Nice Going You Government Jerks!

[Frank_Chickens]

[quote][i]Originally posted by djcraig[/i]
<br>
When the government gets involved in "improving" your life, watch out! Our public school system is a joke. Our tax system is retarded. The Post Office is unprofitable while UPS and Fed Ex make millions.

The bigger the government becomes, the more scandals and corruption we get. And yet some continue to push for more taxes, more bureaucracy and more intrusion into their lives. That's not the answer, it is the problem!
[/quote]

That's exactly what's happening the UK right now!

Our public schools now perform to league tables so it's very important to get the paperwork right with that because if you don't you'll receive a lower position in the league table and the school gets less investment. Educating the children? That can wait until after this.

Then there was the outcry over the late marking of the S.A.T.s (something that came from America which nobody wanted apart from the government) which affected children's choice of colleges. In true government style, the company responsible for the error received a new contract to carry on doing this.

Gordon Brown has made himself even more unpopular by getting rid of the 10% base tax rate without putting anything else in its place. This decision has affected tens of millions of people (myself included). We all knew that when he got in he would spend most of his time clearing up after Tony Blair, but it has now come to light that the prudent chancellor wasn't that prudent as he had a lot of our money invested in the housing market, as well as selling our gold stock at an all-time market low which in six months went to an all-time high.

As for the post office, that is in a mess. Thanks to the regulators, Royal Mail has to charge its competitors a below-cost price to deliver their mail as to not deliver them would be anti-competitive. Royal Mail aren't allowed to raise the price of the stamps to cover the shortfall so they make a loss and lose more money since all the competitors who had a contract with them in the are now using their rivals as they are cheaper, a vicious circle. For the employees, there's a two billion pound shortfall in the pensions as Royal Mail didn't bother to top it up for the best part of a decade, so their pensions will be a lot smaller than they would have been.

As for privitisation, they've done that to air traffic control and they've only got bust a few times.

Anyone want to live in the UK?


--

"As chairman of the Cradle of Filth fanclub I'm the most insensitive man in Britain, but even I can see there's tension there"

[SallyLightfoot]

I don't believe that government is the problem, I believe that shitty government is the problem. Privatization isn't a silver bullet -- it often just means that a new entity (or political crony) will be sucking at the public teat, only this time bilking us far more efficiently than the former govt incompetents. Look at Pentagon contracting for abundant examples.

[KYYX4ever]

The correct name for the "trickle down economics" should really be [b]"trickle ON economics"[/b], because that is what has happened to us. We in the working and middle class got trickled ON, make no mistake about it.

[edisonoside]

We are the NWO.. We are the CEO's.. We are the ones who make a blighter day so let's start taking....

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>The correct name for the "trickle down economics" should really be [b]"trickle ON economics"[/b], because that is what has happened to us. We in the working and middle class got trickled ON, make no mistake about it.
[/quote]

you better grab a bigger umbrella because it's going ot start pouring regardless of what they do!

[SallyLightfoot]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>The correct name for the "trickle down economics" should really be [b]"trickle ON economics"[/b], because that is what has happened to us. We in the working and middle class got trickled ON, make no mistake about it.
[/quote]

you better grab a bigger umbrella because it's going ot start pouring regardless of what they do!
[/quote]

Bravo. I think that's something we can all agree on regardless of your political stripe.

[phillyidol]

I just wish that someone...somewhere out there (on another board?) would post here telling us all the right answers and telling us we are stupid, trying to get us all fighting. Oh wait...that happened already.




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[Max Murdoc]

So in a nutshell here.....am I to assume that my 401k (stock market based)will eventually go bye bye?

Back in April I tried to pull all of my 401 out because I was afraid that I would lose it due to rumors at the time but I was told by my company that I wasn't allowed to touch it unless I quit.

So, anyone here want to adopt me when I hit retirement age cause I'm not going to have anything to live on. I don't eat much and I'm really quiet....please?

[ebbhead]

The bailout bill has officially failed in the House.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/ ... TE=DEFAULT

[glokstadt]

^^^ Not advice Max, just a suggestion, move your assests around within your 401(k)... put yourself in a cash position, move all your equity positions into the gurenteed portion of your 401(k), which means you'll earn 1 to 3 percent on your investments, which will not outpace inflation and taxes; however, if that will give you 'peace of mind' then g for it, otherwise ride it out, and buy now when most stocks are low and a bargin because remember what goes up, goes down, and what goes down, goes up--just who knows when, so don't try to time the market going in and out... my 2 cents worth--if you have any other questions, e-mail me...

Meanwhilw back at the ranch, the house just rejected the massive bailout of Wall Street by a 228-205 vote to reject the bill was officially announced on the House floor.

Stock market declines 650 poin even before the vote...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080929/ap_ ... l_meltdown



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[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>Back in April I tried to pull all of my 401 out because I was afraid that I would lose it due to rumors at the time but I was told by my company that I wasn't allowed to touch it unless I quit.
[/quote]
Is all of your 401k tied specifically to company stocks? Most aren't. Many offer a variety of stocks, bonds and "cash-like" vehicles that you can swap between. After the October 2007 run-up, I pulled back into what many friends thought was an extreme 80% cash-like position just because the market was scaring the crap out of me and I had no idea what to do with my allocations. Out of dumb luck, I'm sitting here better than many others, not that I'm doing well by any means (the dollar ain't exactly skyrocketing).

Doing anything right now may be too late and may even just prevent you from taking part in any run-up (if there will be such a thing!) If you're interested in bare-bones reading up on asset allocation without being a serious stock player, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coffeehouse-Investor-Wealth-Ignore-Street/dp/0976585707?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210342984&sr=8-1">The Coffeehouse Investor</a> is a good quick read.

[glokstadt]

The vote looked like this:

Dems 141=Yea/66=Nay
Reps 66=Yea/132=Nay
Indep 0=Yea/0=Nay
Totals: 207/226, the Nays have it, asnub to Bush? Or just let's not pass this now until after we get elected in 5 weeks, as my constituents all called me to say: "Do not bail the 'fat cats' out!"


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[Max Murdoc]

Last fall, I changed everything to a less aggressive position. I was running a really aggressive portfolio (I lost 3 grand in a year and it took 2 1/2 years to build it back up) so I might not be as bad off as I thought I was. But still, it really pisses me of when I lose money because of other peoples stupid decisions.

Oh well....I guess we all will have to sit back and see what happens.

[eight6]

Watching the fallout from the vote yesterday, I was struck by just how much Barney Frank reminds me of Truman Capote:

<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W-2He4wfMCc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


Skip ahead to the 1:30 mark to avoid the "expert" analysis.

[b]I'm STILL "in the Zone"...where excitement lives!![/b]

[djcraig]

[quote][i]Originally posted by eight6[/i]
<br>Watching the fallout from the vote yesterday, I was struck by just how much Barney Frank reminds me of Truman Capote:

<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W-2He4wfMCc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


Skip ahead to the 1:30 mark to avoid the "expert" analysis.
[/b]
[/quote]

I halfway expect him to bust out with, "You skwoowee wabbit!"

<a href="http://www.djcraig.net/los_angeles_dj">DJ Craig</a>