Monday, February 2, 2009

Not the change we were looking for...

From the NY Post:

Buried deep inside the massive spending orgy that Democrats jammed through the House this week lie five words that could drastically undo two decades of welfare reforms.

The very heart of the widely applauded Welfare Reform Act of 1996 is a cap on the amount of federal cash that can be sent to states each year for welfare payments.

But, thanks to the simple phrase slipped into the legislation, the new "stimulus" bill abolishes the limits on the amount of federal money for the so-called Emergency Fund, which ships welfare cash to states.

"Out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated such sums as are necessary for payment to the Emergency Fund," Democrats wrote in Section 2101 on Page 354 of the $819 billion bill. In other words, the only limit on welfare payments would be the Treasury itself.


Apparently he wants to bankrupt the banks, too.

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Obama, say it ain't so!

Anonymous said...

Yawn...Here we go again...
it's that tired old argument...
as to which political party is responsible for putting us in
the poor house.

They both are and if we had a viable third party they'd be responsible too!fa

At least the Democrats get the money first before they spend it.

The Republicans spend the money first then mortgage our country to the Chinese (or whoever else buys our debt)!

Hey folks run your brains fast forward for a moment.

If you don't pay out some money
beforehand to help the TRULY NEEDY (which might be some of us tomorrow morning considering this economy) you'll be paying double later when these people eventually hit the streets.

It's a big country
with even bigger problems and returning to the simplistic notion of "less government" is a child's fairy tale dream.

Small government worked well in the 18th and early 19th centuries when the population of our nation was
equally as small.

The efficient management of our
large government is what's
currently required to get the job
done properly.

Sorry...we can't shrink back
to our pre-existing 1770s size
(unless we kill off most of our people).

Now let's all get real and cut out
the belly-aching and blaming.

It's time to get off the soap box and get with the program. Give "change" (or whatever?) a chance.

Obama's government gets two years from me. Then comes report card time. If the grades are good then that's great. If they're not
then Prez Barack and his crew have screwed up!

We'll survive and then we can choose to elect someone else as our commander in chief.

What ever happened to FAITH...the kind our forefathers had during a far worse period in our country's history...WHEN WE HAD NO UNITED STATES OF AMERICA YET...
and patriots (not the armchair variety) were shedding their blood for its birth!!!

May God bless America !

Anonymous said...

Oh please! Bush wasted the bulk of our national treasure getting us into this mess. Was Queens Crap always this conservative?

Maybe you should stick to what you do best-- complaining about local crapification. That's where you excel, Crappy!

Anonymous said...

interesting:

www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/02/02/food.stamps.economy/index.html#cnnSTCOther1

Anonymous said...

It got cut off:



economy/index.html#cnnSTCOther1

Anonymous said...

You assholes. Obama has only been president for 13 days.
Bush did this, the Republicans did this YOU did this.

Anonymous said...

GOP - the party that destroyed America

Anonymous said...

Clinton started this when he signed into law that banks are required to give home loans to minorities, even if they don't qualify. This is where the housing crisis started.

Harry Reid and Barney Frank (both Democrats) failed miserably at overseeing the housing and banking system as it relates to buying and selling these loans.

Unfortunately Bush was caught holding this bag of shit 8 years later.

Don't get me wrong, Bush shares the blame too as he just stood by and did nothing.

Anonymous said...

Uh...anyone remember "Reganomics"
the system that f----d us up way back in the day?

We're still dealing with the red ink the (human) star of "Bonzo Goes To College" spilled all over the books!

A chimp was Ronald's co-star.

H-m-m-m...
would you star in a movie opposite a hairy primate?

georgetheatheist said...

Actually Andrew Cuomo did this. He is the absolutely guilty person to skewer. As Clinton's HUD Secretary he okayed these shyster loans.

We must fry Andrew Cuomo's ass. To a crisp.

Anonymous said...

Actually Andrew Cuomo did this.

Really? I mean, I don't know... you could be right. But one man is responsible for everything that goes wrong?

For an "atheist" you sure do hold some pretty far-out beliefs. Are you sure you're not wearing purple adidas?

georgetheatheist said...

Rick Wingnut, check out: "Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie. How the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history gave birth to the mortgage crisis." by Wayne Barrett, Village Voice, August 5, 2008.

That's right. You read it correctly: GAVE BIRTH TO THE MORTGAGE CRISIS

Andrew Cuomo IS the cause of the mess we are in.

Anonymous said...

hey georgie:

No NRA.org? What's happening? I feel like I'm in another zone when I don't see your daily NRA reminder. Are you losing your edge?

Anonymous said...

Wher eis Obama going to get this money. The printers at the tresuary have been running at capacity since last July ?

