GIVEN THAT THIS COLUMN’S PUBLICATION coincides with Christmas Day, I would like to start by wishing all of you a very merry Christmas.
And speaking of gifts — according to the Commerce Department, the U.S. economy grew by 5 percent in the third quarter of this year. Given that the economy grew by 4.6 percent in the second quarter and is showing very strong preliminary signs in the final quarter, we may be looking at the strongest three quarters of economic growth since the boom years of the 1990s.
One possible contributor to growth in the next few months will be falling gasoline prices. I’ve said before in this space that as you go down the income scale from rich to poor, gains in income become more likely to be spent rather than saved. For example, in my column from Jan. 22 of this year, I wrote:
“(A) fundamental principle of political economics, borne out by rafts of research over many decades, (is that) the higher you go on the wealth ladder, the more likely is the holder of wealth to save, rather than spend, any gains in marginal income. If you are or know people toward the bottom of the income scale, you will immediately grasp the truth of why this is so: people at the bottom defer or do without things that, in the present moment and circumstance, qualify as ‘needs.’
“When I was making very little money, my cars received repairs on a triage basis — the urgent and mandatory, purely mechanical stuff got fixed, and everything else was subject to the duct-tape-the-hole-and-live-with-it kind of solution. At some point the heater core in my old Ford Taurus cracked and spewed coolant in the interior, so I disconnected the heater and drove around wearing jackets in the wintertime (it helps that I live in Northern California; in a place like Michigan, a heater is more of a necessity).
“My place was furnished with second-hand and garage sale-acquired furniture and cookware, including an ancient television I’d gotten from my parents when they got a better model.
“I had no cable television, kept my heater off most of the time and for several years had no car at all (back then I could walk to work, so I had no commute expenses).
“I economized in many other ways: I never ate out, since cooking my own food from scratch was way cheaper; I bought most of my wardrobe at the Goodwill store across the street from my job; on vacations I would hike up into the Berkeley Hills or camp at the beach, spend time with friends, and so on.
“Qualitatively, it actually wasn’t a bad life, but here’s the thing: Any increase in income — and in those days my raises were in 50-cent-per-hour increments — was spent on little upgrades. Rather than never going to the movies, I could suddenly go to a matinee once a month. The next raise, I might be able to go to a local restaurant a few times a month and order something cheap (this usually meant a cup of soup or maybe a salad).
“In other words I could suddenly afford to have things, many of them pretty basic, that poverty had previously denied me.
“As I got those little life-upgrades, I was also doing something else: I was contributing more to other people’s incomes. That one more movie ticket or cheap dinner were provided by workers who were paid to provide them to me, and whose wages also contributed to still others’ economic advancement. Those 50-cent raises were put to work more or less immediately in the economy.”
The recent plunge in gas prices gives us a natural experiment to verify my hypothesis. Lower gas prices have effectively given American consumers a significant increase in disposable income, and the effects are already affecting the mood of those consumers. According to Reuters:
“U.S. consumer sentiment jumped in December to its highest level in nearly eight years on cheaper gasoline and better job and wage prospects, a survey released on Tuesday showed.
“The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final December reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 93.6, its best showing on a final basis since January 2007 and the latest in a string of increases since August.
“The reading was up from 88.8 the month before but under the preliminary reading of 93.8. It was above the median forecast of 93.5 among economists polled by Reuters.”
I think we may be on the brink of an economic upsurge the likes of which we haven’t seen in ages. I’ll offer more specific predictions for 2015 in next week’s column.
Matt Talbot is a writer and poet, as well as an old Benicia hand. He works for a tech start-up in San Francisco.
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Merry Christmas, Benicia Writer, always a treat to read your stuff.
PB
Beyond the “economic upswing” fantasyland—
From the above article:
“I think we may be on the brink of an economic upsurge the likes of which we haven’t seen in ages. I’ll offer more specific predictions for 2015 in next week’s column.”
