Is this one of those jokes that you have to be like 200 years old to get?
2.
Corner Stone
And speaking of bombing pissant tyrants, I’m sure this will end well:
“After live gunfire failed to clear the area, troops fired a series of tear gas canisters at the crowd. Syrian officials say at least 14 people have been killed in unrest throughout the day.”
3.
Eljai
I remember when Anita Ward was on American Bandstand. Yes I am 200 years old. Republicans back then were just as destructive as they are now, but they usually had, at least, your basic 5th grader’s grasp on American history.
sho nuff. That song was popular when I was 17, and I’m like eleventy hundred now. I’m surprised young Cole remembers it.
5.
AAA Bonds
Austan Goolsbee announced today that the White House has reached a new phase in its economic plan, where it will assist private business growth through deregulation.
:D
6.
2liberal
by the time that song came out, i was listening to ‘classic rock’ stations. I personally am 300 years old.
@AAA Bonds: Now that’s just not fair at all. What he actually said was that government creating jobs was unethical.
“What we want for growth is that it be centered in the private sector,” he said in an interview on Reuters Insider television. “The government sector stepped in (with) a rescue when the President took office (and) we were losing more than 750,000 jobs a month and we have clearly turned around from that ethically awful situation.”
Mojii, the oldest cat in the family, apparently will live.
He disappeared for about 3.5 days and came home this morning with an injury that was abscessed and full of yucky stuff draining out. He had been injured on his lower back. If you looked into the wound you could actually see the spine. However, it didn’t seem to be bleeding and he still had his mobility.
The vet is going to operate this afternoon, clean it out good, give him fluids, and give him some IV antibiotics.
If we had 1200.00, we could give him good care. As it happens, he’ll be cleaned up and sent home on oral antibiotics. We plan on picking up this evening. 370.00 poorer, but grateful at that.
We don’t have any details about the injury. The infection looks about 3 days old. The doc thinks he might have been shot with a BB gun. If that is so, I hope that person enjoys his bout with karma.
12.
Corner Stone
These people have no idea what’s going on. Or they do and are just lying sociopathic assholes. Your choice.
“Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the government has moved from efforts focused on saving the economy to a phase in which policies are aimed at “trying to leverage the private sector and give incentives” for growth.”
“Our effort now as a government should be to get the private sector, to help them stand up and lead the recovery. The government is not the central driver of recovery,” Goolsbee added.”
13.
Corner Stone
I hate that fucking punk faux Clint Eastwood wannabe Austan Goolsbee so fucking much.
And the administration is drowning in assholes just fucking like him.
CS, Goolsbee is a complete clown. He wrote an op-ed in the NYT in 2007 talking about how ‘perfect’ the mortgage market was – strangely never shows up in his perfected Wiki page.
15.
Tim, Interrupted
Ring My Bell fucking rocks. I LOVED that song in the day. Of course, I am gay and naturally every single one of us simply adores empty disco music with a great hook, but what is Cole’s excuse?
BTW, I am 247 years old.
16.
Amir_Khalid
Ooh, dig that cowbell and glockenspiel! I didn’t much care for disco music, as it was called then, except for the Rolling Stones’ Miss You. But I do remember Ring My Bell from my teens too, so I guess I’m a centenarian like everyone else here. I most recently heard it in the movie Book of Eli. It’s the song the creepy old couple put on their record player as they entertain Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis.
Thank goodness. I don’t want to hear anymore bad news for cats today.
And in my case, we’re sitting on pins and needles. I had to make a choice with what credit I could scrounge up, because it was either do something or mercy kill. Takkun is heavily sedated, with a catheter up his wang and seems to be ok, according to the doc. Still can’t pee on his own and they will try to “express his bladder” again today. Do they just poke them in the groin until they pee? Should I ask? He’ll be in hospital until monday. Just talked to the doc and he’s ripped out his catheter, escaped his cone and still can’t pee because he’s tense. FML. He needs to relax so he can pee and his bladder is the size of an orange. Double FML. But the doc is giving me a running tally of the additionals. We’re just a wee bit over budget.
