Sep
30
30
Not To Be A TOTAL Downer, But …
The first of the month is roughly 24 hours away. How many employers won’t make payroll? This shit is getting serious, folks. I’m screwed if I don’t get paid. How about you?
No Babu! No Babu! You bad man! You very bad man! You very lazy bad
man!
tensor said,
September 30, 2008 at 8:41
(Inhales deep, cleansing breath…)
There once was a country whose banks had huge bad debts. These bankers did not want to admit their “assets” — originating mostly in bad real estate deals — were worthless. So this insolvency crisis created a liquidity crisis — the country’s financial market was fundamentally illiquid for many, many years.
The country was called (wrongly, by foreigners) Japan. The years were the 90’s and beyond.
P.S. I have banked with WaMu for many, many years before they were called by that nickname. I did not remove my deposits this month. Please remain calm.
suedehead said,
September 30, 2008 at 8:44
Paychecks are SO last week.
.
I’m going to re-read ‘The Road’. If I remember correctly there are lots of handy tips (for obtaining food, warmth, etc) in that book that I can use in this new evolved economy.
This time I’ll read it more like a ‘Hobo Lifestyle’ manual. WIN!
Lesley said,
September 30, 2008 at 8:46
Didn’t you hear? Bush ignored Congress and released $630 billion. Of course, not all of that will go to the CEOs who made billions from bad decisions 10 seconds ago. Some it may “trickle down” your way.
Marsupial said,
September 30, 2008 at 8:48
I make my living (such as it is) on Teh Intranets. If people don’t get paid, I probably don’t get paid, so I’m going to feel it from somewhere.
Actually, ever since Bush got on TV and said that OMG wereallgonnadiiiiie!1! if the bailout doesn’t happen, my sales have gone to crap. It will probably get worse.
On the positive side, my 6 year-old had her School Savings account with WaMu. Last month, we told her that she was going to get a lesson most people have never had, and we went into the bank and liquidated her account, all $400 of it. We explained to her that WaMu was about to fail and that, sometimes, you have to protect yourself. Her money is safe with us, and lesson learned for her. (She high-fived me when she heard the news report that WaMu went down.)
Watch it like a movie — this is living history.
bargal20 said,
September 30, 2008 at 8:51
I sell dildoes and wetsuits on eBay. I don’t expect a downturn at all.
BleebleDeebleDorp said,
September 30, 2008 at 8:55
I lost my job 3 weeks ago. So I don’t need to worry about getting paid!
James Dobson's Father's Brother's Nephew's Cousin's Former Roommate said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:00
“I sell dildoes and wetsuits on eBay. I don’t expect a downturn at all.”
Two of each, please.
Joe Max said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:12
I suppose I’m fortunate to work for a public university, whose budget was already allocated for this year. But even still, my union is working without a contract (it expired last July) and the present economic atmosphere doesn’t exactly help us in contract negotiations.
But thank the gods I’m in a union at all.
My wife, on the other hand, is a bookkeeper for a small business, and the issue for them is lines of credit, even in it’s most basic form as 30-days-net payments. If suppliers start demanding cash COD, it could be a problem for a lot of retailers, big or small.
jim said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:18
I’ve been holding back on spending for quite a while - I can make rent for a few months without any additional $$$ if I have to … but my employer is international so it shouldn’t be a problem. I bloody hope.
Now I think everyone will get to see the REAL Bush Legacy, before he even leaves … wallets tightening in anticipation of nasty times, leading to less of everything costing more & ever-fewer new jobs as there’s no cause to hire new faces in companies without the cash or the customers to pay for them.
I really feel for the cubicle-monkeys at all these buggered-up banks & brokerages - as popular as mange, yet they had no real role in all this … & likely no damn job-security to speak of (a LOT of them are temps or work on commission).
Sarah, Tall and Palin said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:19
I believe in, um, free market and restrictions, no restrictions, on what employers — our economy depends on employers being able to make the right decisions about, cata wampus, blee blee ba, regulations on compensating the less productive members of the economy, which, health care, and get the government out of the business of business. When we get to Washington, we will make sure businesses have the flexibility, so important in these tough times, economic times, you know? Not to have to pay their employees on time every, every time, every ta-ta-ta time, every week or two weeks or what have you. That frees up capital, business capital, to grow businesses and create more businesses and jobs, and business for business businesses.
owlbear1 said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:24
Banks have NO excuse to not continue making loans.
They just need to stop loaning money to thieves and liars.
No loans to mortgage brokers or Republicans and America’s problems disappear.
jenniebee said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:25
Unemployed since August 5th!
Self-employed husband installs solar panels and solar water heaters. We figure if we can make it to the start of the Obama administration, we’ll come through all right
Anonymous said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:28
You may take solace in the fact that HTML’s and David Sirota’s Socialist Revolution is at hand, man.
Oh, and don’t forget - pamphlets start handy fires.
Robert Green said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:28
my money seems to reside in some sort of netherspace. it is held by entities like “wachovia” (was there ever such a beast? or was a mere airy, a figment of our collective imaginations?). i note a strange name: merrill lynch. it rings a bell, but again, perhaps it was all a passing fancy, a trifle, another piece of financial ephemera.
frankly, all of this shit isn’t normative anyway. it’s all bytes and bits that represent cash, itself representative of a certain pile of silver or gold, themselves substances that have no intrinsic value, only an extrinsic one. i mean, you try eating gold. or making it into a house. so the whole thing is all magic, and the alchemists just had a big beaker full of cadmium blow up in their fucking faces.
Vic said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:40
Things are lookin’ up for me! My new job is selling individual sheets of carbon paper as souvenirs from banks that went belly-up. It’s the ‘pet rock’ of 2008!
Do people still buy kidneys or is it all donations now?
F'in Librul said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:42
I work for a government contractor, so I’m safe.
Right?
triozyg said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:43
working for state of CA we were all excited when they told us a couple of weeks ago a budget deal was reached and we weren’t going to get paid minimum wage
but I think the deal involves selling more loans into shitpile — and I don’t know how many buyers are out there — but at least they’ll pay us tomorrow, I think
if not Arnold said we could all stay at his place until it blows over
kiki said,
September 30, 2008 at 9:52
I create witless, tacky, faintly misogynistic T-shirts and advertise them on Sadly, No!. New one out today!
