Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

This really is a full service blog.

In after Baud. Damn.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Open Thread: Oh Joy, Another Crappy Reboot…

Open Thread: Oh Joy, Another Crappy Reboot…

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.

… Of a series nobody enjoyed the *first* time…

Matthew Yglesias, at Vox — “The Harriet Miers of the Fed is ready for a comeback”:

Back in the younger and more innocent days of January, 2006, then-President George W. Bush decided to appoint a nice-looking and well-off young man named Kevin Warsh to a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors that he had no apparent qualification for…

… Warsh spent the crisis years being flagrantly wrong about the macroeconomic outlook in both public and private remarks. He excoriated the Bernanke Fed for being too aggressive in its efforts to stabilize the economy and too blind to the risks of inflation. He lauded the disastrous tenure of Jean-Claude Trichet at the European Central Bank, and eventually left the Fed to join a chorus of outside conservative critics who lambasted Bernanke and Janet Yellen for pursuing loose money policies that would allegedly debase the dollar and send prices spiraling upward (didn’t happen).

And now, having acquired a resume that leaves him superficially qualified for the job, Warsh has landed on Donald Trump’s short list to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve when Janet Yellen’s term expires next year. And, frankly, he’d be the perfect Trumpian choice — he’s rich, rich people like him, congressional Republicans like him, he stands by Trump when Trump says morally outrageous things, and he doesn’t have a lot of time for self-reflection or accurate information about public policy.

If we’re lucky, it’ll turn out that a lot of what he’s said over the years is just a kind of partisan hackery — he’ll undermine the Fed’s independence and become part of the larger story of Trump-era institutional rot. At essentially the government’s single most important economic policy agency — the one tasked with the critical job of trying to ensure steady, sustainable economic growth — that would be a tragedy, but one we can survive. If we’re unlucky, it’ll turn out he’s a true believer in what he says and he’ll wreck the economy. Maybe soon we’ll get to find out…

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP DAMMIT!…

As ever, I blame the Republicans.

Reader Interactions

205Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    This will not end well. The .01% will not have FDR to save them from their own folly.

  2. 2.

    Mary G

    I am lucky enough to have money in the market and have been getting notes from various fund managers talking about concerns over “the return of irrational exuberance” and other discreet warnings that the party in the market may be coming to a screeching halt at some time this year, whether or not Republicans lower taxes. I have been wondering whether I should rebalance my portfolio to more conservative and safe holdings or just sell some of the lower-performing, moderately high risk stuff I have sitting around. I hate to say I am almost rooting for a crash, just to watch the president sweat, but not really because it’s the little people who will get hurt.

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mary G: I took about 10% of my equity holdings to cash about a month ago. This bull is getting older, and so am I. As Blood Sweat and Tears told us, what goes up, must come down.

  5. 5.

    efgoldman

    If we’re lucky, it’ll turn out that a lot of what he’s said over the years is just a kind of partisan hackery — he’ll undermine the Fed’s independence and become part of the larger story of Trump-era institutional rot.

    Is he going to leave all the sub-cabinet portions unfilled, a la Rexy at state or Mattis at Dod?

  6. 6.

    satby

    It makes me nervous, because the only nest egg I have is my modest inherited IRA, and it’s in growth and income investments. I’m going to have to figure out what to do, and I don’t really know how to manage that. Most of the investment advice is too bullish, still.

  8. 8.

    Ruckus

    You guys have investments? Damn that’s cool. Something else to be thankful for, not having to worry about my investments.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Open thread?

    Today was the first Live in HD transmission of the MET’s 2017-18 season — “Norma,” which I have heard often but had never seen until today. Sondra Radvanovsky was Norma, and Joyce DiDonato was Adalgisa, and I’ll pretty much walk across hot coals in my bare feet to hear Joyce sing anything, anywhere. She did not disappoint.

    For the past four seasons, if I’m counting right, I’ve been the MET’s Live in HD Ambassador at a cinema about 17 miles from where I live. It’s an old, shabby theatre, and I have to say I haven’t found theatre management very cooperative. So I asked to transfer as ambassador to a theatre much closer to me, and one which has reserved, comfortable, reclining seats. Started there today, and it went fine; hope to do some local marketing to increase attendance, especially among younger audiences.

    One really nice thing that happened is that I have a FB friend I’d never actually met in person, although we first noticed each other because we were both part of a larger MET Live in HD Facebook discussion group, and at some point a few years ago realised that we were both in metro Atlanta. But we’ve never been able to work out getting together. Anyhow, I was sitting behind my table today handing out programs and season schedules and so on, and she walked in, took one look at me, said “”JUDITH!?!?” and I yelled out her name, and we hugged like long-lost siblings. We recognised each other immediately from our respective FB profile pictures ?

    Facebook has a lot to answer for, and we all know that; but for moments like this it is great.

    :: wanders off humming that old Girl Scout tune “Make new friends, but keep the old / One is silver and the other gold.” ::

  10. 10.

    Dave

    @Mary G: I’m fairly sure a crash of some sort is coming it may as well happen so that the blame falls on the GOP and Trump. Is that a little cynical sure but only a little since I’m not rooting for one since it will be well people in my circumstances that suffer but if it must happen it would be good if it happened in a way that would help any recovery and that involves removing as much of the GOP from office as possible.

  11. 11.

