Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Economic Pharmacy?


As I write this, it's as if the whole country is holding its breath. I can tell because all the maps are turning blue.

And I've just watched John McCain give his concession speech.

President Obama. There are so many shades of nuance, meaning, and history hanging on those two words. Tell you what. Feel free to leave a comment on last night's results. It might do you good.

Our new president says he has a financial prescription for our economic woes ... but what if there were also a pharmaceutical one?

+++

MEDICATIONS FOR COPING WITH ECONOMIC GLOOM

Downcyclen

Delinquedent

Greedquil

Defaulta

Banxergon

Catastrophex

Maxedoutrin

Dowoff

Retirelator

[selected from McSweeney's Lists; written by Peter Scallion]

+++

WONDER for YOUR WEEK: Do banks offer attractive mortgage rates just to create interest?

+++


Mark's Musings is also sent each weekday via email. Get your very own subscription by clicking here. No credit check!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Raising Taxes has never worked for boosting the economy before and it won't now. Get ready for several more years of economic downturn, but sadly the moral downturn will be worse.

Mark said...

I read an article in a national newspaper yesterday that more or less agrees with your gloomy prognostication, Phil. It claimed that we won't hit the bottom as the country did in the decade following 1929, but it will certainly be a good while before we make a turnaround.

It would be nice if we could start by bringing some jobs back home.

As to the moral aspect, only time will tell ... but if all good people speak up, keep our congresspeople well informed as to our beliefs, and not just stay silent and shake our collective heads in dismay, righteousness may yet prevail.

As Edmund Burke said, "For evil to triumph, good men must simply do nothing."

thatissocute said...

perhap raising taxes as Phil says has not worked before...but trickle down economics hasn't worked either!

Anonymous said...

Got this today and thought I'd Share it, Pat Foley:
I voted Democrat





I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect
me from murderers and thieves.

I voted Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.

I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of
4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

I voted Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

I voted Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust
that the bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good people.

I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the
slaughter of millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.

I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to
rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe
kooks who would NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

I voted Democrat because my head is so thick, it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.

'A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't
own'

- William F. Carling -

Mark said...

In a perfect world, classic Republican "trickle down" economics would work wonderfully.

The problem is we don't live in a perfect world. There are some business owners and wealthy folks who do reinvest their profits into their people and so enrich us all, but I think it's safe to say the vast majority take their money and run ... to the nearest offshore bank. If corporate greed by CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and Boards of Directors weren't so rampant, Republican economics would work.

As to the "I voted Democratic" piece ... well, it's funny, but please understand that somewhere out there is a "I voted Republican" version that's just as funny and will make you feel just as foolish.

Personally, I've never been able to reconcile the Democrats pro-choice/anti-death sentence stance nor the Republicans pro-life/pro-death sentence beliefs. Does not the Bible teach that all life is sacred?

Which brings me to my final thought. People ask WWJD? I wonder how Jesus would vote.....