China our not-so-silent partner now
“Exerting its new influence as the U.S. government’s largest creditor, China yesterday demanded that the Obama administration “guarantee the safety” of its $1 trillion in American bonds as Washington goes further into debt to combat the economic crisis.
Chinese Premier Wen Jinbao made the demand at the end of the National People’s Congress in Beijing at a time when relations between the two nations show fresh signs of strain.
“We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets,” Wen said. “To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.”
China surpassed Japan last year as the largest foreign holder of Treasury bonds. Any indication that it intends to cease those purchases — or, worse, stage a sell-off — could drive up the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government, as well as send mortgage rates higher for millions of Americans.”
What’s true for individuals and businesses is true for countries as well: If you borrow enough money from somebody, you give them a voice in your business. And that’s what we’ve done with China. The good news is that China’s stake in America is so large that they want us to succeed almost as much as we do. But it’s not a good situation for a superpower, and it’s been coming on for a long time.
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147 comments Add your comment
Jay
March 14th, 2009
10:03 am
A couple of housekeeping announcements: Commie’s temporary exile has ended; and the poster last night who suggested violence against another poster has been banned. He called himself “Trash” for that post, but it was not the regular who goes by a similar name.
Please continue to act with respect toward others on the blog.
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:05 am
It would be so interesting to be able to see just 50 years into the future but I think as Americans we would all be horrified. Just one man’s opinion …….. but at least I know the last chapter …..
)
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
10:11 am
We got bigger problems then China-
Russia could use bases for its strategic bombers on the doorstep of the United States in Cuba and Venezuela to underpin long-distance patrols in the region, a senior air force officer said Saturday.
How’s the Ruble doing, who knows, we might even have greater purchasing power.
China demanding guarantees, Russian bombers 90 miles off the coast, Department of Education activists in Palestine, siding up with the Taliban.
Anybody see a trend here?
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:14 am
To I Report/You Whine:
That’s why I think we would (and our forefathers) be horrified.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:16 am
In honor of our no-longer-exiled “CommunistAJC”, I decided to post a message in reply to the Wall Street Journal’s opinion column about stem cell funding with the screen name “Fascist WSJ”, wherein I insulted the author (called him a “hack”), told him his paper was going down the tubes, and that he didn’t know what he was talking about.
How do you think my post will be treated? Go ahead, have a look at their forums. See if you can find my post in there.
If they don’t print my rude, drive-by post, can I gripe incesantly about being “censored” like IR/YW, Commie and all the others who I won’t mention but who oughta know better?
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:22 am
Jay:
Do you think our “relationship” with China is similar in any way to our “relationship” with Japan in the 1920’s/1930’s ? For example, Japan was depending on us for steel, etc. and we cut them off.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:22 am
So Jay, you’re saying our decades-old policy of putting our nation’s balls in a vice in exchange for cheap plastic crap probably wasn’t such a good idea in retrospect?
Private Parts
March 14th, 2009
10:30 am
They play joke. They put pee-pee in our Coke.
AmVet
March 14th, 2009
10:39 am
Money trumps everything.
How else can one explain how the brutal dictatorial Red Chinese are constantly awarded (rewarded?) most favored nation status by us?
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:45 am
Pvt. Parts, your “joke” @ 10.30 is offensive, racially insensitive, and not nearly as funny as Eddie Murphy’s old stand-up bit about a Chinese restaurant waiter saying “Velly funny, velly funny” whilst urinating in the soup.
Hillbilly Deluxe
March 14th, 2009
10:47 am
Corporal @10:22
Interesting analogy there. We’re in the Japan role and China is in the U.S. role. I’m afraid we’ll come to rue the day we got into this.
DB @10:22
It looks like we sort of chose short term gratification with long term pain.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:51 am
Oh, and Midori, if you’re up and about–I saw your post from last night about the MST3K box set. I’ve seen Soultaker (eh) and Final Justice (brilliant! but it helps a teeny bit if you’ve first seen their send-up of Mitchell, also starring Joe Don Baker, and know something of the backstory about MST and Mr. Baker, who apparently did not take kindly to the first parody and presumably wanted to kill someone after the second…)
Haven’t seen the episodes from Season one and four that are included, and await your reactions to same when the opportunity arrives.
Herbert Cornfeld
March 14th, 2009
10:51 am
Hey, it worked well for 230 years, but the US is circling the drain. People deserve lousy treatment for being idiots and voting for trash with no problem solving skills who constantly lie to the masses. China
is owed dollars that the US will never pay, so it’s either red or dead. That, or you’ll be working the rice fields, chop-chop.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
10:53 am
Bookman, I thought I was banned three days? At least I think I remember you writing that.
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
10:54 am
The same cannot be said of cap-and-trade. It would take some $600 billion out of the private sector economy in order to avoid an environmental crisis that is supposed to arrive in — oh, some time around 2055. In other words, we are not dealing with here-and-now facts, as we are in the financial crisis, but with predictions based on theories … theories that have not done a very good job of predicting the climate over the last decade (they said it would get warmer; it’s gotten a little colder). Theories that do not retrospectively explain climactic variations in the past.
