Like I’ve said many times before, I am not one of those people who is a blind follower. I’m not a cross-hugging Christian who mindlessly donates money to the catholic church. I think what goes on behind closed doors with the catholic priesthood is abominable! I think most people who are strongly aligned with a religion or a political affiliation are hypocrites. I pride myself on analyzing information and changing my view point. I do like Obama. The man is smart, charismatic, loyal, and has the most stringent ethical code of honor. You will not catch that man with his pants down in a gay bar, or tweeting nude photos of himself to teenagers while his wife is preggers!
But Obama, I swear to God, you’re killing me man! If I’m upside-down on my home or behind on my student loans, I might as well wait it out! Seems like Obama will come to the rescue with another program to help homeowners, a new decree to forgive student loans. Are you crazy? What are you doing? I know you’re a democrat and used to doling out the national treasure, but please, make people accountable for their actions!
If it weren’t for my own fanatical work ethic and core values, the smart thing for me to do would be to stop paying all my debt. In no time, Obama will come to the rescue.
I feel sick. What has happened to our American values?
Hi Catherine, it is certainly an interesting point of view, and from a philosophical point of view, yes, I totally agree with you that there should be a level of personal responsibility. It surely seems like a slap in the face of those people who have fulfilled their debt obligation.
On a practical level ( and I might be totally wrong) I have a feeling Obama is trying to inflate the economy without pissing off the Chinese government as they were pretty adamant a few months back that they would not be very happy with another round of quantitative easing or the equivalent. But at the same time, without inflating, we could well be stuck in stagflation or even worse, deflation which would result in a long spiral down. I think Obama is just trying to play with the cards he has been dealt.
Catherine, yes indeed, one would think the world’s most powerful man would have some sort of tool at his disposal to end all this, what with all his advisers intelligence agencies, etc. At the end of the day, I have no doubt the USA will come out of this stronger and better for it. It is after all still the most innovative economy in the world.
Unfortunately, I think to unravel 30-40 years of binging on debt is going to take more than a political and financial change in mindset. IMO, it’s going to require an entire generation of Americans to make a cultural change regardless of the politics in Washington, and this might take well over a decade as seen in Japan, which has been stuck in stagflation for the last 15 years and still trying to get out of it. What do you think? Oh and I’m living in Orang County now.
I think that mindshift is already taking place. Americans are not only deleveraging, they are also saving for the first time. However, saving hurts the economy. It’s this weird counter-intuitive cycle. What’s needed is more innovation to spur business, create jobs. That is what we’re good at–new ideas.
Also, the housing crisis needs a major overhaul because people are stuck. They cannot move to pursue other career options because they’re riddled with an underwater home.