40 ounces of gold." And they take it away, and I tell them, "Don't think you can hide it in the freezer, because crooks know to look there." "Oh, no, I'm going to go put it in my safe deposit box."

If the bank goes belly up, how do you get into your safe deposit box to get your gold that you bought to protect yourself from all this stuff?

PAUL SOLMAN: So Charlie Mammoser's customers wind up spending their energy on camouflage.

CHARLIE MAMMOSER: I had a customer. He had some thousand-ounce silver bars. And what he did is he spray-painted them black, and he would use them as doorstops in his house. You could walk right by it and never know what it was.



 
 
 

Edward Yardeni
Yardeni Research 
 
That great, big sucking sound you hear out there is global capital coming into our markets.





    Federal Reserve creates money
PAUL SOLMAN: No wonder the less enterprising among us put our trust in Uncle Sam's money. But here's a source of confusion when it comes to that money.

It's not paper that the Fed creates when it makes the new money for its bailouts and the like. Relying on this oldly minted footage, as we TV folks do to visualize dollars, we tend to mislead folks. In fact, there's only $1 trillion or so worth of bills and coins out there at the moment worldwide, pretty much the same amount there was last year.

But there's another $1 trillion or so worth of Federal Reserves in the banking system, most of which have been created in the past 12 months.

We'd interviewed economist David Wyss recently at New York's Central Park Zoo, discussing the extent to which bearish psychology, a form of what's called animal spirits, has played a role in the bath we're all taking. We also asked Wyss, what's a Federal Reserve?

DAVID WYSS, chief economist, Standard & Poor's: All it really is, is an electronic transfer into the bank account. And if they want to buy mortgage-backed securities, all you do is send an electronic signal to the bank and get the securities and exchange.

PAUL SOLMAN: And then the bank has that amount on deposit from the Fed?

DAVID WYSS: That's what federal funds are. The Fed creates money. That's its job. That's a central bank's job.

PAUL SOLMAN: But what's the difference between minted money and Federal Reserves, we asked economist Simon Johnson?

SIMON JOHNSON, MIT Sloan School of Management: It's quite funny. The Federal Reserve insists, absolutely categorically, "We do not print money. That's the U.S. Mint that prints money."

But, of course, the Fed issues money. It's a great deal, right? Instead of having to print it on a printing press, you just do it digitally. It doesn't actually cost you anything, hardly anything to issue these new digits, these new bits of code on a computer somewhere.

PAUL SOLMAN: In other words, these Federal Reserves or federal funds are just digital promises, computer blips, not cash, but just as good, no different than the money in your checking account.

So the Fed is creating money, even if it's not minting it, something like $600 billion new electronic dollars in the past year. But that's not the only way the government is coming up with money to try to quell the crisis. It's also been borrowing money from investors all over the world.

EDWARD YARDENI, president, Yardeni Research: That great, big sucking sound you hear out there is global capital coming into our markets.



 
 
 

Robert Samuelson
Author, The Great Inflation 
 
There is a danger that, if they pump too much in, the ultimate consequence will be inflation, which they don't want. 





Foreign investments
PAUL SOLMAN: We caught up with economist Ed Yardeni at an investment breakfast a while ago.

EDWARD YARDENI: We're talking about investors around the world that are now focusing on the return of their capital than the return and their capital. They want their money back. And, apparently, they feel that the U.S. government is the best place to park their money right now.

PAUL SOLMAN: By U.S. government, Ed Yardeni means not the Fed, but the Treasury, which collects taxes and, if they fall short of federal expenses, borrows to make up the difference by selling its Treasury bills, notes, and bonds to investors.

Usually, the more it borrows, the higher the interest rate it has to pay to keep lenders lending. But investors have been so safety conscious of late, they've been willing to take almost no interest at all to stow their dough in Treasuries.

So the world's and America's investors are lending the government all this money?

EDWARD YARDENI: That's right. It's a very perverse situation that's really benefiting the United States. It's certainly easy to argue that we started this mess in the first place with all of our excesses, and you would think that foreigners would say, "You know, a curse on you. We don't want to invest in the United States anymore."

Quite the opposite. They're saying, "Take all of our money, and you don't even have to pay us anything. Just put it in Treasury bills. And do whatever you want with it; just make sure we get it back." And as a result, that's created this enormous benefit for us.

PAUL SOLMAN: The Treasury has borrowed $1.5 trillion in just the past year to cover both its annual revenue shortfall, the budget deficit, and the TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, not including the newly passed stimulus, which will require another $800 billion or so and other new Fed programs.

But add it all together and you've got a couple of trillion at least in new Treasury borrowing and some $600 billion in new Fed money, thus far.

So that's where the money comes from, but it raises a new and pressing concern. With all this printing and borrowing, might there be too much money in circulation, risking inflation? That's worrying folks at the moment both left and right.

Bob Samuelson, author of "The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath," is sometimes thought of as conservative.

ROBERT SAMUELSON, author, "The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath": The Fed is clearly pumping huge amounts of money into the financial system to prevent a panic, to provide liquidity for institutions who need it. And there is a danger that, if they pump too much in, the ultimate consequence will be inflation, which they don't want.

PAUL SOLMAN: Former Nixon aide Kevin Phillips, proud author of "Bad Money," is now decidedly liberal.

KEVIN PHILLIPS, author, "Bad Money": You have the government spending these huge amounts of money in commitments they're making to bail everything out. It's all the money that's being given to the investment banks and banks that are in trouble at almost negligible cost. And they are allowed to come in and basically bring in a piece of some instrument that's almost worthless, and they get real money, insofar as our money is real money, for that.