-Joe
NRA.org (for Italian girl)
Hey, When are we going on that date ?

Anonymous said...

Clinton started this when he signed into law that banks are required to give home loans to minorities.
--------------------------
Yep Bildo ordered it at gunpoint to the banks.
It was called his "Chicken in Every Pot" Policy.

Jimmy Carter started it Ronald Reagan stomped it out the firt week in office in the 80's

Reagan warned it would no doubt bankrupt the country.
Clinton revived it.

Anonymous said...

"Wher eis Obama going to get this money. The printers at the tresuary have been running at capacity since last July ?"

Hopefully from the rich, which is what he promised.

"NRA.org (for Italian girl)
Hey, When are we going on that date ?"

Are you for real?
How do you know I'm not some 500 lb. girl with a mustache?
Or better still, how do I know you're not a 500 lb. girl with a mustache?

Anonymous said...

Better NYC Said:
Clinton started this when he signed into law that banks are required to give home loans to minorities, even if they don't qualify. This is where the housing crisis started.



From Buisiness Week:
Add President Clinton to the long list of people who deserve a share of the blame for the housing bubble and bust. A recently re-exposed document shows that his administration went to ridiculous lengths to increase the national homeownership rate. It promoted paper-thin downpayments and pushed for ways to get lenders to give mortgage loans to first-time buyers with shaky financing and incomes. It’s clear now that the erosion of lending standards pushed prices up by increasing demand, and later led to waves of defaults by people who never should have bought a home in the first place.

I dont see anything about Minorities stated or implied.
Check your facts before playing the blame the minorities game.

Anonymous said...

Well let's see who bought mortgages under Clinton and are now defaulting on them in droves....

First-time buyers with shaky financing and incomes = minorities.

Anonymous said...

georgieporgie: Rick Wingnut, check out: "Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie. How the youngest Housing and Urban Development secretary in history gave birth to the mortgage crisis." by Wayne Barrett, Village Voice, August 5, 2008.

See, that's the trouble with getting all your opinions from one source. Andrew Cuomo may be PART of the problem, but this issue is complex enough that smart people are still discussing it so I'm pretty sure that your friend Wayne doesn't have it all figured out. Like... no mention of ARMs and interest-only mortgages and the ravenous mortgage lenders and real estate agents? They play no part? And the deregulation that allowed the large investment banks to dirty their already grubby hands with "mortgage-backed securities"? And the independent ratings agencies - independent even from the SEC - who gave these time bombs AAA ratings?

It's okay, george. I know it's more comforting to live in a simple imaginary world than in the chaos of reality.
www.nra.org.

Anon: First-time buyers with shaky financing and incomes = minorities.

Wow.
Double wow.
There may be a fine line between genius and insanity, but you're just plain ignernt. How 'bout all them whiteys in California who were "first-time buyers with shaky financing and incomes"?

Anonymous said...

How about them? Across the country, the subprime mortgages on the whole were in lower income minority areas.

georgetheatheist said...

A "simple imaginary world" vs. "the chaos of reality"?

Rick Wingnut. Reality is NOT chaotic. That's basic Aristotle. A=A. Existence exists.

Even Leftie Paul Krugman wrote in the Times: "homeownership isn't for everyone."

If you monkey with reality as Liberals Clinton and Cuomo did, your chickens will come home to roost. Cock-a-doodle-do. As Oliver Hardy might have said: Here's another fine mess we're in.

The bankers and brokers just went along for the ride in the Liberal Zeitgeist.

THE villain IS Andrew Cuomo. Turn the spit and heat up the other side of his ass. It should be nice and charred.

www.aynrand.org

georgetheatheist said...

And wait until Social Security goes into the toilet. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I live in Queens. I'm the only white guy on my block. I'm not playing the race card, just giving the facts.

In the early 1990's banks were at risk of being labeled racist because data showed that loan applications by minorities were approved at a much lower rate than other applicants.

As a result, new lending standards were enacted to be politically correct.

Anonymous said...

hey better nyc, where do you live?

Anonymous said...

Sorry man, I don't want to give out too much info.

A slight case of paranoia.

georgetheatheist said...

"In the early 1990's banks were at risk of being labelled racist.."

And who was labelling them? Ultra-liberal Governor Mario Cuomo. Pater of the notorious Andrew.

The apple - the GUILT-RIDDEN Liberal apple - does not fall far from the tree.

Liberals are going to get us all kilt. Where's my pistola?

Anonymous said...

Yes, we definitely should turn towards Conservatives to save us from ruin.


NOT.

Anonymous said...

Or better still, how do I know you're not a 500 lb. girl with a mustache?
-----------
Awe Jeez listen to this tomata !
What a remark...talk about DISRIMINATION !

