I think Obama has grasped one of the major reasons any economy goes south --

[BigBearJohn]

Listening to all the good things Obama is already achieving by undoing the evil created during the Bush administration, I couldn't help but feel a real sense of "hope" bubbling up from within. Somehow the state of the economy didn't bother me quite as much. It didn't feel quite as "serious" (even though in reality it is).

The exhilaration I felt was incredible. Then it dawned on me: The more Obama returns this country to the principles it was founded on, and re-institutes the idea that this is a country of laws, the more positive, confident and "hopeful" the citizenry is going to feel. When people start feeling positive, confident and hopeful, they start to spend money.

What's one of the major reasons an economy goes south -- and stays there? LOSS OF HOPE. By Obama putting this country back on the "straight and narrow" -- people can't help but feel more hope. Even children behave better when parents show discipline and adhere to "boundaries". And that, my friends, is what this country needs: A return to rules, discipline and boundaries. In other words, LAWS, that are enforced. A return to fairness and principle.

I honestly believe that once Obama starts punishing those in the Bush administration for the crimes they committed, people will start to BELIEVE in this country again. Want proof? It was BELIEF in Obama by the masses that got him elected. If he can get people to start BELIEVING in America again, as represented by enforcing the laws of our sacred constitution, I personally believe people will come back to life and rebuild this country.

[Richard D]

1. Hmmmmm.

The wingnuts still blame Clinton for the economy going bad. I wonder if they'll be giving * credit for it when it recovers.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Of course they will.

Right after the voices in their puddin' heads tell them to.

[chknltl]

4. My stepkid did just that yesterday!

I swear it's true! At first I thought he was just joking but he wasn't, he actually tried to tell me yesterday that Bill Clinton was the main cause for our nation's recent economic woes! Even though he is a wing-nut, it's difficult for me to grasp that this step-kid, one who is about to start his third year at college, is this profoundly silly! He did not think it was funny when I asked him if he knew that the world was round like a ball as opposed to round like a pizza!

[Waiting For Everyman]

3. I agree, BigBearJohn.

And also, corrupting the law has been the means of impoverishing the weakest 1/3 of our people. We can't do without 30% of our economy. That's how self-destructive we have become.

This is a beginning to putting a leash on the foxes in the henhouse. Yes, I do think that people will be very encouraged by that, and interpret it just as you said.

[BigBearJohn]

5. Thanks!

:hug:

[marions ghost]

6. Boundaries

--this is an important word in the nightmare we are going through as a nation.

The Bu*h regime knew no boundaries, the remaining Neo-Cons know no boundaries, Wall Street knows no boundaries, wealthy exploiters know no boundaries, Rush Limbaugh knows no boundaries. That's what trickled down. That's the attitude that empowered individuals at lower levels of society to help loot the country. "Everybody does it and you're stupid if you don't" has motivated much corruption. It works especially well in a climate of fear where people feel justified in grabbing whatever they can, by any means necessary. Stealing everything from elections to taxpayers' hard-earned money, they couldn't care less.

But witnessing this wholesale corruption also motivates people who have an innate sense of justice and fairness that goes beyond amassing material things. And these are the people who see their hope in Obama. These are the people who know that in a civilized society, there must be limits. These are the mature adults willing to punish the children with their hands in the cookie jar. In the case of the Neo-Cons and their ilk, their hands are smeared with the blood of the millions they have killed and injured in their quest-- mere collateral damage to them. They got nothing out of the story of Macbeth.

Just as "knowing no boundaries" defines street criminals, it defines white collar criminals. Anyone aligning themselves with the failed Neo-Cons, or supporting the Fundy-Fascist Coalition these days, is complicit and guilty. No intelligent person with a shred of integrity can justify what these 'hijackers from within' have done. Some of the complicit will have an epiphany and come to their senses but the hardcore will NOT give up what they have gained easily. They'll fight to the death. They are plotting as we chat. The immoral, greedy and corrupt--the Hungry Ghosts-- have always been with us, and we must remain vigilant against them.

What we have now is a chance to make some corrections.

[BigBearJohn]

7. Very well said indeed.

[shintao]

10. Interesting analogy

"Everybody does it and you're stupid if you don't" has motivated much corruption. It works especially well in a climate of fear where people feel justified in grabbing whatever they can, by any means necessary."

That sounds like the riots down in Watts & remember how we condemned them? So why not condemn Wall Street & GM the same way?

[marions ghost]

11. Exactly

Street crime provokes instant fear and we spend a lot of time, money & energy combatting it, while
white collar crime is ALWAYS seen as less threatening, more excusable, not "criminal."

The Bu*h administration has proven the lie of that delusion.

[scheming daemons]

8. I think by this summer, the recession will be over and we'll be on our way to recovery

...and Americans will begin to "feel" it by next Christmas.


We're shaking out the bad apples, especially in the banking industry.... and the good apples - those companies who ran their businesses properly - will be left standing and stronger than ever.


Everyone just needs to find a way to hang on for another 9 months or so.....


The Dow always recovers first..... and it will be at 10,000 by May.

[BigBearJohn]

9. From your mouth to God's ears

[Tsiyu]

12. To a certain degree I think you're right

But people can't spend money they don't have. That's the issue. There IS no money to spend.

My son's girlfriend is visiting from Chicago for a month; she's the only one in our house with extra cash. All our friends on the mountain are giving her hell about saving it because they fear even worse times ahead. (She's not listening, she just smiles. Sweet kid.)

I'm sure anyone with a spare buck is being encouraged to save it, so you're right about "hope" factoring in.

All of our household income goes for essentials, not a dime extra for anything else. That's the reality for most of us I fear.

People need decent jobs desperately.