Newsflash: Wonderboy Treasury Secretary is in over his head

By Michelle Malkin  •  March 4, 2009 10:57 PM

They said he was uniquely qualified. A wunderkind. The Man with the Plan. Too big to fail.

Now we learn from the on-the-ball MSM that tax cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is flailing about and in over his head.

Who’s shocked?

For five weeks, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has battled the worst economic crisis in generations with no key deputies in place. That’s made for a rocky debut for the man President Barack Obama put in charge of addressing the financial crisis.

With an awkward first television appearance, a bank rescue plan that lacked promised specifics and two restructured bailouts that raised taxpayer risk, Geithner has failed to calm financial markets desperate for answers.

Critics say part of the problem is that Geithner is flying solo: Not one of his top 17 deputies has been named, let alone confirmed. And without senior leadership, lower-level Treasury employees can’t make decisions or represent the government in crucial conversations with banks and others.

As Geithner strives to address the financial crisis, advance Obama’s agenda and work with foreign leaders to stave off economic disaster, he’s assembled a 50-person “shadow cabinet” of would-be appointees. Those people have received hall passes and can advise Geithner, but they lack any authority.

“Everyone would think it’s a travesty if the Defense Department didn’t have a lot of their people in place, because you’re in a crisis fighting a couple of wars,” said Tony Fratto, who was a Treasury spokesman under President George W. Bush. “But Tim Geithner is fighting wars on a few fronts himself, and he doesn’t have the generals there to help him.”

So, he’s chasing after international tax avoiders by himself.

And now, the tax cheat is assailing oil and gas companies for taking advantage of tax loopholes. No wonder he can’t get anyone to staff up underneath him. Everything he does is a punchline:

U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.

It was one of the sharpest attacks yet on the oil and gas industry by a top Obama administration official, reinforcing the White House stance that new U.S. energy policy will focus on promoting renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and rely less on traditional fossil fuels like oil as America tackles climate change.

“We don’t believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don’t think that’s good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country,” Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing on the White House’s proposed budget for the 2010 spending year.

The Obama administration’s budget would levy an excise tax on oil and natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, raising $5.3 billion in revenue from 2011 to 2019.

This new 13 percent tax on all oil and gas production in the Gulf would only affect those companies enjoying a loophole that allows them to avoid paying royalties on the energy supplies they drill

***

Update: The NYPost editorial board chuckles:

here was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, boldly testifying Tuesday before Rep. Charlie Rangel’s Ways & Means Committee – promising that the Obama administration intends to propose “a series of legislative and enforcement measures to reduce . . . tax evasion and avoidance.”

Did he look Chairman Rangel in the eye when he said this?

Can he look himself in the eye at the shaving mirror each morning?

A crackdown on “tax evasion and avoidance”? Oh, the irony.

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  2. Geithner gone in 3… 2… 1… « Useful Idiot Watch
  3. That tax cheat who just had to be confirmed, Tim Geithner proving that he can’t handle the pressure of the job | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
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  11. ‘Okie’ on the Lam » Blog Archive » Tax Cheat Appears Before Committee Headed By Tax Cheat — Can You Say Wolf, Hen House?
  12. Bent Notes » Blog Archive » Turns out Tim is every bit the Marxist, fool and Kool-Aid drinker that everybody else in the TCM administration is
  13. UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » What Did One Tax Cheat Say to the Other?
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  16. Is Treasury Secretary Geithner Being Set Up To Fail? | Liberty Confidential
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  24. With Dow falling daily, will Geithner’s days be “numbered”; Obama’s Bear Market « Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog
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Comments


  1. #639932
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:27 am, jsr said:

    Wow. Good work Geithner on explaining how low energy costs are bad for the economy. Dow is currently down over 200 to below 6700 but I guess were all getting so accustomed to these daily plunges that anything less than a 3% loss is a good day. Never mind.

  2. #639935
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:28 am, RogersUmp said:

    I think Geitner is performing exactly the way PBO wants him to perform…poorly and to do damage that will be difficult to be undone and try to make the choice to become socialist less unattractive.