@Corner Stone: I wonder what KThug will have to say about that. No way to spin that position to a positive for the admin.
24.
Corner Stone
@arguingwithsignposts: The phrase “pissing into the wind” comes to mind.
And the apologists here will drop it into the memory hole, or make some other excuse.
@Corner Stone: First of all, I disagree with your characterization of that sentence. While the wording is certainly awkward, I suspect he was referring to the job loss and the steps the government had to take to prevent full economic meltdown–one of which was TARP, btw–as being unethical. Not the government creating jobs.
Second of all, he’s right. The government is not the driving job maker in our economy. And it cannot be the driving job maker, as our government is structured currently. We don’t pay nearly enough in taxes for that to be the case. And there’s no sign in the foreseeable future that the current structure of our economy will change. So, we do need the private sector to step up the job creation.
26.
Corner Stone
These motherfuckers. Of course the government is the central driver of the recovery.
Private business is sitting on trillions of cash, and/or investing overseas. There is no incentive available to get them to hire people in the US.
@Corner Stone: You both characterized–“What he actually said was that government creating jobs was unethical”–and quoted. I’m just saying I thought your characterization was not accurate. At least as I read that statement.
And I agree that the private sector is predominantly filled with a bunch of high-fivin’ white guy assholes who would love nothing better to see the rest of the country burn as long as their 401K stayed in tact. But as of right now, those assholes are all we’ve got. Which pisses me off more than I can say, but this is the situation we’ve willfully put ourselves in. Because, as a nation, we’re mostly a bunch of shortsighted, over-committed assholes who, in our secretest of parts, just ache to kneel down before the Masters of the Asshole Universe.
Well, the White House just announced its plan for growth through attacking federal regulations, so prepare for fun!
You have to admit, that’s a slick pitch to the millionaires for all that corporate cash the Democrats will depend on for 2012. Really working the balls and shaft there, kind of like their “financial regulation”.
But as of right now, those assholes are all we’ve got. Which pisses me off more than I can say, but this is the situation we’ve willfully put ourselves in. Because, as a nation, we’re mostly a bunch of shortsighted, over-committed assholes who, in our secretest of parts, just ache to kneel down before the Masters of the Asshole Universe.
It doesn’t have to be this way, it never did. What benefit do you think we are served when the WH lovingly strokes these guy’s roots?
We have a president who has declared his fund raising goal is $1B dollars this election cycle.
Am I the only one who finds this more than a little disturbing?
@AAA Bonds: I’m not going to defend the Democrats’ reliance on corporate campaign money. But I’m also not going to abandon hope for, what I feel, are some very promising financial regulatory reforms. Which is why I’ve become an Elizabeth Warren groupie. I’m all about the CFPB, and if you aren’t, then maybe you should explain why that is rather than employ the quotes of scare in the process of making your “argument”.
What he actually said was that government creating jobs was unethical.
__
“What we want for growth is that it be centered in the private sector,” he said in an interview on Reuters Insider television. “The government sector stepped in (with) a rescue when the President took office (and) we were losing more than 750,000 jobs a month and we have clearly turned around from that ethically awful situation.”
Sounds to me like he means the “ethically awful situation” is sitting by while 750,000 jobs a month are being lost. Forceful intervention by the “government sector” was the ethical thing to do. Now, you can still say that he’s tying his own hands by acting like the government should only get involved during extreme crisis and has to step back the moment the extreme crisis is over. But I really don’t think he’s saying that when the government does act it’s unethical.
I don’t particularly have a beef with the idea that the government can’t revitalize the economy on its own. I also don’t see a huge need to _say_ that, because it seems needlessly defensive and to concede a lot of rhetorical ground.
36.
FlipYrWhig
@Linda Featheringill: @ruemara: We’re in managed-crisis mode with our cats too. One hasn’t been walking right, and the vet doesn’t really have much to say about what to do other than to wait and see how well she heals. But nothing devastating (for the moment)… so all best to you and your beasts.
