[eavesdropper]

[quote=flu]Like I said, take advantage of this craziness while you can..

People want to not pay their bills and spend on discretionary items…Fine by me…They want to spend $400+ on a smart phone, fine by me….Bring it on…

Car companies want to extend 0.0%ish financing and near invoice pricing. fine by me..

Fed wants to offer unbelievable loans/refinances on 30 or 15 loans…fine by me…

State wants to give handouts to buy new appliances…Fine by me..

Fed wants to create an artificial bubble in the equity markets (again)…fine by me…

It’s all good. Resistance is futile.[/quote]

flu for King!! I’m in for a campaign contribution (as long as your platform includes legalization of pot).).

[eavesdropper]

[quote=flu]Like I said, take advantage of this craziness while you can..

People want to not pay their bills and spend on discretionary items…Fine by me…They want to spend $400+ on a smart phone, fine by me….Bring it on…

Car companies want to extend 0.0%ish financing and near invoice pricing. fine by me..

Fed wants to offer unbelievable loans/refinances on 30 or 15 loans…fine by me…

State wants to give handouts to buy new appliances…Fine by me..

Fed wants to create an artificial bubble in the equity markets (again)…fine by me…

It’s all good. Resistance is futile.[/quote]

flu for King!! I’m in for a campaign contribution (as long as your platform includes legalization of pot).).

[eavesdropper]

[quote=CardiffBaseball]What’s cool for me is this. I grew up a political junkie, even went to “buckeye boys state” and all that fun stuff. Used to pay attention to every little thing, subscribed to New Republic, read the Nation. Finally flipped back to my conservative inner thoughts in mid-20’s (meaning truly never was a lib, but loved arguing with fellow AF troops, and voted Dukakis-Clinton).

Then I used to get riled up as a CON.

Now I am so out of touch, I don’t know a single thing about Glenn Beck’s rally or this one. For me this is much better. Outside of the off-topic forum here at Pigg, I have no clue. Baseball, college football, work, lift weights with the boys, pitch BP to the kids, eat with the family, lather, rinse, repeat. No FoxNews, No MSNBC etc.

Not for everyone I am sure, and probably off-topic to Urban’s point. It took me years to get to the not-give-a-shit phase, and it’s helping my career, helping my sleep etc. (that and eating Paleo and getting sleep).

So I am glad you all had a good time, and just taken aback that I have reached this level of indifference. Really if I just watched Colbert I’d probably be in the know as to all this stuff, but just too damn busy.[/quote]

I understand completely. I think there are a lot of people these days going through the same thing. When you sign off, and don’t tune into this stuff anymore, you definitely sleep better and enjoy life more.

But it can also lure you into this sense that everything is okay. And the situations you were stressing about have actually resolved. That’s happening to me: I’ll get involved with other stuff, and don’t have time to check in on the political sites (and I use the word “political” loosely, because I think many of these are “I have an empty life” sites, or “I need more excitement” sites, or “I need to feel important” sites, or “My wife and my boss cut my nuts off, and I need to sound off here so I can pretend I got them back” sites)

But then I check back in, and find that things are worse than ever. Not with the government. That’s pretty much at its usual sub-par level. No, the panic-mongering is getting far worse. It’s absurd. You’ve got people who are absolutely addicted to spreading fear. I’m not talking Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Ed Schultz. They get paid to do what they do, and paid very well. I’m talking about the great unwashed masses on the internet who live to find the next life-threatening world-as-we-know-it-ending thing that they can then send out to their 1764 friends on Facebook, who then immediately forward it to theirs, and before you know it, everyone is sure that Obama is personally rounding up Christians to have them eaten by lions in exhibitions on the National Mall. It’s gotten so bad that they don’t even stop to read the first sentence of these “must-read” articles that they send out. And with all the stuff that’s out there, courtesy of the television, radio, print and internet media, it still isn’t enough to satisfy the slavering beast. You’ve got everyday people making up completely false stories, trying to outdo everyone else on the panic scale. And all of a sudden, you’ve got the sweet little old lady next door, who used to give you homemade cookies on your way home from school, talking about strapping on an AK-47 and mowing down all the godless liberals down at the senior center.

