Looking Forward to "Capitalism"

After watching Michael Moore demolish Wolf/Leslie Blitzer in this segment, I'm looking forward to his film:

I Like My Jim Cramer Fire Roasted on a Spit with a Side of False Penitence

The skewering continues:

"Destroy Enough Dough?":

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Bern After Pleading

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

"Maybe You Could Cut Down On That?":

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

"But You Are Pretending That You Are a Dew-Eyed Innocent....It's Not a Fucking Game":

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The not-so-funny last segment:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Stewart Crushes Cramer in Round 3

I'll be watching the Daily Show tonight as Jim "Fuck You!" Cramer is appearing.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

I *Heart* Jon Stewart

More skewering of Jim Cramer and the rest of the CNBC morons:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

In Cramer We Trust

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

Don't Take Financial Advice From CNBC

Jon Stewart skewers the market "experts" from CNBC:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

President Obama's Weekly Web Address

Transcript:

Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis. But I'm pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years. Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January. We've now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands.

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face. That was, after all, what last November's election was all about.

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come. But we can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary. The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now.

Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe. Millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, and their health care. Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let's be clear: We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place. We can't rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges – the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

The American people know that our challenges are great. They don't expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000. It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who've lost their jobs. And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

That's what is at stake with this plan: putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment on the American Dream that serves our children and our children's children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us. Let's show them that we are. And let's do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

Thank you.

The Current Economic Reality

I read Atrios, so I know most of what the corporate media is shoveling at us about the bailouts is 100% pure unadulterated crap. Here's the real deal, from three of Duncan Black's posts today:

(a) For over a year the one point that I and others have been trying make is that the polite fiction that masters of the universe of Wall Street and their defenders in the media and Congress have been trying maintain, that this is liquidity crisis not an insolvency crisis, is utter horseshit. They made bad leveraged bets and lost immense amounts of money, and now they, and their buddies Geithner and Summers, want taxpayers to bail them out so they can go on living their opulent life styles while some of my neighbors wonder if their next food stamp card is going to show up.

(b) The question all along has been who is still standing when the music stops, which sucker gets stuck holding the bag.

(c) Bailing out these institutions might be necessary, but bailing out executives and shareholders is not.

Since the people running Obama's economic team are Wall Streeters, it appears that we the taxpayers will be the bagholders.

Unfortunately, This is Right

In re the current debate over the stimulus plan:

Obama is, sadly, much to blame for giving the Republicans so much leverage. He defined the challenge as bipartisanship not saving the U.S. economy.

It's kind of like the war on terror. Bipartisanship is a tool, not a goal. Saving the economy is the goal. Focus, Barack, focus.

President Obama's Weekly Web Address

Transcript:

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

Saturday, January 24th, 2009


We begin this year and this Administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action. Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last twenty-six years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.

In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.

That is why I have proposed an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to immediately jumpstart job creation as well as long-term economic growth. I am pleased to say that both parties in Congress are already hard at work on this plan, and I hope to sign it into law in less than a month.

It’s a plan that will save or create three to four million jobs over the next few years, and one that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment - the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done. That’s why this is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.

Today I’d like to talk specifically about the progress we expect to make in each of these areas.

To accelerate the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar, and biofuels over the next three years. We’ll begin to build a new electricity grid that lay down more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines to convey this new energy from coast to coast. We’ll save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient, and save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes.

To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health record in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives. And we’ll protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans who are in danger of losing their coverage during this economic downturn.

To ensure our children can compete and succeed in this new economy, we’ll renovate and modernize 10,000 schools, building state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries, and labs to improve learning for over five million students. We’ll invest more in Pell Grants to make college affordable for seven million more students, provide a $2,500 college tax credit to four million students, and triple the number of fellowships in science to help spur the next generation of innovation.

Finally, we will rebuild and retrofit America to meet the demands of the 21st century. That means repairing and modernizing thousands of miles of America’s roadways and providing new mass transit options for millions of Americans. It means protecting America by securing 90 major ports and creating a better communications network for local law enforcement and public safety officials in the event of an emergency. And it means expanding broadband access to millions of Americans, so business can compete on a level-playing field, wherever they’re located.

