Here's your money, Mr. Trump

[Chris Austin]

Holy Cow. Up next? Landlords nearing default? The world has gone insane, we have made the risk public and the profits private. I know a "big time" commercial investor who while being pretty bright also told me more than one not to: "throw good money at bad". Meaning that if he had a deal turn south that he would rather walk away from it and let the bank foreclose rather than finding a way to make things work. I always found that to be a bit of ethical nihilism. But, seeing now that it has been decided that the tax payer must carry these deals, I find it hard to fault the attitude. This stuff is making me feel pretty despondent.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?

[Ed Gadziemski]

The concept of moral hazard has apparently become obsolete. I'm for middle class tax cuts. I'm for well-policed stimulative infrastructure spending (e.g. Interstate highway system under Eisenhower and the Hoover Dam under Roosevelt). But bailing out commercial real estate speculation and credit default swaps is insane. It's like gamblers can now go to Vegas and no matter whether they win or lose, someone will pay off their bets.

[Ed Gadziemski]

In addition to Jon's good advice, we have a 14 year old cat who's been a very fussy eater since she was a kitten. She thinks anything other than Science Diet WD Feline is poison and won't touch it. She doesn't like milk. Be careful with the vet. Some of them will want to run thousands of dollars worth of tests and it just isn't worth it unless you believe strongly there is a correctable medical problem. Some cats are just finicky eaters. Our other cat will eat just about anything including table scraps and dog food but if she eats more than about 2 ounces, she throws it back up. She's also 14 and been that way her whole life. Cats are very different creatures from dogs, but they're worth it in their own way.

[Chris Austin]

Ed Gadziemski wrote:

The concept of moral hazard has apparently become obsolete.

Well put Ed.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?

[Lost User]

Thank you Ed for your reply.

[Stan Shannon]

Oakman wrote:

Stan, I'm not sure what you think you proved by quoting the Declaration.

Becasue not loving your country, or at least being disappointed in it enough to want to be free of it, is also old fashioned.

Oakman wrote:

Having compared what I know of the author of the Declaration to what I know of you, suggests to me that you and he don't have a whole lot in commonn.

I agree with, and promote, every political principle the man actually worked to implment. I am a Jeffersonian.

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

[Oakman]

Stan Shannon wrote:

I agree with, and promote, every political principle the man actually worked to implment. I am a Jeffersonian.

Right, he actually worked at it. That was my point. Instead of demanding that his new country ask less of him, he pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

[Stan Shannon]

How the hell am I asking what my country can do for me? I'm not asking my country to do anythng other than not becoming a communist state.

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

[Oakman]

Every time Washington DC spends money on something you don't like, you say it is unconstitutional. When they spend money on something you approve of you either cheer, or remain mute. Again, I ask you to explain why you never argued that Washington should not fund scientific research of any sort because it is not specifically charged with doing so in the Constitution, but raise that as an objection only when they fund stem cell research. By the way, if I wanted to be cute, I'd point out that stem cell research promises to enable soldiers who have lost a limb to regrow it - make it defensible as part of maintaining the armed forces. ;)

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

[Ilion]

And you can comprehend neither reading nor rational thinking.