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Barack Obama!

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The bank is broke. Without government money they will be out of business.
I reckon they should nationalise them then float them on the stock market to get some of the money back.

Knobby
 
Knobby22 said:
The bank is broke. Without government money they will be out of business.
I reckon they should nationalise them then float them on the stock market to get some of the money back.

Knobby
Click to expand...

Yeah. I know they're broke. So why make the statement yesterday that they weren't looking to nationalize? The DOW tanked until that "re-assuring" announcement was made, then rallied strongly to be only down 100pts or so at close last night. That's what is confusing about the sudden "flip-flop".

If it took a "non-nationalization" statement to recover the freefall yesterday, surely making a "part-nationalization" statement on one of the biggest US banks (a pillar of free market capitalism) will trigger off another tumble?

I'm still confused. I guess the dwindling "remainder of the free market" will say something tonight.
 
FYI

http://whitewraithe.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/alan-keyes-stop-obama-or-us-will-cease-to-exist/


I have some sympathy with this view.
 
11 Most Expensive Catastrophes in History

# 11. Titanic -$150 Million

The sinking of the Titanic is possibly the most famous accident in the world. But it barely makes our list of top 10 most expensive. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage and was considered to be the most luxurious ocean liner ever built. Over 1,500 people lost their lives when the ship ran into an iceberg and sunk in frigid waters. The ship cost $7 million to build ($150 million in today ' s dollars).http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babes_in_blue

# 10. Tanker Truck vs Bridge - $358 Million

On August 26, 2004, a car collided with a tanker truck containing 32,000 liters of fuel on the Wiehltal Bridge in Germany . The tanker crashed through the guardrail and fell 90 feet off the A4 Autobahn resulting in a huge explosion and fire which destroyed the load-bearing ability of the bridge. Temporary repairs cost $40 million and the cost to replace the bridge is estimated at $318 Million.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babes_in_blue

# 9. MetroLink Crash - $500 Million

On September 12, 2008, in what was one of the worst train crashes in California history, 25 people were killed when a Metrolink commuter train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles . It is thought that the Metrolink train may have run through a red signal while the conductor was busy text messaging.. Wrongful death lawsuits are expected to cause $500 million in losses for Metrolink.

# 8. B-2 Bomber Crash - $1.4 Billion

Here we have our first billion dollar accident (and we' re only #7 on the list). This B-2 stealth bomber crashed shortly after taking off from an air base in Guam on February 23, 2008. Investigators blamed distorted data in the flight control computers caused by moisture in the system. This resulted in the aircraft making a sudden nose-up move which made the B-2 stall and crash. This was 1 of only 21 ever built and was the most expensive aviation accident in history. Both pilots were able to eject to safety.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babes_in_blue

# 7. Exxon Valdez - $2.5 Billion

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was not a large one in relation to the world ' s biggest oil spills, but it was a costly one due to the remote location of Prince William Sound (accessible only by helicopter and boat). On March 24, 1989, 10.8 million gallons of oil was spilled when the ship ' s master, Joseph Hazelwood, left the controls and the ship crashed into a Reef. The cleanup cost Exxon $2.5 billion.

# 6. Piper Alpha Oil Rig - $3.4 Billion

The world ' s worst off-shore oil disaster. At one time, it was the world ' s single largest oil producer, spewing out 317,000 barrels of oil per day. On July 6, 1988, as part of routine maintenance, technicians removed and checked safety valves which were essential in preventing dangerous build-up of liquid gas. There were 100 identical safety valves which were checked. Unfortunately, the technicians made a mistake and forgot to replace one of them. At 10 PM that same night, a technician pressed a start button for the liquid gas pumps and the world ' s most expensive oil rig accident was set in motion.

Within 2 hours, the 300 foot platform was engulfed in flames. It eventually collapsed, killing 167 workers and resulting in $3.4 Billion in damages.

# 5. Challenger Explosion - $5.5 Billion

The Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds after takeoff due on January 28, 1986 due to a faulty O-ring. It failed to seal one of the joints, allowing pressurized gas to reach the outside. This in turn caused the external tank to dump its payload of liquid hydrogen causing a massive explosion. The cost of replacing the Space Shuttle was $2 billion in 1986 ($4.5 billion in today ' s dollars). The cost of investigation, problem correction, and replacement of lost equipment cost $450 million from 1986-1987 ($1 Billion in today ' s dollars).

# 4. Prestige Oil Spill - $12 Billion

On November 13, 2002, the Prestige oil tanker was carrying 77,000 tons of heavy fuel oil when one of its twelve tanks burst during a storm off Galicia , Spain . Fearing that the ship would sink, the captain called for help from Spanish rescue workers, expecting them to take the ship into harbour. However, pressure from local authorities forced the captain to steer the ship away from the coast. The captain tried to get help from the French and Portuguese authorities, but they too ordered the ship away from their shores. The storm eventually took its toll on the ship resulting in the tanker splitting in half and releasing 20 million gallons oil into the sea.

According to a report by the Pontevedra Economist Board, the total cleanup cost $12 billion.

# 3. Space Shuttle Columbia - $13 Billion

The Space Shuttle Columbia was the first space worthy shuttle in NASA ' s orbital fleet. It was destroyed during re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003 after a hole was punctured in one of the wings during launch 16 days earlier. The original cost of the shuttle was $2 Billion in 1978. That comes out to $6.3 Billion in today ' s dollars. $500 million was spent on the investigation, making it the costliest aircraft accident investigation in history. The search and recovery of debris cost $300 million.