37.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: I had no doubt, no doubt at all, that you would see it this way.
Am I the only one who finds this more than a little disturbing?
Of course you’re not. And if you’re looking for a fight over corporations having too much influence in our government, you won’t get one from me. In my opinion, Fix Congress First is both the thing we absolutely need to do and the thing we will absolutely never do. I’m just not going to accept the notion that Austan Goolsbee–asshole or not–is a truly fundamental part of the problem here. If I were tasked with trying to fix this fucked up system, I can’t say I’d have any better outcomes than he has. I’d probably just throw up my hands and say, “The system. It is fucked up,” and call it a day.
39.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: Your interpretation makes no sense. I’ve heard Goolsbee speak before. The gist of his comments, then as now, is that they couldn’t just sit back and let private-sector job losses happen, so they had to do something aggressive with government. The “unethical” part is OBVIOUSLY letting people suffer. Austan Goolsbee isn’t Rand Paul.
Why do you enjoy misreading someone’s statement in order to complain about it in one particular way, when there’s a perfectly good complaint just sitting there for you? Just say that you don’t like how Goolsbee downplays the role of the government and the public sector and seems to treat getting involved at all as something that needs justification and even apology. That’s a totally valid criticism. Why isn’t that good enough for you?
I’m just not going to accept the notion that Austan Goolsbee—asshole or not—is a truly fundamental part of the problem here.
Of course he’s a fundamental part of the problem!! Who the fuck do you think is in this administration? Assholes just like this neoliberal asshole! If President Obama wanted different advice or counsel then he would fucking have it!
He doesn’t.
41.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: I did say that asshole. I have fucking said it again and again. I’ve heard Goolsbee speak too. And he’s a neoliberal asshole who doesn’t believe in govt responses to market situations.
Stop trying to make this about me not interpreting Goolsbee correctly when his statements are there for everyone to see and comprehend on their own.
I’m not lying about what he has said. Fuck you.
42.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: No, you are lying about what he said, when the real meaning is obvious, because you’re bored and Mommy isn’t paying enough attention to you.
I was going to request a link to the whole dialogue, but you’ve provided it. It seems rather truncated. I’d love to panic, despair, feel angry and withhold my productivity because of Obama’s betrayal on this, but I’m not opposed to private sector industries hiring more. Especially since very large portions of them are sitting on trillions of profit while actively discriminating against the unemployed. In fact, I was more despairing of when someone in the administration would start speaking about that situation.
If President Obama wanted different advice or counsel then he would fucking have it!
He doesn’t.
If you’re suggesting that Obama’s problem is that he’s more pragmatist than idealist, then I’d have a hard time disagreeing with you. But that’s because I have a soft spot for idealism–not because I think idealism leads to anything other than frustration.
I suspect that, when Obama chose his advisers, he did so wanting to get advice he can actually use, given the current state of our political culture. And that’s what he’s getting from his advisers. That’s not what he’d be getting from more liberal advisers, whether I like it or not.
If you’re suggesting that Obama’s motives, themselves, are suspect. Well, then, I’m not interested in continuing to entertain those notions. Heard it all before. Doesn’t add up.
Last thing I did with the CFPB was interview for a job there, so no dice on your ad hominem, buddy. Sorry!
I certainly wish the administration’s top figures were anything at all like Elizabeth Warren. It would be great if we lived in a world where Wall Street’s top firms didn’t have a bigger say in the White House than the reformers.
47.
MattR
I am young enough that I did not get the sexual reference when I first heard this song.
@AAA Bonds: You screw up trying to use multiple accounts and post the wrong thing as John Bird? I was very confused why John Bird was replying to slag’s comment to you about the CFPB.
48.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: No, I am not. And you can go fuck yourself. Goolsbee has a record. And anyone who cares to read it can do so.
You are a propagandist and an apologist. There’s nothing you won’t lie or distort to fit into the narrative you’d like to see pushed forth.
49.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: I quoted the whole thing asshole. Anyone who isn’t a lying propagandist asshole like you can read for themselves.
50.