That was the point of the rally. There’s nothing wrong with people thinking differently. What’s wrong is that some people feel like their message isn’t getting across to enough of the population, and feel justified in “amplifying” their message with information that is, often, wildly exaggerated or just plain untrue. Many of these same people believe that they are in the majority, by a very large margin (80%-20% is what I heard yesterday, which means tomorrow it’ll be 95%-5%). The turnout at Saturday’s rally would indicate that, perhaps, this isn’t quite the case. However, if these same people, on either side, don’t get out to vote, tomorrow and on other election days, their voices will go unheard.

The rally attendees don’t have a problem with people who think differently. They are just upset with the way they are trying to get their message across. It’s affecting the freedom with which the population can make a political decision. And it’s generating and perpetuating an atmosphere of hate and divisiveness, which will weaken any nation, even one with the largest best-equipped military in the world.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=CardiffBaseball]What’s cool for me is this. I grew up a political junkie, even went to “buckeye boys state” and all that fun stuff. Used to pay attention to every little thing, subscribed to New Republic, read the Nation. Finally flipped back to my conservative inner thoughts in mid-20’s (meaning truly never was a lib, but loved arguing with fellow AF troops, and voted Dukakis-Clinton).

Then I used to get riled up as a CON.

Now I am so out of touch, I don’t know a single thing about Glenn Beck’s rally or this one. For me this is much better. Outside of the off-topic forum here at Pigg, I have no clue. Baseball, college football, work, lift weights with the boys, pitch BP to the kids, eat with the family, lather, rinse, repeat. No FoxNews, No MSNBC etc.

Not for everyone I am sure, and probably off-topic to Urban’s point. It took me years to get to the not-give-a-shit phase, and it’s helping my career, helping my sleep etc. (that and eating Paleo and getting sleep).

So I am glad you all had a good time, and just taken aback that I have reached this level of indifference. Really if I just watched Colbert I’d probably be in the know as to all this stuff, but just too damn busy.[/quote]

I understand completely. I think there are a lot of people these days going through the same thing. When you sign off, and don’t tune into this stuff anymore, you definitely sleep better and enjoy life more.

But it can also lure you into this sense that everything is okay. And the situations you were stressing about have actually resolved. That’s happening to me: I’ll get involved with other stuff, and don’t have time to check in on the political sites (and I use the word “political” loosely, because I think many of these are “I have an empty life” sites, or “I need more excitement” sites, or “I need to feel important” sites, or “My wife and my boss cut my nuts off, and I need to sound off here so I can pretend I got them back” sites)

But then I check back in, and find that things are worse than ever. Not with the government. That’s pretty much at its usual sub-par level. No, the panic-mongering is getting far worse. It’s absurd. You’ve got people who are absolutely addicted to spreading fear. I’m not talking Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Ed Schultz. They get paid to do what they do, and paid very well. I’m talking about the great unwashed masses on the internet who live to find the next life-threatening world-as-we-know-it-ending thing that they can then send out to their 1764 friends on Facebook, who then immediately forward it to theirs, and before you know it, everyone is sure that Obama is personally rounding up Christians to have them eaten by lions in exhibitions on the National Mall. It’s gotten so bad that they don’t even stop to read the first sentence of these “must-read” articles that they send out. And with all the stuff that’s out there, courtesy of the television, radio, print and internet media, it still isn’t enough to satisfy the slavering beast. You’ve got everyday people making up completely false stories, trying to outdo everyone else on the panic scale. And all of a sudden, you’ve got the sweet little old lady next door, who used to give you homemade cookies on your way home from school, talking about strapping on an AK-47 and mowing down all the godless liberals down at the senior center.