  3. #639940
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:32 am, sonofdy said:

    Oh GREAT, dow dropping like a rock, government aiming to take over EVERYTHING and now Micheal Jackson is making a come back.

    AAARRRGGHHH

  4. #639946
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:34 am, scituate_tgr said:

    TheEnergyAnalyst said: Tell us what you do and where you are. Help comes from the strangest places.

    And that’s what I mean about finding opportunity in the great country.

    Southshore, MA
    Strategic and Tactical Marketing, Graphic Design (web or print), Corporate Event Planning.

    I could also build you a nice deck, paint your house, wire your new addition or replace the broken float switch on your pedestal sump pump..as long as there are a few cold refreshing beverages at quit’n time.

  5. #639952
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am, sonofdy said:

    scituate_tgr: unemployment in utah is still below 4%

    Just a thought.

  6. #639960
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:39 am, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    The royalty relief was for high risk/high expense wells drilled in deep water, and basically allowed the oil companies not to pay royalties until they had recovered their costs.

    The biggest oil discoveries are in the deep water. A whole bunch of new field exploration and development projects, costing hundreds of millions, or billions each, are going to go on hold, because the risk adjusted rate of return has now dropped sharply, and many projects are no longer worth the risk. Especially with low oil prices.

    And there are risks. Dry holes, unstable oil prices. Hurricanes. Technical failures of the wells.

    Of course, taking what will amount to possibly a million barrels a day of production from undrilled wells off the market over the next few years should help get the price of oil back up.

    Onshore, Obama proposes the end of the intangible drilling cost deduction. Or, the expense of drilling a well, hiring a drilling rig and rig hands, hiring geologists to monitor the well, a company to cement the pipe into the hole, another company to perforate the pipe in the right place, another company to pump acid or sand slurry at high rates to increase the production from the wells, all that expense, the oil companies eat.

    To use a simple analogy, it is like telling a restaurant they can’t deduct the cost of the steaks, wine, vegetables, lobster they have to purchase, and have to pay income tax on every penny of sales.

    Again, it’ll kill the US oil business, slowly kill off revenue into the treasury from offshore oil royalties as old fields deplete and new wells aren’t drilled to replace them, and drive gasoline prices through the ceiling.

    Natural gas, used for cooking, home heating, and electricity generation, will really skyrocket, because it is difficult to import natural gas from outside North America.

    Smart move. If you’re the ‘Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers’ or his Wonder Boy disciple and actively trying to destroy the US economy.

  7. #639961
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:39 am, sonofdy said:

    And to think I was happy about the dow yesterday…

    sigh.

  8. #639968
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:43 am, sonofdy said:

    Natural gas, used for cooking, home heating, and electricity generation, will really skyrocket, because it is difficult to import natural gas from outside North America.

    Which is why I am currently looking at a wood pellet stove.

  9. #639983
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am, conservativesRus said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:15 am, vickisoup said:

    That’s easy – Jimmy Carter governing philosophy: Internationally: Speak softly and carry no stick.
    Domestically: Government is smarter than you.

  10. #639984
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am, BlameAmericaLast said:

    And the DOW(N) is down again 200 points. Wonderful.

    NO confidence in the Obama “presidency”. None whatsoever.

  11. #639985
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am, nail49 said:

    They produced the stimulus package, the budget, and TARP2. You may not like them, but they did get done.

    lgm: They did get things done. Kind of like, “We had to destroy the city to save the city.”

  12. #639996
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:51 am, nail49 said:

    Speak softly and carry no beat yourself with a stick.

    conservativesRus: Fixed it for ya..

  13. #640000
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:53 am, b-cat said:

    Now we learn from the on-the-ball MSM that tax cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is flailing about and in over his head.

    The whole administration, top to bottom, is in over its head. It’s what we get for electing a nobody with no experience at anything to the Presidency.

  14. #640002
    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:56 am, b-cat said:

    They produced the stimulus package, the budget, and TARP2. You may not like them, but they did get done.

    Sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing.

  15. #640011
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:00 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    I believe it was the CBO that estimated the recession would start to end on its own toward the end of this year.