I’m not going to get dressed up in drag, mustache, and padded body suit for you.
You’re on your own now!!

-Joe
ww.nra.org

Anonymous said...

Hey Joe, you totally misinterpreted what I said. Actually you should hook up with georgie. Didn't you know he's in love with his pistola?

georgetheatheist said...

Did you ever think, Italian "girl", that a conservative would not have the GUILT that the Liberal has?

Did you ever indeed think, Italian "girl"?

Go read the aforementioned Village Voice article. Assuming you can read beyond the Mickey Mouse level.

Anonymous said...

The very definition of conservative should be guilt.

Why the hostility, georgie?

You seem a little frustrated to me. Go polish your gun.

georgetheatheist said...

Why the hostility?

Simple. Because non compos mentis people like you - people who think with their spleen instead of their brain -have brought us economically to where we are today.

Anonymous said...

Rick Wingnut. Reality is NOT chaotic. That's basic Aristotle. A=A. Existence exists.

Wow, george, you just blew my mind. You're a freakin' genius. I stand corrected.

Actually you're just not worth arguing with. I can smell your deified Ayn Rand in the A=A formulation. You call yourself an atheist, but you worship a bad novelist and a thinker from more than two millenia ago. Just consult any mathematician alive today and I'm sure they can give you the lowdown on chaos.

Even Leftie Paul Krugman... yawn... THE villain IS Andrew Cuomo.

There you go again with your Cuomo fetish... talk about people thinking with their spleen instead of their brain! For an atheist you are an extremely dogmatic character, george.

The bankers and brokers just went along for the ride in the Liberal Zeitgeist.

Dogmatic to the point that you invent crazy fantasies just to force this piece of the puzzle to fit your invented reality. The bankers and brokers "just went along for the ride," you say. In your mind they share no culpability for the current meltdown. They were not motivated by greed to do some very dishonest things. Maybe they're even the good guys.

A=A. It's so easy.

Anonymous said...

Here's one for you,
"Italian girl.

George has his rifle,
George has his gun.

His long one's for fighting.
His short one's for fun!

georgetheatheist said...

A=A. It IS so easy.

Listen Einstein, you tell us what caused this mess.

Anonymous said...

Change is what we have after Bush. Lint is what we'll have after Obama. I can't believe we had a surplus after Clinton.

Spending your way out of recession is like effing for virginity.

Going into my Howard Stern rant...

Enough of pork and entitlements for people who can work!!! Enough of this bailout crap for bank executives!! Didn't they already get a gazillion billion?!!?? And aren't they busy buying jets and throwing vacation junkets in Vegas?!!? Who's fixing the balance sheets!!!

The bill is 900 billion and growing.. give me some of it so I can buy 90k carpet!!!!!!

I say let the banks fail!! let the real estate values fall!! Godforbid we let capitalism pick winners and losers!!

Geez I'm just so friggin angry.. I just can't seem to get over other ppl spending my hard earned tax dollars.!!!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Anonymous, you hit the nail on the head. I read the financial news every day. I'm more and more pissed as the days go on. Can you believe those f*#ks on Wall Street gave themselves 18 billion dollars in bonuses? Some of them talk like it's an entitlement. "If you don't pay bonuses, you'll lose the best and the brightest." Can you believe that sh*#? I'd like to know exactly WHERE they'll be going if they don't get their bonus money. They should be ashamed of themselves. Their salaries alone are more than what most of us make. They don't deserve any bonus. They were paid vulgar money for bad decisions and risky investments and now we all have to pay. As it turns out these jokers weren't "masters of the universe" after all.

Anonymous said...

Is it possible - just possible - that the "rescue" tax dollars slated for STDs, abortions, and condoms, pushed by the Democrats and defended by the "staunch practicing Catholic" Pelosi, are really provided in the bill because Pelosi and her lackeys plan to give taxpayers one gigantic porking?

Anonymous said...

To Anon # 1:
"What ever happened to FAITH...the kind our forefathers had during a far worse period in our country's history..."

Government is NOT a religion. Only morons would put their FAITH in any government. Perhaps you meant CONFIDENCE. But, even with that, why should we, who pay ALL THE BILLS for all branches and levels of government, drop our vigilance for even a moment? Look at this Madoff fellow. Where was the SEC for years and years when suspicions of Madoff were repeatedly sent in?

It was your beloved government that forced banks to give mortgages to anyone brazen enough to demand one - even without a job, credit-worthy record (and to contribute my assessment of whom to blame, let's say Schumer, Blowhard Barney Frank, and Dodd who was blessed by two mortgages with oh, so favorable rates - but, NOT because he was a member of the Senate Banking Committee, oh, NO, NEVER for a bad reason)).

