Political Punch

A FINANCIAL REVOLUTION

A Modern day “Boston Tea Party”, Americans have grown up and gotten wise. Here is the American publics’ response to government, bailouts, stimulus packages and urging us to spend. The wizards of Wall Street, through their greed and corrupt practices, have given the vast middle class two options: risk destitution and bankruptcy or save. We've chosen to save.

1. So now, the citizens have decided to create a financial revolution, and save their money! More power to us!!
2. Everybody wants our money ~ one way or another. If we don't draw the line, and ignore the economy, we will all need food stamps. Health Care? A thing of the past, if we don't save ourselves, we are financially doomed. Keep saving all you can.
3. The economy needs???? That's the problem...we should be talking about what people need. And we need more than an economy.
4. GOOOD!! PEople need to stop wasting; we need a savings rate that’s at least 20 percent...never mind a pathetic six.
5. I reduced my spending (only what i NEED, not what I want) because I NEED my money more than traitorous US corporations WANT it. I have no loyalty to corporate America because they have no loyalty to me or my fellow citizens. Until they figure that out, my money stays in my pocket.
6. Can you blame people for trying to save a dime? Weren't we all told to save up for a rainy day? Well, folks, it's a monsoon out there.
7. Why is it that the media, congress and the economists all fail to understand that we are saving every cent we have because we are all going to RUN OUT of money? According to everything we hear, millions and millions of us are just a few steps away from being homeless soon.
8. We're saving because if we lose our jobs our government clearly won't be there for us.
9. These companies grow on your credit then they buy our government. We need to show the government and big business who is the boss. The only way we have left is through our own spending because god knows they don't listen to us.
10. Does this surprise anyone? No one knows if they will have a job tomorrow, so what makes the government believe anyone is going to spend any extra money they have? People are going to start hording cash, it is simple reality. Until our elected congressional and senatorial leaders step up to the plate and pass a realistic bill that stimulates the economy vs giving tax breaks to businesses that will not hire more people, (Business will continue with layoffs as long as their inventory continues to grow). This is also another reality that our elected official just does not seem to grasp.
11. Save your money. Do not spend it! If you must spend it, spend it very wisely.
12. The Great American Con-Job is government and corporate businesses.
13. I don't call it "hording cash." I call it finally being fiscally responsible. If the new fiscally responsible American ways don't support the old economy . . . well too bad. The old economy was never sustainable anyway. It's reality check time!
14. Perhaps the 'economy' of the last couple of decades needs to adjust,... and needs to learn to cope with the idea that people will (generally) only buy what it is that they can actually afford?
15. I won't be listening to the economists - I will be saving and living within my means. The credit cards were destroyed a long time ago - 19% interest rates. We used to call those people loan sharks but VP Biden helped to make that legal.
16. Give money back to the taxpayers. They could give every single taxpayer a quarter mill and it would be WAY cheaper than any plan they have had so far.
17. It's good that people are saving money and/or paying down debt, and defining their needs and wants. A society that is built largely on consumer spending is insane
18. Americans need to STOP BUYING cheap foreign goods of poor quality. Many RETIREMENT PLANS have been GUTTED by Wall Street as a result of their greed, ineptitude, and culture of entitlement. Americans need to SAVE.
19. Somehow, it just pisses me off when I read clap-trap about how it is the 'consumer's' responsibility to shore up our overinflated, popped bubble of an economy.
20. The consumer has sustained the economy, before and especially after 9/11, and what did we get for it, fraud, deception, financial con artistry, ponzi schemes, and no law enforcement on ethics or anything, we got laid off, foreclosed, flat screen on the curb, credit rating in the toilet.
21. The people who suggest that saving money is bad are the same ones with all the bright ideas that got us into this mess? Are the people suggesting saving is bad insane? Regular folks see that we are losing jobs everywhere. They can see this with our own eyes. The rational thing for an individual to do is save for the rainy day which is coming, so you and your family don't starve to death when you lose your job.
