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on Obama about his support of the bailout because then he might have to respond to the question of exactly what does McC support in this situation? He does not say what he will support because he wants to test the wind before he declares his opinion. He went back to Wash and got everyone fighting and then left. I loved Obama's chuckle when McC tried to compare Obama to Bush. It was my favorite moment of the debate. He has a great smile. I wonder who he was looking at to his left. Was Michelle sitting on the front row giving him support?

This inauguration stuff is really on my nerves (and I voted for Obama.....er against McCain). I know this is an historic event and there have always been these big expensive parties. If we're going to have change, how about starting with this ridiculous spending? How many people actually get to attend the party? Not me. How about you? Probably not many of the common folks. We have 3 teachers from our local school who are attending the inauguration. They won't be attending the party either.

I am still not sorry I voted for Obama but there are already a few things that aren't sitting well with me. The extravagant party is 1 and his plan to give a "rebate" even to people who don't pay taxes is the other. The world IMHO has gone totally mad. Someone told me the other day that on the Christmas Angel tree for adults someone had put cigarettes as what they wanted. I don't know if this is true or not but I wouldn't doubt it. If soneone actually did that...the bloody nerve!

These press conferences are to let everyone know who's going to be in his cabinet and to reiterate that he had no contact with Blago. Why does he keep saying this? He supposedly is going to release documents "next week" that will prove it. So, I will wait until next week.

I just read an article by Morton Kondracke in the local newspaper where his health plan cost may top $3 TRILLION. That's almost as bad as the bailout plus. Where does he think this money is going to come from? THAT's the question I want answered.

All his other lofty promises, too. All will cost money. Who's going to pay? He can't tax the businesses as they are the key to jobs and, if he does that, the jobs will be gone. He can't tax the working people because, if he does that, he's backing out on his promise plus the working people can't take any more taxes.

With unemployment at such high rates and more every day, how long do you think unemployment benefits will last? Already Michigan and another state have 0 balances in their unemployment benefit chest. The governor of PA (Rendell) stated he only has enough employment benefits in the coffer to last 6 months IF there are no more people opening a claim. Without people working, they aren't paying taxes. Without tax money, the government can't provide benefits. Even SS is at risk to run out before the stated time mentioned a year or 2 ago.

So tell me, will he wave a magic wand and the money will appear? Probably, which will lower our dollar purchasing power and put us more into debt.

It's time for people to wake up. The depression is here. The reason the O read about FDR is to try and figure out what to do, but FDR didn't have a crisis such as this. This is above and beyond anything that ever happened.

You are definitely the chosen people: Chosen to be banned from heaven. This is what the people who pretend to support you really believe. And it must be true, because according to them, you and I will be spending eternity together, and no doubt that will be hell for us both.

Jerry Falwell: Jews and Muslims Can't Go to Heaven

I would mess with you about the foot channel, but since you took the time to agree with me, I'll let it go this time.

to speak to an American when we get phone calls or call a place and get an ESL on the line. Maybe if we refuse to speak to them....they might realize they need to hire some Americans.

5. I give what I can to the food banks and my church etc. to help those who need help.

I did not vote for President Obama. I do not think he is the messiah and I certainly will not blame him for the mess we are in right now simply because we all played a part. No one forced anyone to take house loans that they could not pay, no one forces us to use our credit card and run up debts and live beyond our means, no one predicted that you would take a loan and then lose your job and be in foreclosure and no one regulated the banks like they should of.

Now that being said, in a crisis it is so easy to look for someone to blame, become angry, and forget who we are. So my advice the next time you are at your kitchen table wondering how you are going to make ends meet, that you remember who you are, an American. I would also advise getting some debt management help.

So please, instead of running around with your hands up in the air thinking the worst and claiming the sky is falling, try listening to the Star Spangled Banner or something that is positive. I have found that this helps me a lot.

Now let us all take a good long look in the mirror, have a little faith in ourselves as a country and stop beating up on each other. Have a good day everyone and God Bless America.

5. I give what I can to the food banks and my church etc. to help those who need help.

Now let us all take a good long look in the mirror, have a little faith in ourselves as a country and stop beating up on each other. Have a good day everyone and God Bless America.

One of the more ridiculous statements going around over the last few weeks is "this is an Obama bear market." This statement is, well, ill-informed at best and fraudulent at worst. Let's look at why.