F'in Librul said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:10
What I really want to know is, what does Amy Alkon think?
Rugged in Montana said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:48
You Demon-crats and your fancy-dan Wall Street jobs are goin’ down!! Me? None of it bothers me, I live in my basement (well, technically, my Mom’s basement), but I have a thriving pemmican making business. I also sell the pelts of pelicans that I garner with my M1A1 Battle Rifle™, because I’m not a lazy beatnik like you LIE-brals. This bail-out plan will never work unless it eliminates taxes altogether (including the capital gains tax) along with the death tax. We have to learn to run our government without any revenues, then everything will be alright. You hippie communists need to learn that every abortion is a gay abortion and that when you get into a boat, it’s row versus wade.
justme said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:53
Un/under/self-employed for over a year. At the end of my rope, seriously. Good fucking luck to me finding a gig this week.
krassen said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:57
jeez, D.A., don’t you have one of them golden parachutes?
Smut Clyde said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:06
My last real job was with the gubblement.
Imagine my surprise when I decided to leave, and discovered that in my earlier contract negotiations I had specified a golden shower by mistake.
Stephen Ockham said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:06
I live in Cannuckistan, and when you guys catch a cold, we get the flu, so I’m not making any longterm plans.
Upshot: I’m marginally employed and still a parttime university student, so I wasn’t really making plans to begin with -ah-hah-!
My plan for a “prolonged market adjustment phase” (read: catasrophe) is to go Mad Max on it all.
And now, a relevant webcomic that I figure many Sadlynaughts already read, or at least should:
The Pain: What’s your plan when the shit hits the fan?
also
The Pain: The future according to…
jon said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:06
I work in state government, and it’s beyond ugly budgetwise. I can barely get copy paper and toner right now, the bathrooms rarely have paper towels, maintenance has gone from a joke to a farce, basic supplies are not available, but I am lucky to have a job. A job with morale issues, coworker suicides, depressing surroundings, capricious expectations, and whiny customers. But the checks go to my bank account every two weeks, I have health insurance, and the inmates rarely attack non-correctional staff. So far.
Feast to famine in five years. It really is incredible what tax breaks, not saving money, shitty investments, and relying on growth has gotten us.
Jscopes said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:16
Thirty years as a self employed high end finish carpenter and manufacturer
of millwork. For those not familiar with that kind of work, I build rooms that look like the courtrooms on Law & Order.
Not right now. Actually, not for the last year.
No worries though, we can always dig ditches, paint houses and stand in front of the Home Depot looking for a leaf raking job.
JS
Prog Gold » Blog Archive » I Can Joke But… said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:16
[...] financial crisis is some serious shit. D. Aristophanes at Sadly, No: Not To Be A TOTAL Downer, But [...]
Snorghagen said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:20
Indeed it is. You know you’re going somewhere…you don’t know where yet, but you know you’re not going to like it when you get there.
My job’s secure for now, but of course it all depends on how bad things get. I’m growing old and feeble, so if I ever do get tossed out of work I’m utterly screwed. We shall see what we shall see.
bago said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:54
I know this is all GiTS, but with a Lidar, Radar, GPS style solution you could actually pull off helicopter snipers. GPS to compensate for the drift of having an air based platform, Lidar to compensate for wave mechanics and Radar to do density probes to find weak spots. Granted, this means you’d have to have quad dual core xeons running the math, but fuck, the vector physics could work with that much info.
Gary Rupert said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:56
The fact is anti-redlining laws needs to be abolished.
And squirrel is delish-
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zsquir.html
El Cid said,
September 30, 2008 at 12:17
My pay has been irregular, though usually eventually caught-up with, for the last year. Our growth curve has flattened or dropped. But our borrowing is practically zero anyway, so to that extent we’re lucky to be so small and impoverished. I’ve sort of been expecting that at any time, things might suddenly turn out great or we might all be laid off, whatever, so while I’m not building a bomb shelter in the back yard, I’ve got enough saved up to survive for a while at least.
Johnny Pez said,
September 30, 2008 at 12:40
Nothing to worry about here. We can always move in with my parents after they take away our house.
Alex said,
September 30, 2008 at 12:44
Aren’t you glad that Eeevil Bailout of the International Banksters was stopped at the last minute?
atheist said,
September 30, 2008 at 12:56
Yes.
WereBear said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:03
Apparently the bill had provisions for zero bank reserves.
Glad it’s dead. We got a shot at a good one, now.
atheist said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:05
I’m sorry, WereBear… what does that mean?
Arky The Islahomobamaist said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:10
Would anyone not be screwed if that happens? Let’s hear from those bastards so we know where to crash.
Given the amount and extent of criminal activity in our Administration and our financial sector this HAD TO happen. Especially after the big guys started feeding on one another because naked shorting and manipulating the stock of smaller companies no longer provided enough cash.
Yes, it sucks that it is happening to us (whatever “it’” is, we don’t know yet do we?) but the alternative is to somehow package it all up and give it to the next generation or four. I don’t have kids but I have nieces and nephews and I don’t like that idea.
Actually, I don’t know if shoving it off is an option any more. This isn’t a domestic matter, this has fucked up the economies of a lot of countries and they are pissed. Maybe the best we can hope for is that places like Sweden, Denmark and Brazil invade. Le rrrrow!
WereBear said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:12
Effective tomorrow, the banks would have been allowed to keep ZERO cash on hand. They would have no liquid float, and would just trip FDIC insurance if you, oh, wanted to get your money out.
Banks are supposed to have money available, that’s the point. But this way they could speculate with every dollar they have, and if it doesn’t work out… hey, remember how nice the landlord was, that time you bounced a check?
Only, nationally.
Recipe for bank runs.
atheist said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:20
What the fuck?!
El Cid said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:21
I am starting to really enjoy David Brooks. Yes, that David Brooks:
The rest of it is a bunch of nonsense, ‘a pox on both your houses, why isn’t America governed by magical heroes like I think it used to, and please don’t put in awful heavy handed gubmit reggerlations ’cause they is bad.’
atheist said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:21
I work at a commodities brokerage. We can’t even do that.
WereBear said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:22
Yeah, just read about it on the Great Orange Satan.
Which is why many of the more progressive dems were against the bill. My own, Kirsten Gillibrand, among them.
Bad as things are, the Bush Administration is determined to make them worse.