    Weird, isn’t it, how most economic downturns last about two years, three years tops, but the Great Depression lasted over a decade.

    And Obama is doing ‘The New Deal’ to the nth power.

  16. #640019
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:04 pm, jjmurphy said:

    I believe it was the CBO that estimated the recession would start to end on its own toward the end of this year.

    I think if the administration had done nothing the recession would have ended this year. Given their actions in the past few months I think they have turned a normal recession into a long-term recession or possible depression. They are doing significant, long-term damage to the economy.

  17. #640039
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:12 pm, nail49 said:

    Sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing.

    Or, PBO can take Admiral Farragut’s course of action, despite the potential outcome:

    Manila Bay, 5 August 1864: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

    Although the “torpedoes” were what would one day be called tethered mines, Farragut was lucky and, eventually, successful.

    PBO may not be so lucky and, if not, will he go down with the Ship of State?

    http://www.wired.com/images/article/full/2008/04/rms_titanic_400px.jpg

    In the words of our RAF exchange officer:

    Not bloody likely!

  18. #640050
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm, b-cat said:

    Manila Bay, 5 August 1864: “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

    I believe that was Mobile Bay. Anyway, Admiral Obama would order: ” Damn the rocky shoreline, full speed ahead!”

  19. #640084
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    I believe that was Mobile Bay. Anyway, Admiral Obama would order: ”

    In revisionist history it WAS Manila Bay, and Obama’s great great Uncle Horatio Obama was there to free the Phillipines from AmeriKKKan oppression!

  20. #640085
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pm, nail49 said:

    Mobile Bay

    b-cat: “I say tomatoh, you say tomatah– let’s call the whole thing off”

    You are right, my bad, it was Mobile Bay.

  21. #640097
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:33 pm, reshas1 said:
  22. #640105
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pm, T-Bone said:

    I knew Geithner was in over his head when he told Congress that there were NO economists that would say we shouldn’t spend money to get us out of this mess. I thought, man, is he out of touch? No economists? None? Unbelievable. That is not a man who inspires confidence.

  23. #640106
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pm, floam said:

    This administration is not able to focus on the problems of the country because they don’t care. Their priority is diversion so they can destroy what is left of capitalism. Let’s blame everybody but a dem/marxist—hey, let’s work on that enemies list….that’ll fix the problem!

  24. #640119
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:47 pm, Tuesday said:

    No point in saying, “I told you so.”

    So everyone man the lifeboats. We may yet avoid getting sucked into the eddying current surrounding the Titanic! Be ready to whack the Pelosi and Reid rats if they surface and try to climb on board. We can start anew.

  25. #640130
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:51 pm, Member-VRWC said:

    I’m confused. Geithner certainly doesn’t appear to be in over his head.

    That might be the case if it were the intention of the liberals in control of the government to actually fix the problems that currently exist.

    Rather, it is the aim of the Obama administration to flush this country as it existed for over 200 years down the toilet and replace it with a socialist utopia as quickly as possible.

    They are succeeding perfectly. The way existing wealth and the incentive to create future wealth is vanishing before our eyes on a daily basis, their goal will be realized even sooner than they hoped.

    I’d say Tax Cheat Timmy is exactly the right man for the job. Somewhere, George Soros is smiling.

  26. #640138
    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:54 pm, Tuesday said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 12:33 pm, reshas1 said:
    The nut-roots are out in force, go take this poll..

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123612000246123253.html#project%3DWSJNBC090302%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

    Either that poll is rigged or over with. Three of us at work took the poll and the number of takers did not budge from 441. Results remained the same.

  27. #640156
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:05 pm, nail49 said:

    PBO may not be so lucky and, if not, will he go down with the Ship of State?

    I took a closer look at the image I linked:

    http://www.wired.com/images/article/full/2008/04/rms_titanic_400px.jpg

    and think I found my answer. Note the man standing in the boat in the foreground facing the sinking ship. Is that PBO with his arms outstretched?

    Seems he might be saying:

    “I COMMAND you to come up out of the water and FLOAT!”