22. Look at what this country has become. People, save your money, hide your money, hoard your money. Pay your debts. Buy only essentials and lots of them. The Federal Government will do a Katrina on you when their ridiculous policies fail and we enter the Greatest Depression.
23. I am a small rural farmer. The cost of seed and fertilizer is now 4x the cost of last year. Darn right I am saving my money and not spending it. If I didn't have chickens for eggs and produce canned from last season, my family would be hungry now. I will be planting less and folks, your food bills will be higher shortly because this is the norm for almost everyone in this farming community.
24. The pride in being the "breadbasket" of the nation is gone. Food = life. Save your money because you are going to need it more than ever... just to continue living.
25. It is pure arrogance to say we should spend our last dollars to help the economy while those with the ear of the politicians get fatter wallets and bigger houses. Save your money and save yourselves. These times are more desperate than you can imagine. The repercussions have not yet hit your local super market, but they will.
26. They just were bailed out by the tax dollars of our great great great great grandkids. We also got downsized, and once again underpaid, then they just brought in people from over seas, so they would not have to hire me back at a decent wage, and our government was complicit with the act, oh no emergency response to crisis, not even in the former President's home state, oh consumers also got poisoned food, poisoned toys from china, and an inept FDA to protect or even guide us, poison food outbreaks...yea I'm keeping my money at home under the mattress and i am not buying anything i do not need until i can get bailed out by my own tax dollars.
27. Yes, it is ugly...but slowly we will start to buy those things that WE NEED, not just STUFF! We may no longer buy $200 running shoes or the latest electronic gadget. It is time for business to re-focus...and if their products are no longer needed, then figure out what IS NEEDED and go there.
28. Why on Earth anyone would trust the government, who got us into this situation with deregulation of the banking industry AND two wars, to get us out of this circumstance is beyond me.
29. I am certainly no economist but there is one thing I don't understand: If people are spending less and saving more money, shouldn't the banks (where this unspent money presumably is being saved) have more cash on hand to lend?
30. "The economy" as managed by our government has screwed Americans and now Americans are supposed to manage " the economy" by spending when it is spending that caused the problem.
31. I'd like to challenge any one in public office or the banking industry to live on the average American's wage for one year! Then live on unemployment and still pay taxes!
32. It may not be a matter of saving! It may be a matter of nothing left to spend! Unemployment doesn’t go far and the new proposed tax relief for unemployment is not worth the paper it's written on! Approx 1 month forgiveness on an entire claim and no forgiveness once you go into the extensions.
33. Stop telling average Americans like me that this mess is our fault.
Most of us have been cutting back since 2001. What is happening now is due to greed and corruption by people who have the wealth and power.
34. Why should I spend my money on things made overseas? The money only goes to the executives who own the companies that shuttle that junk around, as well as to the foreign shipping companies. Why should I send them my money? Our money's going into banks. Gee, maybe with all that capital coming in, they could loan my local pharmacy some money so they can stock the shelves or loan businesses money so they can keep their employees or adjust their mortgages so folks on the edge won't lose their homes.
35. Let's see if I follow: Government spending to stimulate the economy is bad. This despite the fact that the government is allowed to run a deficit (which it funds with bonds paying circa 4 %.). Individual spending to stimulate the economy is good. This despite the fact that individuals are not allowed running a deficit (short of selling assets in a down market, or piling on credit card debt at 19.8 %.)
36. The article quotes a leading economist, but still misses a key Econ 101 concept: Savings provides capital for banks to lend. ("It's a Wonder Life" covers the topic vividly.) It doesn't ALL come from No Banker Left Behind.
37. Exactly. Capitalism requires capital and it's not all about individual/consumer spending, as much as some of the policy makers would have us believe. And Bush was among the most egregious in missing this point while encouraging the public to spend themselves into debt (mortgage and credit card, especially). He promoted this as [patriotism and an American right, like apple pie, energy consumption, and driving SUVs.