We borrow the money....our biggest creditor is China.  And by the way, we our debt ceiling is now 17 trillion.  There is now we to pay it back with out extreme taxes and fees on everyone.

dazz.....I think the way we become part of the solution is vote these spend-o-maniacs out of office.  Yeah, Obama inherited a mess.  When he took office the federal deficit was $400 billion.  BUT...guess what, after one year.....JUST ONE YEAR....he has ballooned the deficit to 1.7 trillion. 

Another GUESS WHAT:  After spending all that borrowed money, the economy is still on the skids.  Obama said if we borrowed and spent that money unemployment wouldn't go above 8%.  Well....we borrowed it.  We spent it.  The unemployment rate is 10% with no signs of improvement.

Well, that is being part of the solution, your vote counts and we will have another election and plenty of time to support and rally for the candidate of your choice.  Rome wasnt built in a day and time will tell......he will probaly be voted out of office as a lot of them want it too happen and I see you are one of them and thats great, I am on the opposite and I am giving our President a chance, after all we had eight years of the Bush legacy and I guess you think that President Obama can just wave a wand and everything will go away, the parties need to work together not apart and he has done that....tried to work with the ole boy network and they just arent having it, they want him to fail and God Bless America.

True..Rome was not built in as day.

However, it burned in 3 days.

I am no fan of Bush, but at worst Bush has a $400 billion deficit....Obama has 1.7 trillion in his first year alone.

So, yes, I want Obama to fail.  This President, who has zero work experience in any type of free market job, is dragging us down fast.  So, let's minimize the damage. 

Genenco I totally disagree with you, they didnt shut them out that is not what I believed, they knew President Obama was adamant about healthcare.  The republicans are a good ole boy party....they arent trying to work it out with one that is not alone..now those can deny the fact or not...they want him to fail because the voters electing President Obama was a slap in the face of the Rethuglicans!  So we can't take this conversation to a higher plane if you like because I dont beleive that he shut the door.  It is a fact, that President Obama, being a person of color, is not accepted by some as their president and there is a racist society out there to see him fail....you can sugarcoat it or disagree or whatever..this is the United States of American and it is still not united. 

As for drspyce, we shall see, and if fails he had help...he came into a big mess and it is gonna take some time to fix it..maybe not in his time but a change is gonna come...winter turns to spring and summers turns to fall...Everything must change, nothing stays the same.  God Bless America!

I have been called worst and here I stand.  President Obama has been called worst and now he is the president.  There is an old saying where I come from:  Call me anything but just dont call me late for dinner.

dazz.....we may disagree politically, but you still are hot!  And yeah, a good head too....you do write well.

Thanks for the compliment, I love what you posted, you say what you feel, genenco says what he feels, this is an open forum and we can agree to disagree and thats what makes this forum awesome.  Politics and Religion are two of my favorite subjects, lol...it can bring on the replies and all of you are awesome and we come from different places and have different views and thats what makes the world go round.  I can't wait for the next reply or a good hot post...and the picture you see is a picture of two of my lovely daughters...but hey the fruit doesnt fall far from the tree.

hi gang , well rosevelt got us out of the 29 crash, by fixing roads and inforstructure which i thought obama was going to do. but the 2 wars is taking a lot of money. and the republicans never did us any favors leaving us  with the biggest crash we would have ever seen.so that was stopped ,and now its back to normal. so out will go the middle class again. and i feel ss for the people without jobs, cause they will have no healthcare or money. if obama wouldnt have givin states money , they wouldnt even have unemploment. so you all can be glad healtcare went down. but watch the ecomany tank now. it didnt happen overnite, it was happing the last 8 yrs. under bushs watch. and obama s left holding the bag. ty josie46

dazz......if you are ever in Virginia, drinks are on ME.....and politics and religion are the topic!

Josie....good post...but I have to disagree that the economy was on the melt down in the last 8 years.  Yeah...Bush did his share of wrecking it!  But, we have had deficit spending for decades.  Both Dems and Reps are both guilty.

Thanks for the invite but I dont think I would go to Virginia, they have a city named Lynchburg and that doesnt appeal to me.  But if you come to California, I will make you a Long Island Tea!

hi, yes but bush was left with a clean slate and out of debt. the war in iraqwas our downfall. it woke up the whole arab nation. chaney loves war. his stock is BLACKROCK. we are in the mess  because him and bush put us there, they are the ones that put it into action. Osambinladdin  is out to bust the us. ecomey and they did a hell of a job. and they should have had the fed. ck. out the wallstreat players like madeoff among the many, and the banks that brung us down.it makes  me sick that they look the other way on thease crooks ty josie46

drpsyche this is me on this picture and I am hot also....lol  Thanks for your reponse above and I may not say something someone likes but hey that is politics for you!  If you open up a can of worms, you may have to eat them..yukk (physche!) lol

Whoa...that Long Island Ice Tea is looking better and better!

I am gonna keep that Long Island Chilled for you and then we you come to Cali I will freshen up for you, but hey I would go to Washington, D.C. and meet ya, hw about that?

DC....love that city.  Used to practice there.  Anytime!

I saw senator elect Brown and he said that he won because of the healthcare crisis and that he would work with our President Obama without the partisan b.s.......he said that people want them to work together and he did too because he is their to serve the people and his state has 96 percent covered already with healthcare.  He is actually a pretty good looking guy, like President Obama and I truly think he is gonna be a good senator...he just doesnt look like a rethuglican. 

Rethuglican!  Love it!  Well, we have sure had our share of those!

I am sure hoping we get some healthcare reform.  But, I sure hope it is nothing like what is in the House and Senate. 

Yes, drpysche, I agree, I should write it, I have been in politics for awhile, secretary for a mayor, commission secretary, secretary to a vice president of aerospace..they were all in to the politics and the art of politics..lol.....its interesting though ..everyone wants to be your new bestfriend!