We are dealing here with something more like religion and less like science. We are told that all argument about global warming must end. We must have faith! But it is religion that asks us to have faith; science presents us with theories that can be tested by observation and produce replicable results — and the results for 2055 aren’t in.
We are told that we must repent of our misdeeds, for driving SUVs or (unless you’re Al Gore or a Hollywood liberal) flying in private jets. And we are told that we must atone for our sins, by paying more for every bit of energy we use and remembering to recycle.
Repent from thee junk science, ye heathens.
Thoust dullards.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
10:55 am
DB, Gwinnettian, nice try home slice. Besides, your link didn’t work.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:57 am
Yep, nothing like a cold, miserable, rainy Saturday morning like this to remind you of the long-deferred indoor home maintenance work that awaits. Oh joy.
Later, all, be excellent to one another.
One last thing–anyone signing up for Peachtree? A reminder — the 10K online registration starts tomorrow morning. Here’s hoping the AJC’s server doesn’t melt with approximately 45,000 people signing up at 7am.
(but I’ve got a qualifier under my belt, should be ok even if I can’t get in right away.)
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
10:59 am
cajc @ 10.55, this link?
http://forums.wsj.com/viewtopic.php?t=5461
Works for me. There’s nothing posted yet, but that’s where any comments to the stem cell piece are supposed to appear.
Guess you’re going to go on equating this daily newspaper with despotic, murdering regimes of the 20th century. Real class act you are.
Outa here for real now.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
10:59 am
Now as far as China goes, this was inevitable. The MSM refuses to talk about it and instead tries to brainwash the public with ridiculous stories of OctoMom and Brad Pitt. China now has a navy and super nano weapon technology that NO ONE in the media has talked about. Not even Fox News. I’ve read articles from a Russian defector who knows first hand what China is capable of. China could bury us on two fronts. One, they could bury us financially and the warning signs are here. Two, they could annihilate us with their nano weapons known as the Assassin’s Mace. We ended WW2 by dropping the H bomb. The weapons China has can wipe us our quicker.
Paul
March 14th, 2009
11:08 am
Jay
[[The good news is that China’s stake in America is so large that they want us to succeed almost as much as we do.]]
Thank heavens – that may be our only break. Good illustration of what happens when one country takes a short-term view and another takes a long-term view.
DB, Gwinnettian 10:22
I like a laugh in the morning -
AmVet
Money and power, man. It usually gets back to money and power…
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
11:09 am
Well, being so beholding to China and us being a nation that abides by all those rules of law and such, one cannot help but wonder if CommunitAJC’s choice of labels is that far off the mark. I mean, with all the bankruptcies and declining asset values and such, folks over in China might just be asking for all sorts of extra collateral such as deeds to real estate and maybe even some more extensive name changes to more accurately reflect the change in management such as CommunistFED and CommunistIRS and CommunistGOP and such. I mean, once you sell yourself, regardless of the price, you’re pretty much labeled a prostitute from that point on. So, we’re a nation of, well, you know…get used to it, fellow hoes. We have a reputation. We’ll do anything for a buck.
mike
March 14th, 2009
11:15 am
Commie –
What did you do to get banned? With all of the hate speech flung around here, I am curious what it takes to get kicked out.
mike
March 14th, 2009
11:18 am
DB, Gwinnettian –
I wouldn’t read too much into the WSJ’s policies. The NYT won’t even post respectful comments that disagree with the writer’s premise.
Every paper has different standards, and I think the AJC would well served to make their own stricter, although the need not go to the NYT’s extreme of censoring content for not sticking to partisan lines.
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
11:21 am
Aahhh, yes, a little gem missing from the blog narrative-
“President Obama and his new government have adopted a series of measures to deal with the financial crisis. We have expectations as to the effects of these measures,” Wen said. “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.”
They don’t trust our glorious dimwit either.
Eleanor Rigby
March 14th, 2009
11:36 am
China should be worried. Well, they should have thought about that before they lent the money. Ha Ha. The reason we’re in this mess is because for too long citizens borrowed more money than they could pay back. Now the government is doing the same thing. There was a time when borrowing money was considered undesirable and a thing to be avoided. Debt is a ball and chain. We should have listened to our parents. Madness, madness! I’m afraid it’s the beginning of the end for America as we’ve known it.
Bud Wiser
March 14th, 2009
12:04 pm
Where oh where is Jimmy Carter and the other frenzied, foamy-mouth liberals when it comes to hearing about our dealing with a brutal, dictatorial nation such as China?
Money trumps all with the libs, whether you spend, sell, or buy, just deal in amounts more than you can fathom, and all will be well. Buy high, sell low, make room on the ledges for the jumpers.
Of course, if you are one of the countless tax cheats appointed to cushy government jobs, money means nothing anyway, because it is someone else’s money, not yours.
Bud Wiser
March 14th, 2009
12:05 pm
I hate rainy Saturdays when there is no football…….