    Ken

    Just imagine what the economy will be like if Congress ever passes a budget, or anything else Trump has proposed. As it is, we’re still running on the Obama budget – from about 2011, if I’m remembering the continuing resolutions correctly.

  12. 12.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    Meanwhile the SS is spending $137,000 renting golf carts on Dolt45s golf clubs to protect his ugly ass. Keep in mind a new golf cart is under $15k for sure and possibly under $10k. Asshole can okay his shit head son in law and Flynn getting top secret clearances but he can’t tell his golf club to comp the SS golf cart usage.

  13. 13.

    NotMax

    As a True Believer, perhaps he’ll push to privatize the Fed. Let the bidding wars begin!

    (Wish it was a beyond the pale prediction made only in jest.)

  14. 14.

    Suzanne

    Only investments I have are my 401Ks from my current and former jobs. They are in funds targeted to my age. I am not smart enough to deal with this stuff, so the money will sit and stay. I have been good about contributing to my 401K for the last three years, but I didn’t start a job that actually provided me a 401K until I was 31, so I got a late start.

    I have been wanting a new dining room table for about three years, and we finally bought one today! Being delivered next week. OMG SO EXCITED AAAAAHHHHHHHH.

  16. 16.

    Corner Stone

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    This will not end well. The .01% will not have FDR to save them from their own folly.

    Maybe the out of control no control gun policies of our NRA culture will have a useful purpose after all one day.

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    @Suzanne:

    I have been wanting a new dining room table for about three years, and we finally bought one today! Being delivered next week.

    I am to disappoint. You didn’t source the reclaimed materials and construct it yourself over the last three or so years?

  18. 18.

    Mary G

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, in 2008 I kept everything and doubled down on the monthly contributions, even though emotionally it was really, really hard to do. And I came out with much more money when everything came back during the Obama years. But my mom was alive, and splitting expenses, and I don’t have that excess cash anymore, and I am nine years older and unhealthier. I did sell some stuff last year to pay plumbers, funds I had gotten as inflation hedges in 2007 (wrong, wrong, wrong). I came out even and didn’t have to pay any capital gains, so I might take another look and pull cash or move a bit to safer harbors. It’s just as hard to sell high as it is to buy low; I keep thinking, well, it might go up some more and I’d miss out…I know, first world problems.

  19. 19.

    raven

    Johnny’s in the basement
    Mixing up the medicine
    I’m on the pavement
    Thinking about the government

  21. 21.

    John Revolta

    Well it ain’t much but I moved everything I had in investments into cash last week. Kinda hope I was wrong, but things don’t smell right.
    Also, October.

  23. 23.

    Steve in the ATL

    We should have a “post your stock tips” thread–I can’t imagine that how that could go wrong!

    Here’s a free one: bet on the Dawgs to cover the spread

  24. 24.

    efgoldman

    @John Revolta:

    I moved everything I had in investments into cash last week. Kinda hope I was wrong

    A mistake lots of people made in 2008-2009. Unless you’re close to retirement/cashing out, locking in your losses is a losing strategery.

  25. 25.

    Suzanne

    @Corner Stone:

    I am to disappoint. You didn’t source the reclaimed materials and construct it yourself over the last three or so years?

    Hell no. I went to Crate&Barrel and gave them some money.

    I make pottery, not furniture.

  26. 26.

    Ohio Mom

    @John Revolta: “Also October.” My mom died in March of 1987 and my brother, the only one of us three siblings still living in our hometown of NYC, was the estate’s executor.

    There were some hiccups along the way but he had everything straight on Friday, October 16. He thought to himself, “What a nice end to the week, I’ll start selling the estate’s stock on Monday.”

    That was the Monday the stock market lost something like a fifth of its value.

    So yes, “October.”

  31. 31.

    Mary G

    @efgoldman: I disagree. He sold at the top end, possibly equivalent to 2007 when the big bubble was about to pop. Selling after it’s gone down is wrong, but it hasn’t gone down yet. Of course, timing the market is hard to do, it might go up more while the Republicans are talking about making rich people richer. He’s right about October, though, and the jobs report was crappy and the hurricanes are depressing some activity.

  33. 33.

    Vhh

    @Mary G: dump losers than rebalance according to age. I am 66, still working, and have my US 401k portfolio 25% cash, 25% in stock index funds, 50% bonds. I also will hv a defined benefit pension, and an Australia superannuation fund with balanced portfolio of Aussie and intl holdings.

  36. 36.

    efgoldman

    @Mary G:

    it hasn’t gone down yet. Of course, timing the market is hard to do, it might go up more while the Republicans are talking about making rich people richer.

    It depends on your time horizon.
    If you’re in your 40s or 50s, you can let it ride because it will come back in a couple of decades, although it’s nail biting to do so. I was 65 in 2010, but knew I was going to work until 70, so i could let it ride and accumulate some more.

  37. 37.

    lamh36

    Good evening BJ

    I finally got around to posting about my D.C. trip on my blog today. I posted 2 today, and tomorrow I plan to post the 2 more to finish. Check ’em out if ya got the time or are just bored to tears…


    Hello D.C…Well Hellooo D.C. Day1: Arrival, Shopping, Walking

    D.C. Day 2: Museums & Monuments & LOTS of Walking…Oh My! (Part 1)

    Tomorrow the plan is to post 2 more posts of pics…Part 2 from Day 2, and Day 3: The Black-sonian! Hope ya’ll check them out.

