Asleep At The Wheel, And We Are Paying For It
While the President and Congress negotiate the Mother of All Bailouts, let’s pause and remember how we got here.
It didn’t just start with the deregulation of the the Bush administration. The greed and horror stories and casino-like view of our investment community started back in the 1980′s, dipped a little bit after 9/11, and roared back into the scene in about 2004. Lest we forget: The Clinton years help spawn the runaway billionaires who took the money and climbed into the nearest hole. Both parties should accept the blame, and apologize.
What is so disturbing about all of this is the fact that on so many issues our government has been asleep at the wheel. It is not comforting to think that the leaders in DC will be able to manage this incredible bailout. But then again, the investment gurus don’t stand a chance. So, our only hope is the resiliency of the people. It is a hard time, but the people of America always stand out in their courage and wisdom. At least, I hope they do.
BACK IN PHILADELPHIA, interesting side show to this election campaign. Why are the candidates skipping the western part of the state? Does McCain think he’s got it won in western Pennsylvania? Has Obama conceded the Southwest? Trips there are less frequent than the campaign stops in eastern, Pennsylvania.
FORECASTS – Don’t take it to the bank, but I think we may see several big upsets in this election. Don’t look now, but Obama is edging up in North Carolina and Florida. McCain is also moving ahead in Missouri and Ohio. The upsets will offset each other, leaving one of two states to decide it all – Michigan and Colorado. You heard it here first. As I said, don’t take it to the bank.
BOO-BOO — Why do Eagles fans boo when they see well known TV faces doing promos on the big screen at the Linc? It makes me feel like Eagles fans don’t like the media. I mean, who doesn’t like the media?
SPEAKING OF MEDIA – Kudos for the Sunday INKY Currents section. it has become exciting and diverse and something to look forward to. I especially enjoy Bowden and Smerconish. They make you think, which some of you who write to this infamous blog, should do a lot more of.
FINAL NOTE –F AND M National Poll comes out this Thursday morning. I respect Terry Madonna’s polling and I expect that this McCain-Obama head to head survey will make big news.
FINAL FINAL NOTE — Was that an Emmy telecast Sunday night, or a bad ‘b’ movie? The TV industry seemed to dwell on the past, rather than celebrating its creative future.
Comments(41)
Larry, I don’t want apologies from the parties. Apologies don’t put food on your family or put air in your tires or keep people from thrashing you to death on SEPTA. I want solutions, not platitudes. I want accountability.
At least Bush will now be remembered for something other than leading us into an incredibly expensive debacle in Iraq. He’s got his legacy sewn up: he presided over the U.S. throwing away its reputation as a champion of freedom, diplomacy, and human rights (Abu Ghraib, Quantanamo) as well as squandering its leadership position in the global financial system.
LARRY, FINALLY A BLOG CHANGE YET NO MENTION OF OUR OUTRAGE.
Larry, you are such a Democrat. You are disappointed in your government for lack of oversight, management and regulation of the economy. Why aren’t you made at bank management?
PA – McCain has conceded the Keystone State; Obama is already counting it. With the 2 major metropolitan areas dominating the voting, Republicans can only hope to win when the Democratic candidate melts down.
Colorado? Florida, Ohio and maybe Virginia will likely have us going late into the night.
Emmys – now we finally agree on a topic but I’m surprised a liberal media type like you feels that way. I thought you’d get a woody when that nit-wit Tommy Smothers trashed Bush and the Republicans… Who watches these award shows anyway? Who cares? My wife watches to see the outfits but she could see them on Entertainment Tonight the following night. One thing is clear, actors/actresses in general can’t put 2 words together unless they are written for them and rehearsed. It is embarrassing.
Larry, thank you for addressing all the important issues while not taking a stand on any of them.
BTW, Larry, you have been asleep at the wheel on this blog for 6 months. What’s that expression about the pot calling the kettle black?
Rasmussen (sic?)last night showed McCain slightly ahead in Oh.,Fl & Va.while Obama led in both Pa.& Mi.
Bowden & Smerconish have been appearing in Currents for about 18 months now.A tad late there too.On the down side,Jonathon Last is gone from Currents but Trudy Rubin lives on.
If it’s Eskin you’re talking about getting booed , well good.He’s an arrogant mutant & the fans enjoy letting him have it.Do they boo you,Larry ?
Larry, I think many of us have added a lot important thoughtful debate to your blog, albeit with some sillyness and occasionally a sense of humor.. Do you have contempt for those who work so hard to make this a nice place to come each day? I think a little more gratitude from the Kane-Man is order, lest we have have writers strike!
George does not compute does not compute
I’ve just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It’s going to go 100% failure in 72 hours.