From the article below more “realistic information” for Mr. Talbot, community members and our appointed and elected officials to seriously contemplate…
“Magic Growth Numbers From The Government”
” Everyone wants good news, so the government makes it up. The latest fiction is that US real GDP grew 4.6% in the second quarter and 5% in the third.”
“Where did this growth come from?”
“Not from rising real consumer incomes.”
“Not from rising consumer credit.”
“Not from rising real retail sales.”
“Not from the housing sector.”
“Not from a trade surplus.”
“The answer is that the illusion of economic recovery must be kept alive.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40571.htm
Beyond the “economic upswing” fantasyland—
From the above article:
“I think we may be on the brink of an economic upsurge the likes of which we haven’t seen in ages.”
From the article below more “detailed-real- information” for Mr. Talbot, community members and our appointed and elected officials to seriously contemplate…
“The Economic Consequences of Global Oil Deflation”
“What effect a deep and sustained oil price deflation will have on the global economy—which is already drifting toward stagnation and, simultaneously, rising financial instability—is hardly being discussed at all in the western business press. Instead, oil deflation is reported as a positive economic development, both for the advanced economies (AEs) and for emerging market economies (EMEs), as well as the global economy in general.”
“Economists, the business press, and governments in the advanced economies are all giving a ‘positive spin’ to falling oil prices, claiming it will mean lower costs to both businesses and consumers in the AEs. Lower oil prices mean lower gasoline prices and thus more for consumer households to spend elsewhere. Lower oil costs will stimulate business investment and spending, it is argued, and thus also boost economic growth. But this simplistic view may prove incorrect, not only for the AEs but for emerging market economies in particular and for the global economy in general. The combined negative effects of deep and sustained oil price deflation may well outweigh their positive effects.”
http://www.kyklosproductions.com/posts/index.php?p=256
Looks like the recovery has missed Will. Too bad for him. For the rest of us, it’s very real and feeling better every day. Thanks Obama!
Matt Stated: The recent plunge in gas prices gives us a natural experiment to verify my hypothesis. Lower gas prices have effectively given American consumers a significant increase in disposable income,
Indeed falling gas prices do lift the economy. One major factor in the plunging price of gas and oil is due to increased fracking in North Dakota, Texas and other areas.
This then represents a conflict; Do you really want to support and cheer a growing economy at the price of increased fracking and all the resultant associated perils?
Dennis I do not think anyone in Benicia would support fracking. They mysteriously will give President Obama credit for reduction in gas prices. Fine , let them live in a dream world. There goes the electric car sales. Down and down. Who can they blame for that. Why of course Fracking. Elon is now looking at partnering with utilies with his solar company. Bye Bye CCA”s and of course MCE. Dennis will the Socialist wever learn or even get it?
Gas prices will go back up, and electric and hybrid cars will continue to be attractive options for those who both want to save and want to save the environment, nincompoop naysayers notwithstanding.
H H where are your facts and Proof?
So you think gas prices won’t go back up? What is your basis for this brilliant prediction?
Never said that H H. You are the one that appears to think gas prices are going up. So give us your reasons. Your past reasons were all goofy and did not get it done. All very goofy.Cuber and Castro, Iran? Bail outs or loss of jobs. Try again. But first read and do some research. As a clerk typist you must know how to do that.
Higher gas prices were not an issue for me, Bring them back and stop the frack, I say.
The horror and stupidity of Fracking is only fully known to a few. Anything signed into law by Cheney to avoid the Clean Water Act is as immoral and endangering as he still is. He’s no spokesperson for me or any political party I belong to. He’s as toxic as any coal ash pond deposit and there are many.The naive and unknowing can start with the films Gasland 1
and 2.
Peter said:Anything signed into law by Cheney >/I>
Good point Peter!
I also am opposed to any laws signed by Cheney, or Gore, or Biden or Humphrey or any other Vice President.
That in fact should be against the Constitution.