That was the point of the rally. There’s nothing wrong with people thinking differently. What’s wrong is that some people feel like their message isn’t getting across to enough of the population, and feel justified in “amplifying” their message with information that is, often, wildly exaggerated or just plain untrue. Many of these same people believe that they are in the majority, by a very large margin (80%-20% is what I heard yesterday, which means tomorrow it’ll be 95%-5%). The turnout at Saturday’s rally would indicate that, perhaps, this isn’t quite the case. However, if these same people, on either side, don’t get out to vote, tomorrow and on other election days, their voices will go unheard.

The rally attendees don’t have a problem with people who think differently. They are just upset with the way they are trying to get their message across. It’s affecting the freedom with which the population can make a political decision. And it’s generating and perpetuating an atmosphere of hate and divisiveness, which will weaken any nation, even one with the largest best-equipped military in the world.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=CardiffBaseball]What’s cool for me is this. I grew up a political junkie, even went to “buckeye boys state” and all that fun stuff. Used to pay attention to every little thing, subscribed to New Republic, read the Nation. Finally flipped back to my conservative inner thoughts in mid-20’s (meaning truly never was a lib, but loved arguing with fellow AF troops, and voted Dukakis-Clinton).

Then I used to get riled up as a CON.

Now I am so out of touch, I don’t know a single thing about Glenn Beck’s rally or this one. For me this is much better. Outside of the off-topic forum here at Pigg, I have no clue. Baseball, college football, work, lift weights with the boys, pitch BP to the kids, eat with the family, lather, rinse, repeat. No FoxNews, No MSNBC etc.

Not for everyone I am sure, and probably off-topic to Urban’s point. It took me years to get to the not-give-a-shit phase, and it’s helping my career, helping my sleep etc. (that and eating Paleo and getting sleep).

So I am glad you all had a good time, and just taken aback that I have reached this level of indifference. Really if I just watched Colbert I’d probably be in the know as to all this stuff, but just too damn busy.[/quote]

I understand completely. I think there are a lot of people these days going through the same thing. When you sign off, and don’t tune into this stuff anymore, you definitely sleep better and enjoy life more.

But it can also lure you into this sense that everything is okay. And the situations you were stressing about have actually resolved. That’s happening to me: I’ll get involved with other stuff, and don’t have time to check in on the political sites (and I use the word “political” loosely, because I think many of these are “I have an empty life” sites, or “I need more excitement” sites, or “I need to feel important” sites, or “My wife and my boss cut my nuts off, and I need to sound off here so I can pretend I got them back” sites)

But then I check back in, and find that things are worse than ever. Not with the government. That’s pretty much at its usual sub-par level. No, the panic-mongering is getting far worse. It’s absurd. You’ve got people who are absolutely addicted to spreading fear. I’m not talking Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Ed Schultz. They get paid to do what they do, and paid very well. I’m talking about the great unwashed masses on the internet who live to find the next life-threatening world-as-we-know-it-ending thing that they can then send out to their 1764 friends on Facebook, who then immediately forward it to theirs, and before you know it, everyone is sure that Obama is personally rounding up Christians to have them eaten by lions in exhibitions on the National Mall. It’s gotten so bad that they don’t even stop to read the first sentence of these “must-read” articles that they send out. And with all the stuff that’s out there, courtesy of the television, radio, print and internet media, it still isn’t enough to satisfy the slavering beast. You’ve got everyday people making up completely false stories, trying to outdo everyone else on the panic scale. And all of a sudden, you’ve got the sweet little old lady next door, who used to give you homemade cookies on your way home from school, talking about strapping on an AK-47 and mowing down all the godless liberals down at the senior center.

That was the point of the rally. There’s nothing wrong with people thinking differently. What’s wrong is that some people feel like their message isn’t getting across to enough of the population, and feel justified in “amplifying” their message with information that is, often, wildly exaggerated or just plain untrue. Many of these same people believe that they are in the majority, by a very large margin (80%-20% is what I heard yesterday, which means tomorrow it’ll be 95%-5%). The turnout at Saturday’s rally would indicate that, perhaps, this isn’t quite the case. However, if these same people, on either side, don’t get out to vote, tomorrow and on other election days, their voices will go unheard.

