So, Who'has read all the way through Obama's Budget?Follow

Maybe you're talking about a different Western Europe? He specifically mentioned he's talking about the one across the ocean.

Nexa

Any country that's not more liberal than the US tends to be one you are at/want to be at war with. Coincidence?

I'll start.

Nexa

So am I, but I'm basing it on trends, rather than partisan idiocy. Do you really not see that this has all been brewing for the better part of a decade? They didn't call it a "bubble" for nothing: the market has been artificially inflated with these financial flimflams for awhile now, and it has burst.

If anything, the election of Obama was an effect of the economy. I'm sure you'll have forgotten all about that though.

Oh, and yes, you really are stupid. That has nothing to do with politics, though.

Edited, Mar 3rd 2009 1:25pm by AshOnMyTomatoes

Yes, I'd imagine hearing "massive bank failure" day in and day out does tend to wear on an entrepreneur.

I think they're more unhappy about the fact that they're having to lay off workers because they can't get credit from other banks to make payroll, than they are hearing that they might get taxed more.

Getting taxed another few percentage points doesn't mean anything if they can't get any credit to actually run their business on a daily basis. That's what the problem is.

1. Banks screwed up and made ****** loans to people.
2. Banks attempted to hide their screwup by slicing and dicing the loans and calling them something else, then buying insurance on the loans.
3. People who bought the sliced up loans also bought insurance.
4. People who originally got the loans lose their jobs and can't make their payments, at the same time their payments are shooting through the roof because they were term ARMS. They default.
5. The sliced up mortgages, which were previously a valuable debt-asset, suddenly turn worthless. The insurance holders call in their insurance policies.
6. NET EFFECT: American Insurance Group is having to pay out billions in dollars in insurance, while banks are absolutely terrified to lend any money in the off chance that AIG goes under and they themselves are stuck writing off bad debt.
7. Business that relied in small daily, weekly, monthly loans to cover payroll are unable to borrow money from the banks, forcing them to have to downsize staff to cover operating costs.

Where do business taxes fit into the equation?

The only way to end the crisis is to convince the banks to lend again. Not raise taxes, lower taxes, or do any sort of tax voodoo dance.

It's not the banks that caused the problem. It was the govn allowing the banks to loan money to people with poor credit, no down payment, and unstable employment history. Astoundingly this still hasn't been addressed. This is why the banks aren't loaning money to people who don't fit all the aforementioned criteria.

I thought I was railing at the lack of inaction by the administration in addressing these issues. Simply spending more of the taxpayers money does nothing to fix this.