Obama wants to limit compensation at ALL U.S. companies

that's not true..he can only do it with companies receiving money from the government.

Democrats control congress and the white house. They can do whatever they want. Obama's vision is to redistribute wealth and expand government entitlement programs so that the Democratic party will have a long-term majority.

I have news for you. The Democrats already *have* a long-term majority. They didn't need to do anything - the Republicans gave it to them on a silver platter. You only have your own party to blame for this.

Metalhead = redneck weirdo

Yeah, I'm a redneck for posting an article from a respected financial newspaper.

Can you liberals get any more stupid? Try reading the article, if you are capable of doing that.

scoots...personal attacks not good!

WAIT A MINUTE!!!!!

Joe...Joe the Plumber, is that you?

(Joe we are not capable of reading the article because it is not linked properly - and I can't be bothered to cut and paste)

I knew Joe wouldn't just fade away from the public scene, even after having been exposed as a fraud.

Hey, if those companies want to take out taxpayer dollars, they should be held accountable. Why should we reward these executives with huge bonuses, after they failed so miserably that they needed bailouts. This is a sure win, politically, for Obama. Americans are angry, and rightly so.

407PAS, you should read the article more carefully. Frank's proposal extends to ALL U.S. companies, not just the financial firms that received TARP funds.

I did read the article and I believe it refers to those businesses involved in the TARP program, or related businesses, not all companies. I think you are overreacting with this cry of socialism.

As a general rule, I find that anyone who uses phrases like "you liberals" or refers to the Democratic party as the "Democrat" party is not only ignorant but is more of then than not about to spew forth some ridiculous right-wing propaganda that is pretty much full of crap.

Before any dissenters unleash their barbs, let me just say that I have paid attention for the past 8 years, so whatever you are going to say in response to my statement there is a 99.99999999% chance that you are completely wrong.

well put wav: I really don't know anyone that is really confident in the extremes. I think we have had enough of the Bush and Pelosi camps for an eternity or so. We really do need BO to step up and take charge.

This is a tough economy and there is no road map for fixing this. Odds are that some things will work well and others won't. We need to be flexible and willing to change gears.

I think it was Einstein that said (more or less) "you need someone smarter than the person who got you into the mess to get you out of the mess."

In that sense, we are head and shoulders ahead of where we have been for the past 8 years. Being smart doesn't guarantee success, yet being dumb and incurious guarantees failure.

"As a general rule, I find that anyone who uses phrases like "you liberals" or refers to the Democratic party as the "Democrat" party is not only ignorant but is more of then than not about to spew forth some ridiculous right-wing propaganda that is pretty much full of crap."

Agreed.

But, by the same token, anyone who started out with "you republicans" is about to do the same exact thing on the other side.

Generally, I find anyone supporting EITHER of our major parties with complete fervor to be misguided, a moron, or corrupt...

Jefferson said political parties are the worst part of democracy, and he was right...

"This is a tough economy and there is no road map for fixing this. Odds are that some things will work well and others won't. We need to be flexible and willing to change gears."

Absolutely. The problem is, we KNOW we need to spend, but we're about to try so many things we'll have tons of debt AND have tons of non-working programs left over in a few years that folks will scream if we try and get rid of 'em.

It is painfully hard to stop programs that aren't working....

If you don't support our president, you're an un-American unpatriotic self-hating terrorist, and you should just move to Canada with all the other commie anarchists.

No, I don't actually believe that at all, but I love how the ones spewing the above for the past 8 years are the first ones to criticize Obama.

metalhead, get the fuck out of here and go find a Hanity or Fox News message board to babble on.

Do you even know how the read the articles you come here to post?

We are going to spend to fix this problem because that is the only way to stop the downward slide and turn the economy around. Debt is down the list of concerns right now. Letting the situation fester and worsen will only make the cost even greater down the road.

As an aside:

1. A party that has spent and spent and spent over the past 8 years and screamed for tax cuts, tax cuts and more tax cuts for the past 8 years doesn't get to play the "we can't possibly pass on this debt to our children" card now....not gonna happen. (see party; Republican; 2000-2008)

2. A party that has run the country into the ground over the past 8 years doesn't get to play the "holier-than-thou" card now....not gonna happen. (see party; Republican; 2000-2008)

3. A party that lied to the American people in order to push us into a war over WMD's it knew didn't exist, which cost 4,000+ US soldiers lives and $800 billion that we could sure use right about now and which called anyone opposing them anti-American soldier haters doesn't get to play the "I really care about America" card now....not gonna happen. (see party; Republican; 2000-2008)

Disagree all you want, but as Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said "You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts."

The facts are not really on the Republicans' side on pretty much any argument they are making or have been making for the past 8 years. Like it...love it...doesn't matter. It is what it is and no amount of spinning or whining is going to change that.

That's all I got. At the end of the day, we all have to play in the same sandbox.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks waverly, you said exactly what I wanted to say. Great words to end my Friday on.

