Charlie Rose

Allen Bonet  11/02/2008 06:37 PM Report

LEST WE FORGET!!

AMERICANS WAKE UP

Our constitution warns us that we must be diligent to preserve our democracy. We must not forget how George Bush got to be president. HE WAS NOT ELECTED!! The Bush administration seized control of the country through a very cleverly executed conspiracy that involved the U.S. Supreme Court. The Bush political machine reasoned that since we are a nation that is governed by the rule of law, they had only to invoke the spectre of the authority of the Supreme Court to declare that George Bush should be the president and no one would challenge that edict. They were right. We must note, however, there is nothing in the constitution that provides the supreme court the power to appoint anyone to be the president of the United States of America. The most damaging consequence of having a president who has not been elected by the people is that invariably that person gets to advance his own agenda.

The Bush agenda began with the war in Iraq. And, while we were diverted with the concerns about the horrors of war, the economy was being ravaged by the greedy schemes that inundated the real estate industry across the country. The stock market engineered the manipulation of gasoline prices while many major industries engaged in manufactured product, routinely elected to outsource the jobs for their merchandise. These aggressive simultaneous attacks on the economy factored into the recession the world now faces. Clearly, this pattern of attacks on the economy represents an organized agenda. Still the most outrageous transgression perpetrated on the American people by the Bush administration lies in the fact that the war in Iraq is being used to extort billions upon billions of dollars of tax payer’s money through government contracts that have been awarded to American owned construction companies to rebuild what the war has destroyed. Private security companies are also pocketing an enormous sum. In addition, during these last 8 years on Bush’s watch, more than 1.33 trillion dollars has been misappropriated from the social security fund. Clearly, this political machine that seized control of the country in the name of Bush, did so for money; huge sums of money and has succeeded.

Greed is a hell of a beast to feed. They are not yet satisfied; they want more, and will do anything to retain power. Sarah Palin, one who is clearly not qualified to be in position to run the country, is a sign of their raging desperation. They have used the war in Iraq to extract billions upon billions of tax payer’s money from the people and now they seek to rely on this same war to instill fear in the American people in order to solidify their position. They are making the claim that if we should pull our troops out of Iraq, that would be admitting defeat, which would be a horrible disgrace to this country. They prefer to remain in Iraq, kill more people, and have more of our people killed. Needless to say, the longer we stay, the more tax payer’s money goes into the pockets of those with government contracts.

We must take a step back and carefully analyze what has happened. The Supreme Court didn’t arbitrarily decide to appoint Bush as president without some powerful incentive. With the enormous sums of money that has been exchanging hands during Bush’s administration, it is not hard to reason why the Supreme Court acted in favor of installing Bush as the president. Because of this underhanded method, of taking control of the country, the republicans HAVE SUBVERTED OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM OF ELECTING OUR PRESIDENT. One can argue that in doing so, they have committed treason. In truth, the republicans have forfeited the right to even offer a candidate for presidency at this juncture. The American people should go to the polls and vote en masse as one against the republican party to teach them a lesson: TREASON NEVER PROSPERS!! THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOULD BE OUTRAGED AND ASHAMED OF THIS!!

Patti Wyzynski  10/30/2008 08:56 PM Report

This week, October 27, 2008, Ted Fortsmann was a guest on Charlie Rose. I was especially incensed to hear Mr. Fortsmann talk about Nelson Mandela's moral compass. Although I have the highest regard for Nobel Laureate Mandela, coming from the likes of Mr. Fortsmann is rather ironic.

In the 1980's I worked for Sybron, a manufacturer of plastic labware. It was a fabulous company, run by very qualified individuals and talented executives. As an employee, I had great benefits and an excellent retirement program.

In the late 80's Fortsmann/Little purchased Sybron. What I understood, at the time, was that they bought and sold companies. What I didn't know was that we would be restructured in a leverage buyout. I was unaware at the time, that what really occurred was a hostile takeover in a highly predatory fashion.

