Notice the econ/finance guy who stays apolitical during these types of discussions ;)

Yes, bully pulpit...as I said but when his objectives are obstructed many times by own party, it is seen as weakness and not a positive.

Hey I see a blue hooved pony must be from the blue smurf football field.

Did we get a stripper-pole installed in Teh Box?

Only an intelligent political discussion could pave the way for me to sneak 2 consecutive posts in for 125k. It sort of shows the level at which I operate. :cool:

+1 with the capital markets lawyer, I within 100 posts of 3000 over all and 122 of 1000 in teh Box. If needs be, I will PWP my way home.

Viva La Box!

Yes, but need to watch out it was installed by me. it may be defective.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic_GMsxyduY

Apparently while you were drowning in peanut butter. :p

Are you talking about TARP or the various stimulus bills? If it's TARP then consider that the government has never lost money on a loan like this, and it looks like they won't with TARP either.

If you're talking ARRA (v1.0, 2.0) yeah, that certainly doesn't help inflation. The goal is, of course, stimulate the economy to get people working to get them to pay taxes and buy things. The theory being that if its successful the strengthened economy pays back the funds. Reference: New Deal.

I bought a house. I will receive a $8k tax credit on my 09 taxes. Cost / benefit analysis: did my $8k stimulate more than an $8k transaction? Absolutely.

Of course the $7,999 question is would I have purchased the house without the tax credit? Probably, but it was a nice cherry on top to motivate me to make a big investment in a questionable economic period.

Right, and it's up to the POTUS and all of our elected officials to generate policy that mitigates the uncertainty in the markets. No prudent business will make capital expenditures without a solid ROI, whether its in goods or human capital. It's hard to make the case for that ROI these days.

Don't discount how much the drivel becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If enough people say the economy is improving, it will improve because at some point you have to throw :rolleyes: to the wind and believe it. The economic "collapse" (for lack of a better word) was exacerbated by all the talk of the collapse of banks, foreclosures, and the rest of the nonsense we were exposed to last year. It being an election year only amplified this.

The POTUS has a professional obligation to be a cheerleader to a certain extent. When the POTUS speaks, people listen. Whether or not they like or agree with that he's saying.

Suggested reading.

Oh no, I did it to myself, violating my standard practice of not talking about politics. No criticism was meant.

Moreover, regarding ponies and unicorns, I have two pre-teen daughters and I hear enough about ponies and unicorns, thankyouverymuch. I also have no dog in the aforementioned hunt (more concerned about whether nuts can bonk ducks on the head) but expect that the burnt orange ponies will have more support around here.

Ya' know ALCO and of course not that I would ever be seen in such places (ahem) ......, but both IAH and CLT feature a place that on your bill is referred to as The Main Course Restaurant and on the marquee as The Men's Club. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm!:p

I don't think his goals are actually being obstructed. There's an interesting article by Glenn Greenwald to the effect that what's coming out of the industrial sausage machine down in D.C. is exactly in line with what he wants. Personally, I think mandates without effective cost controls and with annual caps are going to lead to a flourishing junk insurance industry, and a lot of very angry voters who will not soon forget one of the biggest policy blunders in decades. They ought to just re-label the bill the "Insurance Industry Handout/Bailout and Regressive Tax Act of 2009."

That's me done for political commentary for the day.

sounds like a place BofA staff takes clients for 'business lunches'

Talk about people being afraid to touch a cord.

The Congress critters don't have a clue how to fix anything or they are too afraid to fix anything or the ones who do know what to do aren't allowed to as it's not the party line.

The man within 71 of 1000 gives this the big ^^

I am not saying I disagree but rhotoric and expectations may have been high and need their bubble popped.

I am 'off topic' now, we are talking about ponies and restaurants.