Dobbs: Our leaders have squandered our wealth

[Dudeskey]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/22/Dob...y23/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Bush's assurances that we'll all be "just fine" if he and Congress can work out an economic stimulus package seem a little hollow this morning.

Much like Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke's assurances last May that the subprime mortgage meltdown would be contained and not affect the broader economy. And it seems Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has spent most of the past year trying to influence Chinese economic policy rather than setting the direction of U.S. economic policy.

There is no question that Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will quickly come up with an economic stimulus package simply because they can no longer ignore our economic and financial crisis. That economic stimulus plan will amount to about 1 percent of our nation's gross domestic product, an estimated $150 billion.

But all of us should recognize that the stimulus package will be inadequate to drive sustainable growth in our $13 trillion economy. An emergency Fed rate cut and an economic stimulus plan are short-term responses to our complex economic problems, nothing more than bandages for a hemorrhaging economy.

Bush, Pelosi, Reid and the presidential candidates of both parties have an opportunity now, and I believe an obligation, to adjust the public policy mistakes of the past quarter-century that have led to this crisis. And only through courageous policy decisions will we be able to steer this nation's economy away from the brink of outright disaster.

We all have to acknowledge that our problems were in part brought on by the failure of our government to regulate the institutions and markets that are now in crisis. The irresponsible fiscal policies of the past decade have led to a national debt that amounts to $9 trillion. The irresponsible so-called free trade policies of Democratic and Republican administrations over the past three decades have produced a trade debt that now amounts to more than $6 trillion, and that debt is rising faster than our national debt. All of which is contributing to the plunge in the value of the U.S. dollar.

At precisely the point in our history in which this nation has become ever more dependent on foreign producers for everything from clothing to computers to technology to energy, our weakened dollar is making the price of an ever-increasing number of imported goods even more expensive.

All Americans will soon have to face a bitter and now obvious truth: Our national, political and economic leaders have squandered this nation's wealth, and the price of this profligacy is enormous, and the bill has just come due for all of us.

Bernanke endorsed the concept of a short-term economic stimulus package, but he cautioned that the money must be spent correctly: "You'd hope that [consumers] would spend it on things that are domestically produced so that the spending power doesn't go elsewhere."

Just what would you have us spend it on? The truth is that consumers spend most of their money on foreign imports, and any stimulus package probably would be stimulating foreign economies rather than our own. Imports, for example, account for 92 percent of our non-athletic footwear, 92 percent of audio video equipment, 89 percent of our luggage and 73 percent of power tools. In fact, between 1997 and 2006, only five of the 114 industries examined in a U.S. Business and Industry Council report gained market share against import competition.

And let's be honest and straightforward, as I hope our president and the candidates for president will be: This stimulus will not prevent a recession. It may ease the pain for millions of Americans, but a recession we will have. The question is how deep, how prolonged and how painful will it be. Unfortunately, we're about to find out how committed and capable our national leaders are at mitigating that pain and producing realistic policy decisions for this nation that now stands at the brink.

[W*GS]

Dobbs' likely prescription is a dose of tariffs, quotas and other forms of protectionism.

He's wrong.

[TailgateNut]

I'm spending my "stimulus" on BEEF! American BEEF! None of that overpriced massaged Kobe' BEEF.

[TailgateNut]

...and GUNS. American Made Guns!

[Spider]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Dobbs' likely prescription is a dose of tariffs, quotas and other forms of protectionism.

He's wrong.

yeah , he is , we need to get rid of our poor people and elderly , they are sucking up more money then they are worth , with SS , medicade , Medicare , welfare ...... time to kick them out in the cold and let them make it on their own, right W*GS

[Hotrod]

I'd either spend my "stimulus" on

1. lotto tickets
or
2. guns/canned goods

[TailgateNut]

I'got plenty of dry goods and canned goods. My wife always asks me if I'm preparing for a war.

Little does she know!

I wonder what they neighbors will think when I bring home a couple head of cattle!

[TheDave]

Vegas Baby...

Bet Big...Win Big

[TailgateNut]

Originally Posted by TheDave

Vegas Baby...

Bet Big...Win Big

Righto!

[Dudeskey]

option 2...®

[Bronco Jamus]

My company laid off another 200 people today because of this mess. The Fed is giving the banks money, but the banks are hording it to cover for their poor lending ways.

[Hotrod]

Another option is presious metals. The only problem is gold/silver are so damn expensive. I'm looking at my budget and thinking I might be able to invest in aluminum

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by Hotrod

Another option is presious metals. The only problem is gold/silver are so damn expensive. I'm looking at my budget and thinking I might be able to invest in aluminum

I have a bunch of soda cans in my recycle bin I'll sell you.

Or maybe you could buy some red mercury from Gaffney.

[alkemical]

I bought a lotto ticket today

[Spider]

Check this out , the Indian Res up here in Wind River can have Casinos , but the leaders of this state in all of their infinite wisdom decided having a Lotto and scratch games would lead to crime ...... and just for the record , this is the same state that thinks Romney would be a great leader

[Hotrod]

Originally Posted by Bronco Bob

I have a bunch of soda cans in my recycle bin I'll sell you.

Or maybe you could buy some red mercury from Gaffney.

I was thinking more along the lines of this stuff. Its readily available and stores in a limited area.



http://www.foodservicedirect.com/pro...WE632REYNs.jpg

[baja]

I'm using my $800 to stay at a Holiday Inn Express for a night.

[Hotrod]

Originally Posted by Spider

Check this out , the Indian Res up here in Wind River can have Casinos , but the leaders of this state in all of their infinite wisdom decided having a Lotto and scratch games would lead to crime ...... and just for the record , this is the same state that thinks Romney would be a great leader

you backwards bastards

[elsid13]

Watched Dobbs last night on this subject. One of his guest pointed out that 80% what is bought by Amercians is made by American (I don't have his source data) and that 6% GDP goes oversea.

Instead of putting up protection barriers, I think the US Gov should be more aggressive in forcing other countries in lower their trade barrier they have in place and to put in labor and enviroment laws that help the entire world.

[baja]

more aggressive in forcing other countries in lower their trade barrier they have in place and to put in labor and enviroment laws that help the entire world.

We need to stop telling the rest of the world what to do besides we can't even do that in our own country.

[elsid13]

Originally Posted by baja

more aggressive in forcing other countries in lower their trade barrier they have in place and to put in labor and enviroment laws that help the entire world.

We need to stop telling the rest of the world what to do besides we can't even do that in our own country.

The WTO was set by a number of countries to do just that. Free trade on level playing field is good for everyone. Beside open markets have been one pillar that this country foreign policy was found on.

[baja]

WTO is, as you note, a coalition of countries not just us telling every other nation what to do.

[baja]

Besides we are so far in debt with the trading partners that most meed to change their practices that they would just laugh at us.

[elsid13]

Originally Posted by baja

WTO is, as you note, a coalition of countries not just us telling every other nation what to do.

In reality it is establish frame work that US Gov should use to push the open of markets and labor standards. There is no reason that the French should be allowed to enforce tariffs on US food products, if we don' do the same to them.

[baja]

Well i say treat them as they treat us.

We will not get very far in todays world by threats. The reality is we are not as respected or as powerful as in the past.