  28. #640161
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:07 pm, T-Bone said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 8:03 am, reaganite said:

    People who are really smart don’t need to be arrogant. People who are very smart and arrogant aren’t as smart as they think they are, because they would know their arrogance impedes the learning process and gives them a more narrow view.

    Like Socrates said when people asked him if he was a wise man. He said no. He knew that he didn’t know everything and that is what actually made him a wise man.

  29. #640166
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:10 pm, nail49 said:

    T-Bone: The Obama crowd would be wise to follow the advice of another sage who said:

    It is better to keep your mouth closed and appear the fool than to open it and remove all doubt!

  30. #640167
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:11 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    And yet Obama/Geithner/Summers/Romer/Orszag Stalin, Mao, Pot have got stuff done. They produced the stimulus package, the budget, and TARP2 death, starvation and enslaved millions. You may not like them, but they did get done.

    Would you rather have lazy Bush Reagan staring down the Soviets with his perfectly knotted tie?

  31. #640177
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm, nail49 said:

    Be ready to whack the Pelosi and Reid rats

    Tuesday: The prospect of playing “Whack-a-Mole” with Reid and Pelosi, et al, would certainly make lots of $$$ at our county fair!

  32. #640182
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:21 pm, iamsaved said:

    I’m thinking we need a photoshop of Obama behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz – Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.- along with Geithner as the Strawman without a brain.

  33. #640185
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:23 pm, NJ-Aviator said:

    He hasn’t filled a single position? What an idiot.

    Then he goes on the say the oil companies that power our nation should essentially be punished because he claims their product contributes to global warming? How ignorant.

    And finally he says this…

    “We don’t believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don’t think that’s good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country,”

    Yeah.. he doesn’t think it good economic policy to keep energy prices down. Like Rahm (I’m an idiot) Emanuel, he thinks oil and gas are too cheap. “Gotta get those prices up so we’re forced to try to use some other insanely priced form of energy.”

    Yeah… in the midst of a recession, they want to drive a stake through the heart of the nation so they can force their ideological crap about global warming fiction down the nations throat. Either they are spectacularly stupid not to see the catastrophe this will cause in our economy, or they just don’t care and figure a beaten down nation will have no choice but to turn to them for help. Or both.

    How anyone on earth could believe that Obama and his people are doing ANYTHING that is good for this country requires the willing suspension of disbelief.

  34. #640187
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:25 pm, NJ-Aviator said:

    T-Bone said:

    I knew Geithner was in over his head when he told Congress that there were NO economists that would say we shouldn’t spend BORROW money to get us out of this mess. I thought, man, is he out of touch? No economists? None? Unbelievable. That is not a man who inspires confidence.

    fix it for ya….

  35. #640202
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:36 pm, happy2behere said:

    “Getting something done” = Flooring it in reverse.

  36. #640211
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:40 pm, T-Bone said:

    This is where the rubber meets the road.

    Obama knows what he is doing. He has been immersed in liberal logic for so long, he (and many others) truly believe in what they are doing. Although many signs say stop, they ignore them because of their fundamental belief in their ideals. They really believe it.

    They want to have renewable energy that doesn’t harm the environment, they want all poor people to be taken care of from cradle to grave, they want to take from rich people who they despise for their high living while others suffer, they want to give everyone a great education, they want everyone to have health care and want to lessen the gap between health care for the rich and health care for the poor. They see many corporations as greedy and evil and want to punish them, especially the oil companies who they see in a very bad light because they have the double whammy of evil corp and harming the environment. They think they have the ideas to change all of that.

    Obama sees this as the unprecedented time to do it. If it works, he will have changed America for what he thinks is the better. If it fails, he will blame others such as Bush and Limbaugh for getting him in too deep a hole or for not supporting him and causing his policies to fail. He only has 2 years to get it done before he loses Congress. If it works, he will keep Congress for another 6 years after that. He is betting on that because he thinks his policies will work. He will be the man that got all those policies in place and shown the world that he and his ilk were right.

