Barack Obama gives his much-anticipated acceptance speech tonight, and his biggest challenge might be meeting mile-high expectations.
Obama reportedly is modeling his speech on three previous ones: JFK’s in 1960, Ronald Reagan’s in 1980 and Bill Clinton’s in 1992.
He will have an oversized stage and oversized audience of 75,000. The stakes are high: If he rises to the occasion, it could cement his status as the new leader of the Democratic Party and give him fresh momentum heading out of the convention. If he fumbles, Republicans will be all over it.
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110 Comments
He might not be able to shoot for the moon (its been done) but he can reach for the stars!
Take the buyout, Randy. That clock is ticking. Maybe you can wash cars for your bro.
I’m looking forward to tonight. I even took off work to go to all the parties.
The Republicans will be all over it, no matter what. And who gives a rat’s patootie what they think or have to say? They care nothing for anyone but themselves, individually. They got theirs, now I get MINE.
The quote is: Shoot for the moon and land among the stars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqMhBEYGrXU
Ron Paul nails both Obama and McCain on CNN This Morning.
Anybody arguing that there is a difference between the two should come talk to me after watching this short video.
Thanks,
Objectivist
Objectivist:
The difference?
John McCain says one thing, then does another.
You can argue that Barack Obama says one thing, and hasn’t done anything yet, but that’s the best the Republicans have.
There is a philosophical battle going on right now.
Are people individuals and capable of taking care of themselves?
or
Are people to be viewed in groups, and it is someone elses job to take care of someone else?
Right now, Obama and McCain seem to think that it is governments job to take care of everyone.
Is there even a choice for those who wish to take care of themselves?
Socialism does not work. It has been proven time and again throughout history. America’s socialistic structure is crumbling right in front of our eyes.
The young are paying for the old, because the money the old put away is gone. We spend more money than we actually have. We are trying to build an empire of democracy.
God did not choose America as his messianic force to be a sort of policeman for the whole rest of the world. It seems that we can all hear God speaking and he is saying, “You are too arrogant! If you don’t change your ways, I will rise up, and break the backbone of your power, and I’ll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn’t even know my name. Be still and know that I’m God.”
-Martin Luther King Jr
mrcontroversy
Posted August 28, 2008 at 12:06 pm | Permalink
Objectivist:
The difference?
John McCain says one thing, then does another.
You can argue that Barack Obama says one thing, and hasn’t done anything yet, but that’s the best the Republicans have.
__________________________________________________
They will both continue the Foreign Policy.
They will both continue the Monetary Policy.
They will both continue to grow the size of Government.
We all lose in this one.
“Are people individuals and capable of taking care of themselves?” — Objectivist.
No, Objectivist, that’s not the battle. The battle is whether people with money will be allowed to continue to prey on people with less means.
Just heard 26 mil. people tuned in to Hillary’s speech, on the same night 4 yrs. ago only 5 mil. watched the convention.
Wonder how that compares to American Idol?
Predestined-”They care nothing for anyone but themselves, individually. They got theirs, now I get MINE.”
As opposed to the liberals…
They got theirs, now give me some of it!
Ah – but the question is: Can Obama live up to the set?
It’s not easy to give a speech in front of the Parthenon and not be ridiculed for being exactly the kind of “celebrity rock star” McCain has portrayed him as.
Seriously, I’m sure he’ll give a great speech. He is here, after all, on the strength of a single great speech, given in 2004 at the convention; but for that speech, we wouldn’t know who he is.
And we wouldn’t be considering handing over the keys to the gov’t to someone who’s barely finished his learner’s permit.
Objectivist–
We all read Ayn Rand too. And then we grew up.
She was running so far away from communism in her native Russia, that she ran to the other extreme, complete individuality, as if humans aren’t social creatures.
Government can be efficient as well as inefficient. It’s not efficient for each of us to build our own roads or schools for instance. Even Medicare’s costs for overhead are 1/7th of private insurers.
Join the real world and stop with the adolescent ideology already.
GMC still doesn’t get it.
We don’t want the experience that McCain has–experience licking the boots of big donors, experience de-regulating the S&L industry as his special interests wanted, the experience of “war now, war tomorrow.”
No experience is far far better than McCain’s “experience.”
So this is what, the Ones 58th state?
Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
“The O-man, Barack Hussein Obama, is an eloquently tailored empty suit. No resume, no accomplishments, no experience, no original ideas, no understanding of how the economy works, no understanding of how the world works, no balls, nothing but abstract empty rhetoric devoid of real substance.