38. Yes save for what you need, for a man/country in debt is never free. This debt and credit based economy is just as an insane pyramid game where only the top players get anything out of it and the rest is losers left behind.
39. As a baby boomer I think we need to retool expectations. Our pensions may not be there for us after all and Social Security won't feed my cat. What is best for the economy at large is not necessarily best for the individual household. Cash is king more than ever now and I plan on being prepared.
40. Buying a home as an investment is such a lie. People never consider how much money they will spend on utilities, equipment (washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, hot water tank, lighting, toilets, refrigerator, lawn mower), updates (carpeting/flooring, painting walls, foundation issues) or on simple maintenance like plumbing, electrical work, air conditioning/heating work or even keeping the yard mowed, watered, leaves raked, etc.
41. People have to save. They don't know when their job will be the next to go.
42. The correction is the painful adjustment to restructure society to where it should have been all along. Now we will hopefully have enough grassroots companies that will start producing things that we really need. Or maybe we'll see an influx in farmers or people growing their own food. And if we are producing anything, we need to market it for people abroad more than local consumption so we can bring new money into our economy.
43. My savings are up. I'm stashing every penny I have left from the job I just lost to cover my minimum credit card payments for as long as I can while I look for a new job. Can't let the credit cards go unpaid because I'm essentially living off them at this point. I'm sad, discouraged, and very, very scared. Much love to those of you going through the same thing. SAVE!
44. Economic stimulus by putting money into unnecessary items, like flat screen tvs or $800 boots, will not help people who can't afford medical insurance, can't put food on the table, can't pay for electricity, and certainly can't pay for education for their kids, is NOT the answer. The American people need a bailout.
45. I have seen my annuities shrink by tens of thousands of dollars, and likewise, the value of my house. Of course I am not spending. I may never spend. One reason is that I am so ANGRY at the corporations. I am tired of being subjected to social engineering every time I enter a store, tired of cheap junk merchandise from China, tried of my government being bought instead of representing me, tired of the government being taken over by armband religion, tired of my healthcare, tired of lousy schools that are unaffordable, tired of the bailout which is really nothing but more robbery of the people, specifically, the middle class.
46. I have no representation, no free press, no recourse of any kind except not spending. So, by golly, I'm not spending. (It's practice for when I won't be able to spend anyway, because the government will end up with every last cent that I ever earned anyway.)
47. In our consumer economy, the consumer has been hung out to dry for the last 8 years, my food is poisoned, my toys imported with poison, our cars suck, our energy is too expensive and could costs could rise at any given moment, our officials are not prosecuted for breaking the law, ah la Bush Cheney, Rumsfeld, what else, we bailed out the banks, and they laid off our uncles aunts and children, and then will not loan any money to help the economy, these guys are still requesting foreign visa's while they lay Americans off in droves, no Mr. banker, Mr. retail store, i will not spend my money with you, because you will not invest in our community, or our nation. Banks received billions of dollars, and simultaneously, continued to foreclose on millions of family homes, and homes of the elderly, the shame of America is on the faces of those recently made destitute.
48. Of course people are saving money, they see their neighbors lose jobs, their house is depreciating daily, and government is spending money like a drunken sailor, which everybody knows is going to fuel inflation. I am glad to see people save; the American people need to reclaim their financial freedom, not living as servants to America.
49. Our economy is built on continuous growth and consumer spending which can not be sustained. The way the markets look at it is all wrong. If you save money that should be good. That means people are not going into debt and can pay their bills. Instead a lack of debt seems to be BAD to these guys. Our whole system is broken. It needs a major overhaul!
50. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO SAVE MORE, NO ONE CARES OR IS DOING ANYTHING TO HELP CITIZENS AND WORKING PEOPLE, THEY JUST SUCK US DRY AND LAY US OFF AND HIRE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS OR THOSE ON VISAS TO TAKE OUR JOBS FOR LESS PAY, SO GUESS WHAT, I AM HOLDING ON TO EVERY DIME I CAN JUST LIKE THE BANKS AND AUTO MAKERS.