  39. 39.

    efgoldman

    @raven:

    We both have defined retirement

    Trade offs. There’s little or no danger that your employer will go bankrupt and lose your pension fund.

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    I am just wondering where people think their USD cash/UST Bonds are going to go when Trump nukes NoKo?

  44. 44.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @eclare:

    I have fond memories of Brownies and Girl Scouts. Did you also sing “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree”?

    I am old enough to remember when the GS uniforms had long sleeves, and we stitched our merit badges to the sleeves. Sashes came later. My mother, as the owner of the (at the time, ONLY) bookstore in town, was deemed a “bibliophile” specialist, and coached my troop in book preservation and restoration, history of printing and publishing, etc., for the badge in that subject. It was cool to have my mom visit Troop 177 every week as the designated expert :-)

  47. 47.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Suzanne:

    Only investments I have are my 401Ks from my current and former jobs.

    That’s me too. And a few very small stocks. I anticipate working well into my 60s before being able to retire which is okay, I guess.

  48. 48.

    lgerard

    @Mai.naem.mobile:

    Meanwhile the SS is spending $137,000 renting golf carts on Dolt45s golf clubs to protect his ugly ass. Keep in mind a new golf cart is under $15k for sure and possibly under $10k.

    This is incredibly irksome isn’t? You would think a billionaire who claims to be so really, really rich could comp a few golf carts to the people protecting him.
    I’m hoping the Secret Service tells him they are out of funds and he has to walk the course. And carry his own bag.

  49. 49.

    mainmata

    @efgoldman: If you mean the Fed, a) it’s not part of the Cabinet – it’s supposed to be independent – and b) the board is made up of regional banks so it’s structured very different. Don’t know for sure but I doubt if there are many (or even any) Presidential appointed positions at the sub-Chairman level. Fed needs to have highly professional economists at that level even if the board can have hacks, unfortunately.

  51. 51.

    lamh36

    @raven: Yep…I live outside the city though in Metairie, LA I’ve had some rain so far, but nothing major. Nate is expected to hit the area something in the early Sunday midnight hours….so we’ll see what we get on my end.

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Florida State is the Donald Trump of college football teams. Discuss.

    As I mentioned to BCrack a few days ago, according to my Gator ex-husband, it’s a short ride from “FSU, Home of the Seminoles” to “Half-Ass U, Home of the Semi-holes.”

  53. 53.

    Steve in the ATL

    @lgerard:

    You would think a billionaire who claims to be so really, really rich could comp a few golf carts to the people protecting him.

    Of course he could. But he won’t.

  56. 56.

    Lyrebird

    @Steve in the ATL: Hi, off topic – re: something from Steeplejack, birthday themes… Consider introducing your nieces to the recent Trolls movie, that’s what half of the turning-5 b’day parties were for us. Different music (incl an old Cyndi Lauper tune!!) and not those Disney stick-figure models.

    That said, “Let it go” never bothered me anyway!

  58. 58.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Trump is tweeting war at North Korea again. It only caused a mild stir on Twitter, the usual national security wonks pointing out that if he means it, it’s crazy, if he doesn’t mean it, it destroys US credibility, and that it’s abusive behavior toward US citizens (and the world, but his primary responsibility is to US citizens). Then he tweeted he was going to North Carolina. So a wonk pointed out the lack of seriousness.

    I was talking to a guy who makes his living investing a couple of weeks ago about what a nuclear war would do to investments. He wasn’t worried and was convinced it would only be a little nuclear war, easy to recover from. The level of denial about North Korea is impressive.

  59. 59.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Lyrebird: Georgia won big and Florida lost–I’m in such good spirits that I may dress as Elsa and sing it myself!

    Uh, you guys don’t tell my wife that, ok?

  60. 60.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Suzanne: interesting day–you admit to having no class and Ruckus admits to having no taste!

    Time to update those dossiers.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    @efgoldman: Yup.

    The problem with getting out is: When do you get back in?

    The rich always have money to invest and will always do so. If not the stock market, where? Real estate is still meh. Gold? There’s no inflation. Art? Sure, there’s some of that, but it’s being driven by the Far East and who knows what’s really going on in that market – it could collapse even faster than the DJIA.

    We’re in an S&P500 and bonds in our 401ks. Dollar cost averaging FTW – nobody can time the market.

    Yeah, it’s scary as we get older. We’ll probably start thinking about adjusting things in a few years. But mainly we ignore the stuff right now – it’s not worth the stress.

    Hang in there, but do what you need to do to be able to sleep at night.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  62. 62.

    mainmata

    @NotMax: The Federal Reserve was created by an Act of Congress in 1913 (Wilson Administration) so it can’t be privatized without an Act of Congress. And as crazy as the GOP caucus is, the Senate won’t privatize the Fed because we would be right back to the J.P. Morgan era when the US Government was hostage to whatever the oligarchs wanted short-term and the twin mandates of the Fed to manage inflation to protect the currency and maximize full employment would obviously go right out the window. We would be in for a massive Depression with no FDR but also no Fed. The upside? The GOP would be deader than a doornail but most of us would be impoverished.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    I didn’t have much in the way of investments in 2008, and what I had got rocked heavily by the economic messes. And so a return of the bad old days will be just another day.