One of the ways that Fortsmann/Little increased assets of Sybron was to raid our retirement fund, leaving the work force with substantially lower benefits upon retirement. At the time I was young and didn't think I would ever be "retired". Now that we are facing this huge economic downturn, especially to our 401s, the reduction of my retirement account is particularly insidious.

Mr. Fortsmann mentioned that government intervention in business is disturbing, in that the government can't even deliver the mail. I would much rather my mail be late than have someone steal money out from under me.

Randy Clark  10/28/2008 04:01 AM Report

With the former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, in the news the last few days admitting that he may have made mistakes in unleashing capitalism to run wild by removing regulations and restrictions, why hasn't any news agency hit on the fact that all Greenspan did for his entire time in office was put into effect Ayn Rand's economic philosophy of Objectivism?

Greenspan is a known adherent of Rand's philosophy, was a prominent follower of her when she was alive, and was one of the few people to attend her funeral.

All this scratching of heads by "experts" as to why the USA economy has melted is easily explained by simply stating that Greenspan inflicted an economic philosophy of unbridled greed exactly as it is prescribed in Rand's written works and was taught to Greenspan by his philosophic mentor - Ayn Rand herself.

Why doesn't anyone in the media cover this obvious angle?

Ann C.  10/27/2008 02:17 PM Report

Correct. i'm an older person, but so glad to hear Andrew Ross Sorkin. He makes sense. Level-headed. So scary in the hand of young and inexperienced..World leaders, phooffff. Charlie..you found a STAR analyst on your show. luv to see him more on CharlieRose Show. Thanks to your excellent team.

Your perspectives are lucid, stay the 'ell outa what nots. ya let comments screamin' their heads off..ha huh. that's COOL..U'R THE BEST IN AMERICA. no doubt about it. Even BBC sinks..old glory are bygones..is that right?

CHARLIE and YOUR GUESTS are superb, U'R THE FUTURE, congrats !!!

Preston  10/24/2008 11:47 AM Report

Neil MacCallister, I'm Barrack Obama, and I approve that message... NOT!

Preston  10/24/2008 11:47 AM Report

A date with Marilyn Monroe, would be nice for starters.

Janet  10/12/2008 02:23 PM Report

There were 3.6 million jobs posted on employment sites in september. I know the media is screaming recession but there are hundreds of thousands of 100K jobs posted on employment sites -

www.linkedin.com (networking)

www.indeed.com (aggregated job listings)

www.realmatch.com (matches you to the perfect job)

Good luck to all those searching for jobs.

Dennis F Wolz  10/12/2008 09:32 AM Report

10/01/08

Do you want to make a difference?

If you do, read the following and send it to at least 8 people. Also send a copy to anyone in Government that you know and let them know what you are going to do on Nov 4th. Within a few days everyone will have read the following and hopefully buckle down and have faith that within a few years you and I will be better off than the rich greedy bastards that now run your government and businesses. Bring main street back to life!

What is going on now is very good for Main Street.

Oil came down again today. Corn, Cattle, Soybeans, everything except gold is down today. This has to happen, now or next week or next month.

Until Commodities match wages we are simply living in a false economy and it cannot continue forever. No way, now how. In the last 10 years wages have hardly risen for the 95% of the working public, adjusted for the devalued dollar wages actually fell. Commodities have risen as much as 10 times in that period (oil from $10 to $150). Wages pay for everything and commodities make up everything, gas, oatmeal, eggs, houses, you name it, what you buy is a commodity. Their price has to be relative to wages or you have to buy less.

Our government, your banker, your talking heads on the TV and radio talked you into buying a house you couldn’t afford, a car you couldn’t afford, a student loan that you couldn’t afford, a credit card you couldn’t pay down, all to line their greedy pockets. This money was given to you even though it didn’t really exist so that you could drive up commodity prices and line their pockets. It might have made you feel good but it is destroying our way of life.

Given all this oil needs to be somewhere between $30 and $50 per barrel. In fact if we could get oil to $40 the other commodities will be back to where they were before all of this funny money started flowing 10 years ago.

