With economy crippled and nothing passed to fight it, Congress vacations

Originally posted by Escrotumus
It's obvious to me that the 'speculators' are just the big banks et al who are trying to save their butts from their mortgage messes and recover their losses in that sector by driving the cost of oil and food through the roof. All of that low interest money that the FED has been giving out at auctions for the past 6 months; where do you think it has gone??

What a great way of looking at things!! I never thought of that.
I agree with you about the oil, but not about the food. Too many other things dictate the price of food, in my opinion. Transport, manufacturing, marketing and the fact that everyone is on the"ethanol" wagon, growing a top paying cash crop only makes sense.

Here's the link to the thread I started on the very same subject a little more than twelve hours earlier, although mine was posted in "peak Oil". I see this one has had much more activity.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

With GWB in office, of course, the Dem's would need a 2/3 majority of votes to over-ride any veto activity, so maybe they think it's all pointless anyway? The establishment fat-cats are lovin' this, I'm sure!

[edit on 29-6-2008 by skyshow]

Originally posted by wolf241e
[

What a great way of looking at things!! I never thought of that.
I agree with you about the oil, but not about the food. Too many other things dictate the price of food, in my opinion. Transport, manufacturing, marketing and the fact that everyone is on the"ethanol" wagon, growing a top paying cash crop only makes sense.

The oil is the food. Why do you think the cost of food and other things we take for granted have started skyrocketing? Could it be the cost of oil? It all comes down to a pathetic dollar and oil being tied to that pathetic dollar. Lowering interest rates started all of this mess. The dollar was in a sad shape before the interest rates were lowered anyway and now it's in the toilet floating around with the rest of the turds. Just wait until the Euros raise their rates and the full impact of this midwest flooding starts to hit the consumables markets. This winter should be very very interesting, particularly for the poor and those on fixed incomes.

Originally posted by gottago
Going back to the Op, and avoiding the gas question, I'll just note that according to the old adage that the less the Congress and the gov't in general do, the better, we should be thankful.

This is of course the guiding principle of the founding fathers--set elements of govt against each other, to ensure the maximum of sand in the cogs of governance. Frankly, we should pour the Mojave Desert on Washington.

This needs to be quoted by people for years to come...Seriously...Very poetic.

I don't think we can just blame the democrats in favor of republican, or republicans in favor of democrats. Both are screwing us into the NAU, and other "treaties". To effectively erase our national identity. America is gone now guys, we gave it to the thieves instead of making them work for it...Stupid huh?

I agree that the less that govt. does the better. The problem is that the wolves have been allowed to guard the hen house and only we the people can bring them back under control. We the people are 'represented' by our govt. so they need to take action to fix this mess which we let them create. You're in a catch 22. Do you give govt. more power to fix these thieves that have taken control of our markets and our lives or do you take power away from the govt. and allow these bandits to run free? Personally I believe that this govt. is beyond saving and we Americans get what we deserve. You can't revolt against the govt. any more because their weapons are far beyond anything an average citizen has. Numbers in the millions of people marching in DC might get their attention, but getting joe 6 pack off of the couch and away from dancing with the stars would take an act of God. 6 dollars a gallon gas, food prices doubling and 8% unemployment MIGHT do that, but even still that is doubtful.

Only when you have lost everything are you free to do anything.

The things you own end up owning you.

Tyler Durden is a wise man

It time to send a message to Congress, WE THE PEOPLE Should "not" PAY OUR taxes, WHEN TAX TIME COMES!

If 300 million people dont pay thier taxes, what is this Corrupt Government going to do?

They cant put us all in jail.
Then maybe they will have to make the right changes, that WE THE PEOPLE wanted.

Other than that, there is nothing else that can be done.

Cant protest, they will have us all arrested and be charge as terrorist.

What is the government suppose to do about gas prices or foreclosures? We live in a free market capitalist society. Gas can and should be the price that the demand allows. Why or how should government be involved? Why should congress get involved with homeowners who either got in over their heads in debt or made bad decisions in buying a home? Hey, I made good decisions with my life can I get something free from congress too?

Government is not mommy and daddy.

Originally posted by zerotime

What is the government suppose to do about gas prices or foreclosures?