By the way, who watches Hollywood awards shows? It’s like going to the zoo to watch monkeys masturbate. All of the excess, all for nothing. They’re just as bad as Wall Street fat cats.
Monkeys masturbate at the Zoo?
Leo,you’ve jumped the shark.
Leo-I thought at least you would appreciate the dresses.
It’s a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on…it’s all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it “Jumping the Shark.” From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.
Wall Street day at the zoo would be great. Leo in a cage full of monkeys with Wall street guys watching him watching the monkeys would be the greatest.
Larry, I think you should retitle your blog to Larry Kane’s March of the Sock Puppets. You have more of them here than I’ve seen just about anywhere else.
And, touché, YBP. I’m sure Pantsuit Barbie and Caribou Barbie were watching.
Larry, thanks for giving the “people” credit for being resilient in times of crisis (I think). We your loyal readers will solve this financial problem just like we did after the ’29 crash of the stock market.(does anyone have a checkbook handy?). We are at the wheel now and we are going to run these investment firms like a South Korean runs a corner store, like an Indian runs a 7/11, like a Mexican runs his bodega, like an old Jewish deli owner handles a loaf of rye. Some of the signs you might see are “Cash Only”, “No Credit” “Payment Due Upon Request”, “Shoplifters Will be Punished to the Full Extent of the Law”, “Owner is Armed”, and of course “No Shoes no Shirt No Service”.
This discourse is disgraceful. Monkeys masturbating?
I want you all to know that I have tremendous misgivings about McCain. This may be the worst ticket fielded by the GOP in memory.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202583.html
Mr Larry I give ride to Mrs Obama
in rickshaw today yes today she in city of brotherly love she very mean she not tip I try to help her off rickshaw she say ‘don’t ever disrespect a black woman’ I say what you talking bout Willis.
Leo, quit trying to pull my strings!
I may not care for Johnny Mc but he does beat the alternative.
Right on George,I shudder to think of Obama as President.
Sonny Lee, very good!
“I say what you talking bout Willis”
Any relation to Buddy Lee from the Lee Jeans commercials?
I can assure you I wrote that article myself George Will #2. Your Leo Bloom had nothing to do with it.
George Will #1 I can assure you no one but your Leo Bloom is trying to discredit John McCain on this website.
Leo has a muse for his muse, so we really never know for sure.
LARRY, YOU MUST PARTICIPATE!
LARRY, YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM PARTICIPATING BECAUSE YOU FINALLY CHANGED THE BLOG TOPIC!
LARRY, COME BACK TO THE MASSES! JOIN THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF YOUR BLOG! BE THE PRINCE OF THE PROLETARIAN!
LARRY, BE THE PIED PIPER OF SOCK PUPPETS!
LARRY, BE THE CHAMPION OF FREE AIR AND THE SUPERMAN OF SEPTA!
LARRY, BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!
Hereto refered to as SquareBarb SpongeRants
George Will #2 have you ever seen Highlander? It seems so because you believe there can “only be one [person who doubts McCain].” I also doubt McCain, and I am not your Leo Bloom.
Here’s something else for you to chew on while you chew on that. Again, I say this is the worst GOP ticket in memory.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13736.html
OOOJ, Man take a pill or two. What exactly could Larry add to this discussion. Leo is doing what Leo does and the sock puppets do what they do. (very informative BTW and entertaining)
I did however like your comment about Larry not being at the wheel of his own blog. My only question is what are we talking about?
Ed, Larry will disappear for another week and leave us in bad blog hell. How hard would it be for him to pay attention and change blogs daily?
I think the absentee landlord was a better analogy.
LARRY, ARE YOU THINK ABOUT TOMORROW’S NEW BLOG TOPIC?
OOOj, the absentee landlord analogy would presume Larry even makes a nickle off this blog other than his mmmmm er aah
book sales. The five of us who take the time to give our point of view can’t be lining Larry’s pockets. I didn’t buy any of his er a mmmmm ‘books’
Ed, you may be right.
Perhaps the 5 of us, and countless sock puppets, should find another site where the topic changes routinely and there is some sense of urgency.
Now that I lost my job,I got no money.I have to hack into computers to get electronic copies of Larry’s books.I’m a slow reader and they keep me busy.
Larry Mente, I always knew you would join the party. If Larry Kane keeps letting us down would you consider starting your own blog?
I am programmed to return in 192 hours. Returning early does not compute. Returning early does not compute.
Please have doctor check my hard drive.
It has been hard for over 4 hours.
Returning early does not compute.
Returning early does not compute.
Program has detected intruder!
Program has detected intruder!
Unauthorized access!
Unauthorized access!
Firewall shutting down system.
Firewall shutting down system.
System override in process.
As I suspected, Larry is really just a holograph.