Oh wait, silly me, it is.
Peter said:Anything signed into law by Cheney
Good point Peter!
I also am opposed to any laws signed by Cheney, or Gore, or Biden or Humphrey or any other Vice President.
That in fact should be against the Constitution.
Oh wait, silly me, it is.
Correction for Dennis Lund:
Cheney was instrumental in getting Fracking approved outside of the Clean Water Act and therefore not having its environmentally toxic ingredients known to John Q. Public. Does that better suit your vocabulary of choice words that always attempt to bless the Republicans and demean the Democrats? They are all largely dysfunctional collections of mediocre mindsets. Choose your heroes carefully if you have any.
Peter said: Does that better suit your vocabulary of choice words that always attempt to bless the Republicans and demean the Democrats?
Thank you for the correction Peter, I know how difficult it is for you to admit you were wrong. Yes, I do like to be specific on word choices, as words convey meaning. It is a habit gained from Engineering School with courses in Technical Writing, Contract Administration and Contract Terms and Conditions. I would have thought they taught the same at Berkeley, but then that was ages ago, was it not?
I do recall one professor explaining how words used, or misused, can completely change the meaning of a sentence: “signed” vs. “supported” being the case here. As an example he spoke of how poets can spend a good deal of time struggling over not just word choice, but word order. In fact it can be the difference between a good poet and a weak one. Perhaps a closer study of this may be beneficial to your poetic efforts?
BTW, then Senator Obama supported the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to which you refer in regards to VP Cheney.
Dennis:
Did you learn anything creative or benevolent in Engineering school, or just how to nitpick over political armchair trivialities in order to pursue your “big picture at 30,000 feet?” If you could climb out of your frozen ideology for more than 30 seconds you might see that mutual benevolence to all provides more to humanity than all your perpetual, demeaning, carping negativity. UC Berkeley was frinking wonderful as was Graduate School there. Did you entertain any of that on the campus of your choice and where was that exactly? BS, MS, PhD?
Peter asks:Did you learn anything creative or benevolent in Engineering school,
Of course I did Peter, but more important than the Art History courses, the 9 units of Botany or the 12 Units of Native American studies, I learned how to look at both sides of the issues, how to analyze facts and how to determine when I am being feed a total line of BS from self-serving politicians. All that helped me to realize that the Democrats had been grubberizing all of us for as long as I can remember.
The most important lessons entails all of that, as I learned to think for myself and not fall prey to those who seek, not to better the nation, but only to better themselves.
When was the last time you read a book written by a conservative, instead of just reading something that confirms your own close-minded and spiteful view of the world?
I have suggested to others here (Talbot, Shelby) several such books, none of which have been read by free minded thinkers such as yourself.
DDL:
YOU studying “Both sides of the issues?” Oh, that’s ripe…Hardeeharhar…Show me one word in your out-of-town written diatribes against the Democrats and then please, please, please stack up something benevolent and intelligent the Repubs have done by their own initiation in the last 400 years. Read a conservative book? Have they written any that aren’t “trickle-down, self-serving” nonsense?
George W. Bush’s library of papers does NOT qualify…it’s said to be a comic book pile of old MAD magazines from his questionable youth..Sorry. Oh, yes, and for the record, where exactly was this Exalted Hall of Learning you attended and what exactly was your line of study? Selective Political Myopia 102A? Have you thought about Writing Humor for your own local hometown paper? Or don’t you have a hometown paper? Why do you bug us?
I do believe Dennis you have gotten to Petr. He is on the run with a bunch of words that mean nothing. Dennis you have Petr all messed up he cannot think straight.
Bobby Livesay:
Dennis Lund and I are having a GREAT time jousting over matchsticks, Bobby. Go back to your Holiday Spirits and try to stay out of conversations with the adults. Maybe you could frost some brownies in the kitchen. Or change the cat’s box.