For foreclosures, there's not much they can currently do, and it's just as well they're on vacation. What Congress COULD do is put into place checks that'd prevent future bubbles from forming. Banks that resell mortgages and have no vested interest in a buyer's ability to repay are especially insidious..

But then the free market is the free market, and you can't nanny everyone. If someone wants to finance a house-priced sports car they can't possibly afford, and someone's crazy enough to carry the loan, who's to stop them?

As for oil and gas prices, there's a lot Congress could do, such as:

• Stop weakening the dollar!!!

• Allow us to build facilities. Try getting a permit to even expand a refinery or power plant sometime.

• Allow us to use our own natural resources. If we keep dragging out feet on alternative fuels the ones we have are gonna get used anyway, which brings me to:

• Encourage serious initiatives to get us off fossil fuels (IMO foodcrop-based biofuels don't count, but that's another discussion). The sooner we start investing the better.

Government is not mommy and daddy.

Amen!!

Zerotime: you are missing the point entirely. Nobody here wants the govt. to be mommy and daddy. By your rationale should rapists and murderers not be arrested by the police (which are govt. employees mind you)? We don't want govt. acting like mommy and daddy so let's let the murderers run free???

We are asking for an end to the corruption and the lack of oversight in the markets. Those checks and balances were put into place for a reason before Clinton repealed them. The govt. should do the will of the people and right now that is not happening. Free markets need to be reigned in when they threaten the national security due to rampant corruption and greed; and no I am not talking about redistribution of wealth. I just want the corruption, the lobbying, and the lack of oversight to stop and short of us taking up arms against the perpetrators then the govt. needs to do their jobs and put an end to this.

Like you, I don't want anyone 'bailed' out of their mistakes, especially the banks. Remember though that not everyone suffering in this mortgage disaster is doing so because of their own fault. I got caught up in it because my town was ransacked by illegal aliens after I moved in and now they all walked away from their homes causing widespread foreclosures and property devaluation. If govt. had done their job then I wouldn't be in this mess...

[edit on 6/29/2008 by Escrotumus]

reply to post by Escrotumus


I'm sorry but I am going to have to disagree. There is nothing 'corrupt' about oil companies making a profit or banks and mortgage lenders foreclosing on properties that are not being paid.

A company that deals in oil should be able to sell its gasoline product for $4, $7, $10 or $15 dollars a gallon if people are willing to pay that amount. The rising price sucks for customers but a company operating in the USA should have the right to sell their product for whatever price they want to put on it. If you don't want the product stop buying it or slow down your consumption of that product to make it last longer. If anything the price is gas is way underpriced considering how important it is to everyone.

This concept is the same for banks, mortgage lenders etc and foreclosures. The buyer has the responsibility to understand what they are getting into when they are purchasing a home and a responsibility to know how much debt they can take on and still pay their mortgage and other bills.

This is no different from the threads I see once in a while from ATS posters who racked up a ton of credit card debt and they come here to complain about how the credit card companies are evil and how we should all team up and not pay all because they couldn't handle their own finances.

The government should be doing nothing about gas prices and foreclosures. Are you reallying asking for a government that cannot handle its own money to fix the financial problems of Americans and change the price of gas? When governments meddle in financial markets they only make things worse. Markets need to be left alone to run their coarse and adjust themselves.

The first step to correcting the wobbly nature of our economic dilemma is to revoke the Fed charter by congressional decree and re-establish control of the monetary system (statutorily forbidding the installation of political appointees to the Chair).

The second step would be to create an national plebiscite mechanism. We have the technology to do it, and damn it, someone in this country has to be smart enough to figure out how to make it work transparently.

Third, remove corporate citizenship from the table. Corporate entities are NOT people and deserve neither the rights nor privileges stated in our founding documents. Corporations should NOT be allowed to create policy, or self regulate on matters of national security, public safety, nor international policy.

Fourth, dissolve the republican, democratic, and in fact all political parties. They are corporate fronts now. Virtually nothing they do is for the benefit of nation, only the continuance and power of the party. Force them to 'reinvent' themselves, and now that we know what to look for, it will be a cold day in hell before we again allow them to devolve as they have thus far.

