Dollar slide accelerates

[docboston]

The largest drag on current us economy is its presidnet, Yeda Bush. The war he started is sucking out trillions from usa economy, the money that could be used for constructive projects is being used for distruction in Iraq. Other than Halliberton and its agents like Cheney and Wolfowits no ne else is beniffiting from it.
Just wait for 2 years and this monkey (Bush) will go away aand USA economy will automatically improve, the dollar will gain strenghth.
There are 2 kinds of Fools in the world, the first type where the prson knows he is fool and keeps shut, the world does not have problem with such fool. The oher type of fool does not know he is fool and does the things that we are seeing in Iraq. the worls do have problems with such a fool.
Just look at Bush's nominies for various departments , all of them are "B" grade picks. e.g Chertoff for homland security. Bernake for Federal reserve.

When Bush came in 2000 the Dow Jones was 10700 (Oct 2000)
Yesterday it closed at 12800.

SO it looks like net 20% increase in 7 years. However, if you use the inflation calculator at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ the same 10700 in october 2000 has the buying power of 12759.97 today. Thus, if some one had invested in an Index fund in 2000, then he just about got even taking inflation into account.

This reflects badly on the state of US ecomomy.

 

[techy2468]

When Bush came in 2000 the Dow Jones was 10700 (Oct 2000)
Yesterday it closed at 12800.

SO it looks like net 20% increase in 7 years. However, if you use the inflation calculator at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ the same 10700 in october 2000 has the buying power of 12759.97 today. Thus, if some one had invested in an Index fund in 2000, then he just about got even taking inflation into account.

This reflects badly on the state of US ecomomy.

dont you think its wrong to say that market did not do well from 2000 to 2007, because its a known fact that from 2001-2003 we were in recession...

I am not a big fan of bush, but i dont think, the messed up economy between 2001-2003 was his fault, he inherited it.

not that clinton was at fault, sometimes a leader cannot help about the greed of the people.....(which is happening right now in india and china.....everyone thinks you can become a overnight millionaire by investing in either property or stock market)

in fact bush can claim that he fixed a broken economy by his policies....since we came out of recessions and high unemployment within a short time of around 2 years..

 

[nyc8300]

Breaking even with Bush is excellent! We will see the true valuation in some years though....

When Bush came in 2000 the Dow Jones was 10700 (Oct 2000)
Yesterday it closed at 12800.

SO it looks like net 20% increase in 7 years. However, if you use the inflation calculator at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ the same 10700 in october 2000 has the buying power of 12759.97 today. Thus, if some one had invested in an Index fund in 2000, then he just about got even taking inflation into account.

This reflects badly on the state of US ecomomy.

 

[tusharvk]

search for market timers

i am sorry.....but dont you think if it can be predicted......we can be millionaires (if we were the only ones to be able to predict).....please share the formula which will help me predict the stock market.

I repeat.....no one can say for sure about any market.........too many variables involved in cyclic dependency.....and of course we do not have a system in place to monitor most of them.....we are able to only monitor few and thats how the market knows about the health of the economy...

 

[Jackolantern]

When Bush came in 2000 the Dow Jones was 10700 (Oct 2000)
Yesterday it closed at 12800.

Actually it was November 2000 when Bush won^H^H^Hstole the election, and January 2001 when he officially took power. But yes, when taking inflation into account, the market hasn't made net progress since then.

 

[goan2005]

Yeda Bush

Ya , The market is even considering hte inflation but dolllar has depritiated 20% over last 5 yers which means the purchsing power of USA has decresed i.e Bush is a disaster to economiy.

 

[tusharvk]

how is he disaster to economy? his tax cuts (while they could have been more directed to low to middle income people) have helped; the economy created on avg 130 k jobs starting mid-to-late 03, corp profits are strong and capital spending is rising. Unemployment is low. Inflation is low as well.
Stock market is undervalued in terms of P/E ratio. But it is a poor indicator of economy.
Honestly, a president can only do so much to stimulate the economy. Stock market did well in 90's but not necessarily to Clinton's credit.
Stock market passes through bullisn and bearish phases. Right now it is the latter phase. So president can't do much about it.

Ya , The market is even considering hte inflation but dolllar has depritiated 20% over last 5 yers which means the purchsing power of USA has decresed i.e Bush is a disaster to economiy.

 

[docboston]

how is he disaster to economy? his tax cuts (while they could have been more directed to low to middle income people) have helped; the economy created on avg 130 k jobs starting mid-to-late 03, corp profits are strong and capital spending is rising. Unemployment is low. Inflation is low as well.
Stock market is undervalued in terms of P/E ratio. But it is a poor indicator of economy.
Honestly, a president can only do so much to stimulate the economy. Stock market did well in 90's but not necessarily to Clinton's credit.
Stock market passes through bullisn and bearish phases. Right now it is the latter phase. So president can't do much about it.