Sorry Petr you are confused again. Just what are those Brownies laced with. Cal in the 60’s still must be hanging on to your brain Petr. Petr you will respond with a not so funny negative comment.
Bobby Livesay:
Please inquire with Dennis Lund. I’m sure his hometown paper could use your brand of typographic errors, misspellings, and slurred-over political-blunder remarks. Throw in some anti-environmentalist slurs and maybe you can find a while new assembly of sit-on-the-porch curmudgeons to entertain.
What makes you think I am not alrerady in other papers.
Bobby:
I’m sure your stuff is in a bazillion papers, I’m just suggesting one more in Dennis’ hometown paper. Have you thought of putting out a line of wallpapers as well as wrapping papers? Other languages too. There’s no limit for your stuff! Think of the votes you could garner if you ran for local or national office! Wow! Give Bernie and Elizabeth a run for their money. Hillary too. Bobby Jindal, Christy, and Rick Perry! You could go places!
I already have.
Peter.
“Humor for your own local hometown paper”
Conservatives typically don’t have very well developed sense of humor. It is usually sophomoric and crass, at best. Of all the well known and successful stand-up comics of today, I’ll bet you can’t come up with one that identifies as a conservative (Adam Sandler does not count, since a) he is sophomoric, b) his career tanked at least 10 years ago)
Confirmed Thomas is a Liberal.
Bobby:
So what?
Sorry, boys, I have to run. These exercises always deteriorate to old men spitting on the porch, missing the grass and trying to outshine each other. Like old kerosene lanterns on a rusting, metal picnic table out of town that no one cares about on a dull camping trip…Only the moths linger and then they die from boredom and cold weather and/or arriving fruit flies.
Ever read my poem about “The Old Motel Where Old Flies Go To Die?” I didn’t think so, I haven’t written it yet. Stay tuned, but not today. I have a long list of Constructive Things to Do. I’m sure you do too. Happy Holidays. A good joust is like fiber in the diet.©PB
Confirmed, when it comes to humor, Bob’s is vapid..
Thomas:
Arrested Development and Hooray-for-Me, low Lightbulb wattage armchair politicos are great fodder for warming up my recliner and laptop in a Post-Holiday jousting with wall shadows exercise. Lund and Livesay enjoy the attention. It’s like attracting fleas or flies or mosquitos. Besides the Niners and Raiders are OVER for this season. If you don’t have any defense in your offensive line, you’re liable to spend most of your Sundays being sacked by your opponents and on your butt. It really screws up your passing game. Same for What’s His Name and that other out-of-town “writer.” Enjoy the Holidays.
Peter said: Wow! That was a stretch, all the way back to Lincoln…
You said in the past 400 years, I worked within the time frame given, now you change the rules? Notice I did not even point out that the Republicans have existed as a political party for less than 200 years. I thought pointing out yet another error of yours would be over the top.
JFK realized the stupidity of the Military-Industrial Complex and was gonna shut down the war
Again, you are not paying attention. Which year was he going to “wind down the war”? Here are the troop numbers by year:
1960 900
1961 3205 350% increase
1962 11300 352% increase
1963 16300 144% increase
1964 23300 143% increase (mostly attributable to LBJ)
DL:
Suggestion, try to be a little less linear…you’re starting to sound a tad mentally constipated…400 years was metaphoric exaggeration to give you a wide berth for creative, analytical thinking…Did you ever get beyond algebra in the “college” of your choice? Like calculus and the
fluidity of real thought? Do your own research about JFK, FOLK INFO abounds over the villians and political jerks of our generation…there were and ARE many…
PB said: Do your own research about JFK,
I have Peter, far more than you realize, you really should pick your battles a little more carefully and instead of attempting to use ridicule and humor try using facts and knowledge.