He has no real identity. He is half-white, which he rejects. The rest of him is mostly Arab, which he hides but is disclosed by his non-African Arabic surname and his Arabic first and middle names as a way to triply proclaim his Arabic parentage to people in Kenya . Only a small part of him is African Black from his Luo grandmother, which he pretends he is exclusively.
What he isn’t, not a genetic drop of, is ‘African-American,’ the descendant of enslaved Africans brought to America chained in slave ships. He hasn’t a single ancestor who was a slave. Instead, his Arab ancestors were slave owners. Slave-trading was the main Arab business in East Africa for centuries until the British ended it.
Let that sink in: Obama is not the descendant of slaves, he is the descendant of slave owners. Thus he makes the perfect Liberal Messiah.
It’s something Hillary doesn’t understand – how some complete neophyte came out of the blue and stole the Dem nomination from her. Obamamania is beyond politics and reason. It is a true religious cult, whose adherents reject Christianity yet still believe in Original Sin, transferring it from the evil of being human to the evil of being white.
Thus Obama has become the white liberals’ Christ, offering
absolution from the Sin of Being White. There is no reason or logic behind it, no faults or flaws of his can diminish it, no
arguments Hillary could make of any kind can be effective against it. The absurdity of Hypocrisy Clothed In Human Flesh being their Savior is all the more cause for liberals to worship him: Credo quia absurdum, I believe it because it is absurd.
Thank heavens that the voting majority of Americans remain
Christian and are in no desperate need of a phony savior.
His candidacy is ridiculous and should not be taken seriously by any thinking American.”
beber
Posted August 28, 2008 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
“Are people individuals and capable of taking care of themselves?” — Objectivist.
No, Objectivist, that’s not the battle. The battle is whether people with money will be allowed to continue to prey on people with less means.
__________________________________________________
Sounds like a fair argument. I hope to see you not voting for Obama or McCain when the time comes. That is, if you are serious about not having the rich steal from the poor, as you say.
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 2:11 pm | Permalink
Objectivist–
We all read Ayn Rand too. And then we grew up.
She was running so far away from communism in her native Russia, that she ran to the other extreme, complete individuality, as if humans aren’t social creatures.
Government can be efficient as well as inefficient. It’s not efficient for each of us to build our own roads or schools for instance. Even Medicare’s costs for overhead are 1/7th of private insurers.
Join the real world and stop with the adolescent ideology already.
_________________________________________________
Sadly, I am not so sure everyone has read Rand.
Oh, I understand fine, Capn.
I simply think you’re wrong.
More often than not, policy goals and high ideals do not drive administrations. Rarely do presidents get to do what they set out to do.
EVENTS drive administrations, not policies. Presidents simply “ride the tiger” (in T. Roosevelt’s terms) and hope to cope with circumstances as they happen. Obama gives a great speech, but he’s demonstrably less comfortable thinking on his feet. McCain’s had to think on his feet for years, in many differnt circumstances.
Obama has a history of voting “present” when a vote is controversial. His signature claim – “I was against the war” – is an easy one, and quite convenient for him. He wasn’t there to have to make that call. Had he been in the Senate at the time, it may have been different, we’ll never know.
McCain has a history of bucking his party and going his own way (despite the recent political games necessary to win – which both sides play, appealing to the base in the primaries, and running to the center for the general election); many in his party don’t like him for it. He’s risked political damage for same, when necessary. He’s also compromised when he must; that’s the nature of politics. Obama talks of “reaching across the aisles;” McCain’s done it, and paid the political price at times for doing so.
So you oppose the straw man of McCain that Kos/DU have built for you. Fine. You may not “like” that experience. Fair enough.
But there is no substitute for it.
Because of the “Green Theme” of the DNC, I thought of another way the Democrats could reduce the carbon foot print of their event. If they would all just stop breathing they could keep 2.2 million pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere by my calculations, and of course by doing so benefit the country in several other ways as well.
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 2:11 pm | Permalink
Objectivist–
We all read Ayn Rand too. And then we grew up.
She was running so far away from communism in her native Russia, that she ran to the other extreme, complete individuality, as if humans aren’t social creatures.
Government can be efficient as well as inefficient. It’s not efficient for each of us to build our own roads or schools for instance. Even Medicare’s costs for overhead are 1/7th of private insurers.
Join the real world and stop with the adolescent ideology already.