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:07 pm
DB, Gwinnettian 10:57 am
I never agree with that which you write, however, your statement concerning deferred maintenance struck a very human chord. I wanted to offer some help to you.
Several years ago, the maintenance man for my home got behind and was not repainting the white horse fence boundary fence within one year. I let it slide and soon the flowers were planted a week late and other maintenance items fell behind schedule. I let it go on too long and, soon enough, other staff members becam sloppy.
The lesson was that one must change staff whenever deferred maintenance becomes evident. I had to force my property manager to fire the maintenance man beacuse it broke his heart to let go of Ol’ Walter who had been with us 17 years, but it had to be done.
You just need to be firm that deferred maintenance is unacceptable and make sure that the property manager handles the matter. One other thing, we hired a Salvadoran to take Ol’ Walter’s place and his work ethic has been far superior to that which we experienced with the Negro hands we had used before.
PJ
March 14th, 2009
12:09 pm
Maybe with this bit of news we will finally get our financial house in order. We must get our debt down, start buying American made products, stop shipping jobs over seas, have reasonable trade policies, improve our educational systems (they are our future), use diplomacy instead of war, regulate our businesses to insure safety and compliance, and most of all support our President. This is no time for petty arguments and wishing ill. Everything we stand for is at stake and I do mean everything. We can disagree without being disagreeable. We tried the Conservatives way for eight years now lets try the other. We can continue to bicker among ourselves and watch as almost 233 years of this Republic falls by the way side. We can cast blame on each others parties til the end of time and see it all go for nothing. Or we can come together, like we have done countless times, and get this debt off our backs. I find much of what is said here and elsewhere sometimes amusing for one must be able to laugh yourself and others just to keep up a front but please keep in the back of you minds that we have a serious problem here and a long way to go to get ahead of it.
RW-(the original)
March 14th, 2009
12:10 pm
I see that our tax cheat Treasury secretary is now trying to get all the G-20 countries to pass their own Porkulous bills to give PresBO some cover. They don’t appear to be as stupid as us so far though. Maybe since they’ve already been where we’re headed they know better.
mike
March 14th, 2009
12:11 pm
PJ –
Fine sentiments, but did you feel the same about “supporting the President” when Bush was in office?
getalife
March 14th, 2009
12:13 pm
Actually, they are afraid we will default like any other lender.
The safest investment in the world is now a risk like any other investment.
Of course, our country is collateral and our risk is even greater.
We should never allow gop to gain power and put us at this horrible risk ever again.
Probably need a maximum credit limit for our country just in case Americans elect them again.
mike
March 14th, 2009
12:15 pm
getalife –
Yeah, especially now that Obama has (as you absurdly said yesterday) “saved” the banks and cut spending. LOL
Jay
March 14th, 2009
12:19 pm
Mr. Harris is now banned for three days.
getalife
March 14th, 2009
12:19 pm
mike,
The cuts will come in his second term. Remember, he is using the Clinton team and they know how to balance the budget.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:33 pm
getalife 12:19 pm
You must be too young to remeber the 90s; Newt and the Republican Congress forced a balanced budget. Rember the showdown that forced the government shown down that spawned Lewinski and Presidentially endorsed moral decay over what is or isn’t sexual contact.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:33 pm
mike, get in an argument with a lib blogger who calls you a klanner. After that, call the op-ed columnist a couple of names. That should do it.
Eleanor Rigby
March 14th, 2009
12:34 pm
PJ, I couldn’t agree more. This is definitely the time to work together to get this country back on the right track. Unfortunately, it seems we are more polarized now than ever before.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:36 pm
Taxpayer,
you can actually be pretty funny every now and again. Man, it is such a beautiful day out here in Chicagoland. St. Pattys celebrations everywhere. They are dying the river green. Saw it last year. Ehh it was ok, nothing to write home about. Too many drunks running around but it was all in fun. I’m going to go down to the local Irish Pub on Roscoe and have myself some fish and chips with a pint of Guinness. MMMMMMMMMM I do love Guinness. And Chimay.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:39 pm
Fellow Georgians, just be glad that you all don’t live in Illinois.
Illinois Income Tax May Jump 50 Percent
Gov. Pat Quinn Says Tax Hike Is Needed To Fight Deficit
CHICAGO (CBS) Gov. Pat Quinn confirmed Friday that he plans to raise taxes on some Illinois residents to combat deficits in a difficult state budget, and called for broader tax reform.
Quinn said Friday that he plans to hike taxes for families that make more than $56,000 a year.
But Quinn contends his income tax proposal would amount to a tax cut for millions of Illinoisans by increasing the personal exemption to let them shield more income from being taxed.
“It’s very important that we raise taxes in a fair way for the people of Illinois in order to pay for important core priorities – whether it be safety, health, education, transportation, and so on,” Quinn said at a news conference at the James R. Thompson Center Friday.
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/income.tax.hike.2.958201.html
getalife
March 14th, 2009
12:43 pm
Wyld Byll.
Those were the good ole days when they gave away cars to come to work, Now they give away jobs.
