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Politics Are we heading for a global economic collapse?


This is the guy Bush should have listened to.



Powell was completely used and then discarded -- I would have liked to have seen him become President -- he is a good man.

Obama is very charismatic and likable ...but he can be a bit grandiose at times. The trip to Berlin seemed totally over-the-top to me -- I am always suspicious of contrived hysteria.
 
What I can't believe is how stupid a lot of Americans are. A attacks B and B attacks C. It doesn't make sense. This war was wrong then and it is wrong now. From 1991 (after the first Gulf War) until Sept 10, 2001 Iraq wasn't important, but all of sudden after Sept 11, 2001 it is the focal point on "Terror"?

Bush is so full of shit I can't even get mad about it anymore. He has the intelligence of a bag of do do eggs. Tricky Dicky is/was the brains of the outfit and Bush being dummy he is went right along with this "war on terror" crap, but the killer part is that half of America bought right into it and voted this moron back in office in 2004. I couldn't believe it. Not only did Kerry kill him in the first 2 debates, he really told the truth about the man and yet people still voted for him. Lets face it Americans come in 3 varieties. The Informed, Uninformed and the Don't Give a Shit Either Wayers. When the Uninformed and the Don't Give a Shit Either Wayers get together there is always trouble, hence the 2004 election. Right after 9/11 we had to hear about terror alerts on almost a daily basis. "Orange Alert", "Blue Alert", Green Alert", hell....I thought Beige alert was next. Not how once the war got going you haven't heard squat about this alert system in years. Shows how much of a bullshyt system it really was.


Fast foward to 2008. You have the oldest man to ever run for president backed by a complete pee-brained, twit whose only real skills are hunting wolves from a helicopter and dumb ass one liners..that end up embarrassing her. If you heard Joe Biden's speeches when you were in 2nd grade then you must have been hearing John McCain's from the womb. I can't believe people actually this this airhead is presidental material. Notice I say Presidental and not Vice-Presidental because lets face it John is an old guy with a lot of things wrong with him (though a lot not of his own fault) and there is a much higher chance of her having to take over vs Biden taking over for Obama. McCain surely won't be able to do 2 terms if (gasp!) he manages to win. She'll run in 2012 against....wait for it.....Hillary. None of this will happen though since Obama and Biden are going to win.

Honestly she did better tonight than I expected, but I don't think I've ever found anymore more annoying or to be more repetitive in my life. They coached her very well on when to use her talking points, but everyone knows she doesn't know squat outside of a Alaska so it came off way to synthetic to me. If you want a coached dummy and the world's oldest living canidate then the choice is clear.


M

Hey, don't forget she has great insight into Russia cause it's proximity to Alaska.

I frankly didn't think they made them any more stupid than Bush but I guess, I was wrong. The sad part is I actually sought of liked McCain, till he selected "miss-bear-your-rapist's-child" for political expediency.
 
Hey, don't forget she has great insight into Russia cause it's proximity to Alaska.

I frankly didn't think they made them any more stupid than Bush but I guess, I was wrong. The sad part is I actually sought of liked McCain, till he selected "miss-bear-your-raper's-kid" for political expediency.


I don't know which is worse, her actually saying that (and meaning it) or the fact that such a comment has endeared her to a lot of Americans. This is really bad, but even her voice grates the nerves. I just can't stand her at all.

Yeah from what I've read about McCain he really did go against the good ole boy party a lot...in the past. What pisses me off about him is that he says he cares about his country so much yet he picked the unqualified person he could find to back him up. He'll be 80 years old provided he wins in Nov and then tries to run again in 2012 and finish out that term. Anyone who cares so much for their country would not have selected her, they would have picked someone who can step in without so much as a hesitation and someone who doesn't need to be "coached" to death.

Interestingly enough he and Bush seem to have made up. Startling after the hatchet job Bush and his team did on him in 2000 to defeat him.


The SNL skits are the best they've had in years though! One positive thing about all this I guess.


