By Omar Simpson, Esq.
Before You Vote…
What a hurricane takes seconds to destroy, will take people years to rebuild. Before you go out and vote, before you fall into either sides political rhetoric…take a real trip down memory lane…go online, pull and actually read the headlines from four years ago…read about the impending economic collapse,the millions upon millions that were going to be unemployed…about the coming Great Depression.
Check out the economic news stories from 2008 and 2009:
http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/2008
http://www.economywatch.com/economy_2009/
In our desire to move on, We often forget what got us in trouble in the first place and as a result fall right back into the same old mess! It makes no sense to go back to policies that crashed the whole worlds economy…the whole Worlds! Especially when our economy has turned around because of Obama’s new policies.
When I was a kid I used to love to build elaborate houses made of cards. I actually got pretty good at building them. It would take hours and hours to build those things. My siblings, of course, took great joy in knocking them down as soon as I was out of sight. I used to get so mad because I knew that it would take me hours and hours to rebuild. I couldn’t just flip a switch and make the house reappear. It would take a lot more time to rebuild than it did to destroy.
Our President is in a similar situation. He is trying to rebuild what was destroyed by bad economic policy that preceded him. He is turning it around, but it is going to take time. In our heart of hearts, I think most of us understand this. Give the President more time. Don’t give the reigns to people that have already said they are going to re-implement the policies that caused the crash in the first place.
Omar Simpson, Esq.
P.S. For those of you who think I am a Republican hater, I am not. Locally, I vote for David Craig as County Executive (Republican) and Dion Guthrie as Councilman (Democrat). I vote for people that get results. I am a “Resultocrat!” (Copyright All Rights Reserved.) Hopefully you are too!
This is silly nonsense with no factual evidence to back it up. The economic meltdown came from deregulation of the mortgage industry sponsored by democrats in Congress.
You think just because you voted for the RINO Craig this makes you less biased. Do some research on the housing bubble burst. President Bush and other republicans tried to stop this train wreck. Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Sheila Jackson Lee helped to stop any action being taken. They said the housing market was sound thanks to Franklin Raines who was running things at Fannie and Freddie. Raines made millions while destroying Fannie and Freddie.
Obama had his chance. Maybe he should have played less golf, and taken fewer vacations and did more work then just campaigning. No one is buying his sob story, he is a failure and his record shows this. His socialist agenda did not work, will not work.
http://youtu.be/cMnSp4qEXNM
AMEN, AMEN. It seems to me that Obama and family have had one big VACATION since taking office. Trips to Paris to shop at the taxpayers expense as well as vacations at Martha’s Vineyard, etc.
Right on Omar. Repiglicans are the walking definitions of narcissism. Terrified of anyone not like them, and having a black man in the whitehouse is filling them with bile. The responses here are laughable. Less time on vacation and playing golf? GWB broke all the records (fact) of presidential vacations
yes, George bush took a lot of vacations, then obama played more golf in his first term then Bush did in 8 years. George Bush Made a big deficit. Then Obama, trying to one-up Bush again, doubled that.
Doug get your facts in order. Bush went to Camp David or his ranch. Not to New York for date night. Mrs. Bush did not take seperate flights or her entire staff. Bush worked while on vacation. He stopped playing golf. We were attacked again on 9/11/2012 the next day Obama went to Vegas for a campaign event. No one is saying he needs to go because he is a black man. This is what is being said to make this a race issue. This election is about Obama not delivering what he promised. He said it himself ” if I dont get this done this will be a one term deal”. So Stop making it a racial issue.
Doug, you are typical liberal democrat moron. When you have no facts or when the facts reflect badly on the Democrats and the President, you resort to name calling and bring the old stand by race card. Obama has taken more vacations, spent more time on the golf course and was away from the White House in 3 and half years then Bush did in 8. It’s your right to support Obama, but, what you should know and your fellow liberal democrats should is BUSH IS NOT THE PRESIDENT AMY LONGER. Find a new subject to bring up
hey wayne…….only morons are the rep.’s who got us in this mess…..balanced budget for clinton……bush cost this country more then we will ever know…….and you have to know how to play golf to play it …bush was a born again drunkard who fiddled while our country burned thank gawd mitt has no CHANCE
Doug, your dredging up that hackneyed claim of Republican racism proves what the President’s opponents have been saying: He (and you) cannot defend his record, so you have to resort to ad hominem attacks on those who disagree with him.
Most European-Americans have moved beyond race. It’s unfortunate that so many of our darker-pigmented countrymen have not.