    It is something though, to see Trump make so many bad choices for various positions and to see that even conservatives who should know better applaud Trump’s foolishness.

    Dubya left a big mess to be cleaned up. True to form, Trump seems determined to leave the biggest mess left by any president ever.

  64. 64.

    Ruckus

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    little nuclear war, easy to recover from. The level of denial about North Korea is impressive.

    If you are a conservative it’s easy to be in denial about a lot of things that are going to get better, once you revert back to a simpler time when it really wasn’t what you think it was. Denial is really the basis of their entire master plan.

  68. 68.

    Steve in the ATL

    @mainmata:

    the twin mandates of the Fed to manage inflation to protect the currency and maximize full employment would obviously go right out the window

    One of those mandates has been out the window for many years now…and it’s not the one about protecting lenders and the cash-laden by keeping inflation down

  69. 69.

    efgoldman

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I am old enough to remember when the GS uniforms had long sleeves, and we stitched our merit badges to the sleeves.

    mrs efg bought a lifetime membership a decade or so ago. 55-60 years and counting.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    @mainmata

    a) It was hyperbole.
    b) There’s an awful lot (in both senses of the term) of worship of the McKinley years amongst the movers and shakers of the right. They may well view J. P. Morgan bailing out the government by writing a check as a feature, not a bug.

  71. 71.

    Bess

    In the 1980s I put the max per year ($2,000) into an IRA. The only years I was able to make IRA deposits. A total of $16k.

    Now, about 30 years later, my IRA is worth $147,935. And I’ve withdrawn $72,032. For a total of $219,967. All non-managed index funds. Put it in and let it ride, no attempt to market time.

    (I withdrew money in years when I had no income taxes to pay and moved the money into non-IRA accounts so I’m actually well ahead of $220k.)

    So far the market has recovered from big downturns in two years or less. Unless one has all the money they need or want I don’t see sense in putting large amounts into bonds. Keep the amount you might need over a 2-3 year span in less volatile investments like bonds or cash equivalents and leave the rest at play.

    That cash on hand will let you ride out market downs so you likely will not have to sell out when the market might be down.

    Do some reading before attempting to time the market. Here’s something on why to not.

    https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/05/28/3-reasons-why-market-timing-doesnt-work.aspx

    The big message – get some money in as soon as you can.

    Don’t assume you can beat the market, hardly anyone without specialized knowledge in one segment (or insider information) will beat the market. Go with index funds so that your risk is spread very, very widely (2,000 or more companies) and so that management fees aren’t bleeding you dry.

  72. 72.

    Suzanne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    interesting day–you admit to having no class and Ruckus admits to having no taste!

    “Admit”? You say that as if I haven’t been completely transparent about my paucity of good taste.

  73. 73.

    efgoldman

    @Another Scott:

    We’re in an S&P500 and bonds in our 401ks.

    I went into moderate risk but not quite junk status fixed income (bond) funds. Risk spread out over multiple securities, in several funds. Made out OK given the short time horizon (didn’t get in until I was 50).

  74. 74.

    eclare

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yep, I remember that! I was a GS post sleeves, I had a sash. And all of us Brownies got our picture in the local paper when we got our “wings” and moved up to GS. At that time we lived in a small town, and Brownies/GS were very involved, floats in parades, lots of camping, etc.

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    also,too, when I saw “another crappy reboot,” I thought this thread might be about the Star Trek clone, The Orville, or Star Trek: Discovery, or even Blade Runner 2049.

    I’m one of those people who loved the original Blade Runner, but haven’t seen the sequel yet because I can’t imagine that any continuing story needs 2 hours, 45 minutes for the telling.

    The Orville is a surprisingly sincere love letter to Trek, but is basically Star Trek for stupid people. And this is despite the fact that a lot of people who were involved in past Trek series work on this show. I will admit, though, that the visual effects are often quite wonderful.

    Star Trek Discovery is trying to do too much, and is stumbling over simple things that end up undermining the show. But I will continue to watch it and hope that others do also if only to flush out the racist viewers who think that the lead character is an uppity black woman.

  78. 78.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    Dubya left a big mess to be cleaned up. True to form, Trump seems determined to leave the biggest mess left by any president ever.

    He’s worked, OK not so much worked, that seems to be way beyond his minimal capabilities, excelled at making a huge mess his entire life. From the gigantic T’s on buildings, that stand for Trash, no matter what he claims, to his lying about how much he’s worth, to how much class he doesn’t have……. Fucking up is his forte, this is his last hurrah and he is going out in his style, losing. And doing it biggly.

  79. 79.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    Did Colin Firth get much screen time in Kingsman? I haven’t even seen the first one. I prefer him in early 19th-century drawing rooms.

  80. 80.

    raven

    @Bess: We refinanced our rental house and pulled our some dough. We’ve been putting almost all of our pay into 403b’s and supplementing our income with the refi money. If the dork that has taken the entire extension period to do our taxes lets us know how much we are getting back I’ll feel ok.

  81. 81.

    JMG

    @Mary G: I’ve posted this in years past, but when a reporter asked the original Baron Rothschild what was the secret of his success back in the 18th century, he said, “I always got out too soon.”

  82. 82.

    Suzanne

    @eclare: I was a Brownie, then a Junior, then a Cadette. Spawn the Elder was a Brownie and then a Junior. Now Spawn the Younger is a Daisy. We are big Girl Scouting fans around here.