How do we get oil prices down? Demand is going to do it sooner or later because the global economy will shrink until that point. We could speed up this drop in price and pump the reserve dry if you had to. Conserve, conserve, conserve, drive only when you have to. Once we get it down the government can keep oil down by buying and selling in the market with the vengeance of a greedy commodities broker who gets rich on the back of others. Another way is to strengthen the dollar, the higher the dollar the lower oil goes. Quit spending on stupid things until you balance the budget.

Once main street can afford to buy gas and shop for groceries, then and only then will the markets start to function again. Then we can start to talk about fixing the system again. Stocks used to be in the form of certificates, you actually owned a share. If you bought a barrel of oil you took it with you, you actually owned something, you didn’t just trade it to drive the price up or down. When this is all over we need to establish laws that control greed and dishonesty, not laws that line the rich and powerful.

Get rid of the IRS and go to value added. A rich fat cat buying a 10 million dollar home would pay 1 million dollars in tax to the government at 10 percent. You and I would have to pay the government 30 dollars if we bought a lawnmower for $300, 10 cents for a loaf of bread. A 10 percent tax would more than finance any government worth its salt, do away with the rest. The state would collect the money just like it does the sales tax every month and send it to Washington. Congress could make this happen overnight, but they will not because most of the money will come from the 10 percent at the top who are your congressmen and bankers and greedy CEO’s, your voice will never be heard on this matter.

Have your government pass a law to cut all government employees by 33%. The waste in our government is criminal, criminal, criminal. By reducing government by a third you would actually speed it up and get out of deficit spending (balance the budget and spend real money again).

Take interest rates to +-1%. Banks giving you money at 7 or 8 percent when you get less than 1 percent on your savings only builds more and more banks. Banks and your government do not have to be rich fat cats. Banks could lend money at 1 percent over their cost and still get by. The government could lend to the banks at zero, therefore interest rates at 1 percent.

The cost of money causes inflation. High interest rates are simply passed on to the consumer in the form of price increases thus causing inflation and higher prices. Control the supply of money and you control inflation. Control the deflation of the dollar and you control inflation.

Lower interest rates and save mortgage holders, a zero principal mortgage would owe how much every month at a zero interest rate, zero. Even the person that is over their head with a $500,000 mortgage would owe less than $900 per month at 2% interest. This would fix most foreclosures and be enough to pay for any work the banker is doing on your behalf. It will not pay his 10 million per year salary but who cares.

The best way to fix this mess is to form a new Independent party and get rid of Republicans and Democrats. But we don’t have time to do this right now. The next best way to let our government know we are serious about a fix is to remove anyone in office on November 4th. Forget your political allegiance, anyone in government has to understand that we want change. Having all new faces in all units of government from the county rep to the state rep to the federal rep will send a message heard around the world.

My vote in November is to vote anyone in out, it is a shame that Bush isn’t up for reelection so that I could take him out also. By the way I will be glad to be president, write me in as your candidate for president. I will do the job for free.

Send this to anyone in government you know and wish them good luck in finding a job come January

Thanks for your attention to this matter.

Dennis

Send me an email and let me know what you think – denniswolz@att.net

dbryce  10/11/2008 05:38 PM Report

PLEASE,,,get Nouriel Roubini to come back. !!! We need to hear what he has to say!again.

SB  10/01/2008 09:56 AM Report

I saw the interview on the economic crisis, and I really don;t have any comments about it, but I do have some comments about this Andrew Ross Sorkin guy.....I am absolutely fascinated by him...is he married? do you think I could have his email?

