Rick Badie / My Opinion

By AR

January 24, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this

If that money shows up we might spend it on groceries, but probably will use it to pay down some medical bills that I can’t find the money to pay because I have to come up with $600 a month for health insurance!

By Paul

January 24, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

Personally, I’ve always been a saveaholic (perhaps craving more “stuff” is what’s gotten us into our economic mess), and I wish that my government would be the same. The mentality that we can spend ourselves out of debt just doesn’t work for me.

By Bruce Wicox

January 24, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this

The biggest problem with a stimulus package is the majority will head for the nearest Walmart to buy imports, the only thing American in a Walmarts are the clerks and I wouldn’t be too sure of all of them. Who makes out, Walmarts and the exporters.

For the millions like AR it will do little except give them a month or two of breathing room. The high cost of health care has been ignored for decades, the housing disaster we are in isn’t addressed, bring the troops home with the billions of dollars along with them, instead of rebuilding Iraq, rebuild American. How can this country remain strong with an economy and infra-struture falling down around us?

Surges, quick fixes and shots in the arm sound great, but do little.

By One

January 24, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this

Give me my *&%$#!! money, and I guarantee you that Walmart will not see it, nor will a plasma tv. I will not put it right back into the economy………….at least not the retail side of it!!

By Katie

January 24, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

I think anyone who buys one of these plasma tv’s is an idiot.

By Bruce Wicox

January 24, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

Buy season tickets to our new baseball team and use a rental car to drive to every homegame to pay for the ballpark.

By Laura

January 24, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this

How will I spend the big bucks? Hmmm…let’s see. Go to Wally world? Nope. Circuit City? Nada. I will put it toward paying off one of those wonderful high interest, low balance credit cards for which I was preapproved and have now maxed out.

By LT5000

January 24, 2008 10:21 PM | Link to this

Big cure? I don’t think so. Unfortunately, the Republicans wouldn’t be able to get past the Democratic Congress the one thing that would truly help the economy. So they had to take this instead.

Make the Bush Tax Cuts permanant.

Oh Ricky, by the way. A Recession is a period of negative economic growth. A fairly simple concept to grasp. Third quarter of 2007 was 3.9%. You will notice no negative sign.

The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters.

I realize the facts don’t fit your propoganda, but it is reality. If you are going to be a journalist, please try to be accurate. Even if you do work for the AJC. Otherwise, you just end up looking stupid.

LT5000

By Bruce Wicox

January 25, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this

LT5000, it is the exact same thing bush and the republican congress did in the summer of 2001. LT, open mouth, insert foot.

By Mark

January 25, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this

LT5000

Badie is far from a journalist. I think he’s the janitor at the AJC who sneaks onto a computer at night to act like one.

By Bruce Wicox

January 25, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this

Afternoon Troll.

By Airborne

January 25, 2008 8:59 PM | Link to this

Bruce,i agree with you,the bush administration is doing what we in the hood call 52-Fake Out,say one thing,but mean something else.Weapons of mass destruction is a good example of 52 fake out.Think about it.Only trolls like mark and LT think like a republican.Mark is so concerned about where Rick works,but has never said what he does for a living.

By LT5000

January 25, 2008 10:17 PM | Link to this

Airborne and Brucie,

I hate to break it to you, but Bush was elected twice. The US economy rebounded greatly from 9/11. An unemployment rate under 5% should tell you guys that. It’s simple economics.

Europeons would give their left testicles for that kind of unemployment rate, but their social welfare systems drain their economies.

Everyone in the world though Sadaam had WMD. He says in a interveiew that he wanted the world to think he had WMD. And that he planned to restart his programs. It will be on 60 minutes this weekend.

People like Airborne and Brucie are one trick Ponies. Blame Bush for everything. Pseudo journalist Rick Badie falls in the same category.

Personally, I don’t think the rebate will do much for the economy. Making the tax cuts permenant would help greatly.

But the Hillary jock sniffers (Brucie and Airborne) are the same hackneyed tax and spend liberals that gave us the Jimmy Carter years.

Once again, we are not in a recession. The GDP is expanding, just at a lower rate than in the past. For you halfwits, that means the economy is still growing.

Just because Airborne and Brucie don’t have the skill sets to get decent jobs doesn’t mean America is in trouble. Here’s a hint, get a college education.

LT5000

By Bruce Wicox

January 25, 2008 11:17 PM | Link to this

Now, now LT, settle down, I only pointed out what bush did already. Think bout it, if his magic fix in 2001 and his tax cuts saved us, why are we doing it all over again? And why we we ever want to make his failed tax cuts permament?