I disagree when you say yhe stock market is undervalued. The P/E (forwhatever it is worth) for s&p 500 at the end of last year was around 16, neither too high or too low. I also disagree that the market is bearish. With the dollar sliding (good indicator of international communities concern about the us economy) and rising energy prices, you would expect that investors would be a little cautious. But what you see is that the dow jones reached record highs yesterday, clsoe to 13000!, More "Bullish" than "Bearish".

On the other hand I agree that Bush wasnt too bad. The disastrous recession and war spendings were nicely offset by the tax cuts, . I bet if he had raised taxes to fund the war, as many democrats wanted, we would still have been in recession. All democratic presidential candidates have voiced their stand to reverse the tax cuts. Edwards is already promising to increase taxes to fund his health coverage plans. SO PLEASE VOTE REPUBLICAN ONCE YOU ALL GET CITIZENSHIP

 

[Jackolantern]

On the other hand I agree that Bush wasnt too bad. The disastrous recession and war spendings were nicely offset by the tax cuts, . I bet if he had raised taxes to fund the war, as many democrats wanted, we would still have been in recession. All democratic presidential candidates have voiced their stand to reverse the tax cuts. Edwards is already promising to increase taxes to fund his health coverage plans. SO PLEASE VOTE REPUBLICAN ONCE YOU ALL GET CITIZENSHIP

1. Those tax cuts were fake, because they took place in the presence of rising government debt, which means future tax increases to pay off the debt plus interest. A $100 tax cut today in exchange for a $150 tax increase tomorrow is not a real tax cut.

2. Edwards won't win. At least he better not win. I hope the Dems don't choose him as their candidate.

3. No matter whether you agree with their "moral values", Republicans won't do anything for you if you're not rich, white, and male.

 

[techy2468]

since we are talking politics...let me add something...

if repubs were to fight on real issues and not bring religion into politics.....they will always lose....

whatever strength they have is derived from 30% of religious conservatives......who only vote for people favoring their religious beliefs....


even after such a bad governance for eight years with a stupid war without a valid reason.......do you think it will be cake walk for the democrats to win this election...........no.....because there will always be the pro-life and gay marriage issues which will be most important for the stupid religious people..

 

[tusharvk]

what you call as issues being important to "stupid religious" people, are real issues facing our generation.
But religion aside, gop is moving away from its core values (fiscal conservatism, less governance, etc.) and hence they lost control of the house. Whether the presidential election will be cake walk for them just depends on whether they are able to make any real difference rather than just creating road blocks in the efforts in regards to war on terror.

since we are talking politics...let me add something...

if repubs were to fight on real issues and not bring religion into politics.....they will always lose....

whatever strength they have is derived from 30% of religious conservatives......who only vote for people favoring their religious beliefs....


even after such a bad governance for eight years with a stupid war without a valid reason.......do you think it will be cake walk for the democrats to win this election...........no.....because there will always be the pro-life and gay marriage issues which will be most important for the stupid religious people..

 

[techy2468]

ya....forcing legislation based on religious beliefs is really needed...

maybe we need a papal rule or islamic law......

just like BJP is doing in india......trying to fool the people by bringing religion into politics......

its a shame that usa being so educated.....they still think legislation should be influenced by their religious beliefs......i guess we human beings are not getting smarter with passing time......
Taleban rule in afghan was just the extreme end of what you are asking for......for them they were implementing islamic rule as per the book....as per their interpretation.....

 

[docboston]

ya....forcing legislation based on religious beliefs is really needed...

maybe we need a papal rule or islamic law......

just like BJP is doing in india......trying to fool the people by bringing religion into politics......

its a shame that usa being so educated.....they still think legislation should be influenced by their religious beliefs......i guess we human beings are not getting smarter with passing time......
Taleban rule in afghan was just the extreme end of what you are asking for......for them they were implementing islamic rule as per the book....as per their interpretation.....

You are mistaken if you think that republicans win only due to religious conservatives. Core values of being strong on defense, positve for economy, fiscal responsibility and small government are their main appeal. TO me, their bowing to religious right is a small negative. Actually, i cant think of any legislation that they passed in the last 7 years which would affect my right to practice or not practice any religion I choose.

Democrats on the other hand love the quasi socialistic entitlement society of westrn europe, where just being in the country entitles you to unemploymnt benifits and free medical care. Guess whose tax money pays for this? Hard working, tax paying citizens. The medicaid disability sytem in US is also being severly abused. Originally designed to provide medical care for people who cant work due to medical conditions, I now see people with medicaid benifits for "Obesity", "Depression", "Chronic fatigue" and "Fibromyalgia". Its ok for me as these are the kind of people who want to see a doctor for every headache or sorethroat they get and I get paid nicely by medicaid. But guess where the money is coming from? From your tax dollars.