First -- who is saying this? Such economic luminaries as John Hawkins at Right Wing News (who actually asked Is Obama Deliberately Tanking the Stock Market?), Powerline, Brit Hume along with a host of other right wing bloggers. What all of these people have in common is their incessant chearleading during the Bush years despite mounting evidence of an upcoming recession. There are the same people who argued that ... housing is a small part of the economy ... most people are paying their mortgages ... the US economy will decouple from the rest of the world .... it's the greatest story never told ..... you get the idea. Simply put, these are people who have distinguished themselves by being some of the best contrary indicators around.

Secondly, the SPYs -- the tracking ETF for the S&P 500 -- dropped from (roughly) 155 in the summer of 2007 to (roughly) 85 at the end of last year. Yet I don't remember any of them saying that was the Bush bear market -- even though that's a drop of roughly 43%. No -- it's the new President that's causing the problems. In addition, when Bush took office the SPYs dropped from roughly 130 at the begging of 2001 to 85 in the fourth quarter of 2002. Yet somehow I don't think any of them blamed Bush's policies for the drop. Then it was the "lasting effects of the Clinton recession" or something similar.

What all of these idiots are forgetting is the simple fact that the economy is the backdrop of the stock market. When the economy does well the stock market does well. When the economy doesn't do well, the stock market doesn't do well. And to that end, the economy isn't doing well right now. Let's look at some recent news events.

From the BEA:

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and propertylocated in the United States -- decreased at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008,(that is, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter), according to preliminary estimates released by theBureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP decreased 0.5 percent.

From the BLS:

Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall sharply in February (-651,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined by 2.6 million in the past 4 months. In February, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.

From the Federal Reserve:

Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts suggest that national economic conditions deteriorated further during the reporting period of January through late February. Ten of the twelve reports indicated weaker conditions or declines in economic activity; the exceptions were Philadelphia and Chicago, which reported that their regional economies "remained weak." The deterioration was broad based, with only a few sectors such as basic food production and pharmaceuticals appearing to be exceptions. Looking ahead, contacts from various Districts rate the prospects for near-term improvement in economic conditions as poor, with a significant pickup not expected before late 2009 or early 2010.

Consumer spending remained sluggish on net, although many Districts noted some improvement in January and February compared with a dismal holiday spending season. Travel and tourist activity fell noticeably in key destinations, as did activity for a wide range of nonfinancial services, with substantial job cuts noted in many instances. Reports on manufacturing activity suggested steep declines in activity in some sectors and pronounced declines overall. Conditions weakened somewhat for agricultural producers and substantially for extractors of natural resources, with reduced global demand cited as an underlying determinant in both cases. Markets for residential real estate remained largely stagnant, with only minimal and scattered signs of stabilization emerging in some areas, while demand for commercial real estate weakened significantly. Reports from banks and other financial institutions indicated further drops in business loan demand, a slight deterioration in credit quality for businesses and households, and continued tight credit availability.

From the FDIC:

Expenses associated with rising loan losses and declining asset values overwhelmed revenues in the fourth quarter of 2008, producing a net loss of $26.2 billion at insured commercial banks and savings institutions. This is the first time since the fourth quarter of 1990 that the industry has posted an aggregate net loss for a quarter. The ?0.77 percent quarterly return on assets (ROA) is the worst since the ?1.10 percent in the second quarter of 1987. A year ago, the industry reported $575 million in profits and an ROA of 0.02 percent. High expenses for loan-loss provisions, sizable losses in trading accounts, and large writedowns of goodwill and other assets all contributed to the industry's net loss. A few very large losses were reported during the quarter-four institutions accounted for half of the total industry loss-but earnings problems were widespread. Almost one out of every three institutions (32 percent) reported a net loss in the fourth quarter. Only 36 percent of institutions reported year-over-year increases in quarterly earnings, and only 34 percent reported higher quarterly ROAs.

I could go on, but you you get the idea. The news of the underlying economy has been terrible (at best). And that's what's causing the problems.

feel a scintilla of sympathy for them, they lunge at ya with the retracted lips and missing, yellowed teeth.

People can raise this question over and over again but what I would like to know is this: Has anyone ever raised the same questions regarding white candidates in this and/or past elections and why people voted for them? Of course not...I wouldn't care if Obama were multicolored - people are going to vote for whomever they choose and I for one am weary of the constant references to race...