9/11 wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t so eager to elect Barack HUSSEIN Obama.

Can I haz wingnut welfare now?

I swear, it’s almost enough to want them back in power, just so they can scream “Tax cuts for the rich!” all the time and then wonder why on earth the French Revolution broke out on them.

On the other hand, I don’t much wanna be unemployed for the next four years, so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that the Democrats get their spines installed in time…

Just saw a NYTimes story saying that 80% of the layoffs are for men, and about all sorts of economic and social implications that come from that (not that the problems are new, just getting new attention.)  I look forward to lots of stories about the Obamaconomy being anti-man, anti-traditional family, did I mention socialist?, and anti-worker.

On the other hand, I don’t much wanna be unemployed for the next <strike>four</strike>sixteen years, so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that the Democrats get their spines installed in time…
Scott on 02/07 at 07:29 AM

Fixed:

4 more years of Obama, with the R’s blocking all effective measures;
8 of Republican X running things;
either of
4 more under R-Y (subvariant—R-X gets the 2 term limit suspended and another term;
OR 4 more of Dem Z, who comes into office pledging to support the “successful” economic policies of the revered R-X.

Actually under these scenarios, replace “sixteen years” with “forever,” unless you count unpaid slavery as employment.

Anyway, this the Republican game plan and it has worked for them before.

If they try it again I suppose we must reach some drastic breaking point long before the 16 years elapse.

But people have supposed this kind of thing before; it didn’t stop GHW Bush from getting elected in 1988.

And yes, Virginia, there was a recession going on already by then—it just lasted another 4 years and then got even worse. Then Clinton went for NAFTA…

Jesse, Jesse, Jesse—Don’t you understand?

Our crappy economy is all the result of that ticking time bomb that Carter planted in 1977—that seemingly innocuous bill that required banks that took deposits from certain neighborhoods to also make mortgage loans there.

So insidious was this Democrat-spawned bill that it didn’t explode for three decades, while a good Republican sat on the throne.

Any suggestion to blame Phil Gramm’s bill to prevent credit derivative regulation, slipped through as part of the spending bill passed during the height of the Bush-Gore hysteria in December 2000, is Hey! Look over there!

”...they don’t want a bill that spends or a bill that cuts taxes; they want an act of public contrition from Democrats that absolves the GOP of blame for any responsibility it may have had for the current economic situation.”

...so is this kinda like when Cheney gets drunk and shoots that guy in the face…and later the guy (no doubt after a visit from Cheney’s goons) apologizes to Cheney for getting shot in the face?...

On the bright side though, a CBS poll released the other day found that 81% of Americans think Obama is doing a good job of reaching out to Republicans.

Why are we bothering to talk to the Repubs?  Put the bill out, make them filibuster.  When the news media refuse to cover it fairly, force them with eminent domain to broadcast the speeches and nothing else.

If we don’t pass a reasonable stimulus bill, it’s our fault; we allowed them to put our names on bad policy.  We’re better doing nothing, because then at least something good could be done eventually.

Hey, these Wingnut Welfare cases don’t know how to do actual work, or fear doing actual work like harvesting crops ... you know, like all those dreaded immigrunts do.  In the mean time, the end of the Bush Error and generalized downturns in the markets and total abject empirical failure of their worldview mean that there is a whole lotta competition for what few blathering punditry positions still exist in their little corner of the very flat world.

In other words, they are working awfully hard to avoid actual unemployment ... or, worse yet ... HAVING TO GET A REAL JOB.

One interesting thing the debate over the stimulus bill has brought out is the renewed union-bashing.

The Rethugs just luuuuurved them some union members when they were “Reagan Democrats” who could be counted on to vote for “social issues” (read: against blacks, gays, “career women,” etc.). But the minute they started asking for one dollar more than their corporate overlords felt like paying them, they were what was wrong with the economy and the country.

For some reason, every time I read “Really? Really?” I hear Rachel Maddow’s voice.

Bitter- I sure as hell hope union members remember that in November 2010. Any remaining “Reagan Democrats” really should be committed- they MUST be insane.

Instapundit’s a law professor, right? So he had an opportunity to be a business owner, to have his own practice, but instead chose to suck off the state teat (I’m assuming he works at a state school) in a job where he’s almost impossible to fire. Why does anyone give a fuck what he has to say about the economy?

Meanwhile, I wonder if there’s a connection between the accelerating unemployment and the scary talk from the Obama camp. If I ran a business, I’d be scared.

Oh, so close.  The real connection, of course, is the fact that Obama isn’t wearing a suit jacket at all times, thus angering the ghost of George Washington, who punished the country with a recession.

Absurd, but it makes as much sense as Reynolds saying “if we keep saying that everything is fine, then everything is fine!”  The first step back from the wilderness for the GOP is to realize that reality does NOT warp in accordance with their every utterance.

The GOP didn’t just want a tax cut, they wanted a capital-gains tax cut. Because, y’know, so many people are sitting on wildly appreciated stocks and real estate holdings, but won’t stimulate the economy by selling them because of the potential tax burden. WTF.

If I ran a business, I’d be scared if Obama was saying things were great.  I’d be scared if Obama said things were tough.  I’d be scared if the Democrats were playing miniature golf and not keeping score.  I’d be scared if the Republicans were eating slices of pizza.  I’d be scared if Chris Matthews woke up with a mild headache tomorrow.  And I’d be scared if I forgot to wear my lucky underpants.

I’m scared.  The economy sucks, and I don’t run a business.  Obama has nothing to do with me being scared of what’s happening.

All this doom and gloom is a result of an overextended economy going through a major contraction, a view that we are not at all equipped to do what would be needed to rebuild it in a sustainable manner, and a fear that the losers in the coming transition are going to cause us to give up many of the truly important things we’ve accomplished in this era of great access to information and freedom.  The more I think about things, the more scared I get.  The more I see simplistic solutions (tax cuts/spending increases/borrowing/pretend energy independence) touted as the way out of this mess, the more I realize we don’t even want to analyse the actual mess we’re in.  The truth is that we’ve lived in a lucky era, got deep in debt, and most of the stuff we bought (on the personal and national level) on credit is crap.  If people on the left and right both think that this stimulus plan is going to be able to change the market rules so as to not have the economy contract to a sustainable point, then we’ll deserve the lies we’re being told.  We’ll deserve our bigger debt load.  We’ll deserve our “spoiled” label.  And we’ll deserve the national breakdown that will occur.

The GOP didn’t just want a tax cut, they wanted a capital-gains tax cut

It’s a solution in search of a problem, as is the rest of the Republican tax-cutting agenda.  It was hilarious watching DeMint on one of the Sunday gabfests. Everything, no matter what the topic, came back to cutting taxes.  A solution in search of a problem. Any problem.

Meanwhile, I wonder if there’s a connection between the accelerating unemployment and the scary talk from the Obama camp. If I ran a business, I’d be scared.

I wonder if there’s a connection between the fact that you have no brain and your constant utterance of idiotic statements. If I were you (or one of your students), I’d be scared.

Oh, but look! Mr. Stupid is properly dressed in a coat and tie!