As to JFK, specifically, since the subject you brought up was the Vietnam War, shall we talk about how he correctly realized that the wars of the future would require “specialized forces’ (a term he first used in a campaign speech in 1960 to describe what we now call Special Forces) and that he envisioned, as well as started using, so as to start ‘surgical’ strikes instead of pitched battles. Or shall we talk about the Bay of Pigs when Kennedy let the men get slaughtered on the beaches of Cuba? Or shall we talk about how he let his boat get cut in half by the Japanese? How shall we talk about all the women he laid on a regular basis in the WH? Or shall we talk about ‘Profiles in Courage’ a book he did not write for which he accepted credit for? Or shall we talk about ….
I could go on, but you have already stopped paying attention. Actually, I think you stopped paying attention about the time your hero Clinton was getting Lewinskied on a regular basis.
DL:
Get a life. If you had one you wouldn’t be so immersed in all your 12¢ political figures and their trivial ups and downs. Arm chair politicos…mediocre forces.
Those that can’t do squat themselves live vicariously on the foibles and criticisms of others. BORING!
Peter,
“Think of the votes you could garner if you ran for local or national office!”
Now that is humor. But, if he fails, maybe could get a reality TV show out of, like Palin.
Thomas: HE IS a reality show! Great idea though!
Peter said:please stack up something benevolent and intelligent the Repubs have done by their own initiation in the last 400 years.
Three things come to mind right away:
1) Ending slavery.
2) Ending the Vietnam War that JFK started and LBJ escalated.
3) Passing the Civil Rights Act.
Wow! That was a stretch, all the way back to Lincoln…JFK realized the stupidity of the Military-Industrial Complex and was gonna shut down the war but he was whacked by others before he could carry it out…Now do you have anything your Hero Repubs have done This Millenmium? Think real hard…real hard…
“specific on word choices”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Petr I see you choose your heros carefully. They are all Socialists. Here are two of your chosen two that you have confirmed in a comment. Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Sanders.. Those are two of your heros Petr.
Bobby Livesay Sayeth:
“Socialists?” You’re not even close, Bobby Livesay. Further proof that excess Holiday Spirits may have numbed your perceptions again. They are moderately-liberal Democrats with a penchant for humanistic values, not hard-core, SOUR, Old White Men, Obstructionists who once supported George W. Bush’s tax cut-thinking, while perpetuating two Oil-Resource Wars on tax-payer credit cards while the US economy was being eaten alive by under-regulated financial house moguls…Go back to your “I LOVE Fracking & The Keystone Pipeline Term Papers,” Bob.
Peter said: Socialists?” You’re not even close,
If you are trying to make the case that Sanders is not a socialist you are paying even less attention then I thought.
Makes me think you need to use a calculator to post here.
My error: Sanders is noted as being an “Indepedent,” NOT a Democrat…And if he has humanistic leanings anout the wellbeing of humans, how fantastic is that?! Show.me one Republican who voices a rat’s exterior for humanistic issues? They appear to me to be exploiters of anything related to the almighty buck and only the buck. Materialistic, shallow-souls only. Maybe I should join up with the liberal Progressives and Independents…You got any
favorite neuroses about them too ?
It appears Dennis Petr is a little frustrated by your correct comments. Has no answers except his worn out buggy whip fountain pen. Poor fellow is in misery and has no way out. By the way Petr how many TV shows Movies and Commercials have you appeared in? Try none Petr. So wake up befire you start talking about others .and what they should do. You have been hammered by Dennis. Better get out when you can. It will not be long before you are really in to deep and will not recover. See you on the set Petr.
Lame attempt at aggrandizing Bobbie Livesay, and are you the movie set mogul now? That’s your measure of fame and/or accomplishment? You and Lund are Laughable 1 and 2. OR reverse the order if you like L2 and L1.
Have a great life, I have home chores to do, no further time to entertain you two. Cheers
Peter said: DL: Get a life
Interesting comment from someone who was posting here on Christmas Day and has posted 18 times on this thread alone.
Use the same yardstick to measure yourself Peter before you ridicule, diminish and insult others. If you do, you will see you come up very short.
