From a 1934 issue of the Chicago Tribune, about the same time as the beginning of what historians now refer to as "the second New Deal" Im sure alot of people about that time were thinking "Watch out, here it comes again"
I found this cartoon today, just after reading a news article about how the presidential administration is leaning towards empowering the Federal Reserve as the super-regulators of the financial industry, overseeing any financial or business transaction that they feel might pose a risk to systemic stability. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that he thinks that one executive agency or individual needs to be put in charge, because "Committees don't make decisions," He also said such a regulator should be given oversight into all institutions that pose a risk to the financial system, regardless of what business they are in.
I read this immediately after seeing several articles about how the proposed federal budget is going to save us metric shitloads of money, and reducing the federal deficit (money we will owe China) by... Are you ready for this? 3/5 of 1%! Well crikey, if that doesnt make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, i dont know what would. Of course, when i looked a little closer, the articles made no mention of the Trillions of dollars that have already been spent this year, outside of any official "budgets" to push on the nationalization of our financial and automotive industries, it completely passed over the 9% increase in war spending, and didnt so much as touch upon the fact that not only is the 1,750,000 million dollar spending deficit enclosed in this budget, what normal people refer to as running your business into the ground, it is not a drastic reduction in overspending from even last year, nor did it mention that the amount that is to overspent in this budget is nearly equal to the entire federal budget of FY 2000. Thats right, we are going to overspend and borrow as much money this year, as we spent in total, just 9 years ago.
It also doesn't make clear if the revenue estimates enclosed in calculating that deficit include the tapering off in revenue collection that is only to be expected in the ongoing depression, as all I hear on the radio (and im sure the TV is parroting the message) is that "the recession is coming to an end" and that "the regulatory steps that have been taken so far have finally made room for the economy to start showing real growth again." Somehow im not sure it does. Back in the real world, the city i live in, a major employer is exporting all but one of its facilities to Malaysia, effecting at least 10,000 direct jobs, and an untold number of vendors, suppliers, and contractors. and this is only one employer. Man, can't you just feel that stimulus at work there? We can only hope they arent believing their own lies, or we may well end up with a deficit far in excess of their own estimate of 1.75 Trillion Dollars (thats a couple thousand dollars in debt for every man woman and child in the US) and in fact, far in excess of any previous administration, since... well, the end of World War II, and the demise of the first two "New Deals."
Watch out, here it comes again.
I read this immediately after seeing several articles about how the proposed federal budget is going to save us metric shitloads of money, and reducing the federal deficit (money we will owe China) by... Are you ready for this? 3/5 of 1%! Well crikey, if that doesnt make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, i dont know what would. Of course, when i looked a little closer, the articles made no mention of the Trillions of dollars that have already been spent this year, outside of any official "budgets" to push on the nationalization of our financial and automotive industries, it completely passed over the 9% increase in war spending, and didnt so much as touch upon the fact that not only is the 1,750,000 million dollar spending deficit enclosed in this budget, what normal people refer to as running your business into the ground, it is not a drastic reduction in overspending from even last year, nor did it mention that the amount that is to overspent in this budget is nearly equal to the entire federal budget of FY 2000. Thats right, we are going to overspend and borrow as much money this year, as we spent in total, just 9 years ago.
It also doesn't make clear if the revenue estimates enclosed in calculating that deficit include the tapering off in revenue collection that is only to be expected in the ongoing depression, as all I hear on the radio (and im sure the TV is parroting the message) is that "the recession is coming to an end" and that "the regulatory steps that have been taken so far have finally made room for the economy to start showing real growth again." Somehow im not sure it does. Back in the real world, the city i live in, a major employer is exporting all but one of its facilities to Malaysia, effecting at least 10,000 direct jobs, and an untold number of vendors, suppliers, and contractors. and this is only one employer. Man, can't you just feel that stimulus at work there? We can only hope they arent believing their own lies, or we may well end up with a deficit far in excess of their own estimate of 1.75 Trillion Dollars (thats a couple thousand dollars in debt for every man woman and child in the US) and in fact, far in excess of any previous administration, since... well, the end of World War II, and the demise of the first two "New Deals."
Watch out, here it comes again.
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