No, Omar, I don’t think you’re a Republican hater (unlike Doug, for example). But while everyone’s entitled to an opinion, the facts are the facts and they speak for themselves. I don’t hear the facts saying anything about an economic recovery under Obama. The true level of unemployment, counting those receiving benefits, those from whom benefits are withheld through unjust laws, those who have taken part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time jobs, and those who have just stopped looking for work in complete and total frustration, is about two to three times higher than the numbers the government reports every month. Both sides have been using that artificially lower number when it suits them; and Obama even got California to withhold its jobless numbers for September so his October number finally dropped below the magic benchmark of eight percent. So while I’ll take you at your word that you don’t hate Republicans, I do worry about where you get your information to come to such a horrendous conclusion that there’s actually an economic recovery at work in the land.
And by the way, I agree that “it makes no sense to go back to policies that crashed the whole world’s economy.” That’s why Barry has to go. And BTW, Doug, again, you’re entitled to your opinion; but the facts are the facts. And the fact is that your boy Barry has been out on the golf course a LOT more in less than four years than Bush 43 was in eight full years. Or do you ascribe to the dictum, “My mind’s made up; don’t confuse me with the facts”?
silly nonsense? silly to be myopic and only blame ol’ Barney. Give ’em an inch…and Realty and home building industry go nuts. of course, that’s capitalism, unbridled it has no conscience, just greed. Thats why it needs to be regulated and contained. The same with the deregulation of the financial industry, and the junk sold to China, just the tip. The severe lowering of estate, corporate and taxes of the elite. Add in asleep at the switch on 9/11 and the wasteful war in Iraq where Bush’s cronies banked all kinds of mula building fake hospitals, etc. Multiple variable theory there, Marc and George, it’s never that simple.
And lol at the socialist rantings. The National Football League with salary caps and revenue sharing is a pretty good marraige of socialism and capitalism, so for all the name calling, I guess that includes all the fans who watched football today!
Those who get it don’t need Omar to rehash what the rest ignore, blinded by bigotry and Sarah Palin fantasys.
No…it doesn’t need to be regulated and contained, and as any good “Esq” can tell you, there are plenty of ways to go after the responsible perps in this mess.
RICO laws would be effective at prosecuting collusion and manipulation of the true economy. The gutless SEC does in fact have the power to criminally and civilly charge those whom made blatantly bad deals and were “too greedy” as you put it. Instead the SEC makes 32 million here and 50 million there “settlements” with the likes of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs that rake in billions in a quarter of the year.
Further, government sponsored entities (where exactly is that in the Constitution Mr. Lawyer) are nothing more than a social scheme designed to waste taxpayers money in ways that we don’t need our federal dollars wasted, all while rewarding their directors with 6 and 7 figure salaries. Good gig if you can get it.
But this “lawyer” leaves out one huge “fact;” Mr. Obama reappointed Mr. Bernanke. Period. That is the worst decision for our economy this side of history (and anywhere in the history of the world)!
1) England tried printing money in the 1600s; it failed.
2) China tried printing money earlier than that; it failed. They did it multiple times too; it failed every time.
3) Zimbabwe printed money last decade; it failed.
4) Wiemar Republic tried printing money in the 1900s; it failed and caused a greater atrocity.
5) Rome debauched their currency; it failed, and so too did their empire.
“A Sane America,” your NFL example is a closed system that has an extremely low amount of variables into what it’s output is (and besides entertainment, jerseys and sports memorabilia has zero productive, real investment economic impact). Yes there are construction jobs for stadiums (financed by bonds and taxes most of the time), security jobs, ushers, maintenance staff, ect, but all of those are mostly menial jobs. But let us take a deeper look at your “marriage of socialism and capitalism” shall we?
53 man active rosters + 10 practice team members = 63 players per team 63 players x 32 teams = 2016 players
9 billion dollar business
32 owners
Average NFL player salary (just the basic Total dollars divided by total players, roughly and rounded). $1.9 million (2010, latest data I can quickly google)
Median Salary: $770,000 (2010, same as above) (source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_06/b4214058615722.htm)
So let us take the 1.9 million times 2,016 total players (and keep in mind that the practice teamers making like 60~70k, still a good gig to be a tackling dummy and a piece of live film), that means total players are pulling in a total of 3.83 billion in salaries. Good haul, but when some are getting paid 10s of millions in a season compared with the league minimums of 300~500k (depending upon years in the league), your argument of socialism and capitalism is pretty bad. Worse when you see the owners haul in a split of roughly 60/40 or more of the total revenue (because they won’t show us their books). Elitism anyone?
Ouch, hate to see your “social, capitalisim” schemes for the great economy. Yikes! The plain and simple aspect of that example is if the NFL and NFLPA hadn’t reached a deal last season, you would have seen ticket prices slide and memorabilia do likewise. Just like if we had let GM, Chrysler, AIG, and other companies fail, coffee wouldn’t be up 100+%, same with gasoline, tomatoes, fresh fruit, milk, and a host of other commodities.