Jess said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:28
All this said, the failure of the bailout was a good thing.
Why? It gives us a chance to catch our breath and realize that Paulson’s solution wasn’t the only option.
Voters are mad. The Congress did what it was supposed to and listened. Good.
Remember “the smoking gun will be a mushroom cloud” if we don’t do something right now?
The markets will not disappear in one day. Or a week. Or even a month.
There are other models out there. For example, Sweden had a very similar banking crisis a few years ago, and it was worse for them because the banks were a bigger chunk of their smaller economy. They are all right. (Essentially they just nationalized the banks and told the execs, well, no big pay packet for you, sorry).
Or we could just send checks to everyone in foreclosure. The “toxic” securities would then regain much of their original value. Then you start re-regulating and beef up the capital requirements of all financial institutions. It ain’t hard — they do this in every other first-world nation. (Look up Basel II).
The situation is bad. But we don’t need solutions from the Paulsons of the world. We can do better. Call your congresscritter and tell ‘em.
TEH FUCHING FERRETS™³²®© said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:39
The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.
The GOP is a malignant tumor. I speak for all errets when I say good riddance to bad rubbish.
JM said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:49
My sister-in-law was told just yesterday that “it would be a while” before she gets her check. Damn you, Pelosi!!!!
El Cid said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:55
I would have been rich this morning if Nancy Pelosi hadn’t spoken disrespectfully about President Bush’s policies. Damn you, Nancy Pelosi!
Arky The Islahomobamaist said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:57
Brilliant, no? For added shits and giggles, I believe we are now 12 major bank failures away from $0 in the FDIC insurance fund. Would you like nation-wide riots with your bank runs?
I guess we were supposed to charge everything to our credit cards and then laugh joyfully when the interest rates shot up overnight. Man, shit like this makes it hard to argue with the S.O. when he claims there’s a conspiracy afoot to take us off cash completely and leave everything to zeros and ones floating in the ether, which could be manipulated at will by THEM. Or something. Anyway, next time I’ll just let him talk.
HemlockEcho said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:58
I’m not screwed. My mutual fund is only down 49%, which means I can still afford some canned beans, a twinkie, and some Kroger-band orange soda. Viva la devolution!
El Cid said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:06
Should I now be happy that only a couple members of my entire family are well off enough to have investments and stocks? Yay!
MaineMan said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:08
Overnight, Asian markets are mostly, but not entirely, down - and certainly nowhere near as much as yesterday. European markets are all on the upswing. DOW Futures index is at +207 (up from +181 an hour ago). And the USD is still up.
The zero reserves thing: The FDIC covers depositors in a “failed bank” situation for the amount that the bank itself can’t cover out of its own reserves. Zero reserves means that the FDIC is on the hook for the whole thing. The FDIC is already in need of a serious cash infusion which, ultimately, in this instance will need to come from taxpayers.
This just keeps getting better and better, don’t it?
El Cid said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:09
By the way, so far the stock market (as measured by the Dow at least) dropped about 7% yesterday; in 1987, it dropped 22%. Yes, the numbers are larger today, and we’re in a different context, but so far we’ve gone through bigger shifts in the stock market itself. So far. We’ll see today.
MzNicky said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:26
The Spouse is self-employed as a financial advisor for a subsidiary of AIG. After we sweated through the nightmare possibility of his decades-in-the-making retirement account disappearing overnight, and started breathing a LITTLE more easily, this bailout failed. Few people seem to understand the intricacies of what’s involved here. I sure as hell don’t, not much. But what I do understand is that in addition to his not-exactly-Wall St.-income level dropping, and frantic clients calling him all day at the office and half the night at home last night because the stock market predictably fell nearly 800 points in the aftermath of the Rethugs’ little temper tantrum over Pelosi talking mean about them, what D.A. and others are now noting is his worst fear: Extra-tight credit for everyone (this will be more obvious down the road for us little people); businesses that depend on lines of credit not meeting payrolls (he’s got one client who will be unable to do so TOMORROW), farmers who depend on banks’ lines of credit to pay up front for their equipment and other needs and then pay back when the crops come in; retirees on fixed incomes who are dependent upon the earnings from their investments wondering if they should move in with their adult children, and so forth. This is why something must be done. It can, and will, only get worse until teh Big Brains in Congress work something out. That’s just the way it is.
Part of this is spanking Chimpy for being such a shithead for eight years and for crying wolf too many times. Part of it is jockeying for winning the presidency vs. CongressCritters scurrying around trying to figure out what would be best NOT for the country but for their own craven political asses. Morning in America, Fall 2008.
Lavocat said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:49
What are you saying!? This is a GREAT business climate - for bankruptcy attorneys and funeral directors!!
Good times!
cleek said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:49
no, you’ve gotta listen to the sages of the blogosphere who say we’ve gotta LET IT FAIL. your ability to buy food and rent is minuscule, compared to the need to make sure we remain ideologically pure.
TEH FUCHING FERRETS™³²®© said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:50
THIS IS CENTRAL TO OUR POINT!
Caveat said,
September 30, 2008 at 14:51
It took 8 years for Bush to screw the good old USA. It may take a few years for full recovery.
This too shall pass as long as there are some smart people working on it and short-term memory loss doesn’t kick in, as it usually does after a market LOL correction.
I’m not even checking to see how much I’ve lost because there’s not much I can do about it (long time investor here). We are slightly better off in Canada - for now. However, when our biggest customer goes broke it obviously ain’t a good thing.
El Cid said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:04
Here’s a good question we need to be asking people over the next days: “After 7-odd years of George W. Bush Jr., did anyone really ever think that a bill wouldn’t one day come due for that?”
Legalize said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:04
I’ve stopped checking my 401k. I get paid on the last day of the month, which is today. I guess I get to live for at least one more month. WIN!
There will be no going out this month, however.
MaineMan said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:07
MzNicky –
You make a great point about farm loans. It’s harvest time so, hypothetically, those “paybacks” should start coming in soon. However, if the market price for the produce falls or production isn’t sufficient (recall the spring floods in Illinois and Iowa), farmers may not be able to make their notes. Also, most ag loans “rollover” - the farmer pays off the note (+ vig) and borrows it right back for the next crop. This is due to start happening soon. If those rollovers get short-circuited or delayed because of tight credit, many farmers will simply be out of business. Things won’t get planted on time if at all.