_________________________________________________
There is an alternative to medicare and insurance. It is to close the federal reserve, back to currency with an asset or basket of assets, and watch the prices for goods and services drop. Then, you put money away every month and call it, “in case sh*t happens money”. If nothing happens, that money is still yours.
This may be too much for some to wrap there head around, but the private sector works fine when left alone.
Sound money is what we need to bring prices back down to their true levels.
Check out the subjective theory of value and the theory of money and credit for more understanding.
All this Ayn Rand is to deep for me this PM.
I’m thinking that Cotton Candy Obama should come into the sounds of “The Candy Man”, that old Sammie Davis Jr. tune. It’s a very fluffy tune. Doesn’t last long and hardly has any substance.
This may be too much for some to wrap there head around
Read those with their hands out…
“It’s not easy to give a speech in front of the Parthenon and not be ridiculed for being exactly the kind of “celebrity rock star””
Uh huh.
I’m not seeing this get the play it deserves.
So much for the “liberal” media?
george bush made his acceptance speech in 2004 in front of similar columns.
Sort of related to the Rand discussion, this researcher says the better model for the human mind instead of a single computer, would be the internet (inter-connected computers).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393061701/wamu-20
From the above link:
A pioneering neuroscientist reveals the reasons for loneliness and what to do about it.
John T. Cacioppo’s groundbreaking research topples one of the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on the individual as the unit of inquiry.
They got theirs, now give me some of it!
That must be why the republicans are screaming about the end of the tax breaks for the wealthy.
BTW, my comment was TIC. ;)
I am prety sure the plans for the stadium acceptance were finalized before the relatively successful attack ads about Obama being a celebrity were launched.
Forgive, but what is TIC?
“McCain has a history of bucking his party and going his own way ”
Voting with bush 95% of the time is hardly a maverick. I wonder if even brownback and roberts can compete with that kind of voting history.
“McCain has a history of bucking his party and going his own way ”
That was far in the past. McCain was a maverick before he was an anti-maverick.
From a Deomcrats.com email:
“And we did it through the oldest and largest political party in the world – the party that once fought civil rights – our party, the Democratic Party …”
Accidental omission or Freudian slip?
Unlike conservatives, we with the D designation after our names, can laugh at ourselves.
GMC writes that “Obama talks of ‘reaching across the aisles;’ McCain’s done it.”
True enough. He’s reached across the aisle and given his opponents the finger.
*****
Objectivist intones, “the free market works if you leave it alone.”
You mean like back in the good old days before regulation? Like during the 1929-1936 Global Economic Depression only finally alleviated by massive government spending during World War II?
You mean like that?
Civil Rights was the biggest power grab in the history of the US.
The problem would’ve taken care of itself just like slavery, but for some reason government felt the need to save us from ourselves just like they always do.
Objectivist intones, “the free market works if you leave it alone.”
You mean like back in the good old days before regulation? Like during the 1929-1936 Global Economic Depression only finally alleviated by massive government spending during World War II?
You mean like that?
_________________________________________________
I’m surprised you aren’t up to date on your history Capn.
The Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913 on Christmas Break.
There was no free market from that day forward.
You do know that the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression right?
Check Out Hayek and his Nobel Prize work on business cycles. It’s all right there for you to read.
“Get government out of business. Get business in the Government.”
The playbook of GW Bush. Which is supported by McSame.
“You do know that the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression right?”
Please provide this “lesson”.
By the way, the war did not get us out of the depression.
and
FDR was one of the worst presidents in the history of the US. He grabbed his new deal policies right out of the communist handbook. He also followed the Constitution about as poorly as any one person could.
“The problem would’ve taken care of itself just like slavery, ”
You mean after almost 100 years and culminating in a civil war that killed half a million people?
Yeah that’s your laisez faire for ya.
“Objectivist” Your objective is impossible.
YOUR idea of government might have worked 150 years ago when there was free land and everyone had a farm. Now? All that is left to protect the many from the tyranny of the wealthy few IS government.
Recommended reading for you. Thomas Frank’s “The Wrecking Crew”.
Objectivist posts,
“Check out the subjective theory of value and the theory of money and credit for more understanding.”
Objectivist, you optimist.
There is NO WAY the DemLib/Socialists will ever understand the theory of money. Understand the difference between fiat money, and real money backed with value. Even if you tell them they won’t understand. Just as they can not understand we can not just ‘create’ wealth, but that it must be produced. As they can not understand that it is pure and simple theft to forcefully take from the earner/producer and give it to those that don’t in the shortsighted attempt to award all the benefits of work and achievement to those who don’t work or achieve.