The rally attendees don’t have a problem with people who think differently. They are just upset with the way they are trying to get their message across. It’s affecting the freedom with which the population can make a political decision. And it’s generating and perpetuating an atmosphere of hate and divisiveness, which will weaken any nation, even one with the largest best-equipped military in the world.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=CardiffBaseball]What’s cool for me is this. I grew up a political junkie, even went to “buckeye boys state” and all that fun stuff. Used to pay attention to every little thing, subscribed to New Republic, read the Nation. Finally flipped back to my conservative inner thoughts in mid-20’s (meaning truly never was a lib, but loved arguing with fellow AF troops, and voted Dukakis-Clinton).

Then I used to get riled up as a CON.

Now I am so out of touch, I don’t know a single thing about Glenn Beck’s rally or this one. For me this is much better. Outside of the off-topic forum here at Pigg, I have no clue. Baseball, college football, work, lift weights with the boys, pitch BP to the kids, eat with the family, lather, rinse, repeat. No FoxNews, No MSNBC etc.

Not for everyone I am sure, and probably off-topic to Urban’s point. It took me years to get to the not-give-a-shit phase, and it’s helping my career, helping my sleep etc. (that and eating Paleo and getting sleep).

So I am glad you all had a good time, and just taken aback that I have reached this level of indifference. Really if I just watched Colbert I’d probably be in the know as to all this stuff, but just too damn busy.[/quote]

I understand completely. I think there are a lot of people these days going through the same thing. When you sign off, and don’t tune into this stuff anymore, you definitely sleep better and enjoy life more.

But it can also lure you into this sense that everything is okay. And the situations you were stressing about have actually resolved. That’s happening to me: I’ll get involved with other stuff, and don’t have time to check in on the political sites (and I use the word “political” loosely, because I think many of these are “I have an empty life” sites, or “I need more excitement” sites, or “I need to feel important” sites, or “My wife and my boss cut my nuts off, and I need to sound off here so I can pretend I got them back” sites)

But then I check back in, and find that things are worse than ever. Not with the government. That’s pretty much at its usual sub-par level. No, the panic-mongering is getting far worse. It’s absurd. You’ve got people who are absolutely addicted to spreading fear. I’m not talking Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Ed Schultz. They get paid to do what they do, and paid very well. I’m talking about the great unwashed masses on the internet who live to find the next life-threatening world-as-we-know-it-ending thing that they can then send out to their 1764 friends on Facebook, who then immediately forward it to theirs, and before you know it, everyone is sure that Obama is personally rounding up Christians to have them eaten by lions in exhibitions on the National Mall. It’s gotten so bad that they don’t even stop to read the first sentence of these “must-read” articles that they send out. And with all the stuff that’s out there, courtesy of the television, radio, print and internet media, it still isn’t enough to satisfy the slavering beast. You’ve got everyday people making up completely false stories, trying to outdo everyone else on the panic scale. And all of a sudden, you’ve got the sweet little old lady next door, who used to give you homemade cookies on your way home from school, talking about strapping on an AK-47 and mowing down all the godless liberals down at the senior center.

That was the point of the rally. There’s nothing wrong with people thinking differently. What’s wrong is that some people feel like their message isn’t getting across to enough of the population, and feel justified in “amplifying” their message with information that is, often, wildly exaggerated or just plain untrue. Many of these same people believe that they are in the majority, by a very large margin (80%-20% is what I heard yesterday, which means tomorrow it’ll be 95%-5%). The turnout at Saturday’s rally would indicate that, perhaps, this isn’t quite the case. However, if these same people, on either side, don’t get out to vote, tomorrow and on other election days, their voices will go unheard.