In the end, the total cost of the accident (not including replacement of the shuttle) came out to $13 Billion according to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics..

# 2. Chernobyl -$200 Billion

On April 26, 1986, the world witnessed the costliest accident in history. The Chernobyl disaster has been called the biggest socio-economic catastrophe in peacetime history. 50% of the area of Ukraine is in some way contaminated. Over 200,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled while 1.7 million people were directly affected by the disaster. The death toll attributed to Chernobyl , including people who died from cancer years later, is estimated at 125,000. The total costs including cleanup, resettlement, and compensation to victims has been estimated to be roughly $200 Billion. The cost of a new steel shelter for the Chernobyl nuclear plant will cost $2 billion alone. The accident was officially attributed to power plant operators who violated plant procedures and were ignorant of the safety requirements needed.

# 1. 2008 Presidential Election- $800 Billion in the first two months………..
 
BO urged to raise the spirits & hope of Americans with regard to the economy, in his first congressional address to the nation in a few hours time. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amFYLTTmGlQI&refer=home

Methinks the Hindenberg could be re-floated on the amount of hot air coming out of Washington lately...

Of course, being the patriotic mob that they are, the US markets will undoubtedly soar shortly before, during and even possibly for a brief period after BO's flood of rhetoric.

Whether his hot breath alone is enough to sustain the economy in reality (not much else seems to be working) is another question entirely unanswered, except for the passage of a short period of time.

We shall see....
 
Aussiejeff said:
We shall see....
Click to expand...

First steps in cutting the bloated budgets in defence and agribusiness = good

Err raise corporate taxes and cut education? Not so good for long-term productivity!


M'watch:

Obama says he's identified $2 trillion in savings

By Robert Schroeder
Last update: 7:34 p.m. EST Feb. 24, 2009Comments: 13
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama and his economic team have identified $2 trillion in savings over the next 10 years, Obama will tell a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Obama says his fiscal 2010 budget will end some education programs and unnecessary direct payments to agribusinesses. The budget also aims to cut some defense contracts and end some tax breaks for corporations, he will say.
 
Bernie Madoff was a rather LARGE contributor to the Democratic Party over the years. As was Scamford, he starting giving campaign contributions back in 1989.

News out is that Sir Scamford exclusively marketed hedge funds run by
relatives of Joe Biden.

Talk about the **** permeating through the whole system. This stinks!

Stanford had links to fund run by Bidens: report

(Reuters) - A fund of hedge funds run by two members of Vice President Joe Biden's family was marketed exclusively by firms controlled by Texas financier Allen Stanford, charged by regulators with an $8 billion fraud, the Wall Street Journal said.

The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens' Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity, and was known as the Paradigm Stanford Capital Management Core Alternative Fund, the paper said.

Stanford-related companies marketed the fund to investors and also invested about $2.7 million of their own money in the fund, the paper said, citing a lawyer for Paradigm.

Paradigm Global Advisors is owned through a holding company by the vice president's son, Hunter, and Joe Biden's brother, James, according to the paper.
 
I heard he wants to cut the budget deficit by half? but how is this possible when your borrowing hundreds of billions at a time?

I must of missed maths in school
 
Ageo said:
I heard he wants to cut the budget deficit by half? but how is this possible when your borrowing hundreds of billions at a time?

I must of missed maths in school
Click to expand...

It IS very confusing Ageo!

The Bush Administration's budget deficit is expected to be 'about' $1.5t trillion.

This includes the bank rescue plan as this was done on Bush's watch.

So cutting this back by half means: $750 billion.

But - it does not include the costs of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars as they were not budgeted for!!!!

 
Just watched half of his address to the nation, full of BS as usual with supporters clapping their sweaty little hands off at every chance.

The audience looked bored and wouldn't you be ? I've seen this move several times before.

If they want to know how good they have it we should send KRudd over to give them a serve of his own particular brand of verbal anesthetic.

He started to get a bit more meaty when I turned off, I think any decisions he will make to help things will be very unpopular so.......... we're still waiting Mr President !
 

BO is the Joker in the pack of world leaders atm.

He is playing a lay down misere - BUT, if his PROMISE to US citizens that he will slash the deficit and create a resurgent American economy by year's end doesn't actually materialize, he is fast going to become the lamest el Presidente ever and the US economy will be doomed to wallow in the cesspit for years.

He's playing for keeps with the US citizenry's chips.

Will he win?

aj
 

He's playing the confidence card, it's the only one he's got really.
 
So exactly who would make a better American President right now?

America is in deep, deep, doodah. It has helped take the rest of the world into the pit. How the hell will we get out? God knows but it certainly won't be through following the last 20 years of consumption and financial BS programs.

Amercia and the world faces an immediate financial crisis with an imminent Peak Oil crisis as well as the real impacts of Global Warming to follow. We can't address these with a spendathaon at the MALL.

If Barack Obama can recognise all of these issues and turn America from a consumption economy into a green, sustainable investment economy and somehow keep the population alive and non feral there is a (slim) chance.

I think we should just pray for him because if he goes down we follow.
 


It's out of his control.

He's a good motivator but that wont fix the problems they will have to take their course.
 
MrBurns said:
Just watched half of his address to the nation, full of BS as usual with supporters clapping their sweaty little hands off at every chance.

The audience looked bored and wouldn't you be ? I've seen this move several times before.
Click to expand...

Do you know whom Obama was addressing?

Did you know that he was interrupted 65 times by applause?

Did you know he had 37 standing ovations?

WHO applauded?
WHO gave standing ovations?
 
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