You Had Plenty Money 1922…
Sharon October 14th, 2009
You had plenty money, 1922
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
You’re sittin’ down and wonderin’ what it’s all about
You ain’t got no money, they will put you out
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn’t be a-wanderin’ from door to door
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too. - Peggy Lee
The Dow broke 10,000 again today, and my favorite source of humor news, CNBC, has a range of headlines to make sure that somehow, at some level, they will be right sometime about something. “October Crash Still on the Way: CEO” and “Dow at 11,000 to 11,500 by Christmas: Market Expert.” The front story “Stock Market Rally Likely to Continue, but Hedge Your Portfolio:Pros.” Hmmm… are these the same pros that think an October Crash is on the way or the ones that think that the Dow will be at 11,500? Must be different pros - the good news is we’ve got a lot of them, and since they all completely missed the mark on the present situation, all of their guesses are equally good! Yay!
Now my guesses couldn’t possibly be worse than the vast majority of financial advisors, but I make no claim they are better. I don’t have the slightest idea where the Dow will be by Christmas.
What I do know is this - we still won’t have gotten anything meaningful to most Americans out of 14 Trillion plus in bailouts. Stock market rallies look good - but they don’t actually help most of us all that much. Unless they are sustained, those who rely on investments for income don’t get much out of it - and the fundamentals of our economy are deeply unstable - there’s nothing there to sustain a rally when we inevitably stop pouring in funds. With the exception of a few people who can sell out now in the next few months, this rally isn’t likely to mean much for your long term economic well-being. Most of us don’t profit from a rally in any deep or immediate way.
This rally, however, is what you bought. That and a good bunch of road work. And money for people who happened to have bought giant low mileage cars and wanted to change over. To me it looks a lot like some rich fool saying to me “I bought this awesome RV, and a jet ski…I didn’t pay the mortgage or the health insurance, and hey, there’s no food, but lookee at my jet ski.” Sigh.
Back in December, when I made my annual predictions, I bet that things would go back to normal for a while, and so they have. It is certainly possible that normal will extend out longer than I’d expected. The problem, of course, is that “longer than I expected” is not the same as “for a really long time.” At some point there won’t be enough money to pour into the system anymore - we’re getting awfully close to that point. At some point we have to pay for the Jet Ski, or start watching out the window for the repo man. At some point we start singing like Peggy Lee, lamenting what once was, “You had plenty money 1922, you let other women make a fool of you…” Our turn as the world’s momentarily rich fool may not be over yet, but sooner or later, you got to do right. And then we’re in trouble.
Sharon
- economy
- Comments(7)
Sharon,
It is tough, when the news channels follow Wall Street and the Dow and call it “the economy”. My main concern is not the Dow, but the ability to earn a living.
Today I got an email from Ann Coulter - worried about the cascading handouts and gimmes that the labor unions are getting from the White House. Perhaps more damaging than the debt of the bailouts, giving Labor Union Bosses what they want - secret ballots (easier to stuff and intimidate), disposal of Right To Work laws in the 22 states that passed them (unions would collect dues from non-members, or non-members are fired). I figured the Cash for Clunkers was a union payoff, not a service for anyone else.
Congress and Obama’s other initiatives, including NAIS, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009, beefing up the Serve-Learn programs, the sneaky end-runs around the right to bear arms 2nd Amendment (protection of citizens from tyranny in government) - the growth in inspections, in regulations, in fines, and general harassment will not be pretty.
There have been concerns written that all doctors and clinics will be “drafted” into ObamaCare’s public option unless they opt out - and no procedure is defined for them to opt out. I have worked on projects you had to quit or die to get out of - after the second guy died in a couple of months, I quit the company (it really was a coincidence). The figure I saw today is that instead of the $2500 per family drop in health care Obama campaigned on, he is now willing to sign legislation that will increase expenses to families by $4000 in the next ten years. Anyone waiting for Congress before making a doctor appointment should stop waiting; the plan is to collect taxes for three years before the government starts making payments.
People that think the economic consequences of the economic downturn are all that is falling on us are bound to be disappointed. Obama really did mean what he said, about redistributing wealth. Except for Union bosses. They spend a $Billion dollars getting Obama elected, and they want their money’s worth.
As states moan and cut budgets, I wonder how many people are aware that state revenue difficulties are going to get worse, that some of the legislation Congress is passing will force spending requirements on states, and will soon start kicking in.
Oklahoma teachers unions are pushing a HOPE agenda, to assure the state funds school districts enough to save union jobs. At what cost, though, I wonder. Will prisons be closed and prisoners set free? Unemployment or school programs be cut back? Will the state Highway Patrol be cut back? Will Universities lose funding, or social services? Unless the state turns stupid as Congress, something is going to give.