AAA Bonds
Everyone knows I used to be John Bird until WordPress banned me for leaving a window open too long?
51.
AAA Bonds
THE CONSPIRACY UNMASKED!
52.
Corner Stone
@slag: No, I’m sure you don’t care to entertain those thoughts, you delicate little flower.
Obama is the boss. He hires the staff.
53.
Corner Stone
@ruemara: Hey! Me fucking neither jackass!
But they ain’t gonna fucking do it you simple simple!
And when they fucking don’t do that, who the fuck do you think should step in and fill the gap?!
Yeah! Government jackie! Thass right! Big Bad Government!
But your boy Goolsbee et al and all the Obama crew have decided that is not the narrative they would like to push!
So yeah.
Accept it.
54.
AAA Bonds
Literally every other post on Balloon Juice is by me
55.
MattR
@AAA Bonds: Obviously not everyone knows that (nor should they have to) which is why I was genuinely confused to see a reply from John Bird to a comment directed at AAA Bonds.
@AAA Bonds: I’m not sure which part of my point you considered an ad hominem attack, but, well, if there was one in there, it was unintended.
That said, I suspect you know, then, that the CFPB was part of the financial regulatory reform. Which undermines, at least to some degree, your implication that the financial regulation was somehow fictitious. Unless you were applying for a job at a mythical agency, that is. And if so, that’s between you and your mythical deity of choice.
Yes, and I understand the Republicans were behind a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, which is why it’s accurate to describe the Republicans as pro-Medicare.
Parse. Think for a second. Put the jerseys and the pennants away. There isn’t even a CFPB yet, not really, and the CFPB alone is so far from what we need it’s frightening.
You know this already. Apply your knowledge.
59.
AAA Bonds
It’s funny, now that you mention it – I was in fact applying for a job at a mythical agency. They were very up-front about that, though.
No, I’m sure you don’t care to entertain those thoughts, you delicate little flower.
Hey man, if you want to consider my reluctance to beat my head against the wall indefinitely to be a weakness in my constitution, who am I to disagree? It really is a matter of self-preservation for me, but for reasons well outside the realm of national politics. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by a plethora of hard-working, brilliant, motivated, conscientious people who, in their various occupations and other endeavors, have sporadically (and even consistently, in some instances) failed to bring about meaningful, much-needed change in certain unproductive situations. No way am I writing those people off as unmotivated, scruple-deficient screw-offs just because they failed to surmount what seem to be insuperable barriers at one time or another. I’ve just resigned myself to being pleasantly surprised when people keep showing up everyday to try to roll that rock up that damned mountain and don’t end up losing themselves in their efforts. That’s something.
You’re right, I do know this already. And I know that not everything I want or think should be done will be done when I want it or think it should be done. And I also know that there are many reasons for that and that the world didn’t just start spinning on January 1 of 2009. Everybody knows the world started spinning when Jesus created the dinosaurs on January 1 of 3750 BC.
Dude, there was a financial regulation bill. That was it. You think there’s going to be another wave of regulation on the horizon as Goolsbee goes on television to talk about cutting back federal regulations?
64.
John Puma
I interpret “gotcha” media to mean one actively seeking to trip up a candidate.
Mama Grifter has made flourish a different type of media best described as the:
“we observed that you waded into that big pile of steaming pig poop all by yourself” media.
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sherifffruitfly
Is this one of those jokes that you have to be like 200 years old to get?
Corner Stone
And speaking of bombing pissant tyrants, I’m sure this will end well:
“After live gunfire failed to clear the area, troops fired a series of tear gas canisters at the crowd. Syrian officials say at least 14 people have been killed in unrest throughout the day.”
Eljai
I remember when Anita Ward was on American Bandstand. Yes I am 200 years old. Republicans back then were just as destructive as they are now, but they usually had, at least, your basic 5th grader’s grasp on American history.
eemom
@sherifffruitfly:
sho nuff. That song was popular when I was 17, and I’m like eleventy hundred now. I’m surprised young Cole remembers it.