This would hit small, independent farmers worst, perhaps. In the past, they’d be forced to sellout to Big Ag. But Big Ag may not be able to get the credit it needs to buy up those places. Overall production falls and food prices go up.
Let’s see. It’s after 9:00am. Not really too early for a third glass of bourbon, I guess.
Pere Ubu said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:07
no, you’ve gotta listen to the sages of the blogosphere who say we’ve gotta LET IT FAIL. your ability to buy food and rent is minuscule, compared to the need to make sure we remain ideologically pure.
Yes, because the “sages of the blogosphere” aren’t people like us who want to let the Free Market work its invisible magic like we were told all along it would, but are instead brains in jars who don’t have to worry about food and rent. Right?
Fuck ‘em. Let the CEOs burn.
cleter said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:13
I’m kind of glad the bill came due while he was still “president.”
Arky The Islahomobamaist said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:14
We’re way past fail, total fail and epic fail. We’re all just arguing over where the deckchairs should go except the chairs have already slid into the drink. “Let it fail”? I wish we had that much control over Bush’s Final* Clusterfuck.
*God I hope. He’s down to martial law and nuclear war.
tigrismus said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:15
the whole thing is all magic, and the alchemists just had a big beaker full of cadmium blow up in their fucking faces.
And boy, were their faces red!
stryx said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:15
I’m going to re-read ‘The Road’.
If I remember right, there’s some handy tips in there about the proper way to skin and butcher a human for food.
Plus some stuff about scavenging. And a little boy.
Andy Axel said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:21
I get paid on the fifth. Lucky me. Four more days to wait to get screwed sideways.
J.D. Rhoades said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:22
I practice criminal defense law as well as writing books. I’m expecting the former to be a growth industry.
MzNicky said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:26
I again am no expert, but my understanding is that with 401Ks and other investments that are meant to be there for the relative long term, just sit tight and try not to obsess over the, uh, “fluctuations” that are occurring right now. They HAVE to come up with something.
Congress has been hearing from enraged citizens for days. Now that they’ve voted this thing down they’re going to be hearing from enraged businesses and banks that can’t function.
Pope George Ringo I said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:28
JM said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:49
My sister-in-law was told just yesterday that “it would be a while” before she gets her check. Damn you, Pelosi!!!!
Have her explain to her employers that not paying your employees on time (actually, at the end of every shift) is against the most Holy Bible and makes the wee, so tiny he can’t even speak baby Jesus cry.
Deuteronomy 24:15 New International Version15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.and for future reference...
Leviticus 25:3939 " 'If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave.Righteous Bubba said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:29
Heh. LA Times gets an e-mail, decides it must print something:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/biden-palin-oba.html
D.N. Nation said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:32
I get paid on the 30th. Just checked my account at WachoviaCitigroupGlobogymStarfleetMassiveDynamicsMegacorp. and yep, sure enough, it’s in there. I’ll toast to good fortunes for you tonight, DA.
lobbey said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:36
I wonder what the glibitarian line is?
D. Aristophanes said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:37
Pheww. Got paid. Bon chance to everyone else out there waiting on payroll.
Dr. Squid said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:38
All that theater yesterday - none of it mattered. Bush did an end run by having the Fed release $630 billion.
And thanks to way too many people listening in on a conference call (including Nouriel Roubini), we got to find out that if the bailout actually passed, Bush and Paulson would still have done whatever the fuck they wanted with that randomly huge amount they pulled out of their asses, with no accountability. No guarantee that credit would relax. Nothing except the party still going, this time on our dime.
Righteous Bubba said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:38
Dow’s up 2%!
I predict these good times will last forEVER.
D. Aristophanes said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:41
I’m already looking for houses to flip, RB!
OBL's (current) Number Two said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:49
Oh, fuckety-fuck-fuck-FUCK!
Here I was all set to go buy a couple suitcase nukes and - WHAM! - the financing dries up!
Damn you, America!!
lobbey said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:51
I got this far:
There are a lot of commentators on the bailout with very little grasp of finance who are confidently opining on the bailout based on one of two broad principals:
Project much, megan
D. Aristophanes said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:55
McArdle also blames Pelosi for the bill’s failure.
D.N. Nation said,
September 30, 2008 at 15:58
Good luck especially to Glibertarians and Goopers attempting blame mean ol’ Nancy Pelosi and a mean ol’ speech for why they didn’t vote for the bailout.
I mean, really. Do you think that’ll actually work? Outside of Wingnuttistan?
Legalize said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:01
With the Dow up handsomely this morning, I am throwing my previously-stated caution to the wind. I believe I will go out and buy 3 flat screen TVs today - on credit.
USA! USA! USA!
Gary Ruppert said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:03
I blame McCain’s inaction and the fact that he phoned it in.
daddyj said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:09
Folks, who else has read this?
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/mussolini-style-corporatism-in-action.html
Can anyone verify it? The gist is that Sec. Paulson was on a closed conference call last night with 800 bankers, assuring them that the provisions the Dems had made were all meaningless or easily circumvented. If true, it makes it clear we are not dealing with a rescue plan; ithis is a criminal act in progress. The Dems need to drop this toxic proposal and come up with their own plan. And begin impeachment proceedings against Sec. Paulson.
actor212 said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:12
DA,
I’m in no danger.
But I have been in the past. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Simba B said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:14
daddyj—
Dude, read your own link. There’s a freakin’ torrent of the conference call out there available for anyone to listen to.
g said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:15
Well, coincidentally we just sold one of our cars for a nice little wad of cash. Not a lot, but certainly enough for groceries.
I was going to deposit it, but I think I might tuck it away for when the ATMS suddenly freeze up.
sagra said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:19
I’ve taken out my investments in cash and am going into the loan sharking biz. Does anyone here need a job? You’d need to be handy with a baseball bat.
Lesly said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:21
The Paulson conference call, FYI:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/mussolini-style-corporatism-in-action.html
Compare and contrast with the way the House didn’t allow debate or discussion on the 100+ pages bill that was drafted one day before they voted on it.
OBL's (current) Number Two said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:22
I was going to deposit it, but I think I might tuck it away for when the ATMS suddenly freeze up.
Man! Wish I’d thought of that! All the ATMs in Kabul are down (again!), so now I gotta drive all the way to Khandahar and back just be able to take the big guy out for an “apology lunch.”