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won’t just throw money at our problems - we’ll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.

No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time. But if we act now and act boldly; if we start rewarding hard work and responsibility once more; if we act as citizens and not partisans and begin again the work of remaking America, then I have faith that we will emerge from this trying time even stronger and more prosperous than we were before. Thanks for listening.

"Financial Crisis: The Musical"

Lyrics: B. Hopman Vocals: R. Hopman

The Shock Market is out of control!! Gall Street is crumbling!! Your savings have been 401KOD!! Just when you thought the economy has hit a low note, here comes a real chorus of gloom and doom. It won't take a degree in economics to enjoy this musical parody. Just a degree of humor. (Special appearance by John McCain.)

Make Me Puke

Oink, a male chauvinist pig goes to the White House. This is your brain on dope. Or testerone.

HuffPo: Larry Summers: Director Of National Economic Council, Top Adviser To Obama

ABC News reports that Obama has tapped Larry Summers to be his top economic adviser.

Can you imagine Obama naming as his top economic adviser someone who said in an address to an academic conference that blacks might have innate differences that explain their failure to attain high positions in the sciences and engineering? And that when asked to explain his racist remarks, this supposed intellectual stated this was a legitimate hypothesis? That he was just trying to be provocative? And complained about political correctness?

That person would not be named economic adviser, I posit, but a man who said those things about women has.

I want some of my money back, Barack.

Krugman Explains the Depression to George Will

From firedoglake, which headlines this clip "Krugman Schools Will On the Great Depression". The arrogance of George Will, to spout conservative nonsense about the economy while sitting next to a Nobel-Prize winning economist.

Obama's First YouTube Saturday Address

New Obama Ad: "His Choice"

Devastating. Palin's a winker and McCain's a fool for choosing her.

The Wasilla Project: #3

The third in the series of videos by the Wasilla Project. Here's how they describe this one:

On the heels of the final, historic 2008 presidential debate, the Wasilla Project releases Part 3 of our series, where we examine Palins record as a fiscal conservative. Clearly, the economy has emerged as the dominant issue of the 2008 presidential campaign and we hope that this video will be a useful contribution in understanding some of the history of Palins public service in Alaska.

After 8 years of a Republican White House, there still seems to be a reality distortion field around the concept of Fiscal Conservative. Governor Palin presents herself as a fiscal conservative who has a record of helping taxpayers in her state. The reality has often been quite different.

Its surprising that someone who came into office as mayor to cut wasteful spending and lower property taxes, actually left office with Wasilla over $20 million in debt, when records show that she entered office with city debt at one million or less.

Some $14-15 million of that debt was due to a hockey rink she built while in office, land for which Wasilla negotiated the purchase for $145,000. They eventually paid out nearly $1.5 million for the land, not counting legal fees, due to Palin moving forward on the project before the city had clear title to the land. This echoes in significant ways Palins later negotiations as governor on the Alaskan pipeline, where she committed $500 million in taxpayer money, without assurances that a Canadian company would even build the pipeline.

As the economy worsens in the United States, markets around the world are crashing and people are losing their homes and pensions, its irresponsible not to question the economic positions and records of the candidates. In the case of Palin, her record has been extremely troubling and reflects part of the reason that she has lost credibility with so many Alaskans in recent weeks.

Sometimes Laughter Is the Best Medicine

The Dow dropped more than 700 points today, so what's a girl to do? Spread internet jokes far and wide:

FINANCIAL CRISIS:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $54.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg.

Another cracked calculation:

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.

Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year.

That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon!

Obama's Economic Rescue Plan for the Middle Class

Here's Obama's speech on his rescue plan for the middle class, from yesterday:

Paul Krugman Wins Nobel Prize for Economics

NYTimes: Krugman Wins Nobel Prize for Economics

As we say here in Massachusetts, he's wicked smaht, and now he has an extra $1.4 million dollars to keep out of the stock market. Congratulations Paul Krugman.

Obama: McCain is "Erratic and Uncertain"

It's the economy, stupid, and the fundamentals of our economy are not strong.

Hillary: "Mavericks In Washington And On Wall Street Got Us Into This Mess"