Confidence? Faith? Not on a bet!

Beyond these comments, it's more impressive if you don't comment like a bumper-sticker writer.

Anonymous said...

Listen Einstein, you tell us what caused this mess.

georgethefetishist, it's not worth telling if you're not even listening.

Do I have to hold your pudgy little hand through all this? Please do us all a favor and actually read - READ - through what has been typed before. You'll find that I've suggested countless times that it's not so simple as to be one man's fault.

And if you really want to get down and dirty, maybe we should trace this all the way back to the beginnings of FHA mortgage insurance and 30-year self-amortizing mortgages that allow all of us to buy houses we can't afford. Before that, people pretty much had to have the cash in hand.

Anonymous said...

Nods to Italian Girl. They were masters of lining their own friggin pockets and they still are!! With our tax/tarp crapola money.

I'm pretty sure they spent all of the tax dollars and are in the process of printing money out of thin air.

I can't wait to buy a loaf of bread with a thousand dollar note. Future, please hurry so I can take picture of that transaction and upload it to Flickr.

Srsly, these people should be fired and thrown out of the country! They prolly have a home in the carribeans anyways.

We are living in some bizzaro world where failure brings promotion!!! Same sh*t with our schools.

Get some new blood in there.. be it man or monkey! People who have the ability to think logically and plan for the future. People who do not skirt tax laws like Geithner and Dashel. Can you believe the crappy excuses they gave.. OMG.

Srsly, I live in a first rate country.

Anonymous said...

Spending your way out of recession is like effing for virginity.

So, you're saying the New Deal was a categorical failure?

Anonymous said...

The New Deal was a big FAT failure. WWII was what took us out of the mess, and when the servicemen came home there was another housing and employment crisis.

georgetheatheist said...

"...it's not so simple as to be one man's fault."

From the NYTimes, Wednesday Feb.4, page A14 ("Both Parties Move to Aid Struggling Homeowners")

" 'Most people recognize that housing itself is the root of the current economic downturn', said Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader.'We should fix this problem before we fix anything else.' Democratic lawmakers do not disagree..."

"...soaring default rates on subprime mortgages [Note Wingnut, follow the bouncing ball now, NOT conventional mortgages] were at the heart of the credit crisis that began in August 2007, which crippled Wall Street and the nation's banks".

And so you see, Oh Supercilious One, the donkey was Cuomo fils. Pin the tail on him.

Fetishistically Yours, G the A

PS Rand "a bad novelist"? Eh bien, mesdames et messieurs. Voici un critique literaire; un autre Baudrillard ou Derrida peut-etre?

Wingnut, would you kindly do the readership a favour? Would you please fart in a paper bag, stick your schnozz in it, and rhapsodize on its aesthetics?

Anonymous said...

"...soaring default rates on subprime mortgages [Note Wingnut, follow the bouncing ball now... blah, blah, blah".
And so you see, Oh Supercilious One, the donkey was Cuomo fils. Pin the tail on him.


And so you will apparently never see, Oh Dense One. Look, with your needlebrain skipping along the same worn groove, you're never going to hear the whole song.

I REPEAT, understanding full well the difference between a conventional and a subprime mortgage, that simply *enacting* legislation that can be *abused* in the form of subprimes is not enough. I have quite clearly enumerated several other factors so many times now that I no longer sympathize with your failure to apprehend.

I give up on you, georgie, like so many teachers before me. You are a lost cause.

PS Rand "a bad novelist"? Eh bien, mesdames et messieurs. Voici un critique literaire; un autre Baudrillard ou Derrida peut-etre?

And babelfishing something into French, on your part, somehow makes you smarter and Rand a more compelling writer?
Nope.

Wingnut, would you kindly do the readership a favour? Would you please fart in a paper bag, stick your schnozz in it, and rhapsodize on its aesthetics?

Classy. And I will do nothing of the sort.
My purpose here is simply to counter your absolutist nonsense with my own. And maybe introduce another point of view, which you may consistently choose to ignore. It's a free country, again.

Anonymous said...

Nice try, Wingnut. Not even close; certainly no cigar.

Ding-ding-ding.

The winnah? George the Atheist!

Anonymous said...

Nice try, Wingnut. Not even close; certainly no cigar.
Ding-ding-ding.
The winnah? George the Atheist!


Yes, the ding-dong weiner is georgethefetishist, as he has clearly demonstrated a superior grasp of the A=A simplicity theory of global economic affairs. We all are now disciples, and take it as an article of faith that Cuomo predicated Madoff's ponzi collapse.

You can keep your cigar, and other stinky Freudian stand-ins.

Anonymous said...

Sour grapes. Don't be such a sore LOSER.