Objectivist–
Do you have a college degree? If so, from what college?
I want to make sure that nobody I care about attends it.
Objectivist:
Kindly explain how the “market” is taking care of the Eagle.
I’m dying to hear this one.
Sheesh never mind “Objective”.
YOU are just plain nuts.
StevenEDavis
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:38 pm | Permalink
“You do know that the Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression right?”
Please provide this “lesson”.
________________________________________________
Fed lowered interest rates. Flooded the market with money. Many people over extended themselves because of the easy credit. There was also a lot of malinvestment and poor business decisions made, but why not, money was readily available.
Then the bills came due. The fed raised interest rates, and constricted the supply of money. This sent the country into a nosedive.
This is a simple, yet effective explanation. For more read Murray Rothbard’s “The Great Depression.”
Hayek also won a nobel prize proving the the federal reserve was the cause of the business cycle.
I hope you are asking because you want to know and learn more. If you are asking because you have a different explanation, please to share with the rest of the class.
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:42 pm | Permalink
Objectivist–
Do you have a college degree? If so, from what college?
I want to make sure that nobody I care about attends it.
_______________________________________________
Mises University
PhD in Austrian Economics
Boxlock
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:41 pm | Permalink
Objectivist posts,
“Check out the subjective theory of value and the theory of money and credit for more understanding.”
Objectivist, you optimist.
There is NO WAY the DemLib/Socialists will ever understand the theory of money. Understand the difference between fiat money, and real money backed with value. Even if you tell them they won’t understand. Just as they can not understand we can not just ‘create’ wealth, but that it must be produced. As they can not understand that it is pure and simple theft to forcefully take from the earner/producer and give it to those that don’t in the shortsighted attempt to award all the benefits of work and achievement to those who don’t work or achieve.
______________________________________________
I am an optimist. Vote for me when I make my run at Washington in a decade.
mrcontroversy
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:42 pm | Permalink
Objectivist:
Kindly explain how the “market” is taking care of the Eagle.
I’m dying to hear this one.
_________________________________________________
I am not sure of the Eagles situation. Tell me what it is, and I’ll try my best to explain from my economic perspective.
#
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:42 pm | Permalink
Objectivist–
Do you have a college degree? If so, from what college?
I want to make sure that nobody I care about attends it.
———————
What college are your degrees in Crapn? And what did you major in?
Boxlock again shows that his CON shibboleths don’t reflect reality.
Wealth is “magically created” all the time in the real world. People in “arbitrage” find tiny discrepencies in the prices of stocks between Hong Kong and London markets, say, and buy and sell millions of shares to multiply these tiny differences. It’s very lucrative and they produce no value whatsoever.
Currency speculators buy and hold or buy and sell the pound against the dollar, the dollar against the yen, the yen against the won, against the yuan and ringget, against the ruble. If done right, one can make millions on it. No wealth is “produced” at all.
Talk to them about pies. That’s how liberals understand economics.
Conservatives want the whole pie.
Liberals think everyone should get an equal piece of the pie.
The pie only comes in one size and the government will insure that your piece is fair.
I’m not going to give you any personal information, Regular, because I believe that you are mentally unstable.
Your post about slowly strangling someone to death, BTK style, confirmed it for me.
Sorry.
#
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:52 pm | Permalink
I’m not going to give you any personal information, Regular, because I believe that you are mentally unstable.
Your post about slowly strangling someone to death, BTK style, confirmed it for me.
Sorry.
————————
Show me where I wrote that. I mentioned nothing about strangling.
“Vote for me when I make my run at Washington in a decade.”
Would that be when you are scheduled for release?
Your ideas mean nothing in today’s America.
Unless of course you have a lot of money and power and aspire to get more of same. Thanks no. I don’t care to grow the rich richer and more powerful.
Capn,
How can you say anything bad about my education when you haven’t even studied Austrian Economics. Why don’t you read about Keynesian economics, then read about Austrian economics, heck throw in the monetarist version of economics too. Then decide which one you like. Maybe you create a new school of economics based on pieces of all three schools.
You have no right to knock one school of thought if you don’t truly understand it though. It is short-sided and shows a lack of knowledge.
Mises University . . . of course.
I couldn’t find anything about their accreditation process on their website.
Hmmm . . .
Vote for me when I make my run at Washington in a decade.”
Would that be when you are scheduled for release?
HEHEHEHEE! Dude, good one.
“Show me where I wrote that. I mentioned nothing about strangling.”
