We realize that helping Detroit involves big risks. After bailing out the financial system, it will encourage other companies to seek sustenance at Washington’s trough. Washington will have to learn to say no. But at this juncture, Detroit is too big to allow it to fail. And who knows? It may learn to survive.
i disagree with this
saving the financial system is to me about saving the infrastructure of the economy but Detroit is a different animal. If large US car manufacturers go to the wall then it would create severe economic pain and particularly hit blue collar workers but whilst it seems harsh to save certain white collar workers and let blue collar workers go to the wall I think that ultimately is a sentimental argument (and it suddenly occurs to me as funny how this is soviet socialist iconography and how the republicans with their Joe the Plumber stuff have appropriated soviet imagery). There has to be a line in the sand and to me the government intervening to bail out sectors of the economy is justified when those sectors are integral parts of the economic infrastructure but otherwise it isn't. Otherwise it really is, maybe not the road to socialism, but just delaying the inevitable economic reckoning. In the UK in the 1970s the government owned and ran the trains, the telephone network, the coal and steel industries, the energy companies, the water companies, and certain car manufacturers et al. Then came the 1980s and privatisation and now coal, steel and car manufacturing has gone and of the rest what is left; mostly energy, water and telephone companies, has been rationalized and is often foreign owned. I say don't waste tax payers money delaying the inevitable. It is a siren song: save jobs, too big to fail, but where do you stop and how far does the pendulum swing. There is a definite place for market discipline. Bail outs don't save communities of hard working people but just gives them false hope and that perhaps proves the cruelest blow. In the UK the privatisation that inevitably came was no soft landing for the blue collar communities.
Op-Ed Columnist - If Larry and Sergey Asked for a Loan ... - NYTimes.com
Topic: Miscellaneous
9:42 am EDT, Oct 26, 2008
Bottom line: We must not overshoot in regulating the markets just because they overshot in their risk-taking. That’s what markets do. We need to fix capitalism, not install socialism. Because, ultimately, we can’t bail our way out of this crisis. We can only grow our way out — with more innovation and entrepreneurship, which create new businesses and better jobs.
So let’s keep our eyes on the prize. Save the system, install smart regulations and get the government out of the banking business as soon as possible so that the surviving banks can freely and unabashedly get back into their business: risk-taking without recklessness.
What we've learned in software so far is that you can build things out of junk, but that finding out what to build and how to best design it takes creativity - that is, lots of tries, working with the folks who will use the stuff in the end, and perfecting the best attempt. It's too bad building software isn't like building bridges. It's more like writing novels - maybe like writing science fiction.
Op-Ed Columnist - The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama - NYTimes.com
Topic: Current Events
10:12 am EDT, Oct 12, 2008
IF you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him. ... But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.
which connects to this a start but how much of a stand will McCain take?
McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has become embroiled in a war of words with racial undertones after clashing with a civil rights icon.
John Lewis accused Mr McCain's campaign of "sowing hatred" against opponent Barack Obama and said he was reminded of 1960s segregationist George Wallace.
Mr McCain, who recently said Mr Lewis was one of his most admired Americans, called the reference "beyond the pale". ... The Obama campaign quickly said it did not believe Mr McCain's campaign was in any way comparable to Wallace.
Decius pointed to this yes McCain is playing with powerful and dangerous irrational forces
I memed the start of a stand and perhaps was overly optimistic and naive in seeing that as the start of a fight back against "this desperate strategy" and a return to honour.
RE: BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US Elections 2008 | McCain defends rival Obama
Topic: Current Events
9:15 am EDT, Oct 12, 2008
Decius wrote:
noteworthy wrote: ubernoir wrote: I don't support him but he has once again proved himself an American hero. Late in the day and imperfect but he took a stand.
Lets just be clear here. He did not do this just to be honorable. There have been a number of concernsraisedin numerous quarters over the past few days that the attempts to link Obama with Ayers, and therefore domestic terrorism, might increase the chance that some crazyrightwinger might try to kill him. Given the breadth of the calls for McCain to tone it down it is almost certain that this was a capitulation to concerns that their campaign has gone too far.
These men didn't kill Martin Luther King, but they contributed to an atmosphere of nationalism, white supremacy and cheap unreflective patriotism that ultimately got a lot of people killed.
Let me be clear--This is the ghost that McCain Campaign is summoning. This is the Ring Of Power that they want to wield. The Muslim charge, the "Hussein" thing is nothing more than today's red-baiting, and it is what it was then--a cover for racists. You may say I'm overreacting, and I really hope you're right. 999,000 out 1 million times we'll go on like normal and proceed to Election Day. But if some shit pops off, the thug and thug-mongers will not be able to throw up their hands and say "How could I have known?" Ignorance will not save them. Their stupidity is a scourge on us all.
oh I agree that the whole thing has gone way too far but I think this goes back decades and yes I agree that there is calculation. The race card thread as written about here and the swift boat style are very dangerous to society in general and to Obama particularly if some loony is going to start shooting as you point out and is dangerous to the process. However I get the feeling and it's not something I can prove that McCain dislikes this approach. The approach that did for him in 2000 and I think is what is leading him to stop the Campaign playing the Wright card despite being urged. I do think, it is a gut thing I confess maybe a hope and a belief in the process, in America's capacity to reinvent itself and that is what my instinct tells me McCain wants the Republican Party to reinvent itself. America needs the Republican Party because like it or not it is a two-party system. For too long the "ignorance is strength" wing of the party has been gaining strength and clearly McCain played to this with his VP pick. I think McCain is conflicted and under enormous pressure but knows the difference between right and wrong.