MaineMan said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:24
Hey, sagra! I used to “knuckle” bad checks back in the 70s. My motto was always, “Never use a 9-iron when a pitching wedge will get you there.”
D.N. Nation said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:27
Stocks are up 200+ off stronger consumer confidence numbers…most likely owed to massive buying runs on canned goods, shotguns, Parliament 100s, and porn.
LD said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:29
Man, you people who worry about getting your paycheck make me feel bad about the extra taxfree 65€ my company is paying me everyday (including weekends) in addition to my salary for pressing buttons on computers.
Oh well, atleast I have a mortgage to pay,so I can calm my concience by claiming all my money will go to pay for my apartment, and is not spent for my amusement.
Damn you guys. Hope you get your money and some stability so I won’t have to feel bad about my income.
tufdaawg said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:32
Thankfully I am a teacher. And living here in California, where they just passed the state budget (only 80+ days late), I am guaranteed money for the foreseeable future.
Lesly said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:33
You shouldn’t feel bad about your income, LD. You didn’t contribute to this clusterfuck by paying your bills.
Lonny Martello said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:35
THE RANTOUL ILLINOS PRESS ONCE AGAIN SHOWS IT IS THE ONLY BRAVERY IN THE FACE OF THE MENNECE OF TEH FUCHING FERRETS. THEY ARE BRAKEING A STORY ABOUT HOW JOHN MCCANE WAS GOING TO STEEL THE BAILOUT MONEY AND ATTEMPT TO BRIBE TEH FUCHING FERRETS INTO NOT GANAWING HIS FACE OFF AND FOR THARE ASSISTANCE IN SEIZING THE IRANIAN EYELINER DEPOSITS. HU JINTAO AND ED MACMANN WERE SCHEDULED TO PRESENT A GIANT CHECK FOR 700 BILLION DOLLARS TO GEORGE BUSCH FOR THE BALEOUT. JOHN MCCANE WAS GOING TO APPEAR TO CLAIM CREDIT FOR FILLING OUT THE PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOSE SWEEPSTEAKS FORM THAT MADE THE BALEOUT HAPPEN. WHEN THE EVENT WAS OVER JOHN MCCANE WAS GOING TO TAKE THE CHECK AND SAY HE WAS GOING TO PUT IT IN HIS OFFICE FOR SAFE KEEPING. HE WOULD THEN DUCK OUT THE BACK DOOR AND INTO THE BED OF JOE LEIBERMENS EL CAMINO AND COVER HIMSELF WITH A SURPLUS FEMA TARP AND BE DRIVEN TO A SECRET MEATING WITH TEH FUCHING FERRETS. THE REAL SURPRISE WAS THE DOUBLE CROSS. TOD PALING WOULD HAVE KNOCKED LEIBERMEN AND MCCANE UNCONSCIES WITH AN EMPTY BOTTLE OF OLE GRAND DAD AND DRIVEN HIM TO THE CHEEPEST MOTEL IN RANTOUL ILLINOS WHERE TEH FUCHING FERRETS WERE WAITING. ON THE WAY HE WAS GOING TO PULL OFF THE INTERSTATE IN PESOTUM ILLINOS WHERE SARA PALING WOULD BE WAITING TO TAKE THE BALEOUT CHECK. SHE WOULD USE THE CHECK TO PAY OFF THE NOTE THE CHINEASE HAVE ON ALASKA AND DELCEAR INDEPENDANCE AND CROWN HERSELF QUEEN OF ALASKA. SHE WOULD THEN DON HER POLER BEAR PELT AND LEAD AN INVASION OF THE UNITED STATES BY RUNNING SCREEMING ACROSS THE BOARDER WITH THE SEVERED HEAD OF VLADIMER PUTIN IN ONE HAND AND A MOOSE FEMUR SPEAR IN THE OTHER. HER ARMY OF ZOMBY MOOSE WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED HER AND SET UP AN ARMAGEDDAN LIKE BATTLE WITH THE HORDES OF TEH FUCHING FERRETS ON THE PLAINS OF NORTH DAKOTA. SINCE TEH FUCHING FERRETS WOULD BE ENRAGED AT BEING STIFFED OUT OF 700 BILLION DOLLARS ZOMBY MOOSE WOULD BE NO MATCH EVEN LEAD BY A SHRIEKING QUEEN OF ALASKA.
Simba B said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:39
You are a fuching genius, Lonny. Just not in the way you think.
christian h. said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:50
One guy who won’t be fired is Jonah Goldberg. He’s reaching for the pitchfork himself today in the LA Times (no link ’cause of spam filter), even though he “loathe[s] populism” - in order to attack those who opposed this bailout. Memo to Jonah: pitchforks only work if you are a mob.
Bitter Scribe said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:51
My company instituted a wage freeze at the beginning of the year and cut all contributions to employees’ 401(k)s. I promptly ratcheted up my 401(k) contribution to cover the cut, so it’s continuing to lose money at the same rate. Glad to do my part.
Brady's bum knee said,
September 30, 2008 at 16:54
This is what happens in a Depression. You can’t just bail yourselves out of it (unless you are a Wall Street CEO). Americans are about to pay the piper. Face it, the country has been acting like a bunch of assholes for quite some time, now. We have been living off Third World slave labor, attacking countries, spending money frivolously like drunken sailors and trying to justify it all by citing “Democracy” and “Jesus.” Now it is really going to get ugly. Who will be the next American Idol? Maybe for once, no one will actually care.
sagra said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:05
Okay Maine, that’s good enough for me. Now who needs a loan? Special on the vig this week, only 10 points!
MzNicky said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:09
Brady’s bum knee: It’s our national karma. This unconsidered, bloated Ponzi scheme we call our economy had to crash at some point. It’s not as though gargantuan faux-wealth of this sort appears out of thin air due to sheer awesome USA-edness. As you note, this paper largesse has been built over a long period of time on the backs of others, who have been exploited and/or ignored as a means to our own selfish ends. Karma=action and actions have consequences. No way around it.
I’m so bummed I mixed metaphors and misplaced modifiers and I don’t even care!
On the other hand, I adopted a new puppy-dog last week. I think I’ll go scratch her belly.
mikey said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:10
I make things nobody needs for people who give them away.