Advice from you who demean and criticize all others who don’t agree with your ideology? Flat and shallow advice. Flat and shallow.
Not true Peter, my comments are directed primarily at public officials, not at fellow posters.
You are an unexceptional exception, one who is extremely tedious.
You readily demean others when they don’t agree with you. Same technique as Bobbie Livesay. You do it so automatically, it must be a natural way of life for you. Is your self-esteem that fragile?Take away the arrogance and the implied political supremacy, and you’re as flawed as any other ideologue walking the planet. Limbaugh just gets paid for his tripe. Have you ever been just normal and humble?
Peter,
I was hoping you would not continue down this path, but since you have once again decided to play amateur psychologist, I will do the same, but first;
Your comments are a continued display of utter hypocrisy, as nothing I have said on these pages compares with what has been thrown out by those who agree with you. I am not going to mention specific names, but you have cheered them on in the past.
You can dish out your wit and sarcasm all you want, if that makes you feel better, so be it. I no longer care because I see you as a person to be pitied and not one worthy of the energy of anger.
I have been told by people we both know, that you were at one time a nice person, one who was fun to be around, but that is no longer the case. Your personal family tragedy (and for that I have personally sent condolences to you, and I do so again) has changed you. You now have a deep level of anger and it seems you have chosen me as one source of your venting.
I am not the one you are angry at, instead I am the one you are taking it out on. I suggest you get some grief counseling, as that may help.
I am posting this, call it a rebuttal, as well as sending it to you personally via e-mail.
Let this end now, and take a closer look at yourself.
Dear, Dear Dennis:
Oh, Oh, Oh, you’re such a revelation! I have seen the light and become such a new man and not a wretch of my former self. Go on blasting the Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, and Independents and take Bob Livesay with you. We owe all our Benevolence and Cheers to the forever wonderful and faultless and flawless Republicans. Thank you so much for this Abundant Healing! You are a Master of the Religious and Benevolent Arts as practiced online and at No Charge! Woo-Hoo! Enjoy your freedom of the Press from wherever Out of Town you write from. Is it always at 30,000 feet or do you ever get down to our level? Are there many OTHER angels there? Happy New Year! I am walking on roses now! Peace and great candidates your way in 2016!
Matt: You are, as usual, right on. Add the impending boom to President Obama’s many accomplishments. Thanks Obama!
H H you are corect. Ptresident ObAMa HAD MAny acconplishments. Lost the House and the SenATE. Try the Govsm all or many state upper and lower houses. Yes H H you ARE
This looks like one of those hostage notes where they cut each letter out of a newspaper. DrOp 3 MIllIOn In SMaLl BiLLs iN A BRIefcASe At the COrNEr oF 2Nd aNd MiLiTaRy …
Hank:
Some of our peer group do texting in odd locations which will go without geographical or elevational reference. But it’s a recurring pattern. So who needs an editorial cartoonist? We have one.
Thanks Petr and H H for all of the attention. In one of my future LTTE I will give both of you credit as the no fact guys. Just pure personal attacks. Attack me Petr and it is coming back very strong.
it was for you H H. It appears you do have a problem reading and understanding issues. Just for one Cuba or as the N E Liberals say Cuber
H H you are correct. President Obama had many accomplishments. Lost the House and the Senate.. Try the Govs all or many state upper and lower houses. Yes H H you are correct he did accomplish a lot but for the Republicans and not the Liberal Socialist. See you around Matt and H H. You both apparently have not been paying attention unless it is to yourselfs. Sorry fellas you lost and may never recover.
Same approval as Reagan at this point in his presidency and more accomplishments by far. Obama is one of the great presidents in this country’s history. I know it hurts but that’s a fact.
H H give me the FACTS to prove your comment.
Health care for all is enough. But he also saved the economy, saved the auto industry, got bin Laden, normalized relations with Cuba, and I could go on and on. A deal with iran is coming. There may yet be a breakthrough with Palestine. Immigration. The climate deal with China. Federal protection for huge swaths of land. In 20 years he will be beloved. It’s already starting to happen. I’m only sorry you won’t be around to see it.