    History has shown his ideas to be wrong. He cares so much about his ideals that he will disregard history and prove that it can be done. It just hasn’t been done right before. He has gone all in. He will win the hand or go bust. If he wins, he will be the Greatest President of modern times and the father of the New America. If he fails, he will go to his fallback position of blaming others. If I were him, I would not be so ambitious. I believe in baby steps. He is bolder than I. Thats why he runs for President and I work for a living. He knows he has a short time frame to do his thing. Unfortunately, he is betting with other peoples money and has no intention of paying it back if he loses. Just another portrait on the wall in the White House.

    sorry for the long rant but venting often helps. / rant off

  37. #640217
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:43 pm, nail49 said:

    father of the New destroyer of America

    Just another portrait on the wall in the White House Post Office

    T-Bone: Fixed ‘em for ya…

  38. #640228
    On March 5th, 2009 at 1:50 pm, T-Bone said:

    Post Office. Thats funny. :)

  39. #640270
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm, Lawrence said:

    Tim Geithner = Presidential Secretary or Convenient Scapegoat? Or is there a difference anymore? How long before Obama throws him under the buss for Epic Failure?

  40. #640281
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pm, NJ-Aviator said:

    T-Bone said:

    This is where the rubber meets the road.

    Obama knows what he is doing. He has been immersed in liberal logic for so long, he (and many others) truly believe in what they are doing. Although many signs say stop, they ignore them because of their fundamental belief in their ideals. They really believe it.

    Good post T-Bone.

    But… it could just be that he craves power and his own financial success.

  41. #640290
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pm, vickisoup said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 11:47 am, conservativesRus said:

    That’s easy – Jimmy Carter governing philosophy: Internationally: Speak softly and carry no stick.
    Domestically: Government is smarter than you.

    Thanks, cR. Sounds a lot like our new POTUS, don’t it?
    ;-)

  42. #640296
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:29 pm, Paul said:

    I think it’s good Turbo Tim is driving up energy costs. Voters aren’t going to like that.

    I wonder if America can survive until 2010?

  43. #640303
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, nosheep said:

    The “Daily Machine” is being cloned in DC and if it matures, freedom will be done. T-Bone, I hope History proves right again. Unfortunately the media and contemptible, elitist intellectuals will be the immediate and future authors of said history. The critical difference between Hoover/Bush and Roosevelt/Obama, where Roosevelt is called the savior, is that we are entering a socialistic abyss of which there may be no return.

  44. #640320
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:37 pm, T-Bone said:

    I think power is part of the equation. His kind knows they must have power to achieve their goals. Reminds me of communism where the leaders of the party probably really believed what they were doing was good for helping people but after a while, it was all about consolidating their power as things fell apart around them.

    They never achieved the utopian society. It did not work. They killed and murdered millions to maintain their hold on power and their Dachaus in the country. There were still an awful lot of people who suffered every day (if they survived). This is true in Vietnam, USSR, North Korea, etc. Obama knows he will still have his dachau in the country and argula steaks even if his ideas fail. Past Presidents can make millions just by writing a book or speaking at liberal Universities. Hopefully, he will not murder to get his way (or to cover up for himself) but those Nation of Islam bodyguards sure do resemble that remark.

  45. #640336
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:46 pm, Dasher said:

    BlameAmericaLast said:

    And the DOW(N) is down again 200 points. Wonderful.

    NO confidence in the Obama “presidency”. None whatsoever.

    Obama and his minions are seeking the destruction of capitalism for political power. Pure and Simple.

  46. #640339
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:47 pm, Dasher said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm, Lawrence said:

    Tim Geithner = Presidential Secretary or Convenient Scapegoat? Or is there a difference anymore? How long before Obama throws him under the buss for Epic Failure?

    Geithner is perfect for the job, a no nothing talking head. He just spouts the party line. Unfortunately it is the communist party.

  47. #640350
    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pm, Socky said:

    When is someone going to come out with an “I also want him to fail” bumper sticker?

  48. #640357
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:00 pm, Misscheryl said:

    Tim Geithner is flailing about and in over his head.

    Big surprise. So is Obama.

  49. #640371
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:06 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    Dow down about 250 so far today.

    Can we lose 1000 points in one week?

    Tomorrow will tell…

  50. #640375
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm, T-Bone said:

    Would that bumbersticker read?