I’m sure this gravy train will roll on forever…
mikey
Righteous Bubba said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:13
I’m sure this gravy train will roll on forever…
My experience with gravy trains has been unsuccessful as they dribble through the railroad ties before I even find a porter to take my ticket.
protected static said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:15
Or fewer, depending upon the size of the bank… Isn’t that why the Feds forced JPMorganChase to buy WaMu? So FDIC wouldn’t have to make good on their deposits (which would have accounted for something like 1/3 of the currently available insurance fund)?
Candy said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:23
One guy who won’t be fired is Jonah Goldberg. He’s reaching for the pitchfork himself
Does Jonah even know what a pitchfork is? Well, maybe he does. He’s certainly a shoveler of dung.
PeeJ said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:25
Time to brush up on my foraging skills. Alas, it’s a bad time of year for it. Saw a couple of coons this morning; I’ve probably et worse.
Also, thank god for all this sage advice
daddyj said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:26
Simba b said…
> Dude, read your own link. There’s a freakin’ torrent of the conference call out there available for anyone to listen to.
You’re absolutely right, Simba b. By “can anyone verify it” I misspoke and should have asked “can anyone verify the blog’s *interpretation* of what Paulson was telling the bankers?” I won’t be able to listen to the audio until this evening.
Northern Observer said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:53
I took a 10% pay cut to survive a downsizing.
The other guy got fired. It’s ugly out here. I’m in sales, I should know.
Candy said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:56
When my Grampy retired he bought a farm. It was just a hobby farm to spend weekends in on summer vacation, down in the hills ‘n hollers of SE Iowa, not in any way good farm land. He rented out the few acres of tillable land to a neighbor, we kept our horses there, and he graded a road through the hilly woods for us to play around on the tractor and ride our horses.
There was an old farm house with a dirt cellar. The house had electricity and that was it. There was a pump well outside, and a bottled gas stove to cook on. We had an outhouse, spidery and with no “chemical” treatment. There was no furnace, so Gramps bought and installed a cast iron coal burning stove. We didn’t stay there too much in the winter, but when we did, I thought it was such fun, sitting by the stove listening to the wind howl around the eaves. There was no running water, just a hand pump outside the back door, the kind you have to prime, and another hand pump and well in the pasture to fill the horse trough.
As a kid, this all seemed like great fun, and I’ve always felt grateful that I got to experience an earlier way of life that even kids of the previous generation rarely got to know. As time went on, my cousins and I grew up and went away and it all got a little too much for the old folks, driving down to mow the lawn and so forth, and the ponies were sold and then the farm itself was sold. If Gramps had put it on the market in the 70s, he would have made a killing with the inflated land prices of the time, but he waited until the 80s in the midst of the farm crisis. He didn’t lose money, since he bought it outright in the 60s, but it’s fair to say he did not make a killing. Now I wish we’d have somehow held onto the place. It would be somewhere to run to in case of genuine meltdown. Way out in the middle of nowhere on a gravel road, a big garden plot . . . a survivalist’s dream.
Sadly, it had no shit moat, so we’d need to build one. That’s one modern convenience the place would really need in a time of turmoil.
Tom said,
September 30, 2008 at 17:59
Market was down 777 yesterday which is like the number of God or something so that is a good sign right? Market is up almost 300 today. Woo hoo! Let the good times roll.
Candy said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:01
Let the good times roll
let them knock you around . . .
Righteous Bubba said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:01
Can’t see the word “Grampy” without thinking of this.
Candy said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:06
Thank you for that, RB. ;-) I’ll have to spend some time (when I have some) looking at the Betty Boops and checking to see what old Bugs they’ve got on the ‘tube. They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.
YKGOML!
Freshitt said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:11
I wish Suze had given some reasons why she picked “7 years” and I don’t know her success in predictions, but she said on tv that it will take ’til 2015 to comeback from this financial crisis. I’ve also heard ten years. McCain’s presidency could set us back 100 years.
Bush’s $400,000 salary should be withheld and his ranch sold at auction. I have no pity.
MaineMan said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:12
The whole CDS and derivative thing has been like an extended game of musical chairs, with the ever-rising housing prices providing the music. Most of the players thought the music would go on forever and didn’t think about the fact that the “chairs” weren’t real chairs, but merely scraps of paper with the word “chair” written on them.
Well, wouldn’t you know, there came a day when the music died. And now these silly kids want us to give them real chairs in exchange for those scraps of paper, claiming that this alone will crank the music back up so that they may go on playing. Oh, and if we don’t do this, the house will burn down. When asked, “Just WHO is going to burn the house down?”, they answer, “I dunno! It just WILL!”
Whole thing seems kinda pathetic.
Bagelsan said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:16
Ugh, my friend from college is worrying about her dad, ’cause he’s been flying back and forth from DC all week and getting yelled at. (He does something business-y and financial that nets him a sweet paycheck.) I was trying to be sympathetic, but it was hard when all I could think about was that they just got heated bathroom floors during the remodel of their second house. …I mean, I really *do* think their family will be screwed if (when) we go belly-up, but maybe not as much as most people…
In other news, I’m staying in school as long as possible. This “real world” gig you guys have going sounds poorly organized.
woody, tokin librul said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:17
If this were a real crisis, I’d be worried.
But it’s not.
It’s a “Naomi Klein” Crisis, existing mainly to extract more power and money from the polis.
I can tell this isn’t a ‘real crisis. How? Regardez, tout suite.”
Anonymous said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:23
WereBear said,
September 30, 2008 at 13:12
Now I’m imagining this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Er69b4HMl8
MaineMan said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:26
So, I put in a call to my Democratic Congressman who’s already given up his House seat to run for Susan Collins’ Senate seat (and he’s losing badly) to chastise him for voting in favor of the Paulson Bailout Plan. I was immediately corrected. “You mean, the ‘Emergency Economic RESCUE Plan.’!! You know SOMEthing has to be done immediately or we’re all gonna DIE!!”
Not quite a direct quote, but that was the gist.
Sheesh!
jim said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:35
Re: Paulson’s Conference Call.
I sure do wonder if mayhap the RICO Act applies here … or criminal conspiracy law … or (depending whether any of his bailout BS = a contract or sworn testimony) either perjury or fraud.
I think that pinhead Rasputin-wannabe would look tres chic in orange.
thomas said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:37
The US needs to take a very close look at what role Iran may have played in creating this crisis.