The rally attendees don’t have a problem with people who think differently. They are just upset with the way they are trying to get their message across. It’s affecting the freedom with which the population can make a political decision. And it’s generating and perpetuating an atmosphere of hate and divisiveness, which will weaken any nation, even one with the largest best-equipped military in the world.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=CardiffBaseball]What’s cool for me is this. I grew up a political junkie, even went to “buckeye boys state” and all that fun stuff. Used to pay attention to every little thing, subscribed to New Republic, read the Nation. Finally flipped back to my conservative inner thoughts in mid-20’s (meaning truly never was a lib, but loved arguing with fellow AF troops, and voted Dukakis-Clinton).

Then I used to get riled up as a CON.

Now I am so out of touch, I don’t know a single thing about Glenn Beck’s rally or this one. For me this is much better. Outside of the off-topic forum here at Pigg, I have no clue. Baseball, college football, work, lift weights with the boys, pitch BP to the kids, eat with the family, lather, rinse, repeat. No FoxNews, No MSNBC etc.

Not for everyone I am sure, and probably off-topic to Urban’s point. It took me years to get to the not-give-a-shit phase, and it’s helping my career, helping my sleep etc. (that and eating Paleo and getting sleep).

So I am glad you all had a good time, and just taken aback that I have reached this level of indifference. Really if I just watched Colbert I’d probably be in the know as to all this stuff, but just too damn busy.[/quote]

I understand completely. I think there are a lot of people these days going through the same thing. When you sign off, and don’t tune into this stuff anymore, you definitely sleep better and enjoy life more.

But it can also lure you into this sense that everything is okay. And the situations you were stressing about have actually resolved. That’s happening to me: I’ll get involved with other stuff, and don’t have time to check in on the political sites (and I use the word “political” loosely, because I think many of these are “I have an empty life” sites, or “I need more excitement” sites, or “I need to feel important” sites, or “My wife and my boss cut my nuts off, and I need to sound off here so I can pretend I got them back” sites)

But then I check back in, and find that things are worse than ever. Not with the government. That’s pretty much at its usual sub-par level. No, the panic-mongering is getting far worse. It’s absurd. You’ve got people who are absolutely addicted to spreading fear. I’m not talking Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Ed Schultz. They get paid to do what they do, and paid very well. I’m talking about the great unwashed masses on the internet who live to find the next life-threatening world-as-we-know-it-ending thing that they can then send out to their 1764 friends on Facebook, who then immediately forward it to theirs, and before you know it, everyone is sure that Obama is personally rounding up Christians to have them eaten by lions in exhibitions on the National Mall. It’s gotten so bad that they don’t even stop to read the first sentence of these “must-read” articles that they send out. And with all the stuff that’s out there, courtesy of the television, radio, print and internet media, it still isn’t enough to satisfy the slavering beast. You’ve got everyday people making up completely false stories, trying to outdo everyone else on the panic scale. And all of a sudden, you’ve got the sweet little old lady next door, who used to give you homemade cookies on your way home from school, talking about strapping on an AK-47 and mowing down all the godless liberals down at the senior center.

That was the point of the rally. There’s nothing wrong with people thinking differently. What’s wrong is that some people feel like their message isn’t getting across to enough of the population, and feel justified in “amplifying” their message with information that is, often, wildly exaggerated or just plain untrue. Many of these same people believe that they are in the majority, by a very large margin (80%-20% is what I heard yesterday, which means tomorrow it’ll be 95%-5%). The turnout at Saturday’s rally would indicate that, perhaps, this isn’t quite the case. However, if these same people, on either side, don’t get out to vote, tomorrow and on other election days, their voices will go unheard.

The rally attendees don’t have a problem with people who think differently. They are just upset with the way they are trying to get their message across. It’s affecting the freedom with which the population can make a political decision. And it’s generating and perpetuating an atmosphere of hate and divisiveness, which will weaken any nation, even one with the largest best-equipped military in the world.

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]

[quote=eavesdropper][img_assist|nid=14163|title=’72 CB350F|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75][/quote]

Wow, eaves, it looks like you were having a lot more fun than me back in the day, while I was driving this!

[img_assist|nid=14167|title=Toy Corona|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=100][/quote]

I *love* it!! “Tops 90 mph” Now that’s what I call absolutely brilliant ad copy!

