Americanism and Protectionism Revived.

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher warned on Monday against "Buy America" provisions in a proposed fiscal stimulus law and said it could lead to devastating trade protectionism.

"Let me just be blunt. Protectionism is the crack cocaine of economics. It may provide a high. It's addictive and it leads to economic death," Fisher told C-Span television in an interview for its "Washington Journal" program."



"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet again on Monday with top regulators and also with the chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee to discuss how to move ahead with an economic recovery plan.

The Treasury department said Geithner will meet Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair and Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan to continue talks on financial and regulatory reform.

Treasury said the meeting with Bernanke, Bair and Dugan was to "continue ongoing discussions about financial and regulatory reform."

The Obama administration is trying to come up with a plan for stabilizing the banking system at the same time that it is attempting to persuade Congress to approve a nearly $900-billion stimulus plan through Congress by mid-February."



"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facing opposition from Republican lawmakers to parts of his economic recovery plan, President Barack Obama called Democratic Congressional leaders to a meeting on Monday to drive home his message of urgency.

With hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs, many their homes, and a rapidly shrinking economy, Obama is under pressure to move swiftly to get his nearly $900 billion plan through Congress by mid-February.

Senior Republican senators warned on Sunday their party was unlikely to back the stimulus bill without changes to cut waste and to ensure the package provides an immediate boost to the deteriorating economy."

If a Cat and Bird Can Get Along, It's Possible for Anyone to Get Along.

Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest.
...but about who came and never left your side.

The Global Economic Roller Coaster

What is the economic roller coaster doing around the globe? It is important to ask that question, being that we are living in a globalized economy in which each developed nation's economy feeds on its neighboring nation's economic survival.

"BEIJING/TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Deflationary fears spreading over the global economy are crashing into Asia's manufacturing base as data on Wednesday showed a sharp slowdown in wholesale price growth in the region's top two economies, Japan and China.

The situation is quite severe. We are slipping into a deflationary recession risk pretty fast," said Isaac Meng, an economist with BNP Paribas in Beijing.

China's growth is expected by the World Bank to slide in 2009 to 7.5 percent, below a level of 8 percent widely regarded as the minimum needed to absorb millions of people entering the work force each year. It expanded 11.9 percent in 2007." -- FXStreet.com

"ROME (Dow Jones)--Italian gross domestic product fell the most in a decade in the third quarter due to lower exports and investments, while October industrial output figures showed that the fourth quarter is likely to be even worse.

Final third-quarter data from statistics office Istat Wednesday confirmed that Europe's fourth-largest economy fell into a deep recession..." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government and central bank are considering plans to pump billions of pounds into the economy as the bank rescue package and the lowest interest rates since 1951 fail to halt a slide into recession.

The Bank of England and the Treasury are weighing a strategy known as “quantitative easing” where authorities increase money supply to boost bank reserves. The initiative was last used by Japan at the start of the decade.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government is frustrated that banks are rationing credit after tapping the Treasury for cash and guarantees to prop up their own balance sheets. Policy makers both in the U.K. and the U.S. Federal Reserve are looking beyond traditional interest-rate tools to revive the economy." -- Bloomberg.Com

"WASHINGTON, US — Congressional Democratic leaders and the White House have apparently reached a deal to spend US$15 billion on emergency loans for struggling U.S. automakers.

It would create a government “car czar” to dole out the loans, with the power to force the car makers into bankruptcy if they didn’t cut quick deals with labour unions, creditors and others to restructure their businesses and become viable.

Congressional Republicans, left out of negotiations on the package, are expressing grave reservations and may seek to block it.

Republican Senator David Vitter promised to filibuster the measure, which could delay a final vote for days." -- The London Free Press

So, while information is power, positive information is even more powerful than that the ever looming and extremely obvious recession and economic collapse. Therefore, here are some pluses to the current economy.

Oil prices are down to $45.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This means that gas prices are lower and therefore there is more money in our pockets.

30-year Mortgage Rates are down (as of yesterday) to about 5.53% according to Forecasts.org. Therefore, if you have good credit, you may want to purchase a home, or refinance your existing dwelling.

Additionally, in these lackluster consumer spending times, all types of stores are competing more than they ever have for your business. There are multiple deals and coupons, so take advantage this holiday season.

Paulson Committing Terrorism? You must listen to this!

In this economy, many people are attempting to blame anyone they can to make sense of the situation. Some claim that this is the New World Order, but you need to decide that for yourself. Conspiracy? Truth? Very interesting!

Is Martial Law Underway?

Is Martial Law underway? Is something going on during this bad economy that we don't really know about?

Where is the economic transparency?

"'With arrears forecast to increase over 2009, it is essential that all lenders ensure that their arrears and repossession policies treat customers fairly.'