Perhaps China will stop buying our debt now they are worried to help balance the budget.
PJ
March 14th, 2009
12:44 pm
To: mike @12:11 pm – It depends on what polices and values were at hand. I stood steadfastly behind him when we were attacked on 9/11 and wished him well in getting justice for that attack. But I did not agree with the War in Iraq even though as I said before My husband served under him until he retired and my son son served under him too and is currently serving now. I agreed with his stance to wipe out Aids in third world nations. But I did not agree with his changes to the Medicare system or his idea of putting Social Security in the Stock Market. As a Christian I liked the way changed his life. But I didn’t like how he tried to foster his beliefs others while at the same time innocent Iraq’s were being killed. I like his family, especially his daughters who appear to have grown up to be very grounded young ladies after their rough teenage years. But when it came to other people’s children breaking the law jail and the death penalty where his only answer. I like the fact that he wanted to be a strong, good and compassionate leader. But many of those attributes fell by the way side because of many of the people he had giving him advise. I agreed with him that home ownership was a good thing for our country and it’s people. But by not being a guardian of our financial house it allowed to many under handed financial institutions to take advantage of loosened rules. These and many more thing are the where I liked/agreed or disliked/disagreed with Former President Bush but that does not mean I ever wanted him to fail. Too much was and is at stake. Like I’ve said dissension is not a bad thing but wishing ill only hurts us all.
@@
March 14th, 2009
12:45 pm
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gestures during a news conference
What is that on the wall behind Jiabao, jay……..Jimmy Carter’s GIANT RABBIT?
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
12:46 pm
I’m with you, Bud. Rainy Saturdays suck.
Commie: NOTE that the Chadster has been sent to exile… a LIBERAL blog commenter getting the treatment for poor behavior. Hoist a pint to him, I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.
RW-(the original)
March 14th, 2009
12:51 pm
Does Chadly really count as a lib poster?
I would say no.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:52 pm
ByteMe,
what did the Chadmeister do?
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:53 pm
PJ,
I still think Jeb would have been the better president. He’s one smart dude.
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
12:53 pm
Really? I thought everyone to the left of Ann “The Man” Coulter was a liberal in TrueConservativeLand.
You mean there are degrees?? How… How… not black and white.
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
12:54 pm
Commie: beats me, look up higher in this comment thread for the note about it.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:55 pm
I think Chad was insensative toward others; a trait I find most unappealing in others.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:57 pm
This is the guy I mentioned above. Although it is from Newsmax, this guy does not get into playing politics. He rarely mentions either republicans or democrats BUT he has mentioned Bill Clinton selling secrets to the Chinese.
China’s Program 863 – Building a Post-nuclear Super-weapon
Lev Navrozov
Friday, Sept. 30, 2005
Post-1949 China had to ensure for itself Mutual Assured Destruction (that is, if one country nuked another, the attacked country would be destroyed except for its hidden means of nuclear retaliation, and these would destroy the attacker) which required nuclear bombs and warheads as well as the means of their global delivery.
On October 16, 1964, China tested its first nuclear weapon, which was followed by 24 tests, including the test of a thermonuclear bomb, equivalent to 4 million tons of TNT (trinitrotoluene) and dropped by a test bomber on November 17, 1976. Between 1976 and 1986, China completed its preparedness for Mutual Assured Destruction.
What next? Post-nuclear super-weapons able to destroy or neutralize the Western means of nuclear retaliation – that is, to circumvent Mutual Assured Destruction – and thus put the West at the Chinese dictators’ mercy.
So, in 1986, Deng Xiao Peng founded Program 863, a kind of academy of sciences and technologies to do research in seven fields to develop post-nuclear super-weaponry capable of destroying or neutralizing the enemy means of nuclear retaliation.
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/30/90410.shtml
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
12:58 pm
ByteMe, I did look and did not see anything. That’s why I was asking you.
PJ
March 14th, 2009
1:00 pm
To: CommunistAJC @12:53 pm – See we can agree to disagree and this time I can agree with you. I just think GW was more of a follower who let others do all the thinking. That does not make him a bad man but that does not make a good leader. I find Jeb to be more of his own man.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:01 pm
If anyone is interested in reading Lev’s articles you can find them here. Extremely knowledgeable guy who escaped communist rule.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/l.asp
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
1:02 pm
See Jay @ 12:19 today, above. Just a one-liner.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:05 pm
PJ,
W was TERRIBLE at PR. He sold the Iraq war the wrong way. He should have talked more about the UN getting kicked out repeatedly and how Saddam broke international treaty numerously. He always played defense against the democrats instead of coming out swinging like Reagan. Now, with that said I was PISSED at his spending and not vetoing bills. When he uttered the words “compassionate conservative” I knew we were in trouble. I lived in Florida when Jeb was governor and he was always on the ball. Jews, blacks, whites, hispanics, cubans and everyone else loved the guy. Too bad W had to screw up Jebs run. Jeb would make a great leader.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:06 pm
ByteMe, yeah I read that. Didn’t know if you saw what the Harris wrote. Anyhoo….