An aside for LT, I am a retired Ladder Captain from New York with a college education and I’m not a hard guy to find.

No need to get personal LT and cut me to the bone by calling me Brucie, do us all a favor LT move up from the second grade crap.

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 1:29 AM | Link to this

To rephrase the question, “Will buying Plasma TVs head-off a recession”?

The answer is no. There are deep fundamental fiscal problems in the economy that cannot be corrected by this so-called rebate or the recent drastic pre-meeting rate cuts made by the Fed.

Something worth watching is the bond market. Big money is moving to Treasuries seeking safe haven. The last 10 years, bonds have outperformed the S&P 500.

Déjà vu Charles Dickens:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

By LT5000

January 26, 2008 10:07 AM | Link to this

Brucie. Bush’s failed Tax cuts? Look at the stock market and the unemployment rate for his term, there lies your answer. The Bush years have been pretty sweet for the economy.

This is a 2004 redux where the Liberals in the media tried to talk down the economy to give us President Kerry. Now they are working overtime for President Hillary.

Michael, you must be smoking crack to think Bonds have outperformed the S&P for the last 10 years. That’s just an idiotic statement. Much like Badie’s claim that it’s a recession.

The S$P is up over 100% in 10 years. Same with the Nasdaq

I think you people have never taken an economics class or know how to read stock charts.

Remember the Jimmy Carter Years. that was a bad economy.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EGSPC&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

By Mark

January 26, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this

airborne

OK, if you must know what I do for a living, I get guys for your mother and sister.

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

Sounds like more don’t beat my Bush garbage has been dumped upon us once again. In fact that statement about the S&P was made on the Glenn Beck program just last night (read Beck’s TV archives for last night). He’s not exactly a Democrat fan. You and Kudlow, on the other hand, should lay down the crack pipe, with this: The greatest story never written, economic BS.

You can blow all day long LT 5000 about the Dow, now on a roller coaster, but mark this down. The actions of the Federal Reserve Board spells very bad trouble down the road . The collapse of the mortgage and housing market, the rising price of oil we should not be dependent upon, unemployment rate beginning to rise, and manufacturing (blue collar) jobs decreased to an all time low in this country. The Bush tax cuts, that will only benefit a fortunate few, will do nothing to correct this mess.

A repeal of the tax and banking laws on corporate profits and taxes that subsidizes offshore outsourcing is part of the answer. Corporations should be rewarded (very handsomely) for keeping American jobs in this country and penalized for offshore outsourcing. Corporate taxes in this country should be cut drastically to provide incentives to keep and create jobs in this country.

A very well regulated immigration system should be in place with specific intent to inform Mexico and the Mexicans that we will not accommodate their poverty any longer or tolerate any illegal aliens residing in this country. NO AMNESTY!

The country should immediately make a national commitment to a strategic energy initiative in becoming energy self-sufficient. It is the only way to win the war on terror, win the war in Iraq, compete globally with nations like China and India, keep inflation low, create new jobs and foster creativity, while rebuilding our disregard military policy of peace through strength.

The Bush tax cuts should be redesigned to reward old money only when that money is put into investments that actually create jobs (real Main-Street jobs)and rewards for the investors.

And is all this sounds nutty to you LT 5000, then hold on to your foreign offshore investments. I’ve got alot more to say on the other issues that wrong headed Mr. Bush will never do anything about. But the worst shocker of all is this: The Democrats will probably regain the White House , though, neither political party Democrat or Republican should win anything. Because they are the chief reasons the American people are losing.

By LT5000

January 26, 2008 1:19 PM | Link to this

Mikey. Unfortunately being a perennial dumba** isn’t a career in this country. You would be a CEO.

You are making statements about bonds off something you heard on a radio program. And then repeating it as fact? Almost as much as an amateur as Rick Badie.

Know why we are outsourcing job from America? Because our unemployment rate has been so low for the Bush years.

The Bush tax cuts help everyone including the “rich”. The “rich” in this country are the ones that create the jobs. They even probably gave you your job cleaning up the viewing booths at Inserection.

The housing markets haven’t collapsed, as you Chicken Little’s like to say. Do you know what percentage of subprime loans that result in foreclosure? 3.5%. And here you are screeching like a Girl Scout that the housing markets are collapsing. What a moron.