The Malfunctioning Sarah Palin Robot said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:37
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the_millionaire_lebowski said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:37
I’m guessing zero.
If you would like to insure and/or hedge against my guess, feel free to. Additionally, there are an exploding number of opportunities in the guess-insuring-and-hedging field today, and one would be a fool to let these investment opportunities pass him up.
How do guess-insuring and -hedging vehicles make so much more than their canonical market counterparts? It is a mystery! The only sure thing is this: we must reinvest our Social Security and state budgets in these new guess-insuring and -hedging funds.
PeeJ said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:41
That Palin robot has, like, zero verite. Far too coherent.
mikey said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:45
Turkey Volume Guessing Insurance?
mikey
Interrobang said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:48
I’m in Canada, and our banks are pretty solid, so I’m not seeing too much of a problem there, save with the TSX traders’ frickin’ herd mentality. (Who knew you had to be professionally rigshi to work the levers of high finance?!) I also work for a company that provides essential services to clients in basic industries, like building materials and grocery. So even if our economy does grind down even further, our clients’ business won’t entirely stop, which means we’ll likely get paid.
Also, I’m a frugal so-and-so, and I saved up ten grand or so over the last couple of years (amazing what having a real job will do), and put four of that in a GIC about a year ago. At the time, everyone was telling me “That’s too conservative! You should get a mutual fund! It pays more,” and I said, “Like hell; I don’t trust the stock market” (because speculation is evil). Now I’m fighting back the urge to call up those people and say, “I told you so.” My expenses are also low, and I’m still income-positive despite the whopping inflation.
I’ve got a spare bedroom in the basement if anyone wants a short-term crash space while they’re looking for an entree into Canadian society…
a lesser imp said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:48
My bailout plan:
1) Reinstate Glass-Steigal and the walls that used to separate commercial banks (where us plebes put our money and businesses get loans, etc) and brokerages (where we keep our investments) from investment banks (where assholes speculate with other people’s money).
2) Since they affect the real economy and ordinary citizens use whatever money is needed to keep commercial banks and brokerages solvent.
3) Let the investment banks and hedge funds burn.
Galactic Dustbin said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:53
I’m starting a company that sells leather goods and crossbow equipment. We are introducing razor edged boomerangs soon. We expect our sales to triple as more start to roam the wasteland in search of gasoline.
MaineMan said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:55
the_millionaire_lebowski –
You’ve been paying attention in class, haven’t you?
a lesser imp –
3) Let the investment banks and hedge funds burn.
Goody! Can we make smores?
TEH FUCHING FERRETS™³²®© said,
September 30, 2008 at 18:58
LENNY MARTELLO for PRESIDENT!
P.S. We are joining up with teh fuching weasels, and we’re going to rip McLame’s flesh.
cur said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:03
My best friend just got laid off this morning. I am bummed. Probably does not have as much to do the big shit pile as it does the way big corporations are. Needless to say, fuck.
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:06
I don’t know who this Lonny Martello is, but I think he just won the internets.
Candy said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:09
We are all Lonny Martello now.
ice weasel said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:22
I’m a freelance photographer. I have about two dozen clients that keep things going. Last month, my third biggest client dropped out. He can’t afford to use me. This month, well, we’ll see.
If lost the top five clients I’d miss a mortgage payment within sixty days.
All the people who constantly complain about how inflation might affect their bank accounts, all the people who cry when the stock market tanks and their stock loses value, all the people who talk about what fun it is to write something off, those are problems I hope for. Much like when I worked for a paycheck, every month is a new challenge.
That said, I don’t give a flying fuck about a bailout. It’s about time someone else worried about their mortgage. I’ve had to worry about mine all my life (a mortgage which, I know, puts me ahead of a lot of people, my brother and sister to name two, who still rent because they can’t afford to buy and we’re all in our forties).
It’s time to share the pain. I’ve had mine long enough.
Susan of Texas said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:33
Woody–about the only way the conservatives can get rid of Social Security and Medicare is to bankrupt the government.
Republicans are like your ex-husband who takes out a huge loan, talks you into co-signing, and then runs off with the waitress down at the ice house, leaving you with the payments.
Internet W1N!!! « Donkey Punch said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:33
[...] Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: Fuching Ferrets — t4toby @ 10:33 am From the comments section over at Sadly, [...]
D.N. Nation said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:35
HOLY CRAP. YOU HAVE TO COVER THIS.
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:37
Wait a second. Did you just mention Hulkin and Scott Sapp in the same sentence?
TEH FUCHING FERRETS™³²®© said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:41
Wait a second. Did you just mention Hulkin and Scott Sapp in the same sentence?
that’s so much fuching fail i can’t find my caps lock key.
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:42
Any chance that Hulkin will allow someone to post “Creed Suxxors”?
dba said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:45
You keep whining like an American during an economic crisis and The Doughy Pantload is gonna slit your stomach and toss in a half starved weasel.
Righteous Bubba said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:47
Comment at Malkin’s on Creed:
On September 29th, 2008 at 10:35 pm, Digshot said:
Ugh. We’re torturing our own guys now?
I would have asked to be waterboarded instead.
Cain said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:48
As you may know, I am in the UK.
In the South West to be exact, where the situation seems pretty dire. Its fairly rural down here, most jobs are manufacturing or retail. I just graduated from University this May, and didn’t get empoyed until September.
At a box factory.
I also got laid off today. Surplus to requirements, apparently. I am teh FAIL at making boxes
slip said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:50
Who will be the next American Idol? Maybe for once, no one will actually care.
Wanna bet?
kenga said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:51
Two banks enter … one bank leaves!
TEH FUCHING FERRETS™³²®© said,
September 30, 2008 at 19:58
BECK: I can’t look at Barney Frank any more. I can’t take it.
GOLDBERG: I almost think he should be in jail! I almost think the guy should be in jail!
BECK: Oh I do too! I absolutely do. I think — honestly, I think we should have at least, bare minimum, we should have stockades in front of the Capitol building. Some of these people are out and out criminals on what they have done. […]
GOLDBERG: It is an incredibly poisonous situation. You know in the middle ages, Harry Reid would have his stomach cut open and a half-starved weasel thrown in, for the kinds of things he’s doing. It’s outrageous!