  89. 89.

    lamh36

    @zhena gogolia: actually, he had almost as much screen time as the Eggsy characters did. I say from most to least screentime: Taron Egerton, Mark Strong/Colin Firth/Pedro Pascal, Julianne Moore/HalleBerry/Edward Holcroft, Channon Tatum, Jeff Bridges/Sophie Cookson. (here’s a list of the actors and characters played: Kingsman: The Golden Circle )

    BTW, I really enjoyed it. Def was a fun movie to watch, as much fun as the first. I’m guessing they maybe didn’t expect it to take of like it did, which is why they were so comfortable with what they did to Firth’s character at the end of the 1st film. But they underestimated the appeal of Colin Firth in this new role and how integral he was to the movie fan base, a more female fan base than most action flicks like the original Kingsman,

    I believe I gave the original an A review. I’d give the sequel a strong B+/A-. It was fun, but a scene or two I could have done w/o and the way they treated a few of the stand out characters at end I wasn’t a fan of. Still like the first Kingsman film it was GREAT fun in the theatres!

  90. 90.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: Um, I never stopped architecturing.

    FWIW, I get really tapped out on tasteful, well-appointed modern interiors that just look like someone blew all their money at DWR and don’t contain anything that speaks of individuality or experience or passion or history or quirks. (Not to say that I approve of cheap shit like Cole’s former end tables.) And I hate clutter and disorder. I just dislike sterility in homes. Interesting people almost always have interesting stuff, and I like to see it and hear about it.

  92. 92.

    ThresherK

    @raven: That beat Tim Robbins by a few years, I think. But there seems to be nothing more prophetic than Robbins (and his brothr, who together wrote the songs, to not release a soundtrack recording.

    He knew what the Tea Party and Trump sorts would make of those songs.

    Michael takes a loan from a Midwestern S+L
    He puts the money in a fast-drying inkwell
    Takes a loss, gets cross, walks to the corner store
    Pulls a knife, calls his wife, can’t take it anymore.

    (Wall St. Rap)

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @smintheus:

    While serving in that role, Warsh established a reputation for being wrong with regard to nearly everything he expressed an opinion about

    Was this it?

  96. 96.

    lgerard

    @debbie:

    You need to be really careful with 401k plans. Many of them have absurdly high fees and are actually poor investments. There are fund managers who “buy” the right to manage companies 401k plans because they are a goldmine for fund managers. If you are talking about investing over any substantial period of time, fees are perhaps the most important determinate of success due to compounding.

    The advice I give young people (and it is a mystery to me why they ask for for advice about this, but many do for some reason) is to contribute to a 401k up to the limit of your employers contribution, but then max out your IRA limit in a low cost index fund before you contribute any further to an 401k.

  98. 98.

    debbie

    Nice! My local radio station is honoring Tom Petty tonight. Then at 10pm, SNL is rerunning an ancient episode where he was the musical guest (Buck Henry hosting).

  100. 100.

    lamh36

    @zhena gogolia: Oh..and I love me some Firth…especially period piece Firth. If you’re a Firth fan as much as I am and you’re NOT uncomfortable with Tarantino-esque comic book like violence/action films…then Kingsman is actually a great film to see. If for no other reason than to see Colin Firth as a true blood action star, who actually trained for many of his own non-CGI stuntworkd…

  101. 101.

    debbie

    @lgerard:

    I’ve been at this job for 6 years, so the 401K balance isn’t much. I’m not going to contribute to it. I’ve got a couple small CDs and am trying to figure out which index fund (Vanguard vs. Fidelity) I should enroll in. No market for me!

  102. 102.

    Corner Stone

    @debbie:

    but I never thought the market would decimate my IRA, either.

    *Puts on “Jackie Steeps” hat*…Ahem, actually, to decimate originally means reduce by every one in ten. So a 10% reduction would be a pretty normal correction.
    Oh, God. I feel so dirty.
    ***Shutters***

  105. 105.

    satby

    @debbie: yeah, the market cutting my 401k in half almost always coincided with me getting a layoff. I was able to let it slide before cashing out once, but it took way longer than a couple of years for the account to double and get back to the value it was before the crash. Which wasn’t all that much to begin with, so I worry that I won’t have time for a recovery this time. Lots of us in that boat.

  109. 109.

    normal liberal

    @Suzanne:
    I’ll bite, what’s a Daisy?
    Back at the dawn of time I was a Junior and Cadette. A few years ago I was pleased to find that my GS regalia, sash, beret with Cadette cockade, plus my GS knife had been stashed at my parents’ house all these years. I may arrange to be buried in them.

  110. 110.

    mainmata

    @Ken: You’re correct, although the last time the Congress actually passed a budget on-time, i.e. before October 1 was 1996. Obviously, this is all about the Gingrich Era (and subsequent other radical GOP obstructionist majorities) preventing any kind of normal budgeting process. Because it’s all about bringing down the federal government. (Not working so far but hobbling it, definitely).

  111. 111.

    satby

    I took Ozark’s advice and chilled out reading a mystery today on my unexpected day off. Finished it, and have a rebatch of soap to mold. Except for the loss of income thing, it was a very nice day. Raining now, so we’re starting to catch up on the deficit we had, a bit too late for a lot of the fall colors though.

  112. 112.

    lamh36

    @debbie: I’ve literally liked every thing I’ve seen him in…even going back to movies like Fever Pitch back before his big movie deals.