Marilyn  09/20/2008 02:50 PM Report

Having scoured these and other sites to find understandable reflections on this, found at www.billmoyers.com great show with Kevin Phillips, author of Bad Money. Video of show available at site. I think we are just putting bandaids on financial helium balloons, and the real economy of life will suffer, that is, the basic needs of life, not the b.s.

sock puppet  09/20/2008 12:01 AM Report

Are we Socialists yet? Well 99% of us think so. (Somebody needs to absorb the socialized losses for the top 1% fat cat wise-guys.) The way capitalism / socialism is supposed to work in the good ole US of A.

maureen  09/19/2008 01:53 PM Report

Roubini quotes on the Lehrer news hour:

"self regulation means no regulation"

On 'capitalism' in this economy: " Profits are privatized and losses are socialised"

I love this guy!

Now that I am invested in this bail-out I want to know how much money was made by the management of these bailed out firms, and I want it refunded to the bail out fund in recompense for the poor job performance given!

Preston  09/19/2008 11:34 AM Report

Yeah, Humans. You can't live with them, and you can't live without them... You go out of your way to help, and they only thank God. You make one little mistake, and you have countless fingers in your face, blaming, blaming, blaming... Think about that Economists.--------- The front page headline article of the Washington P**t (today), in my opinion, shows more faith in a few smart guys to manage a "potential" "crisis", than a herd of bickering politicians led by a nice but ignorant lady and a flaming fruitcake. I don't know; is that unreasonable?

sock puppet  09/19/2008 12:35 AM Report

Not exactly on point but important in its own right, and exemplifies our depravity for any and everything from war to financial exploitation. Depravity reqiured for abuse of animals fits the tapestry. It's important.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

As an animal lover it has me traumatized. Probably be a veggy till it wears off. Liked the quote, "As long as there's slaughterhouses, there will be wars." ---- Leo Tolstoy. The Earthling video aint pretty. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967&hl=en _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Validates my opinion that we are earning - indeed striving - to warrant our extinction. I'm bettin we tried to emulate the slaughter houses at GITMO, Abu ghreib, black sites everywhere. "What goes around comes around!," another q. We're sicko bastards!!!!

Preston  09/18/2008 10:18 PM Report

sock puppet, at what point is the glass half full, rather than half empty? It is what it is. So call it what you like.

sock puppet  09/18/2008 07:19 PM Report

At what point are we classified as SOCIALISTS, rather than CAPITALISTS?

Michele  09/18/2008 07:07 PM Report

The comment Nouriel Roubini made shortly before he left is dead on important. He said that here in the west people will lose money or maybe their homes, but in other parts of the world people will starve. This is not idle commentary. It is fact.

It shocks me that as Americans we assume we have the right to be world leaders but we unless oil is at stake we are pretty indifferent to the responsibilities of leadership and particularly callous to negative outcomes of our actions (or inactions) on the rest of the world.

This is why the rest of the world is starting to move on and our role will be diminished in the future.

ekacz24  09/18/2008 04:22 PM Report

this comment was made elsewhere regarding Rubin and Summers, but too old, so let's do it again,....!

I am reminded about two quotes regarding Harvard and Larry Summers' appointment there, that are not really relevant, but funny nonetheless,....

Woody Allen is first, "Harvard,....!? Harvard makes mistakes too you know,.... Kissinger ttaught there,....!"

WFB jr. second, "I would rather be taught by the first 1,000 names in the Boston phone book than the first 100 professors on the Harvard faculty,...."

this is related to the video,....

These guys are great,....! No mention at all of the policies they instituted and lobbied for during the Clinton admin, i.e., the repeal of Glass Steagall in 1999,.... Clinton, Rubin, Weill and Greenspan are the main architects of first the Dotcom bubble, and now the credit crisis,.... Repealing this act was like giving the key to the hen-house to the wolves and was in part the reason the act was put in to place in 1933,.... The boom '90's was a result of Reagan's responsible deregulation in the '80's, and the crises in the '00's are a result of Clinton's irresponsible deregulation in the '90's,....

Sending Report...

Abuse Reported

s hernandez  09/18/2008 04:13 PM Report

Let it all burn down. The whole foundation of the economic system is based on an illusion of numbers. If we let what we have now burn down, by not giving more money away to AIG and the money nuts, then we can start to find our way to true economic stability. Like the profesor said, if we in the US go into a resession we loose our job but Africa and Latin America starve. Imagine what will actually happen if we continue on this mad mad road to where the Fed will have to print more money to cover all bets it will take us to where we will need a barrel of dollars to buy a loaf of bread.

