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This government class im taking right now, has really opened my eyes up to what is going on.

how corrupt the government is, and how politicians dont have to worry about social security, and the welfare system

You mean because they have better retirements set up than most americans and won't have to basically live off of social security like many people? Or that they won't ever be on welfare? Well of course not.

I was channel flipping last night and just happened to come across Ben Bernake (Fed Reserve Chairman) on the public access channel giving a question/answer session with citizens at the Federal reserve bank in Kansas City. I caught it a little bit late, but here is what I gathered:

Ben Bernake is smarter than nearly all of us give him credit for. Basically every average Joe in America who has a pessimistic opinion about the state of the economy, how it got there, and what's being done about it is listening to misinformation. This included me, to some extent. This interview opened my eyes, probably similar to how T's government class did.

This recession was caused, in large part, to the failures of Bear Sterns, Lehmen Brothers, AIG, etc., all of the "too big to fail" financial companies. Their failures sent ripples through the economy. The Fed and government knew this, which is why they tried to save them. But these companies just had 50 billion dollar holes that were impossible to fill. Companies simply cannot become too big to fail. Bernake supports letting them fail if they will, but it needs to be done more slowly so that the company can be dismantled piece-by-piece, thus causing a far less detrimental shock to the system. There was no policy in effect to do this when those places failed. That's why they created them this year.

The Great Depression of the 30s was caused by the stock market crash of 1929 and the Fed's terrible response to it. At that time there were traditional ways of thinking on how to fix these things, and they went by the book (which was written wrong to begin with) and tightened money. This caused thousands of banks to fail, which, if it had been avoided by the government stepping in, would have erased the depression from the history books. Bernake said recessions take outside the box thinking, which is probably why some of the policies implemented today seem strange to a lot of people. Bernake wrote a large research paper (maybe his master's thesis? I can't remember) on the Depression, and he said he never thought it would help him as much as it is right now.

The idea of congressional auditing of the fed has been thrown around, and I think a bill being presented in the house right now deals with this. This would be a very bad idea. This auditing has nothing to do with opening the fed's accounting books to congress, they already do that. This bill would give congress veto powers over each decision that the Fed makes. It's very important that the Fed stay an independent entity. It would be very bad if congress controlled monetary policy.

GDP has to grow by 2% per year just to keep up with the current work force plus the new, incoming first-time job seekers just to keep unemployment stationary. This is why unemployment always continues to rise after a recession is technically over, and why everybody who says that the economy won't get better until unemployment gets better and people have money to spend are wrong. This is why unemployment generally peaks even after a recession is over, and why it will do the same this time around. He predicts a little over 10% in January-February of next year.

People don't fully understand the bailout. It was not the Fed's idea, and they really have nothing to do with it. Only 25% of it is allocated to be given out this year, most is going out next year. Bernake has a plan to curb inflation due to the bailout, which is basically just ease interest rates back up in the coming years. He is quite confident this can be done effectively. Also, the bailout is a loan, not a gift. Many people think we the taxpayer will be paying for this for years and years with higher taxes, etc., but that's just not true.

very nice post!

This government class im taking right now, has really opened my eyes up to what is going on.

how corrupt the government is, and how politicians dont have to worry about social security, and the welfare system

You mean because they have better retirements set up than most americans and won't have to basically live off of social security like many people? Or that they won't ever be on welfare? Well of course not.

ya and the fact they get their full salary each year after they retire is some BS!

wanna solve some debt problems, change how much politicians get paid!

and nobody had anything to say about my problem with the boat

nobody feels my pain

is right!

how did ur speech go sean2

now for round 2 of the boat motor

wish me luck

HAHAHAHA WTF?

The lunch date was fantastic. Asked for another meeting and she agreed. Calling her in....what's the standard? 3 days? haha.

wtf, damn photos not working...

The lunch date was fantastic. Asked for another meeting and she agreed. Calling her in....what's the standard? 3 days? haha.

good to hear man!

So i guess she doenst have a b/f

wtf, damn photos not working...

got pics of the lil lady?

is that what u were working on?

ku(nick?) trying to post/look at pics top^

now for round 2 of the boat motor

wish me luck

round 2 goes to the boat again! Damnit!

hopefully Mks pops can get it out, or i will be buying another part!

(just wish my dad would by a new E-Tec <3)

wtf, damn photos not working...

got pics of the lil lady?

is that what u were working on?

Photos of an entertainment center that is mostly built...

We didn't do any CNC plasma work on sheet metal with it, decided to go a different route. But I still think it looks pretty sweet

Worked all afternoon at the shop on it, the woman isn't in town and didn't have much else to do so I just piddled around in the shop for about 9hrs today. Came home after that and loaded 50 rounds of .45 and primed another 50.

now for round 2 of the boat motor

wish me luck

round 2 goes to the boat again! Damnit!

hopefully Mks pops can get it out, or i will be buying another part!

(just wish my dad would by a new E-Tec <3)

Son of a....

I got notice today that my TV came a week early as well, so you know I was hustling over to Nebraska Furniture Mart to get it. But on the way I get on the toll road and was like wait a minute, something's wrong. I forgot my wallet. Luckily I had the required $1.45 in change for that trip and the way back. Otherwise I don't know what they'd do, make me pull over at the toll booth and walk back 20 miles to Lawrence to get money? Then I was worried that Nebraska Furniture Mart would want to see my ID to let me have my stuff since IIRC they did when I picked up my couch. Well I hoped the state ID badge I keep in my truck and my vehicle registration would do. But they didn't ask. So that worked out.

Of course I got the entertainment center set up tonight. Pics coming tomorrow.

The TV on there is a 46" Sony Bravia

I can stand on the end of the shelves....

wtf, damn photos not working...

got pics of the lil lady?

is that what u were working on?

Photos of an entertainment center that is mostly built...

We didn't do any CNC plasma work on sheet metal with it, decided to go a different route. But I still think it looks pretty sweet

oh

and i sry i thought KU posted this thats why i mentioned the lil lady