ByteMe
March 14th, 2009
1:12 pm
Nope, I’m late to the party, too. Catching up in between code compilations….
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:13 pm
This going to sound weird and maybe it’s just me but after 911 occurred I sat around for 3 days thinking about how they pulled off such a brilliant attack. I mean, 911 ranks up there with the Trojan Horse. It was brilliant. With that said, I still to this day, believe that China, Russia and Iran had something to do with it. Russia has hated us for the longest time and they have a deep seeded hatred for Israel. The only thing that stands in any countrys way of annihilating Israel is…..THE USA. We are the big Satan to the Middle East. Israel sits atop a massive oil field and Russia now controls Europes oil supply. Just ask the Polish, they’ll tell you. Anyway, I wondered if China, since they bought up all of our bonds, was in cahoots with Russia years ago to, I don’t know, use some group, Al Queda, as a scape goat and a deterrent, to take our focus off the real danger. Bankruptcy. 911 only stalled our economy for a few months. With what’s happening now I wonder if even OBL understands what is happening now. Anyway, just a thought.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:15 pm
And now this…
Iranian president declares his country a space and nuclear power.
TEHRAN, March 13 (RIA Novosti) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that pressure from Western powers trying to keep Iran in economic isolation have in fact spurred the country to become a space and nuclear power.
“Had you not been bad-tempered and blocked the way, the Iranian nation would not have been present in space, and would not have become a nuclear power,” Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying at the inauguration ceremony of a natural gas deposit in the Bushehr province.
http://en.rian.ru/world/20090313/120554424.html
Paul
March 14th, 2009
1:27 pm
CommunistAJC
Chimay. Excellent choice. I’ve tried a number of the other Belgians and keep coming back to Chimay.
Just not with fish and chips. By itself so it can be savored, unobstructed. In the proper glass; failing that, in a brandy snifter. While watching Lord of the Rings so one can appreciate the line, “It comes in pints? I’m getting one!”
And I agree with Bud Wiser regarding rain and no football – it’s a terrible thing.
Redneck Convert
March 14th, 2009
1:31 pm
Well, I see I’m going to need to be very polite to keep from getting kicked off of this blog like some of the people here. So I’ll just say I love everybody and you’re all 100% correct and fine people to boot and things couldn’t hardly be better. I was going to talk about what a awful day it is outside but I changed my mind. It’s just lovely, what with the rain coming down and a cool breeze blowing and the clouds a kind of dark purple. So toodle-doo to everybody and have a great day. And that goes double for all the libruls out there.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:33 pm
Paul,
yes, Chimay is my favorite besides Stella. Shiner Bock is a good choice as well. Now, I usually have Harp with fish and chips but it gives me a headache so I stick with Guinness.
Paul
March 14th, 2009
1:33 pm
CommunistAJC 1:15
Ahmadinejad sounds like the worst of a teenager or spoiled spouse: blame your questionable conduct on someone else. “I never would have done that if you hadn’t done (fill in the blank).
Personally, knowing how Iranians like shaded meanings and implications, and given Hillary is, I think, more hardcore tougher than the Pres, when Hillary finally meets with Ahmadinejad and says they’re going nuclear and nothing we can do will stop them (and as he implies he thinks Pres Obama’s and her statements that we’ll do ‘whatever it takes’ was nothing more than campaign rhetoric –
well, Hillary should say “you have a lot of sand here. Ever thought of having glassware as your primary export?” And Ahmad would say “why would we do that? We’d have to burn a lot of oil for all the furnaces to heat all the sand” and Hillary would say “oh, we can help turn your country into a sea of glass…”
Joking about war. Back to being a neocon!
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
1:35 pm
I thought we were going to git this guy, hopeandchange.duh?-
DUBAI (Reuters) – Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused moderate Arab leaders of plotting with the West against Muslims and urged his followers to prepare for jihad (holy war), in a recording aired by Al Jazeera television.
“It is clear that some Arab leaders have plotted with the Zionist-crusader coalition against our (Muslim) people, these (Arab countries) the United States calls the moderate states,” bin Laden said, without naming any of the leaders.
blah, blah, blah, just like any other democrat.
Paul
March 14th, 2009
1:35 pm
CommunistAJC
I just picked up a six pack of Shiner’s 100 Comemorator dark – this afternoon seems like a good time to try it out.
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
1:38 pm
Paul,
World Market has the cheapest price on Chimay. I checked out Trader Joes and they sell it for a dollar more. I broke out the wedding glasses, that my wife never uses, and tried out a nice bottle of Chimay two weeks ago. My wife hates alcohol. Me, not so much.
Paul
March 14th, 2009
1:39 pm
Report/Whine
So OBL is back to targeting ME countries for his caliphate thing. Kinda coincidental that Iraq has a functioning democracy, modeled as an alternative to (and providing an example as a transition to) the dictatorial monarchies? So rather than continue a repressive regime that continues the cycle of repression and alienating the populace, countries have an option of opening some power to other than family members while shutting out the jihadists?