Preston  09/18/2008 11:53 AM Report

So where are all the great Great Depression scholars. Did FDR's policies lessen the pain of the Great Depression or solidify it's endless longevity? OR BOTH?... And what have today's economists LEARNED from it?... Are they smart enough to trick us in a good way instead of a bad way?... hmmm...

ghost of B. Goldwater  09/18/2008 11:32 AM Report

Paybacks are hell.

J. Biden  09/18/2008 11:08 AM Report

Just like it's not nice to fool mother nature. It's doubly not nice to make Joe Biden wear a muzzle and not invite him to dinner.--------- Remember that movie, "All work and no play makes Joey a dull boy!"?------Didn't you HEAR what my mother said about me? That's right, if my fists won't do it, then maybe a 2x4 will. Or better yet, "the BUTTON". (and they think Dick Cheney is bitter, well they haven't seen anything yet)

B. Obama  09/18/2008 10:55 AM Report

Thank you Barbara, as Elvis Presly would say, thank you, thank you verry much. And I mean this from the bottom of my heart; People who need People, with LOTS of money and nothing in common except grandiose dreams of Grandieur are the LUCKIEST People in the world... Now shall we dance?.

Jon  09/18/2008 02:53 AM Report

Nouriel Roubini is a genius. I saw him on larry kudlow's show, (which has a huge republican/conservative bias) predict exactly what was going on while conservatives and other commentators like gasperino heckle and make fun of him. Truly Amazing!

Rob Bad  09/17/2008 09:29 PM Report

I don't care what happens - I'm loaded and have a lot of "real" assets. Cya later suckers! Go find some crappy i-banking job and slave away for 200k a year!! haahhaahhahahahhah

Neil MacCallister  09/17/2008 09:16 PM Report

Oh, forget it, ..go ahead, Bill, ..I guess the sky really is falling. I have to go cook dinner for my kids.

Bill Parks  09/17/2008 09:05 PM Report

This is from the cover of Ellen Brown’s book, The Web of Debt. (new paragraph)

EXPLODING THE MYTHS ABOUT MONEY (new paragraph)

Our money system is not what we have been led to believe. The creation of money has been "privatized," or taken over by a private money cartel. Except for coins, all of our money is now created as loans advanced by private banking institutions — including the private Federal Reserve. Banks create the principal but not the interest to service their loans. To find the interest, new loans must continually be taken out, expanding the money supply, inflating prices — and robbing you of the value of your money. (new paragraph)

Not only is virtually the entire money supply created privately by banks, but a mere handful of very big banks is responsible for a massive investment scheme known as "derivatives," which now tallies in at hundreds of trillions of dollars. The banking system has been contrived so that these big banks always get bailed out by the taxpayers from their risky ventures, but the scheme has reached its mathematical limits. There isn't enough money in the entire global economy to bail out the banks from a massive derivatives default today. When the investors realize that the "insurance" against catastrophe that they have purchased in the form of derivatives is worthless, they are liable to jump ship and bring the whole shaky edifice crashing down. (new paragraph)

Web of Debt unravels the deceptions in our money scheme and presents a crystal clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading. Then it explores a workable alternative, one that was tested in colonial America and is grounded in the best of American economic thought, including the writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. If you care about financial security, your own or the nation's, you should read this book.

Neil MacCallister  09/17/2008 08:59 PM Report

Candidate Obama was just shown on BBC World News declaring "The problem is Washington", ..and I assume he means Republicans, and probably Wall Street as well. But for him, and everybody else, hasn't the main problem been "failed mortgages"? Doesn't that refer to homeowners who signed mortgage agreements, but now find they can't make those payments and have quit making them? How is that problem the fault of Washington or Wall Street? Or at least of those alone, and not all us homeowners? (.."Are we not a person?") Are we not free-willed? Did not we just overspend our family budget? Who's fault is that? And isn't any "bailout" just having taxes (.."on the rich") cover our middle-class homeowners' debts? That is alright with me, I guess, ..but why all the hatred and misplaced blame?