While the old way of “storming the fort” was applicable in that day and age to signal revolt, so this is modern America’s way, by us staging a “financial revolution”. Congress, American government, consider yourself notified. Americans are no longer “buying” the swampland, of buy, buy, buy, or, consume, consume, consume. It is now save, save, save yourself. Unless you start mailing out checks directly to the American people to help bail us out, to get us through this depression, expect it to go on for as long as it takes, to crash the system of the elite. You left us no other recourse. We are no longer a consumer nation; you heard it, first, from us…

I am of the opinion, the race card was a distraction in this election. A very clever play by the victorious party. Bravo! It worked among the young and uniformed. PEOPLE, COLOR DOES NOT MATTER IN POLITICS. Remember what a politician IS, what they accomplish through cleverly placed lies and empty promises. Social security was never supposed to be touched, Tolls in New Jersey (Parkway) temporary, "No new taxes, etc...Over the years have WE ALL not been literally treated like idiots by Politicians? Come on, The founding fathers crated this government for the people. Politics was not meant to be a Career but a Service For "WE THE PEOPLE"...The Service stinks.

Barack Obama is the President now with no thanks to me because I did not vote. The reason behind why I did not vote was because if in the long run if what all he has been saying about helping the people really dont go the way it is suppose to go I can honestly say It was not because I voted. I honestly hope that Barack Obama does help better this world because Lord knows that it needs it. I hope he helps the Elderly and the "Poor" because everyone needs help right now. When it is so hard for people to go to the doctor, buy there meds and pay there bills but most of all be able to put food on the table for there childrenand families. It is really tough out here right now especially with not that many jobs out here. And If you have a job you worry day to day If you are going to have a job when you get to work or is your boss going to tell you that you have to be laid off due to no work and then your boss would fight you for unemployement. Hopefully Barack Obama will get into the White House and help out everybody that is out here struggling! So I guess we will see If he stands by his promise about getting more jobs and help for us!!

This blog Is very informative , I am really pleased to post my comment on this blog .

this stuff is to freaking long i aint even read it all WAYYYY TO LONG -.-

Before Obama became a candidate, the black voting block loved the Clintons. If Obama wasn't on the ticket, the 90% of blacks voting for him would all be voting for Hillary. But, as soon as a black candidate was actually in sight of the nomination, it was time for blacks to throw the Clintons under the bus, and play the race card. These latter comments by black leaders putting the blame on Bill Clinton, are extremely disengenuous, and are merely attempts at damage control, as well as attempts at solidarity for the black candidate, at the expense of the Clintons.

Who do you think you are? You won't put your hand over your heart during the National Anthem & you won't put your hand on the Bible IF you are sworn in as President. Those are just 2 things that I have a problem with. It's not over yet & God help us all if you get in.

Yes i would like to know what you are doing now in your life.Also i would like to know where you stay at in this world.Are u working,or are you still doing the same thing that you been doing.I wonted to know all these answers because we was talkin bout you in our class,and some people said that you where doin this, and other people said you where doing somthing else so i just wonted to know for myself what you are doing with your life.Thank you ever much...

"You got to really go some to play the race card with me," Clinton spewed on WHYY. "My office is in Harlem. And Harlem voted for Hillary, by the way."

OK Bill...your office is in Harlem. Where is your home? NOT in Harlem.
I understand it's a 1.7 million dollar home in Chappaqua, NY complete with gates, closed circuit security and secret service protection. Not the kind of place a brother from Harlem will survive knocking on the door.

Black people may have loved Bill in the 90's, but now theyre baffled as to why he's kicking the crap out of the first black man to have a real cance to win the presidency so he can put his wife in there. Black America was played by the Clintons. The Clintons never cared about you, just your votes.

I'm inspired by Obama, but how is it "filthy" or "empty"? Your comment is pretty empty, that's for sure.

Aren't we all Democrats? Let's get real, cut out the cheap attacks, and remember the real issue, beating McCain in Nov!

I'm inspired by Obama, but how is it "filthy" or "empty"? Your comment is pretty empty, that's for sure.

Aren't we all Democrats? Let's get real, cut out the cheap attacks, and remember the real issue, beating McCain in Nov!

Anybody inspired by Obama's filthy,
empty rhetoric???

Hillary 08!!

Obama for senator!

Real leaders do not refuse to answer
questions, put down people, and
have lapel pin issues.

Vote Hillary 08!!!

Bottom line. The Obamas are low-class, lying, cheating, self-serving, manipulative opportunists.

Disloyal. Dishonest. Disgusting!

Vote smaet: Hillary Clinton 08!!!

Bottom line. The Clintons are low-class, lying, cheating, self-serving, manipulative opportunists.

They LOVED black people when they got their vote. Now they've turned against them to court the uneducated, bigoted, working class white vote.

They LOVED "moveon" when the group defended Bill Clinton. Hillary Chased after their endorsement, but when she lost it, she turned against them, too.

Of course, they HATED the Pittsburgh-Trbune Review, whose owner/publisher Richard Mellon, led the RNC charges against Bill Clinton while he was president, but now they LOVE Mellon, because they cut a deal with him to get his endorsement.