This “letter to the editor” really is a bunch of non-sense from a person whom feels their brain superiority (and university and bar association papers) entitle them to be more persuasive to the greater public. Let me state that if I was hiring a lawyer tomorrow, I’d run from this guy, because if this is the best argument he’s got for telling people to keep an open mind (he didn’t directly endorse the President or encourage others to vote for him), well, I’d hate to throw money down the hole when I needed to win in court or at the negotiating table. Someone better demand their money back and file a complaint with the MD Bar Assoc…I think we have a poser here.
I love this site and it’s “weird” way of “comment is awaiting moderation.”
I have a reply that’s been “awaiting” all day; it gets better since it seems completely arbitrary.
I get a lot of money from un employment. I can buy beer with my card. WHy the hell shud I go out and get a job when I get money for nothing. Thanks Obama and Omalley. You got my vote.
“Deqwan” is obviously a made up name (by an obviously racist caucasion), intended to slander African Americans. How sad “Deqwan”. You are an Ass with a capital “A”.
DeQwan Cheatham was served with a domestic violence protection order in 2011 by Harford County…
It’s spelled “Caucasian”. And there is someone with that name out there. You want to complain about a racist, made-up name, go find the sperm donor and baby momma who hung that moniker on little DeQwan.
Talk about an Ass with a capital A…
Dear “MVPHKR”, you are correct about my spelling error, but YOU are the “F”ing Ass with a capital “A” for your racist comments and opinions.
Sorry I am Black. You Racist yuppie. Ill give u my number. We can talk about it. Im thankfull for my crab card. Why should I work when I get free money? You are stupid for working.
Well, this thread has all the characteristics of the troller’s paradise.
There is no recovery as pointed out. Unemployment was promised to drop with 10 million jobs worth of “shovel ready” projects the stimulus was to produce. Unemployment has not moved in 4 years. Yes, Obama came out swinging in the second debate and probably will in the third. However, when the sun came up the next day the same number of people were unemployed with no hope of changing that status.
One of the failings of Obama’s campaign is this ridiculous tactic of trying to defeat GWB again. Romney is not Bush, and his policy proposals do not appear to be the same. I sense there are similarities in principles and theory, but the devil is in the details. The criticism of a lack of details is true, and that fact alone mitigates any attempt to paint Romney into Bush’s corner. To believe that Romney’s ideas are a repeat of Bush’s is just plain nonsense.
The fact is that Obama’s policies and ideas have failed. I’m not sure if Romney has the right ideas. I am, however, willing to give him a shot.
Why does DAGGER publish such drivel? I want to see DAGGER give equal exposure to a Romney supporter.
If you want a pro-Romney response, write one and submit it – I doubt it’s much harder than that.
There was constant economic growth, as measured by GDP growth, throughout the Republican control of Congress. When Democrats captured the House and Senate in 2006 that is where we start to see a fall and then collapse of the markets.
When Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker and Harry Reid as majority leader in January of 2007 national unemployment was 4.6%. 2 years later it was 7.8%, 2 years after that, with President Barack Obama in the White House for 2 years, it was 9.1%. Which party’s policies contributed more to the destruction of the economy based on the actual numbers?
Of course it’s all Bush’s fault. Always has been and always will be. All I know is Obama has had 4 years to get things right and so far has failed miserably. What can you expect from a guy whose only experience is a social worker and a weak do nothing senator. If he gets another term, unrestrained by incumbency,God save us all.
The seeds of recessions are planted during economic booms. Congress and the Fed are primarily responsible for the direction we’re facing on the path to prosperity. Presidents play only a minor role…
25 years of politicians are responsible for a whole lot of pain
just keep voting for the same two parties
they’ll get it right eventually…
Under President Obama’s leasership the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gone from a low around 6,700 to where it is now, over 13,300. The same for the NASDAQ and S&P. numbers talk and BS walks. President Obamas policies have DOUBLED the markets since it crashed starting in 2008. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EDJI&t=5y&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=
I’m not saying the President doesn’t have flaws, hell we all do, but knowing how to revive our economy isn’t one of them.
As far far as employment is concerned, companies are always skittish to hire after a recession…it’s natural for businesses to wait to hire until they feel the growth is real. In my opinion, the best indicator and the one I follow most, are housing starts, school starts and other r/e related metrics. People don’t build houses and schools until they really feel things are going up. Look around you and you will see that builders are starting to build again and lenders are starting to lend again. Once r/e is moving up unemployment will go down.
Anyway, that’s my two cents. Enjoy your evening.
“It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high and tax revenues are too low and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now … Cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit, but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy which can bring a budget surplus.”