And some people said nothing good would come of our little adventure in Iraq -
Paul
March 14th, 2009
1:41 pm
CommunistAJC
Thanks! I did not know World Market carries it – there’s one just up the street from me.
Just ask your wife to read, oh, about five threads on this blog. I guarantee – she’ll be begging you for a drink!
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
1:47 pm
Paul- Notice that Has Bin no longer whines about the United States. It’s almost as though his mission has been accomplished.
@@
March 14th, 2009
1:53 pm
jay, are you implying in your 12:19 that ChaddyWick was “Hate” from last night?
You should keep an online trashbin that we can dig through but not comment on. A naughty corner so to speak.
bugger
March 14th, 2009
1:54 pm
China has every reason to worry. This is why 300 of the country’s top economists including 3 nobel prize winners, have come out publically stating that this administration’s response to the recession will actually delay the eventual recovery. This is why the finance ministers in Europe are resisting pressure from the Obama administration to follow our lead with massive stimulus spending.
According to many of the economists who are weary of the stimulus spending, there is no economic model which is rosy enough to create the revenue needed to repay this debt without massive tax increases, or printing more money which will lead to hyperinflation. Thus China has every reason to worry
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
1:56 pm
I read the Chinese were building an aircraft carrier.
I wonder if they will name it the HAO “Clinton” (excuse me Crinton) or the HAO “Obama” instead of the HAO Shichang ?
CommunistAJC
March 14th, 2009
2:03 pm
The Corporal,
you should go to the link that I provided on China and their military ambitions. Fascinating and scary stuff, comrade.
EndPartisanshipNow
March 14th, 2009
2:12 pm
“Please continue to act with respect toward others on the blog.”
Hee hee, that’s fuunnny right there, Jay. Good thing the drinkers aren’t located in the same room with each other. Image the blood….
Paul
March 14th, 2009
2:18 pm
Hi @@
From the other night – comment about Nader: what I like about him is more what and who he is, regardless of his positions. Doesn’t matter who he’s talking to, he’ll tell it straight. Doesn’t shade in front of one group – he could be addressing SEC and he’ll say to their face what he says elsewhere.
None of what we’ve seen recently regarding Pres Obama’s supporters: “hey, I thought he was gonna do away with earmarks… no, that’s not exactly what he said…. see the part about process?…” etc etc etc.
Funny that McCain said he’d do away with them. Anyway – that’s what I like. Honesty. Tells you what he thinks. At least you know where he stands.
And so I think he makes a fine standard by which to judge other politicians.
TnGelding
March 14th, 2009
2:22 pm
With Berkshire Hathaway and GE losing their AAA rating, how much longer before the U.S. Treasury loses theirs?
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
10:19 am
The end is nigh.
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
2:30 pm
To Communist/AJC:
Of course they are scary. Just like Nazi Germany, WWII Japan, Iran and North Korea. Just because you have an Olympics means nothing (just as the Jews in Germany). There are evil people in this world and there are evil governments.
The question is will we have the fortitude to make sure this comes out in our favor whatever it takes.
TnGelding
March 14th, 2009
2:42 pm
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
March 14th, 2009
12:33 pm
Newt folded like a cheap suit. It was the deficit package passed in 1993 by the Democrats, without one GOP vote, that actually REDUCED spending that eventually got the budget NEARLY in balance. The $250 billion cut over 5 years was realized again in the 6th and each subsequent year. Granted, welfare reform also contributed some, but Clinton actually campaigned on that and didn’t have it forced on him as some would assert.
The easiest way to get back toward a balanced budget is to reduce Social Security benefits slightly by adjusting the COLA; lift the earnings cap on SS taxes; tax SS benefits at up to a 100% rate. I don’t think H.Ross Perot, Warren Buffett, Barbara Bush or John S. McCain will really miss it, and I’m willing to pay 10-20% on the paltry amount I receive.
TnGelding
March 14th, 2009
2:46 pm
P.S. And of course the Pentagon budget has to be frozen or cut by 20-40%. Just bringing the troops home would get the 20%. If only we had somewhere to base them after BRAC.
@@
March 14th, 2009
3:09 pm
Paul:
And so I think he makes a fine standard by which to judge other politicians.
Sure he does….if he can convince everyone that he is what he says he is.
Up until the time that I started visiting these sites, I had no problem with Nader. Seemed like an upfront guy with the American consumer’s best interest at heart. I’m not sure, but I think it was Buy Danish that brought Ralph into the light.
Ralph Nader, Inc.
I was shocked and disappointed.
Heck! If I was gonna pick an oddball to promote, it would have been Ron Paul. But again….only in a perfect world could Paul be an effective leader.
We don’t live in a perfect world, Paul (the blogger). In a perfect world we could believe everything our political candidates would have us believe about them. We wouldn’t have to sacrifice this principle for that principle when it comes to politicians.
The REAL GodHatesTrash, Superstar
March 14th, 2009
3:15 pm
C’est moit, c’est moi…
Lord GodHates Trash, Superstar.