Also

 

[Jackolantern]

You are mistaken if you think that republicans win only due to religious conservatives. Core values of being strong on defense, positve for economy, fiscal responsibility and small government are their main appeal.

That's what they say their values are, but their actions are quite different.

TO me, their bowing to religious right is a small negative. Actually, i cant think of any legislation that they passed in the last 7 years which would affect my right to practice or not practice any religion I choose.

But that points out the uselessness of voting for them based on religious reasons. They aren't going to do anything for people because of religion. They'll try to push their religious agenda sometimes, and it usually won't go anywhere, but they'll still convince people to vote for them based on religion.

 

[techy2468]

You are mistaken if you think that republicans win only due to religious conservatives. Core values of being strong on defense, positve for economy, fiscal responsibility and small government are their main appeal. TO me, their bowing to religious right is a small negative. Actually, i cant think of any legislation that they passed in the last 7 years which would affect my right to practice or not practice any religion I choose.

Democrats on the other hand love the quasi socialistic entitlement society of westrn europe, where just being in the country entitles you to unemploymnt benifits and free medical care. Guess whose tax money pays for this? Hard working, tax paying citizens. The medicaid disability sytem in US is also being severly abused. Originally designed to provide medical care for people who cant work due to medical conditions, I now see people with medicaid benifits for "Obesity", "Depression", "Chronic fatigue" and "Fibromyalgia". Its ok for me as these are the kind of people who want to see a doctor for every headache or sorethroat they get and I get paid nicely by medicaid. But guess where the money is coming from? From your tax dollars.

Also

small government.....oh yeah....
fiscal responsibility??

intelligent design anybody??.......trying to push abortion laws anytime they have a majority in supreme court (which is right now...)

the margin with which they won last two elections,they would lose, If the religious right were to vote based on actual issues.

thats why i am saying....that even now....after having failed utterly, miserably........it will not be a cakewalk for democrats................because repubs get unwavering/unquestioned support from religious conservatives....

how do i know that.......i am in alabama....even the most educated IT guy is a religious person.......and one of them frankly told me that they are scared of the democrats.....they are scared that the country will become liberal.....and nobody will care for their conservative values.....hence they keep voting for repubs always....

i am not saying democrats will provide great governance...........and i am not sure i agree with you on medicaid being such a failure...remember more than 40% of people dont have health care.....are they supposed to die when they fall ill.......no they have medicaid to take care of them....of course it may be getting misused......it just needs to be tweaked to make it better...

 

[eBhola]

thats why i am saying....that even now....after having failed utterly, miserably........it will not be a cakewalk for democrats................because repubs get unwavering/unquestioned support from religious conservatives....

Well, GOP has very very well oiled machinery to win elections...


I know a family .. both from India and now citizens of US. they are in there 60's ... the family pays around $ 45,000 in taxes each year. Both of them are conservative .. very very religious

The family has a large Indian friends circle .. all old guys ... sometimes we are invited to there parties ... All the guys are very well educated .. most make lots of money .. almost every one visits the famous Hindu temple in the city.
The priest in the temple .. I came to know was a Life Insurance agent in India .. before he turned priest -- well the priesthood got him the visa and eventually the green card.

The priest and his rich followers all vote GOP .. no matter what.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Question -
1>We all talk about the great MELTING POT ... why we do not see a ethnic diversified parties -- Is the melting pot only a phrase?

2>Why religious people lean towards GOP? Does the GOP really care about them?

 

[techy2468]

ebhola....thats quite interesting that even non christians support GOP..

maybe GOP has done a good job at spreading the idea that democrats stand for ultra left liberals....hippies....the free spirit life.....and hence all conservative of all religions...feel that its not a good thing if everyone starts smoking pot.....

apart from the BJ clinton did in the oval office i do not remember them doing anything so bad that they are shunned by all religious people..

one more thing i have noticed.....its not enough that you are a christian and a person of faith......to deserve the vote of religious conservatives........you have to actually support two of their most important issues......PRO-LIFE and Anti-Gay marriage acts.....if you are not vocal in talking about these issues...you will be branded as a non-christian...

as i said we human beings are still centuries away from being real smart .....the best we can do is USA democratic country......which goes to war for the sake of business (OIL)......instead of working to solve the actual problem.....we keep doing things for the short run for the profit of selected few...

 

[nTan]

The Latin Americans are very religious people.

Will the current Adminstration do a landside immigration reforms for them, just before the next Elections?