Search results

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    China dumping dollars and stockpiling copper?

    What was the situation with China's reserve in February? I don't think the author of the original article knows that much about economics.
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    Do you think things would be better/worse if there were no political parties?

    And to answer the first question, absolutely worse. People still wouldn't become more informed, which would only allow many unqualified or otherwise 'bad' candidates to get elected. I also sure as hell don't wan't to see a multi-party system in America that would bog us down endlessly...
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    Do you think things would be better/worse if there were no political parties?

    Yes, because regardless of party affiliation elected officials continue to vote and act their conscience and maintain all of their beliefs once they make it to Washington. The reality is that party identification is as good of a heuristic as any other in the decision of voters. Should voters...
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    Obama, leadership on the international stage

    He may have been oversimplifying, but I think you may be overstating the successes. Obama wanted discretionary stimulus plans, but did not get it. The monies "promised" to the IMF are just that, promises. We will have to wait and see if it materializes. And the SDRs themselves aren't...
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    Iran has no interest in Obama's olive branch.

    Agreed that we should look at all options, but there is a potential cost to direct negotiations. Iran, much like North Korea, could very well use direct two party talks to simply press for a couple of demands, never interested in any concessions. One demand would likely be outrageous, the...
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    Iran has no interest in Obama's olive branch.

    Sure about that, that the Iranian people like us? Polls don't indicate any type of broad support. And I didn't realize that Mahmoud ran the nation. When did this change happen?
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    US and EU to Clash at G20 Summit: Who has the right approach?

    Yep. It is an impossible thing that any reading or posting on this forum have studied, maybe even possessing degrees in, finance or economics. As for the question, the European approach only works in a vacuum. It appears that Professor Ferguson was correct when he commented on...
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    w00t, House passes bill that taxes AIG bonuses at 90%!!!

    If the litigants were to succeed, assuming the receivers do litigate, I would envision it being on equal protection grounds.
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    Fed to buy up to $300B long-term Treasury bonds

    All things considered, I still don't think it is that much. (Now the trade weighted average is a bit different, as earlier referenced). The USD had risen a bit about an hour ago, but is falling again. We will see if it stays above $1.3635 today.
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    Fed to buy up to $300B long-term Treasury bonds

    I wouldn't say it lost a ton, at around 2% losses, but it rightly has moved as expected. It has also understandably weakened more against the NZ dollar and Norwegian krone. It probably still has some ways to go down. However, look at what happened to the Pound after the UK introduced QE...
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    Fed to buy up to $300B long-term Treasury bonds

    No. It won't lead to inflation in the US, only potentially in the nations that are "printing" that money. The value of nearly all currencies are based on exchange rates. If a nation artificially printed an inordinate amount of money to buy our debt their currency would be worse far far less...
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    The economy will be fine and dandy! || The economy will go down in flames!

    Also check out The Fed's Stat page. It is current, and particularly good for analyzing flows and supply.
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    Fed to buy up to $300B long-term Treasury bonds

    The worry about QE is that nobody really knows what or when. And will the Fed be able to reverse course when necessary. It won't be strictly a monetary decision, but also a political one. Couple that with the seeming proclivity of the current powers that be to favor protectionist policies...
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    Fed to buy up to $300B long-term Treasury bonds

    I am not so certain that it has been foreigners buying the past six months. It does worry me a little bit. By the way, I agree fully with you about the risk, (or lack thereof), of hyperinflation, and with the absolute necessity for Japan and China to continue to seek safe harbor in the US.
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    Democrats unable to wrestle away house seat from repubs

    It is very true, and worth repeating, that this was but one race in a heavy GOP district. It should also be pointed out that immigration played a major role in this race, a race in an area deeply affected by immigration. Ms. Busby was perceived by many to be on the wrong side of that issue...
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    POLL: Mark Felt...Hero or Traitor?

    I was merely addressing him in relationship to those who admitted their wrongdoings and did so without taking down others. He is in that group. Regardless of whether one agrees or not with his stances and sincerity, (I do not disagree with the notion that he has at times used his position to...
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    POLL: Mark Felt...Hero or Traitor?

    That is the point though. Many are judging him not on who he leaked information about, but rather the how and why. For example, why did he not go to the Grand Jury? He certainly could have, and such an action may have resulted in a better, and still just, outcome.
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    POLL: Mark Felt...Hero or Traitor?

    Even subscribing to that way of thinking, a great many people feel tje 'ends' were awful, hence there was no justification of his means.
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    POLL: Mark Felt...Hero or Traitor?