Often imitated, never duplicated. And the star of the blog.
Greetings RightWingnutterbutters, and decent folk….
I would never threaten bodily harm to anonymous posters on a blog. That’s sort of the definition of stupid, and, as everyone who ever posted here knows, The Real GHT, Superstar is anything but stupid.
AJC-bloggin’ RightWingnutterbutters on and off over the years have threatened me with their guns and automatic weaponry, but, recognizing that I’m not dealing with any Mensa members, and that the laws of physics make sending bullets over the internet impossible (even most of the idiots that subscribe to intelligent design are dimly aware of the physical impossibility) – and knowing, deep in my heart of hearts, that God Himself is squarely on my side – I am not afraid, I do not hide under my bed expecting large aircraft to hit my abode, or crazed “rustics” to show up in my driveway with their pick-em-up trucks, slack jaws, and beeeeeeg guns that they really don’t know how to use.
But I am sad to see that Bookman has continued his “Fair and Balanced” approach to blog policing. Chad has responded in kind to several obnoxious posters, and it is not fair to him (or me) that we have to maintain a much higher standard of decorum just because of our much higher intellectual capacity.
It’s really sad to see this “Faux News” style of debate management. Chad has never regularly referred to your paper as a “urinal”, nor does he routinely refer to the staff of the paper as Communists. His voice of reason and intellect refuses to be drowned out by the minions of the small minded that make up the RightWingnutterbutters.
I’m taking a blog hiatus due to this unfair censorship. Later.
The REAL GodHatesTrash, Superstar
I Report/ You Whine
March 14th, 2009
3:41 pm
I’m taking a blog hiatus due to this unfair censorship. Later.
OMG, do I feel the tears welling up or what?
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
3:46 pm
I think Chad was insensative toward others; a trait I find most unappealing in others.
Somewhere, Politenessman is smiling.
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
3:48 pm
Congressional Republicans are engaged in a highly coordinated political assault on President Obama’s budget, but they are not so united when it comes to offering an alternative to the spending plan they have been shredding as irresponsible. Breaking with the House, Senate Republicans say they do not intend to offer a full counterproposal to Mr. Obama’s sweeping $3.6 trillion spending blueprint, a decision that will spare them from outlining potentially painful decisions required to bring federal books more in line with their call to hold down spending, cut taxes and reduce the deficit.
Just as I expected. More lip service from the GOP. The party that excels in giving, well, lip service. Nothing new.
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
3:52 pm
I remember the days of Newt, unfortunately. Him and his contract on America. And, who could ever forget his two-timing his spouse while criticizing Clinton for his behavior — a truer hypocrite could not exist. Then, there were the temper tantrums. That GOPer should have been named MOONer as much as he like to show his.
DB, Gwinnettian
March 14th, 2009
3:54 pm
“I never agree with that which you write”
Good. I’ve got standing orders to have that-which-is-myself euthanized if you ever do.
Dusty
March 14th, 2009
3:54 pm
Oh my goodness, two for one. Chaddy gone for three days and GHT sulking in absentia for several days. It doesn’t get much better than that. The air is almost breathable over here.
But, like RedNeck suggests, perhaps I should be on my Ps and Qs. Let’s see…CHINA!! I never understood getting in debt to China. They are as smart as whips and communist to the core. Now they hold four aces in our economic poker game and I want to stop playing this game. I hope it isn’t too late.
After seeing the Olympic super stellar performace by the Chinese, I know that they are ..well….amazing. That show was a giant step in excellence for artistic entertainment. It was stunning. If they have the ability to organize something as magnificently performed as that one, think what else they can do.
I prefer to think of the Chinese as amazing allies. That certainly is better than thinking of them as enemies. Let us hope they feel the same way.
The Corporal
March 14th, 2009
3:56 pm
To GodHatesTrash:
I may be wrong but I think the defintion of “censorship” has to do with the government. I don’t like it sometimes either but if you come into my home ….. I have the right to ask you to leave if you say something I deem inappropriate. Doesn’t mean I’m right …. it’s just my house.
TnGelding
March 14th, 2009
3:58 pm
Dusty
March 14th, 2009
3:54 pm
It’s good to see you don’t share the “red scare” of so many on the right. What’s a trillion dollars between friends?
Paul
March 14th, 2009
4:05 pm
@@ 3:09
To clarify yet again: I never thought of Nader as a ’saint.’ I said he strikes me as the kind of guy who says what he thinks – regardless of popularity or audience. I say nothing about agreeing or disagreeing with his positions; I say nothing about his private life; I do say he offers different ideas and is pretty consistent.
I didn’t read the entire article, but the first part, taking place in Russia – please remember, it was the worst excesses of human nature, zero gov’t oversight, greed and payoffs, that led to the rise of the new Russian robber barons, and, I maintain, got the average Russians sick enough of it all that it paved the way for Putin. So old Ralph may not have been that far off with his “what? You wanna import what WE have?!!?”