Right.
And your compulsion to nit pick rather than admit fault is perfectly consistent with mental illness.
BlueJay
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:54 pm | Permalink
“Vote for me when I make my run at Washington in a decade.”
Would that be when you are scheduled for release?
Your ideas mean nothing in today’s America.
Unless of course you have a lot of money and power and aspire to get more of same. Thanks no. I don’t care to grow the rich richer and more powerful.
_______________________________________________
I agree with you BlueJay. I really do, but how can you fix it if you sit around and don’t try to do something about it? You need people who actually care, or else you have totalitarianism.
Society falls on every mans shoulders. No one is relieved of his duty by another.
Loved the scheduled for release date though. I’ll be sure to put you on my campaign staff.
Glad to.
Two years ago, the stock of the Eagle’s parent company, Knight-Ridder, had among the highest values in the industry.
Then, Bruce Sherman of Private Capital Management decided that wasn’t enough for him, and forced Knight-Ridder to sell out the McClatchy.
Sherman still wasn’t satisified, so papers in the chain are being forced to cut again and again and again.
The end result? From a price of over $40 two years ago, McClatchy closed today at 3.69 a share… while paying an ungodly dividend of 72 cents a share.
Compare this to Gannett, with no evil equity fund managers pressuring it, which closed today at 18.30, paying a dividend of 1.60, a lower percentage of earnings.
While both are cutting jobs, Gannett’s shedding is significantly less.
This is not “the market”–it is greed at its worst, and people are suffering for absolutely no good reason.
The First Amendment is being brutally raped… for what?
Defend Mr. Sherman’s behavior if you can.
#
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:59 pm | Permalink
“Show me where I wrote that. I mentioned nothing about strangling.”
Right.
And your compulsion to nit pick rather than admit fault is perfectly consistent with mental illness.
—————————-
And your compulsion to make false accusation is the norm for you, rather than to ‘man up’ and admit you are wrong.
At Mises University, do they pull the diplomas off a roll, like toilet paper?
At Mises University, do they pull the diplomas off a roll, like toilet paper?
Can’t handle the tough questions, go personal.
Predictable.
Objectivist,
You are dealing with children, worse than children, nasty adults with childish understanding.
Unless you want to converse with them simply out of sport, nothing will be won by trying to actually converse with them.
Do you adhere to Austrian Economics? If so I probably will vote for you.
“Boxlock again shows that his CON shibboleths don’t reflect reality.”
Wrong Capn,
When fiat money is printed by governments at different rates, back by nothing, those things you mention are possible. The value of their respective money is constantly changing, consequently the differences in different markets.
Governments make it possible.
“If done right, one can make millions on it. No wealth is “produced” at all.”
And if done wrong millions can be lost as well and many times is.
Speaking of the economy, just the mere anticipation of the coming messiah must be causing it to improve:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080828/economy.html
Sol–
I was pointing out that unaccredited “universities” are paper mills.
The diplomas aren’t worth toilet paper. At least toilet paper has some value.
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 3:56 pm | Permalink
Mises University . . . of course.
I couldn’t find anything about their accreditation process on their website.
Hmmm . . .
__________________________________________________
Stuck on labels and titles I see. You can read a book and understand it. Do I need a piece of paper or accredidation to signify that I understand it?
Are you so sure of your position that you won’t read others and consider it?
I used to be just like you, then I realized that our minds our the only real ruler we have on this earth. You should cutivate your mind and help it grow.
Don’t forget, it is each generations job to relearn the lessons of the past.
Probably the “school” was in the Casa del guordo apartments.
His instructor was Buddy, or Junior.
No it was Bubba!
Bubba Wallbanger. And Bubba knew that he knew everything there was to know!
BlueJay
Posted August 28, 2008 at 4:39 pm | Permalink
Probably the “school” was in the Casa del guordo apartments.
His instructor was Buddy, or Junior.
No it was Bubba!
Bubba Wallbanger. And Bubba knew that he knew everything there was to know!
——-
Just shows that you don’t need much smarts to push a mower, eh BlueJay?
I really think that the Eagle is doing bad because they have bad content. The stories are mostly one-sided and don’t really make the reader explore his mind.
If you aren’t selling papers, nothing else matters.
And if you are not selling papers you are not selling advertising, or the advertising for enough to keep the stock price up.
I have accredited degrees too. They were only to get a decent job though. Nothing I studied is used in my day to day operations.
I am more about learning everything I can rather than specializing in one thing.