Preston  09/17/2008 07:29 PM Report

Ashk NOT, what I can do for you... Ashk wat you can do for ME!...---------- And the beat goes on...

Neil MacCallister  09/17/2008 07:23 PM Report

"No, OPreston, ..I knew JFK, ..and you are not him!"

Preston  09/17/2008 07:13 PM Report

mbalkf, I bet NOW, they believe you.

mbalkf  09/17/2008 07:10 PM Report

The implicit lack of transparency referred to in the discussion has its root cause in the fundamental disconnect between the rating agencies assigning risk levels and the actual risk insurance instruments valued by the market. The mismatch between these two risk assignment systems caused 'transparency gaps' in risk evaluation. If part of the system acts on rating agency assignments and the other part on market valued risk, then the system experiences a schizophrenic condition that ruptures when the two parallel worlds drift far enough apart.

Neil MacCallister  09/17/2008 06:54 PM Report

Gee, such whining! Which of you speakers here have been hurt? ..Which of you saw your "Investment Shares" lose that 5% on Monday? ..Which of you are now homeless? So what if some rich retirees saw a small decline in their portfolio? ..They'll survive. So what if some 30 yr. old grey-flannel type takes the cab away from the current office for the last time? ..Haven't we all been there a dozen times? All you giggling internet typists thumbing through your Marx for the "perfect quote", ..go outside, pull some weeds, plant a tree, and help some kid with their algebra homework. This is just a flat tire on the side of the highway, ..and the rest of the world's cars ain't exactly "whizzing by". Here in California, the prison guards are suing the governor because they are "only getting $100,000/yr in cash and benefits". I guess that "suffering" will improve if Sen. Obama gets to "give more to the public payroll" as he has promised. "You hang in there, prison guards! ..I see Sen. Obama on the horizon, coming to save you!!"

--- in America, even "Change" is gimmicked and hyped -- just like the stock market was ---   09/17/2008 06:54 PM Report

"electing Obama as a genuine agent of change & hope might be critical to America's future recovery."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Just like with the Iraq war, and just like with the steadfast erosion of our political rights/liberties (especially the right to peacefully protest without increasingly paramilitarized cops [in Denver, now carrying *automatic assault rifles*\ rampaging into an entire crowd if any single person [planted provocateur?\ so much as spits on the sidewalk), the Democrats (especially the leadership), and the (after all) corporate news media -- including PBS and NPR -- had all been *hand-in-glove* and *right in bed* with the Republican "deregulation" bandwagon follies. THE DAY OF RECKONING HAS FINALLY COME TO AMERICA. It's not just the Republicans or the Democrats: THE CONGRESS (most of it), THE DE-REGULATORY PRESIDENTS, THE BOUGHT-OFF REGULATORY AGENCIES, and THE POLITICAL *SYSTEM* HAVE BEEN IN DEFAULT.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

.

AS FOR OBAMA, AS 'THE MULATTO SAVIOR'..., AS THE BIBLE WARNS..., "BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS".

sock puppet  09/17/2008 05:38 PM Report

Hear, hear Robin.

Robin  09/17/2008 05:28 PM Report

Wow! Aren't we all happy that the Carter and Clinton Administrations deregulated banking so that the financial services industry could fully express their beloved motto: "Greed is good!"

It is time to once again regulate all financial service sectors, de-link banks, investment banks, hedge funds, and insurance companies; and bring back the usury laws so that interest rates charged to consumers are not so prohibitive that they force people into bankruptcy. And this time around - full disclosure and transparency is a must. Won't Americans be surprised when the stock market drops down to about 5500 so that it actually reflects the real valuation of the companies on the exchanges!