AAA Bonds
Austan Goolsbee announced today that the White House has reached a new phase in its economic plan, where it will assist private business growth through deregulation.
:D
2liberal
by the time that song came out, i was listening to ‘classic rock’ stations. I personally am 300 years old.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
courtney love could see the future. nobody listened.
the foretelling of sarah palin
Joey Maloney
@Top, can we go with this one instead?
gbear
Here’s my song for candidate Newt Gingrich (well, as much of a candidate as Palin).
Denise LaSalle – Your Husband Is Cheating On Us
Corner Stone
@AAA Bonds: Now that’s just not fair at all. What he actually said was that government creating jobs was unethical.
“What we want for growth is that it be centered in the private sector,” he said in an interview on Reuters Insider television. “The government sector stepped in (with) a rescue when the President took office (and) we were losing more than 750,000 jobs a month and we have clearly turned around from that ethically awful situation.”
Fucking neoliberal assholes.
Linda Featheringill
Just got back from the vet’s.
Mojii, the oldest cat in the family, apparently will live.
He disappeared for about 3.5 days and came home this morning with an injury that was abscessed and full of yucky stuff draining out. He had been injured on his lower back. If you looked into the wound you could actually see the spine. However, it didn’t seem to be bleeding and he still had his mobility.
The vet is going to operate this afternoon, clean it out good, give him fluids, and give him some IV antibiotics.
If we had 1200.00, we could give him good care. As it happens, he’ll be cleaned up and sent home on oral antibiotics. We plan on picking up this evening. 370.00 poorer, but grateful at that.
We don’t have any details about the injury. The infection looks about 3 days old. The doc thinks he might have been shot with a BB gun. If that is so, I hope that person enjoys his bout with karma.
Corner Stone
These people have no idea what’s going on. Or they do and are just lying sociopathic assholes. Your choice.
“Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the government has moved from efforts focused on saving the economy to a phase in which policies are aimed at “trying to leverage the private sector and give incentives” for growth.”
“Our effort now as a government should be to get the private sector, to help them stand up and lead the recovery. The government is not the central driver of recovery,” Goolsbee added.”
Corner Stone
I hate that fucking punk faux Clint Eastwood wannabe Austan Goolsbee so fucking much.
And the administration is drowning in assholes just fucking like him.
srv
So relevant to BJ: http://i.imgur.com/rOLBj.jpg
CS, Goolsbee is a complete clown. He wrote an op-ed in the NYT in 2007 talking about how ‘perfect’ the mortgage market was – strangely never shows up in his perfected Wiki page.
Tim, Interrupted
Ring My Bell fucking rocks. I LOVED that song in the day. Of course, I am gay and naturally every single one of us simply adores empty disco music with a great hook, but what is Cole’s excuse?
BTW, I am 247 years old.
Amir_Khalid
Ooh, dig that cowbell and glockenspiel! I didn’t much care for disco music, as it was called then, except for the Rolling Stones’ Miss You. But I do remember Ring My Bell from my teens too, so I guess I’m a centenarian like everyone else here. I most recently heard it in the movie Book of Eli. It’s the song the creepy old couple put on their record player as they entertain Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis.
cat48
@Linda Featheringill:
I hope Mojii heals well and quickly.
ant
@eemom:
im in my 30’s, and i know this song well. My mom played it lots when i was little. It was part of her 45 collection.
Still fuckin jams.
Amir_Khalid
@Linda Featheringill:
That’s good to hear. I hope Mojii pulls through. Yeah, people who shoot at household pets for fun are real bastards.
PurpleGirl
@Linda Featheringill: Thanks for the update on Mojii. Hope the recovery goes smoothly. Whoever shot and hurt your critter so warrants bad karma.
Corner Stone
Orszag is a hawk. Summers is a jerk. Geithner is a tool. Goolsbee is a neoliberal asshole.
Can someone explain the 11 D Chess involved here?
ruemara
@Linda Featheringill:
Thank goodness. I don’t want to hear anymore bad news for cats today.