"We are going to spend to fix this problem because that is the only way to stop the downward slide and turn the economy around. Debt is down the list of concerns right now. Letting the situation fester and worsen will only make the cost even greater down the road"

That's almost exactly what Robert Mugabe said... almost verbatim. Worked like a charm for him, didn't it?

If I put my refugee hat on... it's laughable that most people think this recession/depression is that bad. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from or getting killed for your political beliefs... now that's what I call bad gov't. It's also not a god given right that everyone has 20 ipods, 5 cars, 3 homes and 2 paid vacations (my R hat).... but on the other side of the coin no american wants to see huge swaths of Americans eating cat food or not having emergent care at an ER (even for an illegal alien) (my D hat).

WE have a great system. I am neither R or D... I go by issues and priorities:
1) Strong national security (hate to see a north korean nuclear tipped Iranian missile headed to NYC via Alaska with Palin calling BO stating "I can see the missile coming.");
2) Free enterprise with a strong set of rules and regs;
3) Socially liberal... as long as you aren't trying to hump my leg... knock yourself out :);
4) Fiscally conservative for my gov't... look what a jackass Thain did with "his" own money... do you think maybe it's human nature to over-spend money that's not yours? Ask Daschle and Geithner :)

Having stated the above, I for one can't believe that as a grand experiment, instead of stimulus with all the pork, TARP 1.0 and 2.0, we couldn't have just said universal healthcare for all for 5 years with a huge investment in IT (can't tell you how many times my wife orders up a druggie a new set of tests bc the records are in Florida or Chicago)
1) this would immediately put money in people's pockets, encourage businesses to hire and encourage job mobility w/o saving the Bankers/RE Brokers/Mortgage Brokers/Non-savers/Over-Spenders/RE "investors" that got us into this mess.... but I gotta walk the 3legged chihuahua....

w67th, love your agenda, but... but......give me health care or give me....

w67thstreet you are the "colorful" one on the board, aren't you?

w 67th I agree on most points even though we probably couldn't be more different demographically speaking. I differ only in that I am prolife from conception to the grave. I am sure there are not very many posters on this board who agree with me on that. . . Also, down here (scoots would probably refer to me as a redneck weirdo) all comers (including illegal immigrants) to the ED already get emergency treatment and because of EMTALA regs I'm sure its that way there too. Universal health care sounds good as long as we don't have a single payer system (ie federal govt). Computerized universal health records sound good too but it will be staggeringly expensive for a small group or a sole practitioner who already has an EMR system in place to change to something compatible.. there are still sole practitioners out there. .. it could be the end of them. Dealing with payors, especially those that manage the medicare contracts and the retired military contracts, is very difficult... .as the government gets more involved it will only get worse.:( It would be great to think that healthcare was the answer to our jobs, business, real estate, economy woes but I am skeptical. Patient 09- I'm sure you feel I still haven't earned the right to post.:) You will live.

Waverly,

You project as yet another idiotic ideologue, as bad as any of the "republicans" you impugn, as if believing in small government, personal responsibility and some degrees of moral absolutes means your first cousin's with Dubya...I think alot of us feel disgusted and embarrassed by his incompetence but this monolithic, omnipotent "party" is no more atrocious than the Pelosi's/Clinton's who were fortunate enough to be playing second fiddle while stupidity reigned the last 8 years. I promise you, republicans hold no monopoly on blundering incompetence and indiscretion. 230 years holds testament to that. Perhaps we get what we deserve, and electing those underqualified and under-experienced (although what is appropriate experience for serving as president or senator or congressman?) is a reflection of our own willingness to believe that we can have it all, the medicare, medicaid, social security, without being honest with ourselves that sacrifices will have to be made and promises made to us will have to be broken. I for one, accept that fact, that many of those promises need to be broken now, and precisely because it is NEVER easier down the road and it is never easy, I am more aligned with what I thought was republican ideals. But there's no more uniform republian than there is a uniform democrat so get off the sanctimonious soapbox.

waverly,

everything you said is dead on. i love how the republican response is always 'don't lump me in with those OTHER republicans.' ummm, there is an organized party with an elected leadership, a publicly available platform, and tens of thousands of elected officials around the country. of course there is not only one type of republican, but there is a pretty obvious set of policies that dominate that party.

the other brilliant defense is 'but there are dumb democrats too!' wow, i thought all democrats were geniuses. thanks for enlightening me. again: just because there is corruption, incompetence, stupidity, prejudice, and meanness on both sides of the aisle does not mean it is equally distributed. a major candidate for chairman of the republican party had to resign from an all white country club in order to run--and he still came in second place. the charming ms. coulter continues to be welcomed at major gatherings of right wing intellectuals seven years after claiming that the united states should force conversion to christianity on the arab world. dick cheney did not wait two weeks to come out of his post-vp bunker to insist that the new president is already putting the country at risk because he doesn't think we should be torturing people. several of the major republican candidates for the presidential nomination openly acknowledged that they do not 'believe in' the theory of evolution (as if demonstrated scientific theories need to be accepted by believers). it just goes on and on and on.

i am as left-wing as they come (in this country at least) but there was a time when large parts of the republican party represented a reasonable, responsible conservative position. that time is long gone. there are a few dick lugars and tom kean's left, but not many of them, and they are all well over 65.