M Revesby  09/17/2008 04:33 PM Report

Crisis? What crisis? There has been such an astonishing 'Pleasantville' tone and focus to so many of the PBS & NPR program’s conversations surrounding this year's Presidential election - a care-free and rarely critical tone being totally matched, I might add, by the rest of the mainstream American media. Yet rarely has an election had more at stake! As a result of the Republicans’ corrupt and deceitful abuse of power, not only is Wall Street and the economy in total disarray & crisis, but just about everything else in life that matters - healthcare, social security, affordable education, an impartial justice system, effective free speech, an ethical & public interest mass media, fair & honest elections ... the list literally goes on forever, even to the point where the cumulative effect is actually threatening the foundations of American democracy. Where is the sense of journalistic conscience? Will we ever start to hear campaign coverage and commentary that with some sense of genuine reality and urgency actually reflects the extremities and seriousness of this political (and not just financial) crisis? Or will it just be more of the same - an unthinking & basically uncritical 'medium cool' approach that seems to imply we should once again (in relation to e.g. McCain's campaign) treat at face value his adoption of the near IDENTICAL Republican lies and manipulations that previously saw George Bush twice deceitfully 'elected' to power. Perish the thought of exposing these techniques and their ‘deregulation’ mantra for what they really are … or even remotely suggesting that electing Obama as a genuine agent of change & hope might be critical to America's future recovery. It pays to understand that with regard to the media's so called even-handed campaign coverage, if Obama's team had ever been guilty of even a fraction of the stunts and deceits pulled by McCain & Palin so far, we would never have heard the last of it. He would have effectively been crucified by them and left for dead, with a McCain win being a certainty. Likewise, once the dust settles, the Republicans’ Wall Street backers will (free of serious media scrutiny) be left to gamble with our money and demonstrate nothing but contempt for any efforts to introduce meaningful ‘regulation’.

Neil Lowe  09/17/2008 02:36 PM Report

...and Summers was a former president of Harvard and a "trained economist?" No wonder the economy is in the shape it's in today. Summers hesitated and stumbled through some vacuous economic generalizations and at one point admitted he didn't know what the approach should be to stemming the tide of de-leveraging. When the camera cut back to Charlie listening, even he looked like he was about ready to nod off. It would've been a good time for all of us to take a power nap during this interview, because Summers mouthed a lot of words but said absolutely nothing.

JM  09/17/2008 12:25 PM Report

@ RE Mant:

The scary thing, as Roubini noted so clearly, is that a recession doesn't just correct misallocations of wealth--it causes starvation and strife in many economies. People lose their savings, their homes. Those people do not "deserve" any of it.

JM  09/17/2008 12:21 PM Report

I learned so much from Nouriel Roubini's assessment. Josh Rosner, while smart, is too much of a camera hog. Sorkin is smart, but he doesn't have the experience/wisdom to analyze the full scope and implications in mind when he is making analysis.

JM  09/17/2008 12:20 PM Report

I learned so much from Nouriel Roubini's assessment. Josh Rosner, while smart, is too much of a camera hog. Sorkin is smart, but he doesn't have the experience/wisdom to analyze the full scope and implications in mind when he is making analysis.

Preston  09/17/2008 12:07 PM Report

I wonder if the scope of these problems are enough to make Warren Buffet turn back into a Republican?... Since even he, is mortal, I doubt it.------------- And to think, I learned all this from just one Economics class... It boggles the mind.

Preston  09/17/2008 11:41 AM Report

The rise in the standard of living has all been a hoax, designed to sucker punch you in the gut and then elbow you in the back of the neck. (figuratively speeking)

Preston  09/17/2008 11:29 AM Report

Our political candidates are only reflections of the voters they seek. Just like businesses

that would like your money, they say what they think you would want to hear. That's why both McCain and Biden both said they would NOT bail-out AIG, even though the experts SEEM to agree unanimously, to bail-out AIG would be the lesser of 2 evils. Everybody WILL pay, it's just a matter of how.---------- And how to avoid this whole thing from happening again? They used to say when I was a kid, American Democracy is an EXPERIMENT. So it looks like even with all the "human rights" talk, we're really just a bunch of guinnea pigs. oink-oink.