And in my case, we’re sitting on pins and needles. I had to make a choice with what credit I could scrounge up, because it was either do something or mercy kill. Takkun is heavily sedated, with a catheter up his wang and seems to be ok, according to the doc. Still can’t pee on his own and they will try to “express his bladder” again today. Do they just poke them in the groin until they pee? Should I ask? He’ll be in hospital until monday. Just talked to the doc and he’s ripped out his catheter, escaped his cone and still can’t pee because he’s tense. FML. He needs to relax so he can pee and his bladder is the size of an orange. Double FML. But the doc is giving me a running tally of the additionals. We’re just a wee bit over budget.
arguingwithsignposts
@Corner Stone: I wonder what KThug will have to say about that. No way to spin that position to a positive for the admin.
Corner Stone
@arguingwithsignposts: The phrase “pissing into the wind” comes to mind.
And the apologists here will drop it into the memory hole, or make some other excuse.
slag
@Corner Stone: First of all, I disagree with your characterization of that sentence. While the wording is certainly awkward, I suspect he was referring to the job loss and the steps the government had to take to prevent full economic meltdown–one of which was TARP, btw–as being unethical. Not the government creating jobs.
Second of all, he’s right. The government is not the driving job maker in our economy. And it cannot be the driving job maker, as our government is structured currently. We don’t pay nearly enough in taxes for that to be the case. And there’s no sign in the foreseeable future that the current structure of our economy will change. So, we do need the private sector to step up the job creation.
Corner Stone
These motherfuckers. Of course the government is the central driver of the recovery.
Private business is sitting on trillions of cash, and/or investing overseas. There is no incentive available to get them to hire people in the US.
Amir_Khalid
@ruemara:
Hope your little guy gets better too.
Corner Stone
@slag:
Sure. But why would they? Where’s the incentive? And in the absence of any profit motivated incentive, who’s best structured to fill the gap?
ETA, and I didn’t “characterize” the sentence, I quoted it en totes.
KCinDC
Palinites are trying to corrupt the Wikipedia article on Paul Revere now.
jnfr
@Linda Featheringill:
Best wishes to you and your cat. I’m sorry the world has such assholes in it.
slag
@Corner Stone: You both characterized–“What he actually said was that government creating jobs was unethical”–and quoted. I’m just saying I thought your characterization was not accurate. At least as I read that statement.
And I agree that the private sector is predominantly filled with a bunch of high-fivin’ white guy assholes who would love nothing better to see the rest of the country burn as long as their 401K stayed in tact. But as of right now, those assholes are all we’ve got. Which pisses me off more than I can say, but this is the situation we’ve willfully put ourselves in. Because, as a nation, we’re mostly a bunch of shortsighted, over-committed assholes who, in our secretest of parts, just ache to kneel down before the Masters of the Asshole Universe.
AAA Bonds
@slag:
Well, the White House just announced its plan for growth through attacking federal regulations, so prepare for fun!
You have to admit, that’s a slick pitch to the millionaires for all that corporate cash the Democrats will depend on for 2012. Really working the balls and shaft there, kind of like their “financial regulation”.
Corner Stone
@slag:
It doesn’t have to be this way, it never did. What benefit do you think we are served when the WH lovingly strokes these guy’s roots?
We have a president who has declared his fund raising goal is $1B dollars this election cycle.
Am I the only one who finds this more than a little disturbing?
slag
@AAA Bonds: I’m not going to defend the Democrats’ reliance on corporate campaign money. But I’m also not going to abandon hope for, what I feel, are some very promising financial regulatory reforms. Which is why I’ve become an Elizabeth Warren groupie. I’m all about the CFPB, and if you aren’t, then maybe you should explain why that is rather than employ the quotes of scare in the process of making your “argument”.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone:
Sounds to me like he means the “ethically awful situation” is sitting by while 750,000 jobs a month are being lost. Forceful intervention by the “government sector” was the ethical thing to do. Now, you can still say that he’s tying his own hands by acting like the government should only get involved during extreme crisis and has to step back the moment the extreme crisis is over. But I really don’t think he’s saying that when the government does act it’s unethical.
