The real American motto:

I got mine, so screw you

This is a variation of the popular

Everybody should just pull themselves up by their own bootstraps

It seems to be pretty easy for the privledge in the US to extort that it was just their hard work and smarts that resulted in their success.  Most of us know this isn’t true.  It usually involves the family they were born in and the privledges they received before they could even tie their own shoes.  Throw in a big helping of greed that virtually all large corporations subscribe to and you have Republicans.

Put a fork in it — it is done.  Obama-Bayh will be the ticket.  Well, I don’t like it at all.  Bayh is ok but Obama should have picked Hillary.  Why?  Because the primary was nearly tied and the voters picked Clinton as the VP.   Obama should have offered it to her immediately and let her decide whether she wanted it.  Instead, there is unending drama over this issue as McCain continues to improve in the polls.  Hillary tried to explain in the primary that Obama wasn’t ready for the attacks the Republicans would make.  Pretty clear now that she was right.  Meanwhile, Edwards little news about baby mama that if disclosed prior to Iowa may have changed the nomination in a significant way.  Well, Obama can still be elected but given that this should have been a landslide year for Democrats, it is disheartening that some old war mongering fart like McCain can still be in this and could even win.  I guess the old joke is right — Democrats will always fail they just never know how they will do it.

Let’s be clear.  Edwards was scum for cheating on his wife.  Elizabeth should kick his butt to the curb because John is a bad husband.  Yet, this is up to Elizabeth and John;  however, I think it is ridiculous to conclude Edwards would not be a good President just because he can’t keep his penis in check.   I think Edwards’ views on poverty, corporate greed, etc. are all well reasoned and have nothing to do with his willingness to cheat on his wife.  Meanwhile, Nixon and W probably never had an affair and they were some of the worst Presidents ever.

I am often reminded that the religious right who are condemning John for infidelity are all in favor of capital punishment, denying health care to all Americans which lead to many deaths each year, and paying employees at Walmart a non-living wage,  Each of these examples are more immoral that what John “I can’t control my penis” Edwards did.

America is on some big moral high horse which is just another manifestation of the crazy religious component of America life.  I’m surprise we don’t still stone people for infidelity.  However, it might be hard for John to be able to tell the difference politically.  Meanwhile, Europe scratches their head trying to figure out what was so wrong about what John did.

Merrill sold $36 Billion of CDO (mortages) for 22 cents on the dollar.  Ouch.  Overall, it will take about $45 Billion in loses related to its sojourn in the mortages.  Ouch.  Ouch.   They also lent the purchaser of their mortages $5 Billion to complete the sale.  Ouch.  By valuing their mortage business at 22 cents on the dollar it may force other big companies to revalue their mortage businesses.  Bottom line.  Lots more writeoffs coming from big companies.

Can you imagine selling a mortage to somebody at 1% and not verifying their income or fairly assessing their ability to repay the loan?  To make matters worse, the purchaser did not realize that after a year the rate would be adjusted based on market conditions.  Shock and awe.  The purchaser’s mortgage payment increased by 500% or more.  Surprise.  Surprise.  The purchaser was not able to meet the new demand.

Was it expected?  Sure.  Anybody with a freshman business course could have predicated this could not be sustained.  Yet, the best and the brightest financial people in the US were sucked into such a scam.  Merrill probably doesn’t even hire people without graduate degrees in business and finance.  Unfortunately, these same people skipped the course on greed.  And why not?  They have been  taking their giant bonuses and buying high end real estate in Manhattan for years.

The ultimate cost will probably be around $1 TRILLION.  Ouch.

Don’t you just lose capitalism?  I don’t.  Because capitalism doesn’t work.

This country cannot afford health care for all of its citizen because it will cost $60 Billion a year but we can blow  $1 TRILLION dollars due to greed and unethical behavior.  Also, if we take the profit out of health care, it probably won’t cost the US anything additional.   Currently, there are hundreds of billions of dollars in profits that are sucked out of the health care system that go to investors that provide nothing to patents.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Today the US announced that it expects a HALF TRILLION dollar deficit in 2009 — the last fiscal year of the supreme idiot Bush.  This idiot has doubled the national debt.  Bush will go down in history as the worst President ever.

I heard today that some group in St Louis is praying for lower gas prices.  Those same religious idiots are the same crowd that elected the supreme idiot Bush.  Let them pray all they want but oil will be at $300 in five years.  Maybe at that point they will give up on supreme god and his sidekick Bush.

I hope taxes are increased on the rich to such an extent that they will never forget the increased national debt of G W Bush.