STARVING TEH WEASELS IS CRULE AND INMUSTELID TREETMINT.
The Goddamn Batman said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:04
Recessions are good for crime, so I’ll have plenty to do.
The Goddamn Batman
P.S. Being a rich motherfucker helps, too.
handy said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:08
Welcome to our world, Puss-boy.
Susan of Texas said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:17
We depend on broken families, serious injuuries, corporate malfeisance, the growing police state, and bad luck for our income, so we ought to be okay.
Gato Uno said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:20
Can someone please explain to me why a business would be relying on credit in order to make payroll. This seems to be a highly shitty business plan.
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:29
Bingo, Gato.
kenga said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:30
Well, it’s about growth - see, relying on receipts to fund growth means you only have a little bit left over after covering your costs, so it goes very, very slowly.
(This assumes that you are making an actual profit, btw.)
Slow growth means slow profit growth (there’s that assumption of profit again, sorry).
Well, to be a good businessperson, you have to have BIG profit growth, quickly!
Because growth is always good, unless it’s your doctor telling you that you have one.
the_millionaire_lebowski said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:33
Maybe startups? That’d be my guess.
Then again, new businesses go under all the time, in good or bad economic times.
Any blue chip business (i.e. GM, GE, Boeing, etc) that “can’t make payroll due to the credit freeze” is lying, and using the economic panic to justify laying off a few more stateside workers.
palau said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:34
Cain said:
It won’t be a proper Depression until Ginsters stops hiring.
Seriously though, both my sons are in Devon and I’m trying to persuade them that jumping here to Amsterdam before they’re pushed is probably a good idea. Not even a gorgeous view, clean air or the world’s best icecream will help when the rent’s due.
What’s preferable - to slowly subside beneath a rising North Sea while in work and fed, or to look smugly out over the Atlantic waves from the cliffs, with dry feet but an empty belly?
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:38
Well, Amsterdam has a shit-ton of weed, so I’m voting Red Light District.
Rightwingsnarkle said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:38
I get paid in company script.
Gato Uno said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:39
Ok kenga, I get the growth part of the equation but…
This seems to be a recipe for FAKE growth. Maybe I need an example of a business in which this model is applicable and successful. Maybe I also need to take a remedial business econ course or something, lol.
Thanks though, just trying to understand some of the bobbleheads out there right now…
Rightwingsnarkle said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:39
Can someone please explain to me why a business would be relying on credit in order to make payroll.
It’s all about the cash flow.
actor212 said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:39
I get paid in company script.
Load sixteen tons and what do you get?
Susan of Texas said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:40
I get paid in hugs and kisses.
Which actually isn’t too bad.
actor212 said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:40
Can someone please explain to me why a business would be relying on credit in order to make payroll.
The same idiotic reason why some people buy their fucking groceries with a credit card, or worse, a pack of cigarettes.
Cash said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:42
What do you all have against us? We were on top of the world, once. We had it all. They fought over us, killed for us, traded us for sex.
Life stinks.
actor212 said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:42
If this were a real crisis, I’d be worried.
But it’s not.
You sound like a conservative about global warming. Grow up, this is the real shit.
Marita said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:50
Hey kenga! Check your e-mail (or check the previous thread)! Your help is required, eh?
Legalize said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:53
Oh dear. Malkin + Creed = perfect union of teh suck and teh st00pit.
Must. Not. Click. Link.
Dammit.
D.N. Nation said,
September 30, 2008 at 20:58
Went grocery shopping last night (the 29th). I had little left in my checking account and didn’t want to delve into my savings account. I get paid on the 30th. So I used my credit card.
I have the money now in my checking account, and will pay off my credit card when it’s due.
Now, there were risks involved with that, sure, but not enough to render the decision idiotic.
Fozzetti said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:09
Wolfe Blitzer & Jonah Goldberg:
BECK: Oh I do too! I absolutely do. I think — honestly, I think we should have at least, bare minimum, we should have stockades in front of the Capitol building. Some of these people are out and out criminals on what they have done. […]
GOLDBERG: It is an incredibly poisonous situation. You know in the middle ages,
Harry Reid would have his stomach cut open and a half-starved weasel thrown in, for the kinds of things he’s doing. It’s outrageous!
sagra said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:23
We depend on broken families, serious injuuries, corporate malfeisance, the growing police state, and bad luck for our income, so we ought to be okay.
Corporate malfeisance? Forsooth, what queer and ancient phrases spring forth from your quill! Surely, if a corporation does a thing, that thing is not malfeasant, but seemly!
StringonaStick said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:27
D.N., we buy all things with a CC and then pay it off every month, thus denying the CC company a chance to practice usery upon us but getting them all excited and thinking that maybe THIS month they’ll get some blood from us. So far, we win.
The Ghost of Peter F. Drucker said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:32
There are no profits, only costs.
Rightwingsnarkle said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:32
we buy all things with a CC
Use their money for free. Why the fuck not, eh?
Righteous Bubba said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:35
Air miles credit cards are awesome if you pay them off.
LJ said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:45
We have already been informed that my company will not make payroll. I have to find a way to pay my rent, car, and insurance in the next couple of days…I ma already screwed!
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:48
Really, LJ?
That seems so strange. what kind of buisness is it?
t4toby said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:49
Buisness is Freedom-Speak for business.
PeeJ said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:53
And so we see that the “bailout” maybe wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe.
Now that we’re all finding out that it wasn’t just a Wall St. thing. I’m not saying the house bill was the right thing, but it should be clear to everyone that we gotta do something.
Show of hands: who has changed their mind in the last day or two? Jism, put your hand down, we already know you changed your mind at least six times just today.
StringonaStick said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:55
Why the fuck not indeed?
RB, that is our exact theory, and we fortunately just used up all our accumulated miles since I see these reward programs going the way of the dinosaur.
For the folks who are hosed if your employer can’t make payroll, I feel for you and I’ve been there; hell we could all be there soon. I recall in ‘91 not being able to use my car anymore since I couldn’t afford gas or insurance. And now we’ve got horribly inflated housing/rent costs plus a totally screw-the-needy bankruptcy system set up to really hurt people. The blame goes to both sides of the aisle for the latter especially.
It is history folks, let’s hope for a good old fashioned socialized revolution!
kenga said,
September 30, 2008 at 21:58
That’s the key - I’m still paying off groceries from grad s