    Speaking of Fever Pitch, I never realized that Mark Strong, Merlin in Kingsman, was in the film as well…

  116. 116.

    lgerard

    @debbie:

    I have been with Vanguard Admiral funds for over 30 years, both for savings and for my IRA. I recommend them highly.
    401k’s are useful if your employer matches your contributions as that makes up for the higher fees and lackluster performance, but once you reach the limit of their contribution an IRA index fund is better.
    CDs were a thing of the 80’s, you would be better off with a short term corporate paper fund.

  122. 122.

    eclare

    @SiubhanDuinne: I just finished Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton. Definitely light reading, but enjoyable and well researched. Only one more left! Sue has said she is stopping at Z.

  124. 124.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @eclare: I just started the latest (last?) Inspector Rebus.

    Not a spoiler, Rebus has been shuffling toward the exit for four or five books now, I hope he goes on forever. I still miss Morse. And Dalgliesh

  127. 127.

    Steve in the ATL

    @debbie:

    I used decimation in the sense of annihilation

    That’a a common usage, but grating to those of us who took Latin. Losing 10% of your military force is a big loss, hence the term, while losing 10% of most other things is manageable.

  131. 131.

    Suzanne

    @normal liberal: Daisy is the level below Brownie, for kindergarteners and first graders. Her troop is so cute. They are very much about celebrating their racially diverse backgrounds.

  133. 133.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    Did you see the big profile of Idris Elba in the NYT? It’s by Maureen Dowd, but still, it’s about Idris Elba.

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Yawn, what freaking policy have you done to encourage this economy Little Hands? Oh, yes, like everything else in your life Donny you inherited it and are doing your best to squander it.

  137. 137.

    normal liberal

    @Suzanne:
    I assumed this was some new-fangled thing, but Wikipedia tells there were Daisies in my day, the late sixties. I don’t think we had them in our council.
    That is such a great age. I hope your younger Spawn enjoys the Scouts all the way through.

  138. 138.

    zhena gogolia

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I read to my husband while he cooks. The Morse novels are the very best for that purpose. I’ve now gotten the whole series and we’re filling in the gaps with the ones we haven’t read yet, starting with The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn. Dexter was such a skilled writer.

    Ruth Rendell was probably my very favorite, but she’s too grim for dinner-cooking purposes.

  142. 142.

    Bess

    @debbie: How did the market decimate your IRA?

    Not enough diversity? Market correction panic low sellout? Something else?

  143. 143.

    mike in dc

    3 dozen “very fine people” returned to Charlottesville tonight, marching with tiki torches to the Lee statue again.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    Nats win!
    Made fish tacos for dinner!
    Michigan is on the ropes!
    Watched the original BLADE RUNNER w/ Fro Jr tonight – both of us can’t wait to see 2049 next weekend!
    What a weekend and it’s only Saturday night!

  145. 145.

    debbie

    @Bess:

    When everything started dropping, I had been unemployed for almost a year and all I had was my IRA. I couldn’t afford to stick it out.

  147. 147.

    Bess

    @debbie: I don’t see any important difference between Vanguard and Fidelity when it comes to non-managed index funds. I’m using Vanguard because that was the company that offered index funds ‘back then’.

    If you really want ‘belt and suspenders’ safety then you might put half of what you have to to invest in an index fund with each company. But I haven’t figured out how someone could steal the assets of one of these massive companies. It’s all stocks in thousands of other companies and the stock would be (I think) impossible to sell.

  148. 148.

    JGabriel

    Dave:

    I’m fairly sure a crash of some sort is coming it may as well happen so that the blame falls on the GOP and Trump. Is that a little cynical sure …

    I honestly don’t think it’s cynical to hope blame lands where it’s so well deserved.

  149. 149.

    debbie

    @Bess:

    Thanks. I’m leaning toward Vanguard based on friends’ recommendations. I had a few funds with Fidelity back in the 1990s and had no complaints.

  150. 150.

    Jeffro

    @raven: What?

    j/k…says ‘Final Cut’ so I’m assuming original…I wasn’t a huge fan of BR back in the day (liked it just fine, but not ga-ga over it then). In the re-watching, I see what everyone’s talking about how it influenced the look of so many sci-fi films afterwards. CAN’T WAIT FOR 2049!

  151. 151.

    Bess

    @debbie: Understood.

    People need to build up some ‘survival’ money at the same time they invest for the long term. It’s not an easy thing to do but you want to treat your retirement money as something that is unusable for any other purpose.

    Obviously life can put you in a situation where you’re going to be forced to raid your retirement money but try to not let that happen to the best of your ability.

  152. 152.

    Jeffro

    @Bess: @debbie: truly…just go with whichever one has the lower fees. Fidelity was higher than some others when I took a look around last year.

  153. 153.

    debbie

    @mike in dc:

    Richard plans to make these “flash mobs” a regular thing. They appear to be angry the GOP isn’t supporting them. Good. Another layer of chaos.

  155. 155.

    raven

    @Jeffro: Ridley Scott redid it without the Ford narration. I didn’t like it but some people did.