Yeah, BG, I was not only having more fun, but also definitely moving faster than you were.

But then again, you had other things to lure guys your way……and I quote: “omg, dittos . . . no back pockets – skin tight with a round seam over the butt or hash-marked hips. I had a both a teal and a purple pair, with matching see-thru plastic belts. This was the mid-seventies, I think. And I had a white rabbit fur/vinyl jacket with square silver chain-fasteners to wear with them and matching pull-on stretch white patent knee boots. ”

The evidence is here, kept safe in the archives for posterity:
http://piggington.com/ot_should_citibank_woman_be_fired_for_wearing_formfitted_clothin?page=1

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]

[quote=eavesdropper][img_assist|nid=14163|title=’72 CB350F|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75][/quote]

Wow, eaves, it looks like you were having a lot more fun than me back in the day, while I was driving this!

[img_assist|nid=14167|title=Toy Corona|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=100][/quote]

I *love* it!! “Tops 90 mph” Now that’s what I call absolutely brilliant ad copy!

Yeah, BG, I was not only having more fun, but also definitely moving faster than you were.

But then again, you had other things to lure guys your way……and I quote: “omg, dittos . . . no back pockets – skin tight with a round seam over the butt or hash-marked hips. I had a both a teal and a purple pair, with matching see-thru plastic belts. This was the mid-seventies, I think. And I had a white rabbit fur/vinyl jacket with square silver chain-fasteners to wear with them and matching pull-on stretch white patent knee boots. ”

The evidence is here, kept safe in the archives for posterity:
http://piggington.com/ot_should_citibank_woman_be_fired_for_wearing_formfitted_clothin?page=1

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]

[quote=eavesdropper][img_assist|nid=14163|title=’72 CB350F|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75][/quote]

Wow, eaves, it looks like you were having a lot more fun than me back in the day, while I was driving this!

[img_assist|nid=14167|title=Toy Corona|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=100][/quote]

I *love* it!! “Tops 90 mph” Now that’s what I call absolutely brilliant ad copy!

Yeah, BG, I was not only having more fun, but also definitely moving faster than you were.

But then again, you had other things to lure guys your way……and I quote: “omg, dittos . . . no back pockets – skin tight with a round seam over the butt or hash-marked hips. I had a both a teal and a purple pair, with matching see-thru plastic belts. This was the mid-seventies, I think. And I had a white rabbit fur/vinyl jacket with square silver chain-fasteners to wear with them and matching pull-on stretch white patent knee boots. ”

The evidence is here, kept safe in the archives for posterity:
http://piggington.com/ot_should_citibank_woman_be_fired_for_wearing_formfitted_clothin?page=1

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]

[quote=eavesdropper][img_assist|nid=14163|title=’72 CB350F|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75][/quote]

Wow, eaves, it looks like you were having a lot more fun than me back in the day, while I was driving this!

[img_assist|nid=14167|title=Toy Corona|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=100][/quote]

I *love* it!! “Tops 90 mph” Now that’s what I call absolutely brilliant ad copy!

Yeah, BG, I was not only having more fun, but also definitely moving faster than you were.

But then again, you had other things to lure guys your way……and I quote: “omg, dittos . . . no back pockets – skin tight with a round seam over the butt or hash-marked hips. I had a both a teal and a purple pair, with matching see-thru plastic belts. This was the mid-seventies, I think. And I had a white rabbit fur/vinyl jacket with square silver chain-fasteners to wear with them and matching pull-on stretch white patent knee boots. ”

The evidence is here, kept safe in the archives for posterity:
http://piggington.com/ot_should_citibank_woman_be_fired_for_wearing_formfitted_clothin?page=1

[eavesdropper]

[quote=bearishgurl]

[quote=eavesdropper][img_assist|nid=14163|title=’72 CB350F|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75][/quote]

Wow, eaves, it looks like you were having a lot more fun than me back in the day, while I was driving this!