    “Ditto on failure”

    “Don’t Rush to failed policies”

    “Rush me to your leader”

    “Whats the Rush Obama?”

  51. #640382
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:15 pm, emjem24 said:

    Tim Geithner is flailing about and in over his head.

    This man should never have been confirmed. The minute there’s any kind of “tax inpropriety” in his background should have been the death knell for this loser.

    What adds insult to injury is he was one of the insider cronies under Paulson. He was head of the NY Fed and already had an inside track to the top job. Now he goes off in search of those who decided to off-shore money he’ll never find or touch.

    Oh, the irony is rich. This man has no plan except to demonize the rich, jack up taxes, and penalize producers to plug the ever-increasing hole of SS America.

    I hope he never finds the 52,000 names that Switzerland refuses to turn over. If they’re ever uncovered… I’m sure there will be some unconfortable moments for both political parties. By going after these Swiss, off-shore accounts, Geithner has insured that these people will just move their money someplace else even more inhospitable to Treasury’s prying eyes.

  52. #640392
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:22 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:08 pm, T-Bone said:

    Love those!

  53. #640417
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm, jsr said:

    Can we lose 1000 points in one week?

    Depends if they announce their plan to save Americans from cheap food and obesity. A very large cow tax would reduce meat consumption and have the added benefit of reducing all those cow emissions that are contributing to global warming. Dow 6100

  54. #640424
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:47 pm, T-Bone said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm, jsr said:
    Can we lose 1000 points in one week?
    Depends if they announce their plan to save Americans from cheap food and obesity. A very large cow tax…

    A tax on very large cows or a very large tax on cows. Is a very large cow an obese cow? Maybe they should cut down on cow obesity.

  55. #640426
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:48 pm, Wade said:

    Obama and his minions are seeking the destruction of capitalism for political power. Pure and Simple.

    Exactly

  56. #640433
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm, conservativesRus said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 2:27 pm, vickisoup said:

    Actually vickisoup – the current white house occupant (I have a difficult time calling him president), is pretty easy. He’s not Carter.
    BHO – 100% marxist/communist. I tend to think Carter was ignorant/naive of where his policies were taking things. BHO is “all in” actively promoting the downfall of USA.

  57. #640434
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:53 pm, FilmLadd said:

    Can we lose 1000 points in one week?

    Obamahole’s trying.

  58. #640436
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:56 pm, John Deaux said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:47 pm, T-Bone said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm, jsr said:
    Can we lose 1000 points in one week?
    Depends if they announce their plan to save Americans from cheap food and obesity. A very large cow tax…

    A tax on very large cows or a very large tax on cows. Is a very large cow an obese cow? Maybe they should cut down on cow obesity.

    Don’t be silly. First we need a study to determine how to best reduce the causes of cattle obesity (personally, I think it’s self-esteem issues.) $1.2 billion should suffice to start. Then we can add the large cow tax to offset the cost of repairing the psyche of these poor ruminant victims of American gluttony and greed.

  59. #640438
    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:56 pm, mytake said:

    At 64 years of age I am noticing a pattern. These forty somethings in the administration are out to rob the baby boomers of their wealth. At first I thought they were redistributing to the poor but now I notice that this will be a redistribution to those who are young enough to live through this debacle and invest at these discount prices. Baby boomers….wake up!!!!!

  60. #640458
    On March 5th, 2009 at 4:09 pm, BlameAmericaLast said:

    And the DOW(N) loses 280 points today. What we gained yesterday was lost today and more…

    This country’s a disaster. Now is NOT the time to be spending all this money on socialistic programs. Come to think of it, NO time is a time to be spending money on this stuff.

  61. #640462
    On March 5th, 2009 at 4:16 pm, corona said:

    Meanwhile, Barry O continues to do a heckuva job on the stock market.

  62. #640467
    On March 5th, 2009 at 4:24 pm, Micheleeroo said:

    Geithner can’t fix this better than the market could. Let the market sort this out. It will do a fabulous job. But bailing everyone and everythingout—no, that’s not how capitalism works. it works by letting the good operators succeed and letting the stupid-acting ones close or get taken over by the smart ones. How tough is that to understand?