Here’s a hint, research your facts. Don’t spout off something you may or may not have heard off of a radio program. It just makes you look like an idiot.

Here are the facts. We are not in a recession. The US has a very low unemployment rate. The subprime mortgages are going to have a minimal effect on economy since they account for a very small percentage of all loans.

Life is hard. It’s even harder if you are stupid.

LT5000

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 1:34 PM | Link to this

Yeah, It’s even harder if you are stupid. Try reading carefully before replying. The program was on TV, not radio.

LT 5000 I don’t need you to tell me your incorrect idiot facts.

By the way, to all these literary geniuses who only use proper grammar (yeah right!), never misspell a word or make typos (PIFF!) and that are waiting on their well deserved Pulitzer for their under-acclaimed writing skills, there is a blog open in need of a writer. In fact, drop Susan Gast a line or two…. sgast@ajc.com. I’m sure she would be more than happy to give one or two of you literary geniuses a blog of your very own> Just to show the rest of us some “real journalism” (chirp, chirp).

Ah what’s that you’re thinking Mr. Badie, I can hear you all the way across the Internet.

Well critics…. Do you feel lucky? Go ahead, make Rick’s day!

By LT5000

January 26, 2008 2:02 PM | Link to this

Mikeie,

That was quite a spirited defense. I mistook Glenn Beck’s TV program for the radio program. Somehow that makes your idiotic spewings justified?

I would certainly rather confuse a TV program with a radio program (Glenn does both) then put forth such blatantly false information such as bonds outperforming the S&P for 10 years.

Feel free to back up your asinine assertions with facts. Show me some facts that prove wrong my “incorrect idiot facts”. Something tells me I will be waiting a long time.

Here’s my suggetion for Rick Badie’s next Blog “Can a Journalism Class Actually Make the AJC Readable” or “Brucie and Mikey Display Idiocy in Blog Postings”.

I’m waiting for those facts.

LT5000

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 2:59 PM | Link to this

The best you can do is resort to childish name calling Mr. No Real Namie?

So tell me there Mr. No Namie. Gwinnett County issued more building permits at the end of November than ever before in the history of the county, right?

No mortgage lenders are going belly-up and writing down loans, right?

Employment is growing like never before in this country, right?

The most convincing evidence of all is Federal Reserve pushing the panic button: A clear signal hard times are just around the corner. Talk about checking out the facts Mr. No Namie, try disputing that one. The Fed sees some of these things and more fundamental economic problems. And the FED is worried a plenty with good reasons, like this article:

TOP STORIES/MOST READ ON BLOOMBERG

Rogers Says U.S. to Have Worst Recession `in a While’

The U.S. economy is heading for a recession that will be the worst “in a while” and investors should sell the dollar as global currencies weaken, investor Jim Rogers said.

It's going to be one of the worst recessions we've had in a while because we had so many excesses going into it,'' Rogers, chairman of New York-based Rogers Holdings, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today from Singapore.It’s going to be bad for all of us as currencies come under more and more stress and we have more inflation in the world.”

The U.S. and U.K. governments have been “lying” about inflation, Rogers said, adding that he’s has been selling their respective currencies.

The dollar dropped for a second straight year in 2007, falling 8.3 percent on a trade-weighted basis as the collapse of the U.S. subprime-mortgage market prompted the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates three times. Rising energy and food prices have pushed up inflation in the U.S. and Europe.

And this article:

Or this one from the Wall Street Journal.

Treasurys Extend Gains

Treasurys marched higher, as the recent surprise rate cut from the Federal Reserve and prospect of help from the government failed to squash worries about the banking system and the economy.

The benchmark 10-year note rose 16/32 point to 105 15/32. Its yield, which falls when prices rise, slipped to 3.582% from 3.642% the previous day.

Like it or not Glenn Beck’s statement on U.S. treasuries holds validity. The Feds actions and those of Bush and the Congress cannot be disputed, election year politics aside. The country is headed in the wrong economic direction. All the blather in the world, re-framing of arguments and defending the bad economic policies that are now coming back to haunt us, will not change or advert what is getting ready to occur.

By James McCoy

January 26, 2008 3:08 PM | Link to this

My guess is LT5000 needs the services of Airborne,most folks would give his arguements more thought if they were not so hateful,just my two cents.And by the way Badie does have a lot of fluff columns,my guess he’s either afraid to tell it like it is or the AJC has him on a long leash.

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this

The only 52 fake going on in the Mid East is that both the Republicans and the Democrats are willing to make this country believe that this conflict is not one of our gun barrel verses their oil barrel, Airbrone.