'Borrowers facing difficulty deserve to know that their lenders have the right measures in place to treat them fairly and try to help them keep their homes wherever this is an achievable outcome.'

"

These two statements were official and placed in the www.dailymail.co.uk

"Mortgage lenders were warned today to treat customers in arrears fairly or face action, as 45,000 people are expected to lose their homes by the end of the year."

Wouldn't it have been prudent that the mortgage companies, lenders, and all other organizations tied-up in this mess might have thought of treating each case as special (not, one-size-fits-all) before this melt-down? If that would have happened, much of the mess would have been avoided.

Do these companies really have to be told to "treat customers in arrears fairly"? I guess they are that stupid, since they are the ones that got us in this mess in the first place.

Isn't there some way that a compromise can be met? I mean, I am sure that there are those who are really having a tough time. There are consumers who have lost their jobs and have not been able to make ends meet. And then, there are those who bought the big house, the new cars, the new furniture, and spent double or even triple their income. And now they are going to ask for money or leniency.

And what about those of us who have been paying our mortgage? What about those of us who have not purchased new cars, new furniture, and are paying our bills on time? Should we just stop doing that so that we can get an equal hand-out?

Where is the motivation to succeed if you can just buy anything and have the government (or, in other words, the U.S. taxpayer) pay for it?

I believe that the general population would like to see the economy issues solved in a fair, motivational, growth-inspiring way. Wouldn't you like to see the details of rules they have created for the bailout so that you know where your money is going? Where is the U.S. economic transparency that needs to be in place for the use of our taxpayer dollars?

Rethinking Obama. I've Been Too Hard On Him.

With the coming of a new week and with the opportunity to vote early, I am mulling over this election in my mind.

I'm giving Obama another thought, wondering if I am too hard on the poor lad.

Sure, the economy is bad. That is why the polls are so much higher for Obama. He has no ties to the economy, where McCain is a Republican and therefore, McCain must be responsible. When Obama gets elected, he'll fix the economy for sure.

So, I wondered about whether I've been too hard on Obama regarding the Ayers relationship. Is it his fault that the guy is literally his neighbor? I am sure that he never talks to his neighbors, since he has obviously been to busy organizing the community. He probably doesn't even know that Ayers purchased the other half of the lot, making Obama's half more affordable. I bet that, when Obama went next door for the fundraiser, he had no idea that he was stepping foot into Ayers' home. I'm guessing that he just thought he had been cut a lucky break when the guy next door offered to have a fundraiser to launch Obama's political campaign. He probably just said, 'Wow. This guy next door, whom I don't know at all, is willing to jump start my career and earn me some cash.". I bet he was totally excited and didn't even cross paths with Ayers the whole time he was there.

What about the contributions he has reportedly received (the top second) from Fannie Mae? Oh, that must have been a type-o. He is going to fix the economy, so he must have nothing to do with the down-swing of the nation's economy. He isn't a Republican. Obama is a Democrat, which means he had nothing to do with anything along the lines of the bombing economy and the lack of cash in our pocketbooks. He has tons of wonderful programs that the government is going to take charge of for us. Surely, the money for those programs will come from some magic place and we won't have to pay for it out of our earnings. His idea to have much of our society taken over by the government sounds so great. The government never screws anything up.

Obama has nothing to do with the war in Iraq. After all, he is a Democrat. Of course, he made a mistake when he initially voted for the war. The poor guy. Things just happen. It's not because of anything he has done. He wouldn't vote for anything like the war in Iraq. When Obama becomes President, his desire to yank the U.S. out of Iraq is so perfect. So what if Iraq collapses under it's own government.

I think it would be great to have dialog with Iran. When Amademajad says that the U.S. and Israel should be wiped off the map, Obama should just talk.

'So sorry that you feel that way, Amademajad. Let's talk it over and find out if this rage comes from your relationship with your father.'

When Amademajad says that the Holocaust never happened and that the Jews made it up, Obama should just discuss it. What is the problem in that? When Amademajad says that the U.S. should be bombed with a nuclear bomb, Obama should just assume that he is having a bad day, go get him a cup of coffee and talk. After all, he is human and he will feel better about things once he has been able to talk them out. Yes, Obama's desire to have diplomatic discussions with Amademajad is so realistic and reasonable.

I admire Obama's desire to be Christian. Wright must be getting the shaft when people are discussing his views. Being Christ-like is a tricky thing. Of course, Wright never taught that being Christian means that you can be racist. Why would Obama sit and listen to that council. Wright must be teaching the correct views on Christianity. Obama certainly wouldn't tie himself with anyone who taught incorrect things about 9/11. I sure do admire someone who is acting like a true Christian.

I think that I've been too hard on Obama for sure. I know who I'm going to vote for now that I have mulled it over.