  63. #640472
    On March 5th, 2009 at 4:30 pm, T-Bone said:

    Barry can’t be bothered by the stock market. He has the plan. Those Wall Street types aren’t smart enough to understand what he’s doing. He went to Harvard for Crusts sake. The DOW is only 30 companies. He needs to help poor people. Whats wrong with everyone giving back a little. Say 20% 50% 70% of their wealth to help out those less fortunate? It’s the right thing to do and it’s patriotic. :)

  64. #640495
    On March 5th, 2009 at 4:46 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    They never achieved the utopian society. It did not work. They killed and murdered millions to maintain their hold on power and their Dachaus in the country.

    I think you meant Dachas: houses/cottages in the country.

    Dachau is a city near Munich, Germany and the site of a WWII concentration/death camp.

    Or maybe you did mean Dachau. Hard to tell.

  65. #640514
    On March 5th, 2009 at 5:11 pm, T-Bone said:

    Funny. I did mean house in the country. Perhaps a freudian slip. Wheres that spell checker when you need it?

  66. #640524
    On March 5th, 2009 at 5:26 pm, nail49 said:

    Dachau

    Maybe if the Administration engaged in a little more “Arbeit” the rest of us could be “Macht Frei.”

    No offense to those who lost their lives there, and I imagine the verb tense in wrong, but the idea is — get to work, get out of the way, quit trying to designate winners (you and your cronies) and losers (those of us who actually DO work) and let our economy fix itself!

  67. #640551
    On March 5th, 2009 at 5:59 pm, T-Bone said:

    Well, We all seem to know that Obamas policies will not work. It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Government has no money. They must take from the private sector to give it to the private sector. How senseless is that? It only makes sense if you want to determine what investments will be made instead of leting the evil market do it. That is a recipe for disaster which we see unfolding.

    The only question is, When will he give it up. I can’t see it happening. He is in too deep to admit he was wrong. He would need a way to save face when he does a turnaround or his poitical aspirations are ruined.

    How, task force? “Based on the recommendations of my bipartisan task force, we will now lower taxes…”

    Treasury Sec under the bus? “Timmie is a great American but his advice has not been working. Its time for a new direction….”

    Pelosi-Reid consortium? “When Harry met Nancy they saw an ingenious way to get us out of this Bush mess….”

    Bipartisan? “After meeting with both parties, I will be magnanimous by offering to lower taxes….”

    Or maybe he will just continue to blame others standing in the ego life raft while the ship goes down.

  68. #640667
    On March 5th, 2009 at 7:41 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    Breaking news: another two Obama appointees ask to be removed from consideration.

    Deputy Secretary for Geithner:

    http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090305/geithner_choice_withdraws.html?.v=1

    Obama’s pick for Surgeon General:

    http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/05/gupta.surgeon.general/index.html

    It’s all falling apart for Obama. In Hollywood, it’s called “straight to video”.

  69. #640669
    On March 5th, 2009 at 7:42 pm, FilmLadd said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:56 pm, mytake said:

    These forty somethings in the administration are out to rob the baby boomers of their wealth. At first I thought they were redistributing to the poor but now I notice that this will be a redistribution to…

    Please. The baby boomer “me” generationers have lived their whole lives trying to redistribute their children’s income to themselves (when they weren’t busy running around regulating the hell out of everyone).

    They’ve been thinking, acting, and voting like hive-mind collectivists for decades.

    The economy right now is merely reaching the final stage of all of that baby boomer collectivism.

  70. #640671
    On March 5th, 2009 at 7:43 pm, FilmLadd said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 7:41 pm, Pasadena Phil said:

    In Hollywood, it’s called “straight to video”

    Love it! Although more accurate to say “straight to DVD” these days.

  71. #640718
    On March 5th, 2009 at 8:44 pm, Dimsdale said:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 9:00 am, lgm said:

    And yet Obama/Geithner/Summers/Romer/Orszag have got stuff done. They produced the stimulus package, the budget, and TARP2. You may not like them, but they did get done.