It is better to know a little about a lot, rather than a lot about a little.
You think.
Point being, all newspaper advertising is down across the country. McClatchy’s isn’t as down as some, more so than others.
Yet their stock price is far lower than any of the other publicly traded newspaper companies, and they are still paying a higher dividend as compared to others.
And the Kansas City Star and Miami Herald are faring far worse… and people around hear swear they are “better newspapers”.
Riddle me that, o conservative know it alls.
Perhaps their stock was overvalued before and is now where it should be. But if you think it is undervalued, I believe they call that a buying opportunity, Mr. C.
I never claimed to know-it-all. I am not arrogant. I try to throw well informed opinions out there. I try to back it up with facts. If someone gives their opinon and I like it, I go check it out. The Lord taught us to be humble. It took me a long time to practice it, and I slip up still, but at least I try.
The problem is that the media and newspapers are reporting and printing garbage. Contrary to popular belief, people are smarter than they get credit for. Why pay for bad press? The internet is where free minds can go and put real transparent stories out for all to see.
It is called the information age for a reason. A person who has no mechanic background can go to a website and teach themselves to put brakes on their car if they so desired.
Businesses come and go. Newspapers are not subject to that same fate. If they’d put better stuff ot there and didn’t try to slant things, it may help them a little.
I also think that only a few powerful people are in control of all major media outlets also.
It may not help to have them all reporting the same thing with the same opinions.
Instead of reporting the truth and being objective, they print half-truths and lean towards a certain point of view.
The Russia Georgia War was a more recent example of this.
Every single one reported Russin invasion and aggression. It took a little effort on my part to learn the history of that region, but I finally got the real truth via the internet.
The internet is the greatest invention in the history of mankind.
Objectivist posts,
“The problem is that the media and newspapers are reporting and printing garbage. Contrary to popular belief, people are smarter than they get credit for. Why pay for bad press?….If they’d put better stuff ot there and didn’t try to slant things, it may help them a little.”
Exactly….especially with respect to the Editorials and Opinions sections, but even in the “news” sections. Folks don’t value it.
Markets are forward looking out usually 6 to 12 months. So maybe the hope thing is causing some optimisim.
What you don’t care to admit is that the evil machinations of Bruce Sherman are destroying people’s lives.
If Mr. Sherman were hunted down, arrested, and his stock in companies like McClatchy snatched from him–as I believe will happen in the next administration–McClatchy would right itself in no time.
The problem with “free markets” is that they no longer exist. On those rare occasions when they are brought back… which is happening now in the cable industry… miraculous things happen. Prices that cable companies contend have been necessarily high begin to drop. TV stations who have been told there is no bandwidth for them unless they pay $70,000 a month, are suddenly dropped to $600… or never charged at all.
Free markets do work… if government is free to enforce them.
HLP
Posted August 28, 2008 at 4:17 pm | Permalink
Speaking of the economy, just the mere anticipation of the coming messiah must be causing it to improve:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080828/economy.html
_________________________________________________
Measure GDP in Canadian Dollars (the strongest currency in the world currently), then tell me what GDP is.
Hint:
It is a negative number. There has been no rebound. The economy is in a recession.
Just curious, but how old are you, objectivist? 20’s? Or 30’s? No need for exact age. Just a ballpark figure.
Sol?
TIC=Tongue In Cheek
Modelling after Reagan. He seems to really like Reagan- and I don’t recall him going after what an awful president Reagan was in terms of his ability to make the poor even poorer.
Sounds a lot like Bush, rich get richer….
mrcontroversy
Posted August 28, 2008 at 5:09 pm | Permalink
What you don’t care to admit is that the evil machinations of Bruce Sherman are destroying people’s lives.
If Mr. Sherman were hunted down, arrested, and his stock in companies like McClatchy snatched from him–as I believe will happen in the next administration–McClatchy would right itself in no time.
The problem with “free markets” is that they no longer exist. On those rare occasions when they are brought back… which is happening now in the cable industry… miraculous things happen. Prices that cable companies contend have been necessarily high begin to drop. TV stations who have been told there is no bandwidth for them unless they pay $70,000 a month, are suddenly dropped to $600… or never charged at all.
Free markets do work… if government is free to enforce them.
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You don’t enforce a free market. That is an oxymoron.
Look, businesses that don’t make money have to do what they have to do. It is no ones fault that people work at jobs for poor companies. The Eagle is a flawed product. If you are going to work for someone, make sure it is a good company. Otherwise, learn some other skill and move on.
