The Tan One was just on my teevee. He thinks the way to stimulate the economy is to give Americans tax cuts.. Of course, we've had tax rebates from that fucking monkey of a president a couple of times already.. haven't we? That really fixed everything, didn't it?
Fact is, throwing a few bucks to the middle class doesn't do shit, people spend it on their credit card bills, or a mortgage, os maybe get something to eat. What the Republicans want is a stimulus where it would do the most good (for them), at the highest income levels... because they are assholes.
I happen to think the Paul Krugman wing of economists are exactly right on this issue. We need a lot of Federal spending on infrastructure.. bridges.. roads.. power plants.. Tax cuts won't do a fucking thing, but this Federal spending will actually improve our country.
I hope it doesn't take another collapsed bridge and more deaths for those assholes to realize it.. but in any case, Obama should smile and nod politely, and then ignore them. The only real risk is that Obama doesn't do enough.
Unfortunately, I don't think the Democrats have the balls to do it. I don't think they are bold enough, because they are used to cowering before the mighty weight of the Republicans.. It's good news for me and John, because our income is inversely proportional to the economic conditions. I think this new package is going to be treating a lacerated artery with a band-aid... meaning.. it won't do shit except reroute some money to some assholes who have managed to get the Fed money.
I saw some report last night that the CEO of one of the banks that got a shit ton of money had his office redecorated. Just two chairs cost $17,000. That's not a stimulus, and that doesn't create jobs.
Again, what ultimately ended the Great Depression was the largest public works project in history.. namely.. World War II. If we had the same sort of initiative, but instead of making bombers and tanks, we rebuilt our nation, can you imagine what we could do? It would be a huge boon for generations to come.
/adding
Speaking of getting a chunk of that Federal money. Fannie Mae has a new program that allows people who are renting a house that gets foreclosed on to stay in the house. Fannie pays the broker to maintain and manage the property while they setup a short sale. This allows renters time to figure out what they're going to do, instead of being thrown out because the landlord didn't make the mortgage payment.
Of course, that costs money.. in maintenance fees and additional sales commission when selling the house.. which is okay with us, coz, you know.. we like our Friday Night Fine Dining.
It truly is weird having a financial interest in a sucky economy, while arguing for bold measures to fix the economy... but hey.. if it all turns around, then the retail real-estate market will improve.. so whatever.
/Correction
John took me to task for an error about Fannie's new program. They aren't short selling the house, they're just putting the house up for sale in a regular fashion. A short sale is when they allow a home owner to sell a house for less than the amount owed on the house in order to avoid being foreclosed on. With this new program, the tenant can stay in the house until it sells, and the new owner has the option of renting the house to the existing tenant, or evicting them.
Also.. "retail real-estate" is just normal real-estate sales, as opposed to the foreclosure business (REO) that John specializes in.
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