    With the obvious reservation that the day is still young, that has to be one of your most vacuous statements. “Got stuff done??” How about we shoot for got something useful/not harmful/substantial/worthwhile done? How about something that doesn’t mortgage our children’s future? How about getting some of his campaign promises done? You know, like the one where he promised to go through bills “line by line” to cut out earmarks?

    Would you rather have lazy Bush with his perfectly knotted tie?

    In a word: yes. Bush, at his “worst,” only ran up the budget about half a trillion dollars. Obambi is ignorantly magnifying that issue, arrogantly thinking that he has a mandate (with a laughable few points over 50% of the electorate) to do what he pleases, including trampling the Constitution (in ways even liberals could not accuse Bush of doing) and running the economy into a black hole.

    And saying “I won” makes it all better, huh?

    Did they put windows in your ivory tower?

  72. #640732
    On March 5th, 2009 at 9:11 pm, flaming_o said:

    It’s so important that they’re getting things done. They’re all the wrong things. They’re wrecking the country. And they all look so amateurish doing it. It used to be that you could disagree with policy but not question the professionalism of the policy-maker. But these days, the professionalism of the policy-maker is where the questions begin. Crying out loud, Geithner can’t even run his own office (let alone keep up with his taxes). And he’s in charge of economic policy.

    What’s that old bromide about running an airline? If there’s a coffee stain on the fold-down tray, don’t trust their engine maintenance. Geithner can’t run his own office so I can’t trust him to handle economic policy. He’s an amateur. He’s the wrong guy in a critically important position at absolutely the worst possible time.

  73. #640770
    On March 5th, 2009 at 9:56 pm, sbw999 said:

    It’s all overrrrr…clap clap…clap clap clap….

    It’s all overrrr…clap clap…clap clap clap…

    Hey!! 69% of people polled don’t think O’Bummer’s economic policies will help the Country. Butttttt…49% of people polled think he is the right guy to help the country. Which means…the people that elected O’Dummer really can’t think deeper than a puddle, and elected him because he looked and sounded good. Which is exactly what the marxists in Congress and the White House counted on.

    RIP America.

  74. #640792
    On March 5th, 2009 at 10:29 pm, rfjjulie said:

    I can think, but I am a terrible writer.

    On March 5th, 2009 at 3:56 pm, mytake said:
    At 64 years of age I am noticing a pattern. These forty somethings in the administration are out to rob the baby boomers of their wealth. At first I thought they were redistributing to the poor but now I notice that this will be a redistribution to those who are young enough to live through this debacle and invest at these discount prices. Baby boomers….wake up!!!!!

    Believe me, I am forty something and I don’t want these idiots to succeed.
    I was still ruminating about this post when I read:

    On March 5th, 2009 at 7:42 pm, FilmLadd said:
    Please. The baby boomer “me” generationers have lived their whole lives trying to redistribute their children’s income to themselves (when they weren’t busy running around regulating the hell out of everyone).

    They’ve been thinking, acting, and voting like hive-mind collectivists for decades.

    The economy right now is merely reaching the final stage of all of that baby boomer collectivism.

    Agreed. I am what you call the bottom of the baby boomers. Born 1961. Conservative to the bone. I have always felt out of touch with the so called baby boomers. I feel like a tweener. Never got to enjoy the “baby boomer” crap and too old to fit in with the younger generation. I just know I am pissed about what Captain Big Ears and his merry crew are doing to our Great Country. I talk to people at work and they can’t look past “Bush and the failed 8 years.” Give me a freakin break. I am sick of it. When will these people pull thier head out of thier @$$ and start pulling for the good of Our Country.

    Makes me want to go Galt.

    Lock and Load

    Sorry for the rant, but it’s cathartic.

  75. #640952
    On March 6th, 2009 at 8:24 am, nail49 said:

    baby boomer “me” generationers

    Hey, be careful who you try to paint with all the tar dripping off your brush!

    There are many “boomers” (including me) who have worked hard, saved and invested for our future (I have seen the SS train-wreck coming for a long time), contributed a great deal to this nation’s security and have raised our children to think the same way, i.e., they are only entitled to things they have earned from their own blood, sweat and tears.

    Not all birds of a feather flock together.

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