Thursday, January 29, 2009
Who'd have thought being proven wrong could be so sweet
Most readers probably know I've been quite cynical towards Barack Obama. Viewing him as an African-American version of Bill Clinton, and not without reason as he did things during the campeign such as telling Canadian officials that criticisms of NAFTA were just election posturing, I have held little hope of him doing much of anything positive for average Americans.
Well, even though we are very, very early in the game there sure do seem to be some positive developments.
First, in the recently passed stimulus bill there is a provision mandating that all workers who lose their jobs automatically qualify for Medicaid coverage. No, that doesn't constitute universal medical coverage which is what the U.S. really needs. Still it is a HUGE step in the right direction and far more than I expected of him.
Then today he signed key equal pay legislation giving workers (and particularly women) the right to sue employers when they discover they have been paid less for doing the exact same job as co-workers. This has been a LONG time coming and suffice it to say its good that Obama did this in little more than one week (while Bill didn't manage it in 8 long years!!).
So while we would all be wise to still be very cautious with respect to Obama I also think that we may also allow ourselves at least a little optomism.
And to Obama; just keep proving my cynicism wrong. I like it. In fact I REALLY like it!!
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Well, even though we are very, very early in the game there sure do seem to be some positive developments.
First, in the recently passed stimulus bill there is a provision mandating that all workers who lose their jobs automatically qualify for Medicaid coverage. No, that doesn't constitute universal medical coverage which is what the U.S. really needs. Still it is a HUGE step in the right direction and far more than I expected of him.
Then today he signed key equal pay legislation giving workers (and particularly women) the right to sue employers when they discover they have been paid less for doing the exact same job as co-workers. This has been a LONG time coming and suffice it to say its good that Obama did this in little more than one week (while Bill didn't manage it in 8 long years!!).
So while we would all be wise to still be very cautious with respect to Obama I also think that we may also allow ourselves at least a little optomism.
And to Obama; just keep proving my cynicism wrong. I like it. In fact I REALLY like it!!
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
U.S. Taxpayers to Ricardo Hausmann: Bug off
Anyone remember Ricardo Hausmann? You know, Sumate's favorite academic hack who helped them further bogus fraud claims after the 2004 recall referendum only to have them smacked down by about a half hours worth of thinking?
Ok, well he has been lying pretty low lately. Can't blame him. If I'd been embarressed that badly I'd probably lie low for a decade or so myself.
But in reading some blogging on the N.Y.Times web-site I could barely believe my eyes when there he was, popping up at the Davos Economic Forum. And there is bad news, especially if you're a gringo. Instead of coming up with whacky but harmless fraud theories he now thinks the United States should spend $700 billion bailing out a bunch of dumb fucks in the third world:
In short, Dr. Hausmann wants the U.S. taxpayer to bail out Chilean real estate developers, Peruvian miners, Mexican bankers, and probably the whole fucking Colombian government in the same way that they bailed out Citibank and the U.S. auto industry.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Actually, I don't know why I am laughing. This isn't funny.
And anyways, since when is it my problem that stupid governments, and their cheerleaders, thought a simple commodity boom was some sort of permenent transformation? I'm sorry but even James Petras saw right through that bullshit so they should have too and its not the U.S. taxpayers problem that they didn't.
Seriously Dr. Hausmann, I liked you better when you were coming up with bogus fraud theories.
So I have a deal for Dr. Hasumann. In Venezuela they will be having a little vote in a few weeks time. So why don't you go black swan hunting in the election results and come up with some very sophisticated sounding (even if completely bogus) theory on how the opposition was robbed? As long as you keep your paws the hell out of my pockets I won't say a thing and won't so much as lift my pinkie to debunk your silly cliams.
Deal?
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Ok, well he has been lying pretty low lately. Can't blame him. If I'd been embarressed that badly I'd probably lie low for a decade or so myself.
But in reading some blogging on the N.Y.Times web-site I could barely believe my eyes when there he was, popping up at the Davos Economic Forum. And there is bad news, especially if you're a gringo. Instead of coming up with whacky but harmless fraud theories he now thinks the United States should spend $700 billion bailing out a bunch of dumb fucks in the third world:
Ricardo Hausmann of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government said the United States Treasury, now ironically the only “superborrower” in the world as other countries lose access to financial markets, should spend $700 billion (”That seems to be the unit of account these days,” he quipped) to buy up a diversified portfolio of emerging-market assets to help reflate the rest of the world and not just the United States economy.
In short, Dr. Hausmann wants the U.S. taxpayer to bail out Chilean real estate developers, Peruvian miners, Mexican bankers, and probably the whole fucking Colombian government in the same way that they bailed out Citibank and the U.S. auto industry.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Actually, I don't know why I am laughing. This isn't funny.
And anyways, since when is it my problem that stupid governments, and their cheerleaders, thought a simple commodity boom was some sort of permenent transformation? I'm sorry but even James Petras saw right through that bullshit so they should have too and its not the U.S. taxpayers problem that they didn't.
Seriously Dr. Hausmann, I liked you better when you were coming up with bogus fraud theories.
So I have a deal for Dr. Hasumann. In Venezuela they will be having a little vote in a few weeks time. So why don't you go black swan hunting in the election results and come up with some very sophisticated sounding (even if completely bogus) theory on how the opposition was robbed? As long as you keep your paws the hell out of my pockets I won't say a thing and won't so much as lift my pinkie to debunk your silly cliams.
Deal?
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