So, if you cut-tax-rates, then more revenue comes in? How much do you get from a capital tax rate of 0%? As some have proposed. The end game is one by which “if you want a table at the flea market, you need to pay for the tent, table, roads and infrastructure”, while as a self employed person myself, I do try to pay as little as possible, I do know if fact that some taxes have to be paid. Just the fact that I produce goods and services is not enough to justify my place at the flea market without contributing anything else to the marketplace.
“Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”
What facts support your statement? Our tax rates are lower than what they have been in years and are much lower than many other countries. While taxes do take money from the economy, the govt is needed to have a fully functioning society and the benefit of having a govt is that security, stability, infrastructure, education and market regulation are needed for the economy to flourish and expand. Govt of today has more responsibilities than to just provide military and a strong Navy!
“The largest single barrier to full employment of our manpower and resources and to a higher rate of economic growth is the unrealistically heavy drag of federal income taxes on private purchasing power, initiative and incentive.”
JFK- Are you quoting someone? or just mouthing off statements that “sound” good without any context?
I think the quotes on either end of the statement and the initials would be enough for you to figure this one out Frank
@JFK- “thanks for the clarification”
If Obama is so concerned about the middle class, why would he sign a bill “Obama Care” that excludes himself, members of congress and families from having the same insurance that we must have He has only one goal which is to destroy America and it looks like he has a lot of helpers.
Richard Schafer
You better check the facts. There has been plenty of regulation and even watchdog agencies (eg SEC) that should have kept the mortgage industry in check. Remember all the governmental pressure on banks to lend to virtually anyone with a pulse, regardless of risk. This was all done while the SEC was asleep and Christopher Dodd was receiving favorable treatment from Countrywide, and much, much more. We don’t need more oversight and Obama hasn’t given us that – we simply need enforcement of existing rules. We will certainly not get that with Obama – the financial institutions are his largest donors!
SEC and cdo’s? SEC doesn’t have any power over mortgages. HUD, Office of Thrift Supervison, FDIC, Federal Reserve deserve plenty of blame for allowing the sale and creation of exotic mortgage products, but even when these agencies sounded off alarms about their use (plenty of data to support that statement on the net)the republican members of Congress complained of over regulation and meddling into the “private market and stifling innovation) Dodd and Frank sought to serve their constituencies and so did the Keating Five at one point in the past too.
http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/federal-register/06fr1246.pdf
http://www.dllr.state.md.us/finance/consumers/nontradmortgage.shtml
Both of these guidance statements were published well before the financial meltdown in 2006. The DLLR guidance piggy backs of the original statement. while it is a boring read, the fact is that exotic, non-traditional credit was pushed by Wall Street, mortgage brokers and commercial banks. These originating entities sold their notes to Freddie Mac, Freddie Mac. There is plenty of blame to go around by all parties and really no one person in Congress has that much power to overide and stop good legislation. In fact, if there is good legislation, there will be someone protecting their turf and profits, not really looking out for the best interest of the consumer.
Wasn’t it Barney Frank and Chris Dodd during the Clinton era who helped open the floodgates to non qualified home ownership that pre-dated the housing bubble disaster? Then only after the mess was made, they tried to go back and clean it up to save their posterity. Then President Bush. I admire him as a person, but his spending was tremendous and seemed to just compound problems. President Obama has had some accomplishments during his term but I can’t escape how he is beholding to his industry of the future philosophy while we have been eaten alive by rising fuel, food, utility costs and healthcare costs. Now with 2013 coming we will be hit with the rise in the Social Security Payroll tax, increase in health premiums, etc. No matter who is at the top we are in for a rough ride. Once upon a time we were a manufacturing giant, then the age of personal computing kept us chugging along. It doesn’t look like renewable energy products are going to be the next big economic force anytime soon. Pray for the next “big” postivie economic driver and hold on to your wallets in the mean time.
Yes it was Goofy ass Barney Frank. There is a video of him going on and on about how good it was, and that Fannie Mae and Fredi Mac were great financially sound companies, (in the midst of all of this mess).
Folks get ready, Obama is raising ALL OF YOUR TAXES come January 1st. Bushes tax cuts expire and EVERYONE taxes will go up. Oh except for the wellfare class, who dont pay any.
Bank of America being sued for defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac supports my previous posts as there was plenty of guidance and statements from watchdog agencies. Congress never until the market crash did it give federal agencies the power to shut down, sue or terminate such exotic mortgages creasted by greedy Wall Street bankers.
The announcement that Bank of America is being sued is nothing more than political motivation. After four years, the administration has decided that some loans created by Countrywide were non-conforming and might be considered fraud as they were sold to Fannie and Freddie. BOA didn’t make the loans in question, they were made by Countrywide Mortgage, a company acquired by BOA after the mortgage crisis started. Countrywide was hardly a Wall Street Bank powerhouse!
It will probably take this administration (if they stay in office) another four years to find out who attacked the Benghazi consulate and bring to justice those “movie protesters” who got out of hand!!