Hello:

Here in Seattle, Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott has sought to use taxpayer dollars to polish up the Rainier Club's windowsills. Apparently, the wealthy members of this private club, who pay dues of $191 a month, couldn't come up with the $250,000 it's gonna take.

Those poor rich people. Now McDermott wants you and me and the other working stiffs - people who would never be qualified to JOIN the club, to PAY for fixing it.

Then the congressman has the temerity to suggest that this private club for the wealthy is entitled to make a request of him just like the University of Washington is. What is HE smokin???

We should dump 'em all.

excon

excon

Hello Steve:

What you point out, is that the Republicans have NO interest in fixing things... All they wanna do is make political grandstands.

Their state either wants the money or it doesn't. If these two jerks represent the state, then they better get to representing their state!!!

excon

speechlesstx

Ah, so you're thinking like Biden that we need to bankrupt the country in order to keep from bankrupting the country.

Well, with these trillion dollar deficits I'd say they're doing a pretty good job of bankrupting the nation. Damn those Arizonans that think we shouldn't spend the nation into bankruptcy or be threatened by the administration. What was all that nonsense the last few years about King George the dictator running roughshod over the opposition? What?

You mean it's ok of Democrats are dictators? Not to mention liars...now we're being told the "stimulus" wasn't meant to stimulate, it was meant to "stabilize.

That's not how it was sold to the country in case you've forgotten. This was Obama in January:

How the heck can you give this administration ANY credibility and then claim the GOP doesn't want to fix anything while the Democrats are muzzling them and ramming monstrous legislation through without even reading it?

excon

Hello again, Steve:

Nahhhh. I'm not that smart. All I said is that Kyle and McCain bluffed and got called by Obama. He should be doing MORE of that.

But, in terms of Biden.... I dunno. Being a businessman myself, I understand that sometimes you have to "invest" money in order to avoid bankruptcy. Makes perfect sense to me.

Of course, one could call it "wasteful spending" if it didn't achieve the desired objective. But only AFTER the fact.

excon

speechlesstx

Actually, it looks to me more like Kyl and McCain called Obama's bluff. I don't know about you but I "invest" in the hopes of a return on that investment. What this administration is doing is "spending," quite different from investing.

excon

Hello again, Steve:

You say tomaaaato, and I say tomahhhto.

There's this restaurant here in Seattle called Las Margarita's. They took over a restaurant building that had gone bust EVERY time some new joint opened there. Lots of people stood around and clucked their tongues over the "wasteful spending" that was going on right before their eyes.

Guess what? Their "wasteful spending", became an "investment" that's gone up at least a hundredfold.

Before you pronounce it a failure, I suggest you wait till the fat lady sings...

Don't get me wrong. I too, was a naysayer about that corner property. Similarly, I too have doubts about Obamas "investment/spending"... But, I'm gonna wait to see how it plays out.

excon

speechlesstx

That's why the rush to ram this health care bill through, the one that only 35% of Americans now support, this 'transparent' congress and administration don't want to wait 'til the fat lady sings about how much it's going to cost. But guess what. Why wait, the fat lady is already singing.

CBO director: Deficit spending unsustainable

You and I both know that Obama and congress damn well know it's unsustainable, but they're going to 'invest' it anyway. Here's a nice investment we're making...Humor In The Workplace.

ETWolverine

How long will you wait?

The government could continue spending like this for the next 4 years and claim that the improvements they are expecting are just around the corner. When does it become evident that they're full of horse pucks and it really was wasteful spending? When will you be done waiting? How many more trillions need to be spent before we can catagorize it a failure?

Elliot

excon

Hello El:

Longer than 6 months - specially since the investment is just gearing up.

Hmmm... As a conservative, market forces kinda guy, seems like you'd understand that. But, it somehow escapes you.

excon

tomder55

Most wise businessmen spend with an idea of a business model and a plan .They are ususally using other people's money and give realistic projections on when the investor will get a return on their investment .

I saw no such plan .Instead the sell job was that it had to be that much money and it had to be now. But it would have an immediate impact in jobs created and saved . It was never sold as a 2 year plan . It was shovel ready .

ETWolverine

Let's leave aside the point that Obama and Geithner both said that the effect of these investments would be felt immediately. I never believed that, and I doubt anyone else did either. So let's take it as a given that the effect wouldn't be immediate.

I believe in market forces. But what market forces are in play when the money sin't going where the government said it was going to go? The money has been distributed... and isn't being used.

- States are holding on to the money to cover their budget gaps.

- Banks and brokerage houses are holding on to the money to shore up their capitalization.

- The "shovel ready" construction jobs that were supposed to create employment have been diminished and eliminated because the cost and time necessary to get government approval for the jobs is too large for the government to handle (which is an irony in and of itself). Instead the construction will be limited to widening and repaving existing streets, instead of the new construction that would get the economy moving. There's no significant economic jump-start from street widening and repaving.

In short, I would be happy to see the effect of market forces. But there are none in play here. The money being spent cannot have an effect on market forces because it isn't being used properly. This is over a trillion dollars spent for NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER.

Elliot