I don’t particularly have a beef with the idea that the government can’t revitalize the economy on its own. I also don’t see a huge need to _say_ that, because it seems needlessly defensive and to concede a lot of rhetorical ground.
FlipYrWhig
@Linda Featheringill: @ruemara: We’re in managed-crisis mode with our cats too. One hasn’t been walking right, and the vet doesn’t really have much to say about what to do other than to wait and see how well she heals. But nothing devastating (for the moment)… so all best to you and your beasts.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: I had no doubt, no doubt at all, that you would see it this way.
slag
@Corner Stone:
Of course you’re not. And if you’re looking for a fight over corporations having too much influence in our government, you won’t get one from me. In my opinion, Fix Congress First is both the thing we absolutely need to do and the thing we will absolutely never do. I’m just not going to accept the notion that Austan Goolsbee–asshole or not–is a truly fundamental part of the problem here. If I were tasked with trying to fix this fucked up system, I can’t say I’d have any better outcomes than he has. I’d probably just throw up my hands and say, “The system. It is fucked up,” and call it a day.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: Your interpretation makes no sense. I’ve heard Goolsbee speak before. The gist of his comments, then as now, is that they couldn’t just sit back and let private-sector job losses happen, so they had to do something aggressive with government. The “unethical” part is OBVIOUSLY letting people suffer. Austan Goolsbee isn’t Rand Paul.
Why do you enjoy misreading someone’s statement in order to complain about it in one particular way, when there’s a perfectly good complaint just sitting there for you? Just say that you don’t like how Goolsbee downplays the role of the government and the public sector and seems to treat getting involved at all as something that needs justification and even apology. That’s a totally valid criticism. Why isn’t that good enough for you?
Corner Stone
@slag:
Of course he’s a fundamental part of the problem!! Who the fuck do you think is in this administration? Assholes just like this neoliberal asshole! If President Obama wanted different advice or counsel then he would fucking have it!
He doesn’t.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: I did say that asshole. I have fucking said it again and again. I’ve heard Goolsbee speak too. And he’s a neoliberal asshole who doesn’t believe in govt responses to market situations.
Stop trying to make this about me not interpreting Goolsbee correctly when his statements are there for everyone to see and comprehend on their own.
I’m not lying about what he has said. Fuck you.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: No, you are lying about what he said, when the real meaning is obvious, because you’re bored and Mommy isn’t paying enough attention to you.
ruemara
@Corner Stone:
I was going to request a link to the whole dialogue, but you’ve provided it. It seems rather truncated. I’d love to panic, despair, feel angry and withhold my productivity because of Obama’s betrayal on this, but I’m not opposed to private sector industries hiring more. Especially since very large portions of them are sitting on trillions of profit while actively discriminating against the unemployed. In fact, I was more despairing of when someone in the administration would start speaking about that situation.
slag
@Corner Stone:
If you’re suggesting that Obama’s problem is that he’s more pragmatist than idealist, then I’d have a hard time disagreeing with you. But that’s because I have a soft spot for idealism–not because I think idealism leads to anything other than frustration.
I suspect that, when Obama chose his advisers, he did so wanting to get advice he can actually use, given the current state of our political culture. And that’s what he’s getting from his advisers. That’s not what he’d be getting from more liberal advisers, whether I like it or not.
If you’re suggesting that Obama’s motives, themselves, are suspect. Well, then, I’m not interested in continuing to entertain those notions. Heard it all before. Doesn’t add up.
John Bird
Here’s some reading to correct errors: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/wall-streets-big-win-20100804
AAA Bonds
@slag:
Last thing I did with the CFPB was interview for a job there, so no dice on your ad hominem, buddy. Sorry!
I certainly wish the administration’s top figures were anything at all like Elizabeth Warren. It would be great if we lived in a world where Wall Street’s top firms didn’t have a bigger say in the White House than the reformers.
MattR
I am young enough that I did not get the sexual reference when I first heard this song.