M
 
This is the guy Bush should have listened to.



Powell was completely used and then discarded -- I would have liked to have seen him become President -- he is a good man.

Obama is very charismatic and likable ...but he can be a bit grandiose at times. The trip to Berlin seemed totally over-the-top to me -- I am always suspicious of contrived hysteria.

You mean contrived hysteria, like "hey, I am going to suspend my campaign and go right back to Washington DC and fix the economy?" :D

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Better yet, what country is taking citizen orphans right now? My backpack is packed and ready at the door.

Come to Australia, our economy is still relatively ok, and I have a spare guest room. :usa7uh:


Anyway, I an't no economist, so I want to know, is this $700 billion USD enough? And how long can it help to stabilise the economy?
 
Interesting. I thought I had posted something yesterday, but today it is gone. I know it was not deleted because I did not get a notice, strange:eusa_thin


Congress votes against the bill and stocks crash, congress passes the bill and stocks... go down. Screwed is they do screwed if they don't:t-crazy2:
If my stock drops another 10/15 dollars a share I might have to actually get some more this time.
 
I think it has a good deal to do with the current economic crisis. We could be investing into something productive rather than destructive!

Interesting. I thought I had posted something yesterday, but today it is gone. I know it was not deleted because I did not get a notice, strange:eusa_thin
It was decided by the moderators in 2006 that political discussions would not be permitted in the Off Topic section at this site. The Off Topic website Curb Zone was started soon afterward (where there is freedom to discuss politics).

Maybe the deleted posts from this thread could be cut and pasted at Curbzone?

:t-cheers:
 
German bank at risk of collapse

One of Germany's biggest banks is teetering on the brink of collapse after a banking consortium withdrew from rescue talks.

Germany's second-largest commercial property lender, Hypo Real Estate, said a bail-out deal had fallen apart.

Correspondents say its failure will put further strain on financial institutions in other countries.

The news came after EU leaders at a Paris summit would not commit to a US-style rescue plan for banks.

Hypo Real Estate, which has large amounts of bad debt, has suffered from the credit squeeze in international markets.

The bank said a consortium of German financial institutions involved in a government-led rescue plan pulled out of the negotiations after refusing to come up with nearly 35bn euros ($50bn; £28bn) for a bail-out.

The reasons why the consortium pulled out are unclear but a Hypo Real Estate spokesman said the property lender was fighting for its survival.

Some analysts are saying the bank will not last more than a few days without a rescue package, so action must be taken before the markets open on Monday.

Another meeting of government representatives and private bankers is expected to take place on Sunday.

Executive 'sanctions'

Correspondents say if Hypo Real Estate does collapse it could plunge already volatile markets even further into debt.

News of the failed plan came as leaders of the major European economies met in the French capital for talks hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Britain, Germany, Italy and France all agreed to work together to support financial institutions but did not agree to set up a big rescue fund similar to that of the US.

They decided instead to seek a relaxation of the EU rules governing the amount of money individual states can borrow.

The leaders also issued a joint call for a G8 summit "as soon as possible" to review the rules governing financial markets.

Mr Sarkozy announced a series of other measures - including unspecified action against the executives of failed banks.

Speaking after the meeting at a joint news conference, he said the four had agreed that the leaders of a financial institution that had to be rescued should be "sanctioned".

The French president added: "Each government will operate with its own methods and means, but in a co-ordinated manner."

Meanwhile German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on EU countries not to take steps at home that could cause problems for other member states.

The Irish and Greek governments have been criticised within the EU for deciding to act independently by guaranteeing to protect all savings deposited in their banks.

'Trial by fire'

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, meanwhile, called on European leaders to send the message that "no sound, solvent bank should be allowed to fail through lack of liquidity".

He also said the meeting had agreed to ask the European Investment Fund to release 15bn euros ($21bn; £12bn) in loans to help small businesses operate.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, had earlier urged EU action, saying the financial crisis was presenting Europe with a "trial by fire".