As far as Ron Paul – I maintained all thru the primary that he was one guy who rode an image way disconnected from his philosophical underpinnings. Democrats seemed to like him because he was a thorn in the side of the Rep establishment; Reps seemed to like him because they thought him a ‘true conservative.” I think both misread him greatly – and Ron Paul, more in the Obama mold and unlike Nader, did not disuade people of their false notions while he rode the crest of adulation.
So in this imperfect world I’ll continue to hold up the politician who says “you may not like it, but this is what I think.”
Not too much different than McCain was before he closed in on the nomination, eh?
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
4:10 pm
Obama’s more frequent and acid reminders that former president George W. Bush left behind a trillion-dollar budget deficit, a 14-month recession and a broken financial system have come at the same time Republicans have ramped up criticism that the current president’s policies are compounding the nation’s economic problems.
We all know that the GOP has real issues with telling the truth. So, Obama has to remind them of the truth quite frequently, especially since they have such short attention spans. Besides, it has not been that long, 2001 actually, since the last president reminded we the people that he had inherited a recession. That is, if you want to call that little down turn in the economy that Bush had to face a recession. It was more of an opportunity for Bush and the GOP to push through their enormous temporary tax cuts for the wealthy. I mean, if the GOP, back then, were so sure that those tax cuts for the wealthy were what we the people needed to make this economy the greatest thing since apple pie, then why didn’t they go ahead and make them permanent. They had full and complete control of Congress and the White House. It sure sounds like some more of their deceit and lies and trickery to me. Nothing new there either.
getalife
March 14th, 2009
4:14 pm
Cons are having a hard time dealing with losing and reality.
Perhaps this will cheer them up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r9J4HhDiKY
Dusty
March 14th, 2009
4:30 pm
TnGelding,
I don’t think the GOP has a “red scare”. I do believe most Americans are a bit skiddish about our nation having such an enormous debt to ANY country.
But. as to China, have you been to the First Emperor exhibit at the High Museum…Atlanta of course?? The ancient Chinese were also amazing. Just think, a whole terracotta army made in human likeness with each “soldier” different and beautifully made. They were buried with the emperor. Statuesque, amazing and perfect in detail even after the centuries have passed.
This does not mean that I don’t know that China has more than a terracotta army. It just means that I recognize their abilities in many ways. Better to know “abilities” of all sorts than to ignore them.
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
4:49 pm
I wonder if China ever got the lead out of the children’s toys and the melamine out of the toddler’s milk and the antibiotics out of the fish… It just seems like we’re adding insult to injury to borrow their money to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and the businesses that then turn around and buy these products from China and sell them to us, instead of working with people here in the states to produce the products, while using “high taxes” as the convenient excuse for going to places like China, India, etc., and then setting up shop in the Caymans on top of everything else in order to avoid paying the little amount of taxes that the GOP had left for them to pay. Even “stupid” is insufficient to explain such actions. Indeed, it’s much worse than that. It’s insidious.
TnGelding
March 14th, 2009
4:56 pm
Dusty
March 14th, 2009
4:30 pm
No, we’ve been meaning to but haven’t made it yet. Sounds very interesting.
Iraq HAD a rich culture, too.
The tragedy about the debt is that it was all so unnecessary.
TnGelding
March 14th, 2009
4:58 pm
Well, it looks like I’m going to have to go back into self-imposed exile, too. My gut just can’t take it.
Good luck and best wishes to all.
Dusty
March 14th, 2009
5:05 pm
Taxpayer,
Don’t you know it makes us doubt your veracity when you tell big lies?
You tried to push this one on us: “We all know that the GOP has real issues with telling the truth.” NO, WE DO NOT. GOP has no trouble telling the truth. Democrats just don’t want to believe the truth.
Obama is getting to be like a liberal chameleon. The color of his statements change with the back ground. He has made no change in the Dem motto “Bush did it!”. When he wants to cover his promised CHANGE because nobody likes its failures, he’s right back with “Bush did it.”
I did not expect you to change. I did have hope for Obama. I did once upon a time. That is hardly the case anymore. He simply does not know what to do and then bumbles. Our allies are appalled. Our enemies are pleased. American citizens are losing hope faster than ice on a hot summerday. No lie, my friend. I wish it were but it is not.
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
5:18 pm
TNGelding,
I hope your gut is OK. Did you get some tainted peanuts or something?
Taxpayer
March 14th, 2009
5:26 pm
Really now. Let’s see. The GOP has been doing an awful lot of talking about how bad earmarks are yet the Republicans in the Senate have dumped as much into the budget as the Democrats. Not very honest. Bush did not add the cost of the Iraq war into his budget yet he knew that he needed the money to fund it. Not very honest. The GOP sure is talking a lot about Obama and his stimulus and how it is just a bunch of spend, spend, spend even though it contains huge tax cuts for most people in the US including more funding for the alternative minimum tax for the wealthier folks. Not very honest. The GOP keeps talking about how we need to get out of our nasty deficit spending even though they have actually used deficit spending and relied on it very heavily since Reagan’s time. Not very honest. Do I really need to list even more. Really. Honestly!