@AAA Bonds: You screw up trying to use multiple accounts and post the wrong thing as John Bird? I was very confused why John Bird was replying to slag’s comment to you about the CFPB.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: No, I am not. And you can go fuck yourself. Goolsbee has a record. And anyone who cares to read it can do so.
You are a propagandist and an apologist. There’s nothing you won’t lie or distort to fit into the narrative you’d like to see pushed forth.
Corner Stone
@FlipYrWhig: I quoted the whole thing asshole. Anyone who isn’t a lying propagandist asshole like you can read for themselves.
AAA Bonds
Everyone knows I used to be John Bird until WordPress banned me for leaving a window open too long?
AAA Bonds
THE CONSPIRACY UNMASKED!
Corner Stone
@slag: No, I’m sure you don’t care to entertain those thoughts, you delicate little flower.
Obama is the boss. He hires the staff.
Corner Stone
@ruemara: Hey! Me fucking neither jackass!
But they ain’t gonna fucking do it you simple simple!
And when they fucking don’t do that, who the fuck do you think should step in and fill the gap?!
Yeah! Government jackie! Thass right! Big Bad Government!
But your boy Goolsbee et al and all the Obama crew have decided that is not the narrative they would like to push!
So yeah.
Accept it.
AAA Bonds
Literally every other post on Balloon Juice is by me
MattR
@AAA Bonds: Obviously not everyone knows that (nor should they have to) which is why I was genuinely confused to see a reply from John Bird to a comment directed at AAA Bonds.
slag
@AAA Bonds: I’m not sure which part of my point you considered an ad hominem attack, but, well, if there was one in there, it was unintended.
That said, I suspect you know, then, that the CFPB was part of the financial regulatory reform. Which undermines, at least to some degree, your implication that the financial regulation was somehow fictitious. Unless you were applying for a job at a mythical agency, that is. And if so, that’s between you and your mythical deity of choice.
AAA Bonds
@MattR:
I’m sorry, too many threads on here have already devolved into that conversation. My apologies.
AAA Bonds
@slag:
Yes, and I understand the Republicans were behind a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, which is why it’s accurate to describe the Republicans as pro-Medicare.
Parse. Think for a second. Put the jerseys and the pennants away. There isn’t even a CFPB yet, not really, and the CFPB alone is so far from what we need it’s frightening.
You know this already. Apply your knowledge.
AAA Bonds
It’s funny, now that you mention it – I was in fact applying for a job at a mythical agency. They were very up-front about that, though.
slag
@Corner Stone:
Hey man, if you want to consider my reluctance to beat my head against the wall indefinitely to be a weakness in my constitution, who am I to disagree? It really is a matter of self-preservation for me, but for reasons well outside the realm of national politics. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by a plethora of hard-working, brilliant, motivated, conscientious people who, in their various occupations and other endeavors, have sporadically (and even consistently, in some instances) failed to bring about meaningful, much-needed change in certain unproductive situations. No way am I writing those people off as unmotivated, scruple-deficient screw-offs just because they failed to surmount what seem to be insuperable barriers at one time or another. I’ve just resigned myself to being pleasantly surprised when people keep showing up everyday to try to roll that rock up that damned mountain and don’t end up losing themselves in their efforts. That’s something.
slag
@AAA Bonds:
You’re right, I do know this already. And I know that not everything I want or think should be done will be done when I want it or think it should be done. And I also know that there are many reasons for that and that the world didn’t just start spinning on January 1 of 2009. Everybody knows the world started spinning when Jesus created the dinosaurs on January 1 of 3750 BC.
Svensker
@Linda Featheringill:
Glad things are looking up. Fingers crossed.
AAA Bonds
@slag:
Dude, there was a financial regulation bill. That was it. You think there’s going to be another wave of regulation on the horizon as Goolsbee goes on television to talk about cutting back federal regulations?
John Puma
I interpret “gotcha” media to mean one actively seeking to trip up a candidate.
Mama Grifter has made flourish a different type of media best described as the:
“we observed that you waded into that big pile of steaming pig poop all by yourself” media.