    Mr. Colson deserves to also be in that category. He took the punishment for his actions and came out a better man. He also chose not to attempt to take down the CIA or FBI, even though they may have attempted to do that to him. As for the question, neither. The answer, as with many...
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    Businesses, taxes, and job creation

    Exactly. As profits become more and more important to corporations, as they have over the last 6 to 8 years, this would be an unacceptable situation. Of course this does not even take into account such things as productivity, debt capital, and undistributed profits, all of which are...
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    Businesses, taxes, and job creation

    What do you feel happens to the money gained as a dividend? Do potential upsides not affect stock prices? What about a decline in profitability in past investments?
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    Israel's News Icon Blasts "Brutal" Occupation

    Giving folks like you, and many Palestinians, what they wish for is hatred? Wow. I always thought the the expressed goal of pushing the Jews into the sea was hatred, but now I know differently. (And just to clarify, again, I do advocate the abandonment of all settlements in Gaza and...
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    Israel's News Icon Blasts "Brutal" Occupation

    I certainly hope Israel completely vacates Gaza and the West Bank. Most realists do. On a side note, in a sick and twisted way, I want to see just how badly screwed up a hamas dominated and controlled Gaza is going to be.
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    Cheney Suggests Laura Bush should run for President

    Yeah, I guess that is what I found so unbelievable, if not downright scary. There are certainly things to disagree and debate about. This is not one of them. (I do still think many didn't read the article, but only the headline and assumed it was the Vice President himself who seriously...
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    Businesses, taxes, and job creation

    No. Firstly, I believe that an erroneous micro concept was mixed with a macro one. How individuals are affected by, and react to, an economic policy is not necessarily how a corporation would or should. I state erroneous because it was incorrectly stated what the purpose of interest...
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    three reasons to hate bush

    Actually, we went there primarily for neither, but whatever fuels one's vitriol.
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    Cheney Suggests Laura Bush should run for President

    As usual, quite an entertaining thread. I would like to ask though if everyone involved actually read the original linked article? Or if you are aware that this was an off-handed humorously made remark by Lynne Cheney, the wife of the Vice President? Just curious. As an aside, I too do...
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    Is having a Christian president something to fear?

    Yeah, it's a good thing that none of our leaders ever put any stock in a silly idea like manifest destiny before.
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    Is having a Christian president something to fear?

    A reasonable response. Personally, I favor stem-cell funding and research, but I do not find the opposition to it as being an extremist position. Rather, it is the logical conclusion that all Christians, including Catholics, should adhere do. I realise that a great many do not, and I think it...
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    Is this the voice of the American taliban?

    I don't have the inclination to verify if the quote from the former president, (never known for being either an extremist or fundamentalist) is true or taken in context, though somebody probably should seeing that we already know that one of the quotes is wrong, so I can not honestly speak to...
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    Is this the voice of the American taliban?

    Likewise, could you link for us where a fringe extreme whacko espousing these exact hateful views has any influence whatsoever in American governmental policies, or where they aided and abetted in the murders of over three thousand innocent people?
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    Does anyone still think Fox is fair and balanced?

    Why do any of you care? Seriously, what difference does it make, other than giving you all something to moan about? Assuming that FoxNews is as biased and partisan as is claimed, there seems to me three primary groups who might tune in to watch. 1. Those that inherently agree with their...
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    Is having a Christian president something to fear?

    I am not a 'Christian' as per the definition so loosely thrown around these ways, so maybe I have just missed it, but what new religious beliefs has this President 'forced' on anyone? I still don't go to any church, I still drink when I choose to, and can still look at naked women, even ones...
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    A Matter of Minutes -- DOWNING STREET DOSSIER

    Far be it from me to disagree with any posted here or on the daily kos site, but you do realise that the whole of the Downing Street minutes are all based on the opinions and perceptions of one man, obtained from one short meeting? I am not even arguing the point that they are wrong, rather...
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    I Used To Be a Neocon

    What does this then have to do with neoconservatives, most of whom are quite secular?
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    Vote to end debate on Bolton fails

    There you go again with the hasty generalisations and broad aspersions. I have not done this, and really wish you would not either. I have not said, for example, that the 'left' is always wrong. Frankly, I am not even sure what that term refers to. Grouping people into such large categories...
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    I Used To Be a Neocon

    I am, in a way. I don't doubt that he supported the action in Iraq and now no longer does. But if he were truly of a neoconservative philosophy, he would understand that being so is about so much more than military action in Iraq, just as being a neoliberal is about so much more than favoring...
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    Vote to end debate on Bolton fails

    Except that I posted last night, but that is probably irrelevant. There is no point to, or possibility of, proving that which can not be proven. On a related, but larger issue, perhaps some here are growing increasingly tired of others pontificating and hurling barbs and thinly veiled...
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    Baghdad to be home to 40,000 troops and a wall

    My apologies in advance for not having enough time to adequately answer. I will try my best to give a summary of my thoughts. I did claim FDR only fit 13/14, with the organised labor topic being the one to not apply to his presidency. That much should be obvious to any who have read his...