We know, for dead certain sure, that raising taxes - especially taxes on employers and companies - reduces revenue and hurts the economy. Reagan showed us that lowering taxes, after a few years, fuels steady growth. In short, there is no way possible to make up the revenue that would pay for all this increased spending. None.
Sharon, the Yule festival is close enough, that this bubble might burst after that. I dunno. I could wish that there was some way to make the Members and Senators of Congress feel more responsible, personally, for what is happening to the country. They may not be the solution, but they are sure enough a big part of what is breaking things down.
The states can’t be a stupid as congress cause they have no way of printing their own money, BradK! they are supposed to be deciding what to cut and because they will please no one they just avoid the whole thing. Our state still does not have a real budget. We are just one of about 50 I think! No, that’ not quite right my cousins in Montana tell me they have a surplus this year!
Highway patrol will be cut back-our own Dept. of Public Safety is facing a terrible cut backup before christmas-this is in Arizona. Funding is cut for the staff at all kinds of agencies, social services of all kinds, Arizona Dept of Economic Security (DES) is stretched to the limits with the new people signing up for unemployment. Actually, that state agency, DES has had to hire some new staff the past few months to help them deal with the workload. And yes they probably will let some prisoners and let guards go to relieve pressure on their budgets or they will try to privatize everything.
About the end of December or January we are going to run out funds unless our state legislators do something about it. this has been noted over and over in the local media. Of course, I simply think that the majority of people have no clue to what we’re really facing nationawide and probably world wide. I feel like I’m watching a real big rolling stone, somehow few see it coming, and it is going to roll in here and squash us all. I also feel pretty mesmerized by watching it come some days instead of doing some things I still need to do or just my daily stuff.
I read Ilargi and Stoneleigh (and I know several readers here read there, too) at the http://www.automaticearth.com daily and they are very sure of the coming economic tragedy and the energy tragedy happening at the same time. After all the “feeling normal”, they are some of the few who are still sayin, “Uhn-uh, the bad stuff is really still coming. Don’t be fooled.”
I always thought it couldn’t really really really be as bad as they think it will be as time goes by I’m changing my mind. I think they are well worth reading and their viewpoint is worth knowing but I thought it just couldn’t be that dark what was coming. However, I lean more and more their way all the time.
Wishing you all a good night-not sarcasm really even with the subject matter here.
peace,
shamba
one corrected thing: the website is: the automaticearth.blogspot.com
The rally is just another way to get more suckers into the market and then the big boys will sell and make money. The whole economic system is corrupt-it is designed and operated by very smart people. Do not trust the Dow any more than you trust your local gambling casino to make you rich.
Ya get your money for nothin and your chicks for free……..
No matter what reassurances I hear that things are normalizing, I still see reports that tell a different story.
Recently read an article on school districts trying to collect on student’s unpaid lunch bills by cutting them off from the lunch line and referring more families to federal programs. Some schools are considering using collection agencies.
Then there is today’s ominous announcement that Social Security will not be providing a COLA with President Obama instead proposing another $250 payment. I don’t know how many folks realize that the Fed has targeted Entitlement programs.
Somewhere down this road, there may not be a free lunch for the kids and we will run out of bones to toss to seniors.
food safety act is a leftover from the previous adm and is a dumb response (IMHO) to the ecoli and lettuce scares. Write your congressperson - stop the food safety act as it will hurt small farms
@ cecelia,
Careful about the Food Safety Enhancement Act (2009). It is intended to apply to everyone that transports food, any component that could become food for animal or person. Or stores or produces it. The act deliberately includes farmers markets, anyone taking food or produce to a market or roadside stand, roadside stands, and bartering from the garden with neighbors. It really does want to send federal inspectors to check your food records every year, and with unannounced surprise inspections - with fines and condemning any food present if you fail the records check or refuse an inspector. Pretty much everyone preparing is intended to be caught in the Food Safety Act snare.
*Everyone* should write Congress and get this monster toppled. Actually, write your Senators - the House already passed it.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-2749
Just imagine how many food safety inspectors, administrators, managers, and associated staff the FDA would need, since they don’t currently do this kind of work. Imagine the number of tax dollars it will take to register and inspect everyone that raises some kind of food. If nothing else, think of the forests to be condemned for the paper to publish pamphlets, record forms, audit forms, procedures, applications for relief, applications for permits, applications for . . . Gack. And the coal burned for the electricity to keep all those computers and databases churning.
I wonder - can’t we set a cap on CO2 emitted to power various government agencies, including their electric (in coal fired plant equivalents), business travel, and personal commute usage? With 40% per year reduction goal. That would suit me!