Radical enough?

reply to post by Maxmars

Third, remove corporate citizenship from the table. Corporate entities are NOT people and deserve neither the rights nor privileges stated in our founding documents. Corporations should NOT be allowed to create policy, or self regulate on matters of national security, public safety, nor international policy.

I have long been screaming for the demise of lobbyists!!!
There is no place for them in our government!
Thank you for speaking truth and putting forth good ideas.

reply to post by zerotime


At some point, infrastructure is needed to be regulated for the benifit of the whole and to maintain a level playing field.

According to such logic as the replied to post, we shouldn't stop at oil or banking, let's privatize and deregulate streets and intersections. Take out all the stop signs and lights, let the "free market" decide who can afford a safe intersection or to use a road way. All others be damned. Same thing with electricity; if you live farther away (ie rural) from the power station, as it costs the power company more to run power out there, you pay more...food prices up as a result. No more air traffic control either. United, Southwest, Delta, etc...your on your own up there to fly around in the "free market" if you want ATC buy your own! End all public schools also, that's another evil Libbbbraaaaal institution; only those who can afford to go should have an education. Trash, sewer, water...uh uh...let the economy sort it all out. Healthcare: let doctors make obsene incomes, allow insurance companies and managed care organizations get in between care for the patient and the provider and drive costs up, besides only those who can afford to treat an illness or broken body part should be able to get the care...Oh wait, we already have that!

None of this is going to work. Depend on society, and prepare to be severely disappointed.

They don't need to drill anymore oil. Do they even know how draining the oil reserves of the Earth is affecting the Earth itself? They HAVE ALTERNATIVES, AND WE ALL KNOW IT!!!

We should've demolished this fake plastic corrupt suffocating civilization a long time ago.

Here's how the justice system should work. Someone kills a child in town. Find the asshole and lynch him. Spontaneous organization, combined with a more enlightened age (nobody's gunna burn witches at the stake anymore)... and we don't need any of this. It's a trap! Don't any of you feel trapped? Or do you like getting raped at the pump everyday just because you have to get to work, get the kids to wherever, basic everyday things.

You know what this oil fiasco is really about, don't you? The oil fiasco, combined with the crashing economy, combined with urban sprawl and people's dependence on corporations to take care of them...

It's all about restricting your ability to move, your ability to create something that doesn't in some way benefit the system, your ability to live.

This is not freedom at all. I don't even know what freedom would really truly be. I guess death is the only true freedom, but while we're alive, we don't need a bunch of assholes... by the way the same people that brought you the possibility of a long nuclear winter.... governing our gravitationally locked asses to the ground. Nature does a fine job. What has government always turned into? A bunch of pricks who get their self esteem and their power from telling people what to do. Give the evil serpents a chance to slither into your court, they will. Remember that serpents can swallow you whole.

People are malleable as playdoh right now because we've been spiritually gutted, and now this is why we depend on the soul-less corporations and government, because they say we are finite, and that this is all we have so make your one chance for existence fulfilling by taking as much of this material world we've been taught to worship fior yourself as possible.

It's a dog eat dog world because of corporations and evil men who steal people's confidence in their own power.

[edit on 30-6-2008 by dunwichwitch]

the thread addresses : the Economy is Crippled...


well thats the result of the economies dynamics, Congress relinquished the power and authority to 'micro-manage' the economy when the Federal Reserve was created.. way back when (was it 1919? @ Jekyll Island, Ga ?)



nothing passed to fight it,


but Congress passes authorization bills every year... bills to fund Social Security, funds for War, funds for running the government, funds for emergencies, funds for every pet-project for just about every lawmakers constituency...so they have a chance of being re-elected because they've shown that 'They' can bring home the pork barell projects/funding



Congress goes on vacation


they also go on junkets, they also fly back to their locals on most weekends of the 52 week year, they also get the same 3-4 day weekends
that all us working stiffs get, they also get a Platinum Parachute of family healthcare for life, along with those months long paid vacations in January, April, July, September, December...
[imho, a redux of the French Revolution is needed here in the USA, circa 2008]


the complaint ammounts to naught more than belly aching,
i myself am tempted to run for federal office... if i serve for 5 years, then i'm set for the remaining years of my life.
you could be too !