Capitalism works. Government intervention is what causes all the problems blamed on “free markets”. America is not a free market. I wish people would stop saying that.
26 Pre-Destined. Still got my whole life in front of me.
Political_mama
Posted August 28, 2008 at 5:14 pm | Permalink
Modelling after Reagan. He seems to really like Reagan- and I don’t recall him going after what an awful president Reagan was in terms of his ability to make the poor even poorer.
Sounds a lot like Bush, rich get richer….
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Reagan forgot to cut military spending. That is why the national debt grew so much. His free market approaches were correct. If only he didn’t have neo-con George H.W. Bush in his ear preaching his ideals.
Objectivist,
Question…As a student of Austrian Economics, where do you think Gold will go?
Won’t hold you responsible for the answer either.
From a price of over $40 two years ago, McClatchy closed today at 3.69 a share… while paying an ungodly dividend of 72 cents a share.
————-
Hmmm… That is a 19.5% dividend. That is not going to last. As much as I hate to see the newspaper business go under, I would hesitate to buy stock, even if it has a 19% dividend.
Mr C, the government can’t get involved in business decisions, even if they suck. As long as owner/mngmt is not breaking any laws. Natural selection the darwinists call it.
Thanks, Objectivist.
Objectivist keeps claiming that “free markets work.”
Where?
The countries with the highest standard of living and the longest life-spans are more socialistic than we are.
Also, if you list Mises University on your resume, be sure to point out that it is unaccredited. Otherwise, your potential employers may feel you are trying to deceive them.
Looks to me like the countries with the most free market economies are places like Somalia.
Whoever has the most guns is free to take over the country.
Can’t get any freer than that . . .
Didn’t that paragon of free markets, Reagan, first freeze wages, then eventually got around to freezing prices. Then when controls lifted the pent up demand went nuts?
Boxlock
Posted August 28, 2008 at 5:17 pm | Permalink
Objectivist,
Question…As a student of Austrian Economics, where do you think Gold will go?
Won’t hold you responsible for the answer either.
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Obviously I think it can still go up quite a lot. Being of the Austrian school, I am pessimistic about the economy. Doom and gloom if you will. Peter Schiff thinks that the DOW will eventually will be worth as much as one ounce of gold.
Silver is what really interest me though. Silver spiked down two weeks ago. The problem with that was that there was no significant increase in the supply of silver to warrant such a drop. Silver spiked down because the futures contracts were liquidated. This means that inflation is still a real threat. Probably around 12% by shadow numbers estimates.
Buy silver if you want a better return. It will return to at least $17.00/ounce.
I always tell my friends that gold and silver are not investments like a stock is. Gold and Silver are protection from inflation. It is a way for you to keep the wealth you already have. If it goes up, great, if it goes down great too because that means the dollar has strengthened and you can get back into it.
Here is a great, short video on youtube called Gold vs Dollar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6NfXk7Bvc8
CapnAmerica
Posted August 28, 2008 at 5:24 pm | Permalink
Objectivist keeps claiming that “free markets work.”
Where?
The countries with the highest standard of living and the longest life-spans are more socialistic than we are.
Also, if you list Mises University on your resume, be sure to point out that it is unaccredited. Otherwise, your potential employers may feel you are trying to deceive them.
________________________________________________
I don’t put it on my Resume. It was for me personally. I needed to understand economics better. I plan on running my own businesses someday. It will better help me understand how to do that. I work right now to pay off all my debt. Once that is done, I am a free man and can pursue things that are really important to me, like family and education.
Objectivist,
Thanks for the opinion. We are in complete agreement as far as it went.
I used the recent downturn to purchase more gold, but alas I was a little early and caught a falling knife. But, that’s okay. Though I like to speculate for the fun of it, I am buying steadily as a store of wealth and to pass on at it’s basis at my death.
I agree with you on silver but we have been hearing about it’s shortage for many years for Pete’s sake. It is selling at a silver/gold ratio of 61+ now, so it is an excellent buy. The problem is you get so much for your money and it will fill up a large safety deposit box fast and the thing becomes so heavy it’s hard to remove.
I was reading an article the other day that claimed the true value of gold was around $750 to $800 an ounce but that with the ‘printing of money’ by the government….and likely much more so with a Dem. in office that gold stood to increase quite a bit over time.
Enough….I find it interesting though.
Ah tell ya wat, the music at the Dem convention is GREAT!