[img_assist|nid=14167|title=Toy Corona|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=100][/quote]

I *love* it!! “Tops 90 mph” Now that’s what I call absolutely brilliant ad copy!

Yeah, BG, I was not only having more fun, but also definitely moving faster than you were.

But then again, you had other things to lure guys your way……and I quote: “omg, dittos . . . no back pockets – skin tight with a round seam over the butt or hash-marked hips. I had a both a teal and a purple pair, with matching see-thru plastic belts. This was the mid-seventies, I think. And I had a white rabbit fur/vinyl jacket with square silver chain-fasteners to wear with them and matching pull-on stretch white patent knee boots. ”

The evidence is here, kept safe in the archives for posterity:
http://piggington.com/ot_should_citibank_woman_be_fired_for_wearing_formfitted_clothin?page=1

[eavesdropper]

“Ms. Zelman says her research suggests defaulters do spend much of the money on consumer services and goods. “People are taking what they would have been spending on a mortgage and spending it somewhere else,” she says……
“I don’t think that’s the kind of consumer recovery we want, if the only reason they’re spending a bit more is that they’re not paying their other bills,” said Joseph Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein in New York.”

I agree with the guy, but I’m also wondering where were these economic research people during the “healthy economy” of the early to mid-aughts? I had friends and acquaintances all around me during that time constantly telling me, “The economy is doing great!!” I would then ask them how an economy could be healthy when everything that was being bought was either on some sort of unsecured consumer credit agreement or financed with the equity in people’s homes. I would point out that our “thriving economy” was not based on stuff that our nation’s people were manufacturing but was actually based on financial services: making loans and servicing them. Without exception, every one of responded, “The stock market is up, and housing prices are going through the roof.” It *never* occurred to them that the situation could change, nor could they accept that as a possibility when they were apprised of it. Who could blame them? The financial “experts” in the media weren’t telling them that.

[eavesdropper]

“Ms. Zelman says her research suggests defaulters do spend much of the money on consumer services and goods. “People are taking what they would have been spending on a mortgage and spending it somewhere else,” she says……
“I don’t think that’s the kind of consumer recovery we want, if the only reason they’re spending a bit more is that they’re not paying their other bills,” said Joseph Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein in New York.”

I agree with the guy, but I’m also wondering where were these economic research people during the “healthy economy” of the early to mid-aughts? I had friends and acquaintances all around me during that time constantly telling me, “The economy is doing great!!” I would then ask them how an economy could be healthy when everything that was being bought was either on some sort of unsecured consumer credit agreement or financed with the equity in people’s homes. I would point out that our “thriving economy” was not based on stuff that our nation’s people were manufacturing but was actually based on financial services: making loans and servicing them. Without exception, every one of responded, “The stock market is up, and housing prices are going through the roof.” It *never* occurred to them that the situation could change, nor could they accept that as a possibility when they were apprised of it. Who could blame them? The financial “experts” in the media weren’t telling them that.

[eavesdropper]

“Ms. Zelman says her research suggests defaulters do spend much of the money on consumer services and goods. “People are taking what they would have been spending on a mortgage and spending it somewhere else,” she says……
“I don’t think that’s the kind of consumer recovery we want, if the only reason they’re spending a bit more is that they’re not paying their other bills,” said Joseph Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein in New York.”

I agree with the guy, but I’m also wondering where were these economic research people during the “healthy economy” of the early to mid-aughts? I had friends and acquaintances all around me during that time constantly telling me, “The economy is doing great!!” I would then ask them how an economy could be healthy when everything that was being bought was either on some sort of unsecured consumer credit agreement or financed with the equity in people’s homes. I would point out that our “thriving economy” was not based on stuff that our nation’s people were manufacturing but was actually based on financial services: making loans and servicing them. Without exception, every one of responded, “The stock market is up, and housing prices are going through the roof.” It *never* occurred to them that the situation could change, nor could they accept that as a possibility when they were apprised of it. Who could blame them? The financial “experts” in the media weren’t telling them that.

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