Well stated, Hank, and much appreciated. SOUR OLD WHITE MEN rarely smell or acknowledge the bread baking unless it’s powered or covered by petroleum and inedible.
Look in the mirror Petr. I do believe you will find you are looking at the only Sour Old White Man that lives in the past and may not even know what day of the week it is. Sorry Petr you are way out of touch.
Really? I cannot find one, not one, reference crediting Obama with saving the auto industry. He may be due some credit, but certainly not sole credit. Got Bin Laden? I guess if he can take credit for he work of others, sure he got Bin Laden. Or maybe he just hsppened to be in office when OBL was found. Saved the economy? I would like to see some proof on that. Millions have given up looking for work. To call relations with zcuba normalized is a bit of a stretch, although we are on track for normalized relations we are far from it still. There will never be a breakthrough with the Palestinians because their leadership does not want it.
Head in hole.
Must have given the typing pool some time off for an early NY
No, just not a creepy lurker and last-word freak like you.
H H your New Years resolution should be to make sure you have your Granola before posting. It will clear your head and your posts will make more sense. Rememberr H H Granola first. Happy New Year
Well said.
Really? Not one? You’re bad at the Internet.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/President-Obama-Saved-the-US-Auto-Industry/386756348032751
Be sure to “Like” it so you can get all the updates.
Seriously? A page put up by Obama supporters is proof? You can’t possibly believe that is proof. But I am starting to understand why you think he will go down as one of the best presidents.
Beyond the propagandists and stenographers for Obama—
From the above commenter;
“Obama is one of the great presidents in this country’s history. I know it hurts but that’s a fact.”
More serious facts and honest information on Mr. Obama’s record for the community and our appointed electedrepresentatives to consider…
“Obama’s Progressive Legacy?”
“WHAT legacy? That of drone assassination? Massive surveillance of the American people, and eavesdropping on foreign leaders? CIA latitude in promoting regime change? Military shift to Asia? Fashioning EU into an anti-Russian military force? Global counterrevolutionary posture, and calibrated renewal of the Cold War, treating Russia and China as therefore interrelated threats to US geopolitical vision of unilateral world hegemony? Yes, a treasured legacy of war, intervention, galvanizing American business to pursue commercial-financial-industrial penetration on a universal scale.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/14/obamas-progressive-legacy/
Yeah, on second thought, I’d much rather have the good, old, lying, dysfunctional days of “Doofus W” and Cheney back, those were days we could be slothfully be proud of ourselves as our world slid into a simple toilet…pb
But Petr your the five star rated Handyman. You can fix anythjing as long as it does not need a ladder.
Bobbo:
I’m doing just fine. But no amount of help will assist you in knowing your contractions and slowing down your ill-advised, juvenile, and demeaning chatter enough to proofread your own remarks. If you want some real credibility, check your work before sending. Otherwise you read and sound like a sad, old doofus. Even grade school kids are advised to “Check your work!”
Progressive criticism of Obama cracks me up. You are all so silly and ineffectual. You will never, I repeat never, have a more progressive president. Embrace reality for a change Will.
You didn’t ask for “proof” … you said you couldn’t find one, not one, reference to Obama saving the auto industry. Well I provided one. Took about 15 seconds of work. Again, you are bad at the Internet, and you should feel bad.
P.S. The proof is self-evident to those of us not suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome.
Oh my…Obama haters who thrive on their biased Fox News reports just HATE to have their “facts and data” blown out of the water….Somebody’s gonna have to wear the Dunce hat again at the back of the room…denying science is one thing but Sour Old White Men are supposed to look bright, knowledgable, and authoritarian even if they’re not…Does GOP = SOWM? Sour Old White Men? Oh, Mercy, Percy! Pass the Prunes!