Happyrenter,

Congratulations. Your comments are even more ignorant than Waverly's. You add nothing intelligent here other than illustrating a demagogue like Ann Coulter or a creep like Cheney. What's your point? Assholes exist? Really observant you are. Glad there are no Blagojevich's in the "democrat's" closet.

You're just as gross as the other partisans who broadly point out the easy targets on the other side of the aisle as illustrative of ALL of "them". There are only 2 real choices in this country and a platform that aligns with every one of my views doesn't exist. I pick the 3 or 4 or 5 issues that are most important to me and see whose ideals match my own. While in practice, that is difficult as policymaking has been corrupted along the way by too much money, greed, and self-interest, I neither consider myself a die-hard republican nor a partisan, just hopefully a reasoned and informed citizen. I can't help that there are many offensive republicans, any more than an ordinary catholic can't help that there are many catholic priests who've done horrible things to young children, but while that may damage your understanding of the institution, it shouldn't affect what you consider the fundamentals of the platform to be.

Why should I allow the republican party, and what I choose it to mean, to be hijacked by some of the people you mention so bombastic morons like yourself can tell me what the republican party is? I know many people like me who are disgusted enough with typical partisan politics or ideologues like yourself that they choose to just stay out of it altogether, and let the inmates run the asylum. Good luck with your ways, they've done wonders getting us to where we are today...

"The facts are not really on the Republicans' side on pretty much any argument they are making or have been making for the past 8 years. Like it...love it...doesn't matter. It is what it is and no amount of spinning or whining is going to change that. "

Just like the facts weren't on the Democratic side when they got run out of power right before that. And so the cycle continues.

Each party pretending its different, and then making an even bigger fool of itself.

"just because there is corruption, incompetence, stupidity, prejudice, and meanness on both sides of the aisle does not mean it is equally distributed. "

Yes, once the Democratic party got bought by the unions, the corruption meter swung waaaaaaaay in that direction. Republicans have funnier high profile corruption, but Democrats seem to be more consistently dumb and corrupt.

mjiam,

my ways have gotten us where we are today? strange that you should say that, since there hasn't been a left-wing dominated US government in three decades aside from, arguably 1992-1994 (and WJC is hardly my idea of a liberal). my ways have barely even been tried so it is kind of hard to argue that they have gotten us where we are. give barack obama and the democrats in congress a few years and then tell me that liberal ideas are to blame for our problems.

as for this idea that you shouldn't 'allow' people like Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, and Ann Coulter to 'hijack' the republican party, well, guess what: you allowed it many years ago. you can cling to some notion of what you think the republican party ought to be, but you should also acknowledge what it actually is. you don't like the republicans i named? then why don't you name a few bona fide leaders of the party that you do like? aside from a handful of moderates with very little power, the party is totally dominated by the sort of people i mentioned. you can't dismiss half of the major candidates for the presidential nomination--the guys who don't 'believe in' evolution--as somehow peripheral to that party.

Barney Frank! Sheldon Silver! John Kerry! The governor of Chicago!
Republicans can't pick winners like that!

Seriously, why all the ignorance of the local level?

Democratic machines destroyed a lot of cities...

aboutready... I'm just a self serving SOB :). Here's another one, increase Fed gas tax by a quarter every year for 20 years, take the $ and pay for all the soldiers death/injury for the last 10 years and increase nuclear power and alternative energy. That'll give the middle east a nice middle finger.

peterlupus.. I really hope you don't have lupus. Terrible disease.. if your ANA is above 700 pls get to doc ASAP. Colorful? No, I'm an albino... surprised no one's come up to me while I'm walking my 3legged chihuahua :)

blossom16. If aliens came to earth and split you and I into halves and looked at us, they couldn't tell us apart. Glad you have decided not to have an abortion.... when w67th was 17 and waiting outside a "family clinic" in Flushing to find out the results of my girlfriend's
preg test I was totally glad that my girlf had the right to have and wanted an abortion if she was pregnent (although I would've done the right thing either way and she was just f'n 2 months late... damn).. now having had 2 kids... I can see the other side of the argument... but w67th 40 yo would never go back and tell w67th 17yo what to do :).

Sole practitioners: If you can's spend $50K to upgrade your system... maybe you have no right to be in business for yourself, no? Hell if you told me I could spend $50K so that I can directly interface with the IRS and never have to spend 2 weeks of my life every year and live in fear of being audited (have you ever been thru an audit... it's a pain even if you filed everything perfectly)... I'd do it in a heartbeat.

nyc10022.. isn't Barney purple?