    Seven different versions of Ridley Scott’s 1982 American science fiction film Blade Runner have been shown, either to test audiences or theatrically. The best known are the Workprint, the U.S. Theatrical Cut, the International Cut, the Director’s Cut[6] and the Final Cut. These five versions are included in both the 2007 five-disc Ultimate Collectors Edition and 2012 30th-Anniversary Collector’s Edition releases. There also exists the San Diego Sneak Preview Cut, which was only shown once at a preview screening and the U.S. Broadcast Cut, which was edited for television broadcast. In the 2007 documentary Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner, there is a reference to director Ridley Scott presenting an eighth version, a nearly four-hour-long “early cut”, that was shown only to studio personnel. The following is a timeline of these various versions.

  156. 156.

    raven

    If you’re a card-carrying auteurist:

    Here’s the true director’s cut, personally assembled by Scott and released into theaters in 2007 under the moniker the Final Cut. Everything was as Scott had originally wanted it: The unicorn dream appears in its fullest and unexpurgated version, the violent scenes from the international edit have been reinserted, the picture has been fully spiffed up, and the sinuous electronic score from Greek composer Vangelis has never sounded better. This is probably the version to start with, artistically preferable to the theatrical cut and now shown in repertory theaters more widely, too. The title’s perfectly apropos, this hard-won authoritative edit being the end result of a long legal battle between studios to free up the license to Scott’s original footage. True fans will accept no substitute.

  157. 157.

    Jeffro

    @raven: erma gerd! I thought it was fine without any narration but then again, BR was a 1- or 2-time thing for me back when it came out.

    Funny note: at the end when Deckard is getting knocked all around by Roy…my son goes, “why doesn’t he just call for help on his cell phone?” Sci-fi sees pretty far into the future but not two decades down the road, LOL

  161. 161.

    lgerard

    @Bess:

    I think you are right. the SP 500 is the same where ever you go. I went with Vanguard for the same reason you did. John Bogle the founder of Vanguard basically invented and popularized index funds and is probably the best friend the average investor has ever had.
    I have been to Fidelity 5 or 6 times over the past few years to give them input on the thoughts of the average investor. They were very nice and paid me quite generously.
    On the other hand, my neighbor had a 401k plan with Fidelity that she “forgot about” and now Fidelity is trying to tell her it is lost. We have been working on this for months and don’t seem to be making any progress. Today she told me she may be a victim of identity theft as her bank deactivated her debit card and put a hold on her account. What a nightmare!

  165. 165.

    efgoldman

    @debbie:

    They appear to be angry the GOP isn’t supporting them.

    They won’t be happy until someone else gets killed. If it’s one of theirs, they have a martyr. If it’s an opponent. well they probably deserved it.

  166. 166.

    Bess

    @Jeffro: It looks like Fidelity might be a little lower on at least some of the index funds.

    I remember when Fidelity first offered a S&P 500 index fund. Vanguard was charging 0.020% per year and Fidelity came in at 0.018%. I just saw something from a year ago and V was charging 0.016% and F was 0.010%.

    I’d start with the index you want to buy. (I prefer a larger number of companies so I mostly use the Vanguard Total Index. When I start they were using the S&P 2000 (or something similar). Now they’re using a broader index and have holdings in 3,607 different US companies.

    Then look at the annual fees for both companies.

  168. 168.

    efgoldman

    @lgerard:

    my neighbor had a 401k plan with Fidelity that she “forgot about” and now Fidelity is trying to tell her it is lost.

    One of my jobs used to be to look for the “lost” accounts. Because of quirks in the law and regulations, it’s entirely possible, but rare. I’m not going to try an explanation, but it usually has to do with who the retirement custodian (third party, not Fidelity) was when the account was established, and whether statements have been returned by the post office.

  170. 170.

    Chet Murthy

    @efgoldman: I’m a rabid conservative. But EFG is right about this. Unless you’re -really- close to retirement, putting everything in cash is the same as expecting the bottom to fall out. And if it does, just -what- will your dollars be worth? If you really believe the bottom is going to fall out, you should be buying generators, underground fuel tanks, and antibiotics.

    And that’s just plain silly. I don’t want to live in some post-apocalypse. Rather take cyanide.

  171. 171.

    Bess

    @lgerard: I had someone try to clean out my credit union account a few months back. They had enough info to get to someone in the CU and attempt to get them to transfer the funds to a different bank. The CU blocked my charge and debit cards.

    It took some phone time to clean up the mess. And I contacted Vanguard and we put in another level of security. A password that I can only submit by phone in order to change my bank of record (CU) or mailing address. That way there will be no internet record of how to change the destination of any sales.

  172. 172.

    Another Scott

    @Bess: We’re with Vanguard for some things. They’re huge (as I assume Fidelity is). Once our S&P500 index fund holding got large enough, they automatically changed the account to an “Admiralty” fund with lower fees. We didn’t have to do anything. It was a nice feature.

    Vanguard should have lower fees in a 1:1 comparison with other brokerages/etc. as it’s totally owned by its shareholders. Fidelity’s structure is different. But as always, one has to check things out carefully for oneself.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  176. 176.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    Oh, you mean the part where he couldn’t tear his beautiful brown eyes away from her to look at the restaurant server when he gave his order?

  177. 177.

    efgoldman

    @Another Scott:

    Fidelity’s structure is different.

    Fidelity is privately (family) owned, and a bit on the paternalistic side. That’s great for employees – they don’t have to answer to stockholders every quarter. In the depths of the recession, they never stopped or reduced 401(k) contributions, had small layoffs but not the massive ones that the publicly-owned brokerage houses did, and avoided the merger and buyout mania,

  179. 179.

