Rabid Liberal Rants

Just read an article in The Week which describes the universal healthcare program in Massachusetts which sounds strongly similar to the program the Feds want to pass now. One of the main points of the article is that Massachusetts, when originally drafting and passing the plan, never took into account the rising costs of healthcare. Thus, when the recession hit, more people were out of work, more people applied for the state subsidies for insurance, and tapped out the insurance fund. The rising healthcare costs fueled a $9 Billion gap, which took away money from education, public safety, and other services.

Similarly, the government plan fails to address the rising costs of healthcare. No way are they going to discuss putting caps or limits on payouts if they want the healthcare industry on board with the plan.

Economy guru and professor at NYU, Nouriel Roubini gave a presentation in London, and basically said the worst is yet to come. Roubini, back in 2006, accurately predicted that the US will fall into a recession. Back in February, he predicted the financial market meltdown. Some quotes from the conference:

We’ve reached a situation of sheer panic

hundreds of hedge funds are going to go bust

We’re seeing the beginning of a run on a big chunk of the hedge funds

don’t be surprised if policy makers need to close down markets for a week or two in coming days

This is the worst financial crisis in the U.S., Europe and now emerging markets that we’ve seen in a long time

Things will get much worse before they get better. I fear the worst is ahead of us.

Read more from the RGE Monitor.

Food for thought. A provactive write-up of what’s going on with our economy and where we are headed. Basically, make way for the Amero.

In summary: 

Over time, a much lower US standard of living and a significantly devalued US dollar will make it much cheaper to manufacture in the US again, and 15-25 years from now our massive debt loads will have subsided and all those outsourced jobs will eventually come back home. Then we will be able to do more than sell each other cheaply manufactured goods…

Ultimately, the US dollar will plummet in value and its fate as the defacto World Reserve Currency could soon be brought to question — but that might be part of our monetary policy master’s “master-plan” anyway, as it will allow the Amero to slip right into its place without an American revolt.

Let’s see, Bush says the country is not head into a recession.

Yet today, the market fell 315 pts on recession fears, oil pushed past $103 for the first time, the dollar hit another low against the euro, US Midwest manufacturing activity “plummeted” in February, consumer setiment slumped to a 16 year low.

Yep, Bush knows best.

Stagflation = Stagnation + Inflation. Which is where we are heading right now. It means, high prices for food and commodities, while at the same time, there’s no economic growth, no job growth. It also means, start saving. Hold off on big ticket items if they’re not necessary. Cut short the vacation, maybe start thinking about a backup if you lose your job. Reign in spending. Do you really need all those premium channels with your cable TV? Do you really need cable? Maybe you don’t need a land-line if you have a cell phone. Maybe it’s time to get a COSTCO or BJ’s membership and buy in bulk. Eat breakfast at home and bring your lunch to work. Don’t eat dinner our all the time.

Save money. The worst part of stagflation is that it makes it harder and harder to save any money. The more cash you have to call upon in an emergency, the less desperate or destitute you’ll be.

As I as said in an earlier post, we’re in a recession. And according to some, it will only get worse. The problem is, the government continues to print money, without any backing, continues to borrow money (such as for the stimulus package), and the OPEC countries are migrating away from the dollar, and moving to the euro, to buy/sell oil.

It’s getting so bad, here in NYC, some tourist shops are accepting euros!!

A bleak view of the state of our economy:

Bernanke’s State of the Economy Speech: “You are all Dead Ducks”

They keep saying that economic reports signal a recession is coming, but when you’re paying $4 for a gallon of milk, almost $4/gal for gas, getting taxed up the wazoo, trying to find ways to save every penny, thinking about a second job (or even third), guess what? As far as I’m concerned, you’re in a recession.