tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post8589575530692281096..comments2023-09-07T22:24:51.654-05:00Comments on League of Melbotis: This Moment in History - Watching the Financial CrisisThe Leaguehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-19206925997918093312008-10-02T22:35:00.000-05:002008-10-02T22:35:00.000-05:00Well, anyone who is planning to live off social se...Well, anyone who is planning to live off social security is kind of crazy. It's not an option, and anyone in our generation planning on the government footing the bill for retirement... not so wise.<BR/><BR/>And the stock market long-term... maybe. IF your stock of choice goes up and you didn't have everything in, say AIG. And you don't have a crash the year you're planning to retire. That's why I say: diversify, people.<BR/><BR/>I agree people need to be personally responsible. And I don't think anything we've seen regarding the responsibility of our financial institutions and how the stock market responds tells me that either is a surefire way in which to retire. <BR/><BR/>The concern is that many people will work toward pension plans their whole lives, and their company will suddenly go belly-up and their retirement is gone (that's kind of where social security came from). <BR/><BR/>Those people didn't do anything wrong, and perhaps didn't have enough money to play the markets. Or you have the situation United Airlines got into a few years ago where employees had been putting into a mandatory pension, and the company cannibalized it. Meanwhile, the guy they fired as CEO walks away with a hundred million in his severance package.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. And, yeah, I see the value in some ways in letting people roll the bones with their government sponsored retirement. The two events (companies shutting down and the stock market going to hell) can be so closely tied, if we're going to have a program at all, I'd prefer it be insulated (which was the idea all along).The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-90560545074222179082008-10-02T20:21:00.000-05:002008-10-02T20:21:00.000-05:00Ryan, putting social security money in the stock m...Ryan, putting social security money in the stock market (or better put allowing the individual to decide if they want to put it in the stockmarket) is not a bad idea. Pointing to today's current issues to make that your exhibit #1would be like UTEP going up by 3 points over U.T., 3 to nothing in the first 5 minutes of the game, and saying "See, I knew UTEP was a better team". <BR/><BR/>Historically, anyone who puts money in the stockmarket over long periods of time makes incredible gains. <BR/><BR/>The criticism of opening that option up, is that Idiot Joe American will not put his money in the market, but use it to buy lottery tickets. Which I say is his right to do so anyway. Why does Government have to our mother. If idiot Joe wants to risk living on the streets in his golden years, I'll be sure to drop a few quarters in his hat when I drive by his corner.<BR/><BR/>Personal responsibility. Personal responsibility. Personal responsibility. Consequences to our actions. Consequences to our actions. Consequences to our actions.<BR/><BR/>They were good enough to teach us as children, why as adults do they no longer apply.<BR/><BR/>Arrgh. peaboAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-91770674803734741862008-09-30T08:23:00.000-05:002008-09-30T08:23:00.000-05:00I find it interesting that this isn't really break...I find it interesting that this isn't really breaking down partisan lines, exactly. Our local Rep., Lloyd Doggett voted against, for which I take off my hat. <BR/><BR/>I don't think the general public is for the bailout. I think this is something that lawmakers are stuck looking at as a moment in history where they don't want to be seen as voting against helping the economy, but there are so many issues at play...<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I guess we'll see how all this shakes out.<BR/><BR/>What I would point out is: This is pretty much why I was so against putting Social Security money into the stock market when that was an issue about five years ago.The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-41258137130134622632008-09-29T22:04:00.000-05:002008-09-29T22:04:00.000-05:00Any proposed legislation should be to be to elimin...Any proposed legislation should be to be to eliminate the conditions that created this situation in the first place, not attempt to fix bad government with more government.<BR/><BR/>I swear this country has to turned into a bunch of hand wringing panzies. Freddie and Fannie deserve to fail. It was a tax payer funded excuse for a bunch of self serving, short sighted politicians to appoint all their buddies to sit on boards and be presidents and VPs of banks while having little to no real world business sense with the mindset that "if we give out bad loans, the government will bail us out".<BR/><BR/>Government should have little to nothing to do with lending money to citizens. Regulate, oversee, but don't let government get into anything that private business can, and has always, done better. Let the banks that got caught up with the lending frenzy go under. They deserve to. <BR/><BR/>I can't believe so many people think this is going to spark some kind of Great Depression Part 2. Lending will tighten up, a bunch of shareholders in these banks will lose everything, everyone's portfolio (including mine) will suck for a couple of years, and lessons will be learned. Better than using taxpayer money so that the shareholders of these banks don't lose their millions.<BR/><BR/>When did everyone in this country see it as some sort of God given right to make money in the stock market ? Every investment has risk attached to it, there are no guarantees, and you can't assume your house will always go up in value, and your portfolio will double every 5 years. <BR/><BR/>Patience, steadfastness, hard work will see you through, no matter who you are, or how much you have to lose. (Granted, it sucks a little more if you were planning on retiring tomorrow, but like I said, there is risk in everything. Live with it, and be happy you have got as wealthy as you have up til now.)<BR/><BR/>Rant over. And yes, I am obviously very anti-bailout. Unless the government wants to invlude small partner owned lawfirms in their taxpayer funded money handouts.<BR/><BR/>PeaboAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-47112063520348197662008-09-29T11:05:00.000-05:002008-09-29T11:05:00.000-05:00My personal letter to Hutchison, Cornyn, and Dogge...My personal letter to Hutchison, Cornyn, and Doggett:<BR/><BR/>Regarding the current bailout plan: do what needs to be done, but don’t insult your constituents in the process. For an administration that prides itself on exhorting the value of personal responsibility, do not enter into an agreement without extracting equity from participating banks while requiring all to write down their losses. I have no sympathy for the “prospect of emergency weekend work on Capitol Hill.” Do not use fear as a tactic. Do not tell me of the “grave risk” we are facing. Do not force me to accept responsibility for a decision I chose not to make. I will not own another individual’s arrogant, risky behavior. In the last year, my family faced the very real prospect of selling everything we own, including real estate and a small S corporation to deliver over half a million dollars to AIG for a bone marrow transplant. You know what, somehow we found a way. You should too.<BR/><BR/>Sincerely,<BR/>Nicole LandesUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08134362725441739994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-39517019273450101102008-09-26T16:38:00.000-05:002008-09-26T16:38:00.000-05:00I think it's apropos the "Businessman CEO" who tan...I think it's apropos the "Businessman CEO" who tanked his companies ( or the sinecures Daddy gave him ) has continued his streak.Stevenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04068217923979593122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-45934167853000243892008-09-26T14:21:00.000-05:002008-09-26T14:21:00.000-05:00Well, that's sort of the magic of leaving a paper ...Well, that's sort of the magic of leaving a paper trail, I think. Sooner or later you've got this archive you've left behind for which you may or may not be held accountable. <BR/><BR/>I don't really see anyone using this in any way but me, but you never know when you're going to want to know what you had to say about, say, the first Fantastic Four movie. And I think it's interesting to stumble across old posts and see when kids were born, what was in the news, etc... that I thought I should comment on, and HOW I thought I'd comment on it.<BR/><BR/>In the future, researchers will have a tough time using the web as a research tool as many of the newssource hyperlinks that people use disappear. I don't know why they'd do that...The Leaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04836241071795980225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256317.post-54058302411897643052008-09-26T13:49:00.000-05:002008-09-26T13:49:00.000-05:00I find it interesting that you consider the LoM as...I find it interesting that you consider the LoM as some sort of historical archive of your live since 2003 (?). <BR/><BR/>I imagine some archeologist in the year 3008 finding this blog and writing a long-winded dissertation on its value and how it reflected our society in 2000s.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com