elytis  09/17/2008 10:36 AM Report

I wish I can find the right words to express my outrage! I like to start with Alan Greenspan? our former Fed Chair who remained silent, who’s suppose to know what’s going on, who suppose to have all the pertinent information about what’s happening, but looked the other way. He is the one who kept the interests low while the credit bubble ballooned. And the blind belief in the so called “Market.” Everything will be great if the government looked the other way and forget about laws in the books. All the hype about how skilled Alan Greenspan was. Don't forget Milton Freedman and his worship of the market! They were all for rewarding the rich and exploiting the poor. Do you still read Ann Rand? Americans have turned that crime of exploitation into a religious experience. And of course tax the poor and give rich all the brakes. See where that philosophy leads you? This is one of the best examples of complete self-undoing of a society bu itself in the modern history. When we talk about the potential of America for greatness, creativity and innovation, please remember to say a word or about America's capacity for “Self-destruction.” This is what happens to a society which rewards narcissistic sociopaths with large tax brakes. The worset people I have met in my life came from the financial industry. And in marketing and advertizing. Lawyers, book and movie agents, and media people come really close to being the worst of Americans. These are the once who now have power and the money. They will destroy America, while destroying themselves! Charlie, you have them on your show all the time, bluffing their way through as usual, plugging their books, movies, as their publicists arranged with your shows producers. Charlie, you too are part of the corrupt and self-destructive system.

TH  09/17/2008 05:41 AM Report

Yeah, our choice of leaders has profound consequences for us and the world at large...and some of what is on offer right now in business and politics might leave some foreigners scratching their heads in disbelief... but America is the land of opportunity for all...even if sometimes its self-correction mechanisms are frustrated by other interests and we end up with more of the same...Now, as for politics... Oh that fetchin’ Palin…isn’t she something? She hit it out of the ball park, perched on those Palinasty stilettos, preaching hate with a brilliant smile… bedazzling the chattering classes, enough to turn 360 Cooper into a convention poodle, sniffing excitedly around those Palinasty stilettos, panting enough hot air to bleach any hair, yeah even proximate Blitzer fuzz. You gotta love the audacity of it all… talking in tongues, forked tongues, hate one night, love the next… very bipolar… the crowd going wild: intoxicated by the red meat perfumed air, masking the scent of defeat and craven fear, the one that makes otherwise sane people do reckless, stupid, desperate things. And yet it might just work, with our complicity, fooled by the teleprompter princess’s brilliance, gleaming flecks of diamond and bared fang, and glowing lipstick on a sassy pit-bull on stilettos. Stranger things have come to pass. God bless this beautiful enchanted land and the ceaseless wonders it displays. But be careful pit-bull; if you try to bite into those O’blessed balls of steel, you will get a 10 to 66 million dollar electric shock and a bloody, toothless, tail-between-legs whimper back to Alaska.

Tyler  09/17/2008 05:30 AM Report

We are paying the price for spending too much attention, effort, treasure and the souls of brave young men and women on stupid endeavours... I just wish we could focus more on fixing our lot at home. There is no national security without economic security on the homefront...and the mainstream media tend to spend an inordinate amount of time on trivia and candy floss... like the current obsession with personality... instead of substance...[now, I am guilty of the same sin on occassion\.

sock puppet  09/17/2008 03:17 AM Report

James - God, one can only hope. But it's probably too late.

sock puppet  09/17/2008 03:06 AM Report

MotherLodeBeth - The Feds will "honor" the FDIC guarantees by printing money. Banana Republics, Argentina et al know how that works. 100%, 300%, 1000% per day inflation. So it will be honored in the breach with devalued currency. $100,000 in future worth maybe $1,000 in today's value. Value-wise you're only out $99,000. Maybe Palin will give us jobs as a wild-catters in the north slopes and we can subsist on moose. Hope she teaches me how to gut one.