He held talks with Mr Sarkozy before the EU leaders' meeting and said although the EU was a more complex organisation than the US, Europe needed to take "concerted collective action".

Mr Strauss-Kahn said it had to be "indicated to the markets... that European countries will not react as every man for himself".

He also said he would be scaling back his world economic growth forecasts.

Calls for European action followed the bail-out of both Bradford and Bingley in the UK and Fortis Bank by the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

But the president of the European Parliament has criticised the summit, warning that the leaders of Europe's four largest economies have no power to decide for the entire European Union.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7653133.stm
 
Fellow GCF'ers –*I've been waiting a while to blow out a big I TOLD YOU SO when it comes to the US Real Estate collapse.

Please indulge me as I un-humbly toot my horn loudly as possible with this post that I wrote on the subject a year and a half ago:

Osnabrueck said:
Re: Global Urban Property Boom -- Is it out of control? -
03-20-2007, 05:45 PM

Those talking about a "soft landing" for the real estate market right now have something to gain by fomenting public confidence in Real Estate. Mainly: Mortgage Brokers & Realtors.

What was National Association of Realtors saying last year? "It's a great time to buy a home, because now more than ever, there's so much choice afforded to buyers." They were also saying that we'd be back to price growth by the end of 2007. Check with your local Century 21 agent and I'm sure they'll have some wonderful spin about how the current situation is just a hiccup in an otherwise wonderful market.

The rotten stench coming from the subprime lending debacle is only the tip of the iceberg guys. Just like the tech bubble of the late 90s, investors have behaved like mindless sheep and bought into nonsense like "Real Estate is the only[/i sure-fire investment that always appreciates and outpaces inflation." (I actually heard that from a coworker, verbatim). People have lost their minds and are treating their homes like 401ks.

Here's the deal:

1 - The fundamentals got out of whack. People aren't earning more, they've just been gaining access to credit that's well above their pay grade. More eligible buyers = price inflation.

2 - In the states, prices are frozen because nobody wants to budge. If your home appraises at $800,000 and you've been watching gleefully as your equity racks up, you're not going let that go without a fight - especially if you've fooled yourself into thinking that prices can only go up. There's also the fact that you'll catch hell from your neighbors if you "run down the neighborhood" by undercutting percieved values. Prices aren't freefalling right now because there's not a significant volume of lower-priced homes on the market... yet.

3 - And speaking of yet. Banks aren't fond of holding on to homes, because they're liabilities on their balance sheets. 1 out of 8 subprime loans are going to default in the near-term future and will have their homes gobbled-up and spat out for fire-sale prices. Not only will there be a sudden surge of forclosed properties on the market, but there's the added knock-on effect of tighter standards for mortgage loans. More volume and a restricted pool of eligible buyers equals an inevitable drop in prices.

Count my words guys, unless there's a major natural disaster or terrorist attack - Real Estate will be the story of late 2007. Virtually overnight, the same people who have been talking about the miracle of real estate will be wondering what the hell they were thinking and how they could have been so diluded to think that growth could have continued at double-digit rates ad infinium.

There will be a double-digit correction in prices, retail will suffer and families across America will feel the pain as they choose between foreclosure or making payments on loans that exceed the value of their properties by a wide margin.
 
The housing bubble was bound to burst. People have been naive and blinded by the over optimistic talk of real estate agents. I remember back in 2005 and 2006. People in larger cities bought property in the belief that prices can only go up which the was the case as one could read it in the papers every month with data showing increased propert value across cities.

Whan people forgot is that the sun doesn't shine forever. There was simply too much success in property and share trading. The peak was mid 2007s when the google share was overpriced at $800, now it's merely down to just $346.

There are those who made quite some money but for most they are now at loss with negative equity. When living a dream no one wants it to end and when prices started to take a dip at the end of 2007 the vast people still held on to the properties they really cannot afford, beleiving that things would stabalize later during 2008. Now we're approaching 2009 and things look even darker now.
 

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