Disloyal. Dishonest. Disgusting!

The case is clear: Hillary 08!

Jim from Georgia, before you lecture us about how "black people built this country" you should check your facts:

Lewis Latimer did not invent the filament, he improved the light bulb Edison had already invented. Latimer was a brilliant inventor. Why do you feel the need to embellish his accomplishments?

Pierre L'Enfant was white and he didn't design the white house, he was the original architect for Washington, D.C.

The closest Philip Reid came to "designing" the capitol (check your spelling) was assembling the pieces of the statue on its top along with a bunch of other laborers employed and/or owned by his master.

Benjamin Banneker did not invent the clock, he was just an accoplished clock maker. (See above).

Daniel Hale Williams did not perform the first open heart surgery. He did however perform the first fully successful (long term patient survival) open heart procedure. (See above).

Charles Drew did not "show the world how to get plasma" but he did discover a way to preserve it. Similarly, Garrett Morgan didn't invent the traffic light. He patented one type of traffic signal. Why isn't this enough? (See above).

Finally, Jan Matzeliger did not invent shoes or shoe soles. He invented a machine that sped up the production of shoes. Also, since it seems to be all about race for you, his father was white.

Again, why can't you stick to the facts? By constantly mis-stating and exaggerating the accomplishments of some of these men (wildly, in some instances) you diminish what they really did by implying that it isn't good enough.

Jim from Georgia

I feel that your comments are very unintelligent and probably race based.
You say that Barack is not ready period. You also say that experience and who you know is the reason to vote Hillary. You say change won't happen over night. Well I say to you that Barack Obama is more ready to be president than Hillary Clinton,because if Hillary can't speak for herself on her views, but rather needs Bill to speak for her than she is not the right person for the job. Experience and knowledge that Bill has is not hers and he cannot hold her hand in the Oval Office or at the State of the Union or anywhere else. President Bush's father was in office and he knew people and had influence on them when he became president and look at the mess our country is in. Both Hillary and Barack are Senators and have done great jobs for their respective states, but be real and don't let Hillary fool you into believing she has nerves of steel, because she cried at a reporters remarks about Chelsea. I have children and am sensitive about them also but I don't cry about words. If she can show that she is not Bill's puppet and has her own backbone maybe she would be a good president. Finally as far as the remark about not wanting a first timer in office as president, any one with any type of intelligence would know that unless it is the 2nd term everyone has to be a first time president of the USA, you just can't go to presidential training and learn all the answers. As soon as you and others like you realize that black people have built this country maybe then you will understand why we feel that a black man is qualified to run it

1. Why is it that a Black Man can create a tiny piece called a filament (electric light - Lewis Latimer) That allows people to see in the dark?
But can't be seen fit to lead a country to the true light.

2. Why is it that a Black Man can create an instrument (clock - Benjamin
Banneker) that all People use to tell time?
But people don't think it is time for him to run a country.

3. Why is it that a Black Man can design a place for the high authorities to meet in & a place for the President to live in (The Capital & the White House Phillip Reid (a slave) & Pierre L'Enfant)?
But not good enough to lead these meetings or live in himself.

4. Why is it that a Black Man was brilliant enough to do the first open heart surgery (Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) And show the world how to get and preserve plasma (Dr. Charles Drew)?
But not good enough to put a program in place where everyone can afford this surgery.

5. Why is it that a Black Man was creative enough to design an instrument (traffic light - Garrett Morgan) To bring multiple people (traffic) to a halt?
But not seen creative enough to design a plan to bring all this unnecessary and worthless Fighting between countries to an end.

6. Why is it that a Black Man could create the soles (shoes - Jan Matzeliger) that people Walk on everyday?
But not seen good enough to fill the shoes of a bad president.

7. Why is it that a Black Man was smart enough & brave enough to teach himself (Fredrick Douglas & Thomas Fuller - both slaves) and others how to read, write and/or calculate math?
But not seen (as) smart enough and bold enough to calculate a platform to be President to a country That sure needs another first by us.

So you see,what I am saying is let us not forget our past, which led us to our present and can definitely be the backbone to our future.

We were good enough, smart enough, creative enough, and bold enough then, so lets all give Obama the chance to show that we are still these things and
more.

We all are as strong as our weakest link. We still can OVERCOME & BE THE FIRST