Sure beats ABBA trying to sing loud enough to be heard over the orchestra and sounding like they’re singing from inside a hole…
Probably a good thing not listing Mises U on the resume, Object.
However, that still doesn’t answer my question. If free markets are so wonderful, why don’t more countries demand and get them?
The “Austrian School of Economics” is all good and fine, but it looks to me like the Austrian Government has opted for Euro-socialism and the Austrian people are fine with that.
Boxlock–
Even though I disagree with you politically, I don’t want to see you lose money on bad investments.
Gold is like any other commodity–coffee, cotton, or cacao.
Do you really want to sink a ton of money into something like gold, having no idea whether it’s just reached a ten-year high? Even if it appreciates in the short-term, how long should you hold it before you sell? And when you do sell, what will you invest the money in to make more money–and if that is a good investment then, why not do it now?
As for your concern about “gov’t printing money,” who uses money these days? My paycheck is direct depositted and I put practically everything on my credit card. The amount of “money” in circulation is practically irrelevant.
Capn,
I almost can’t believe my eyes. Are you really trying to help me???
Listen brother, even if we don’t agree politically, or in any other way for that matter, I can and will accept ALL the help and advice I can get when someone is kind enough to offer. So THANKS for the opinion and advice, if sincere.
Don’t worry about me, I am ‘playing’ with precious metals, not buying over approx. 5% of total assets, exclusive of home and personal possessions.
I am doing so as ‘insurance’, (protection of family), against inflation and a falling dollar, or the prayerfully unlikely event of a serious war with America’s enemies and the possible destruction of our economy.
Also, being the ‘Damned’ Capitalist, Republican, Conservative, some say “Me,Me,Me, Selfish Reichwinger” I am, I would love to invest in metals and pass those on to children, or even more to my beautiful grandchildren, at their basis value on the date of my death, thereby avoiding taxes on the gains.
In other words I am diversifying investments. I know this is stupid but I still love a little of the ‘game’, that being the speculation of being in the volatile commodities market. I enjoy looking at the price movements here in the U.S. and across the globe, as it is traded 24 hrs./day. I invest in ‘real metal’, NOT paper. I take possession and store it in the bank’s vault.
Capn, I am not speaking of ‘printing money’ in the since of actually printing paper money. I am talking about the government spending more than it receives, the debt this county is going into increasingly. The government ‘creates’ money to finance all the ‘programs’ it is buying votes with.
Oh here I go again, I’ll stop now, got’a go grill some dinner anyway.
But again, if sincere and I took it that way, thanks for the opinion and concern.
Have a good one.
Box, quit wasting your time and invest in real estate..it’s a buyer’s market now.
Obama won’t fumble, he’ll shine!!!!
Mary_C.,
I hope you are right…..IF he wins, but he won’t. Ha! Just teasing you now.
I have some real estate, but not much. I don’t understand it very well and that is a warning not to go there. But, I don’t understand the stock market either and I’m there heavy, and I don’t understand commodities but I am there a little.
So basically I don’t understand very much but have still done alright.
But thank you for the advice.
Real estate is the best investment…you have the renters pay the mortgage for you..it’s like getting free money.
My mentor said something to me one time that always stuck with me..”You can work all your life for someone else and when you retire you have to show for it is a whole bunch of paystubs…but when you invest in real estate and then you retire, you really have something”
I am sure “Step and Fetch” It will spend us into complete chaos and will be a willing party to the overrunning of this country by Illegals. I am ashamed to be a democrap.
I am sure “Step and Fetch It” will spend us into complete chaos and will be a willing party to the overrunning of this country by Illegals. I am ashamed to be a democrap.
Actually, we’re selling our rentals within the next year…but it’s been very lucrative for us.
I’m just tired after being a landlord for 20 yrs. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything…it’s just time to slow down a little.
“I am sure “Step and Fetch” It will spend us into complete chaos and will be a willing party to the overrunning of this country by Illegals. I am ashamed to be a democrap.”
Are you SURE you’re not talking about the Bush administration?
“I’m just tired after being a landlord for 20 yrs. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything…it’s just time to slow down a little.”
Mary,
That is exactly the reason I will not…to date, invest in rental real estate.
I simply do not have the patience to put up with renters that don’t respect the property the are living in.
I am afraid ’situations’ might take place that would get one or the other of us thrown in jail, ha. I don’t need the complications.
But, thanks for the advice.
WTG Barack Obama, on a great speech on Truth, Justice, and the American Way!!
Lead on, O fearless leader!!
Smashing – I truly look forward to see other things you published!