Petr “Pass the prunes” is what you said.” I guess you are the sour old white man. Prunes in Benicia. I thought you and H H were Granola children.
Bobbo:
“Pass the prunes” is what my grandmother used to say, which serves to date all your comments.
Good luck with 2015.
If that is the case it also dates your comments. My Grerat Grandmother was born in 1842 and I did talk to her as a young child. A very amasing person. Married during the Cicil War and I will always remember her and her asking me questions. Loved it when she asked what kind of machine my dad had. If that dated anyone so be it. I do believe the term movement was used back then. So I assume you did have your movement today Petr. If not yes you do need the prunes or maybe the Granalo that your crowd so loves.
Bobbo:
“Your crowd” is far from reality. Proofread your material or I’ll just delete it. I refuse to wade through your juvenile attempts at humor plus blatant typos. Do you type with your thumbs or dragon claws?
Perhaps you should take some remedial classes in grammar and typewriting or skip the wine with your whining at breakfast?
When I comment back to you and your Granola crowd I just bang away. If it comes out with errors so be it. You do always get the message.. I do suggest you read my LTTE.
I’d rather read the bark on a tree…good luck with 2015!
Poor Petr, he does not even know who I am. Sometimes it is Bob, then Bobbie and also Bobby.
Bobbo: Since you insist on using my e-mail name, Petr to address me, I figured you too would enjoy having your name mispelled a dozen ways…AND, I just made a donation to MoveOn.org to help support all progressive action on the planet. Cheers for a Happy New Year 2015!
Petr read my comment on the new article by Matt. It is not bark on the tree. You even may be able to understand it. Even H H might even get it. It is written for the low info readers. Go to it H H and Peter. I can expect the usual name calling and no info co,memts from these two.
Bobbo:
Not even raccoons
care what you think.
Ask them
sometime.
See what
they say.
pb
Petr you did read it or you would not have answered
You don’t know apple sauce from linguini…ask a raccoon the difference.
As I said your only answers are name calling. Petr you are a very sad and lonely person.
Sad and lonely? Baloney! I’m a Happy Camper! Sorry I can’t mentor you or play today, try to make it on your own. There must be other conservatives around in California with idle money and nothing to do. Form a Racquetball team. Go play Squash or Tetherball or throw pizza dough…Try to be self-entertaining for a change.
pb
Petr you are confused. You are reading and playing. Very strange comment.
Bobbo:
If you read and played more you wouldn’t be such a chronic, back page whiner, requiring so much mentoring from liberals and progressives…get with the program, any program…get out and do something constructive. Try it you might like it. Not everybody is your villain…
But Petr I am your villain.. Mission accomplished.
I have no walking villains, only past memories of mediocre nutjobs on the trail…
pb
By trhe way Petr I would assume today is a wirk day for the Handyman Union. Do you get double time?
No Handyman Union do I belong to. And No, I don’t charge overtime or look for Between Holiday pay.
I actually provide unique services as most artisans do. Have a pleasant day and thanks for inquiring.
I worked for one customer in Vallejo, talked to two prospects on the phone, called on one later in Benicia and Saturday is a busy day also. Not bad for a self-employed individual for the past 12 years huh? Who does your repairs? Are you Handy Andy around the rancho?
I do not do my Handyman work. I do have a very expensive and accomplished Handyman.
FB is difficult for older conservatives to use. Hense, the majority of pages on FB are slightly more left of center by majority. However, this does not mean that they hold less credence than other sources.
Anybody can have a FB page. Trust me, there is a great deal of bible thumping administrators, with pages. There are a few white nationalists, as well. There is basically a little something for everybody.
Yeah, books were hard for them to use at first also..and Gawd knows, Science, Wow, that’s still uphill for most of them…single syllables are best, like “coal,” “oil,” “cash”…nothing that would cause an outward strain and cerebral hemorraging…like “coal ash ponds,” three simple syllables in a row, those don’t compute at all…