    Corner Stone

    @satby: C’mon, work with me. A series of murders where the victims die / are murdered / in various wet environments. They succumb to the killer by being stabbed, cut, poisoned or impaled by different soaps that have been sharpened/made into lethal weapons. So once the water flows over their bodies, the murder evidence is gone. Only the specific scent for each kill remains. A shower, a tub, a spa, a hot tub, etc.
    They all deserved to die, but why?

  180. 180.

    Ruckus

    @satby:
    I know. It is a big boat, I’m just one of the passengers. Steerage mind you but still.
    Like debbie I had to use my IRA to try and make it through the recession. Of course it lasted longer and rebounded too slowly for a 60 something to find a job. Any job. Every one that said they were hiring required a credit report to hire. That was a no go. Till I found one that required my skills/experience and could care less about any HR type bullshit. Been there going on 5 yrs. Second longest job I’ve ever held, mostly I’ve worked for myself. You know that American dream, the bullshit argument that bootstraps and hard work will save the day.

  181. 181.

    raven

    @Ruckus: I still am amazed that I ended up in a job for 17 years and was able to buy my three years of military toward my retirement. I’ll only get 40% of my salary but, combined with this other stuff, I should be ok. I spent years not giving a fuck.

  182. 182.

    debbie

    @Ruckus:

    I almost walked out of an interview with Highlights Magazine when they asked to see a credit report. There wasn’t anything wrong with mine, but that’s none of their business. And then, being asked to take a drug test! The last time I’d had to interview was in the late 1970s. Ah, the simple days, when all you had to do was get bonded.

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    was able to buy my three years of military toward my retirement

    You lost me here.

    I spent years of trying to make a go of business ownership. Got done in twice, once by nature and once by fucking greed, and it wasn’t mine.

  185. 185.

    Ruckus

    @debbie:
    I saw an opening at a socal pet food chain store in 2012. Asked for an app and the credit report was longer and I had to pay for it. And they wanted a criminal background check. I could sort of see that one, you would be handling their money and customer credit cards. But it’s the middle of a recession, almost no one I knew had good credit. Well there was the customer in my retail store who was a federal government employee, something like GS11 or 12 who wouldn’t spend any money because he didn’t know what was going to happen. Or the guy I know who he and his wife both have jobs in local government, they make about $180K a year and were worried how they will support themselves in retirement at $80K a year not counting any savings. And they own their home outright.
    It boggles my mind that people have not one fucking clue about how the majority live.

  187. 187.

    Mike G

    45’s regime is an attempt to re-create the 1920s

    It’s fine, nothing bad happened at the end of the 1920s. Or in the 30s.

  190. 190.

    cgordon

    @Bess: Excellent advice. There’s no way to outsmart the market, and there’s no way to figure out which funds will outsmart (or outluck) the market. And for Mary @18, there’s only one reliable way to consistently buy low and sell high. That is to allocate your investment into several buckets by percentage (large cap fund, small cap fund, foreign, bonds, for example) and then to rebalance to target periodically (sell the ones that are over target percentage and buy those that fell below target.)

  191. 191.

    Waynski

    @Chet Murthy:

    If you really believe the bottom is going to fall out, you should be buying generators, underground fuel tanks, and antibiotics.

    All good things to have for the end times, but if everything goes haywire, everyone and anyone will take gold as currency. Also, I’m no fan of firearms, especially given recent events, but a gun and ammo also too. That said, I possess none of these things. If that’s the way it ends up, the living will envy the dead, and I’d rather go out with clean hands and my conscience intact.

  192. 192.

    Corner Stone

    @Waynski:

    but if everything goes haywire, everyone and anyone will take gold as currency

    Why? Can you eat it? Can you plant it? Can you defend yourself with it?

  194. 194.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Corner Stone: @Chet Murthy: What would a conservative rabbit know about investing for retirement?

    General Woundwort’s body was never found…

  196. 196.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @mike in dc:
    Ha! You know what this means, right?

    The whiny fucking cowards have realized that if they try big public demonstrations, they’ll be outnumbered and scared. So they’re going to sneak out and try and reenact that one moment they felt manly, when they got to intimidate a couple of dozen counterprotestors because no one else knew they were there yet.

  197. 197.

    Origuy

    @Frankensteinbeck: A flash mob, in other words. I was listening to CBS Radio news tonight. They mentioned the demonstration. They said that there were about 50 people, and they just stayed long enough to sing Dixie off-key.

  200. 200.

    Kathleen

    @SiubhanDuinne: What a neat story about your mom. I never made it to Girl Scouts because we moved from Dayton (where I was a Brownie) to Stockton, CA, and the new school didn’t have Girl Scouts. However, in high school, a friend and I played our guitars and sang for a special program for little kids in a Hispanic community in South St. Paul. Kookaburra was one of our standard offerings.

  202. 202.

    Amir Khalid

    @Waynski:
    You’ll also need training in the use of whatever gun you get. Without that training, a gun is a greater danger to you and yours than to anyone else.

  203. 203.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @Brachiator: It’s a shame about the Orville. We gave up on it. It is amazingly sincere, and looks great, but the writing is just poor. Maybe it was my expectations — I was hoping for something closer to Galaxy Quest.

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