Neither side is taking the right course of action to defend and prosper this country.

By LT5000

January 26, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this

Uh, Mikey. You have to be kidding me right? Were those articles supposed to prove me wrong? Really lame, even for you.

None of those postings addressed your claim of bonds out earning the S&P 500 for the last 10 years. Actually the story you posted is a time frame of one day. Approximately 3649 days short of your previously stated time frame regarding bond performance. Strike One on Mikey.

It certainly did not add validity to your or Glenn Becks statements. (I am hesitant to drag Glenn Beck into this because I didn’t see his show and I have the feeling you aren’t smart enough to accurately parrot his statements.)

Next. Your Reuters story doesn’t hold water either. It is the opinion of one economist, who says the US is not in a recession, but he expects one on the way. Note Future tense. There is no recession. Paging Rick Badie. *Strike Two on Mikey. *

Next. A few mortgage lenders going out of business doesn’t mean a thing. Companies go out of business even in good economic times. Unemployment is at 5%, not too bad from a historical standpoint. Remember, anecdotal evidence proves nothing. Strike Three on Mikey.

Mikey has definitively proven to the world he doesn’t understand economics or the markets. But he won’t let that deter him from making misinformed statements from something he heard a guy say on TV.

Guess those facts weren’t really facts. Were they Mikey? But a good attempt on trying to change the subject. If I were you, I would do my best to cover up past displays of idiocy as well.

Oh yeah, dumba** Mikey It’s “avert” not “advert”. Ask for a dictionary next Christmas.

LT5000

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this

Meant what I said and what I typed, Mr. No Namie. Go get a dictionary for yourself. The only lame thing is you LT 5000.

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this

And by the way dummy. “Insurrection” is the correct spelling of your “Inserection”.

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this

Hesitate no more, Mr. No Name.

From Glenn Beck:

Now if you want to know whats coming, they always say follow the money. You want to know whats really going on? Follow the money. Well, everybody is focused on the money pouring out of the stock market when we talk about our economy. The real story is not where the money has — is not going, it`s where the money is pouring into. That is the bond market. Specifically, the U.S. Treasury bond market.

I hate to be a geek here, but let me get geeky on the air for a second because youll understand why this is relevant to your wallet in about 60 seconds. Interest rates on a 30-year treasury bond touch 4.1 percent today. Big deal, right? Lowest rate since 1977 and here it is plain English and heres what it means. The U.S. treasuries are backed up by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Apparently there are people who still think that`s valuable some way or another.

So theyre a safe haven investment. People buy them as protection against all sorts of catastrophes. It is literally the safest place you can park your money. If anybody thinks, oh, the world is going to melt down, theyll always say put your money in U.S. treasuries.

But the more money that goes into these bonds, the more expensive they get. Its supply and demand. If you remember anything from your economics classes, then you might recall as bond prices go up, the interest rates go down. Its like a seesaw. But when that seesaw gets all out of whack, like right now, it means that something is going on. After all, why would investors be willing to lock up their money for 30 solid years at an interest rate that might not even beat inflation?

There is only one logical answer. Because a lot of people think that`s a lot better alternative than anything else they see. If you read between the lines on the bond market, investors are saying that all the stimulus packages, all the rate cuts in the world are not going to make any difference. They see dark clouds and tough times coming. And unlike the so-called experts that you see on TV on every other channel, these people are quietly putting their money where their mouth is.

Steve Cordasco is the financial consultant and the host of “The Big Money Show” on 1210 AM, the big talker in Philadelphia, which is our flagship station in Philadelphia. Steve, let me show you a chart and you tell me what the chart is and what it means. Lets put the chart up there. Thats the 30-year Treasury yield. It`s headed all the way down to the bottom. Explain this.

STEVE CORDASCO, THE BIG MONEY SHOW: Well basically what its showing is over that period of time since 1977 rates have been coming way down on bonds. And specifically here in the short term Glenn, the message that the bond market is sending is that theres a lack of confidence, and the lack of confidence in the Fed and what the Fed has been doing over the last 10 years of lowering interest rates and manipulating interest rates to keep the consumer spending, it`s a lack of confidence in our political system in that the stimulus package that many are kicking around is just what it is.

It`s a bunch of nothing to put short-term fix on really a long-term problem. All the talking heads, as you mentioned, today and yesterday are talking about the stock market. Many of them looking to manipulate the stock market, hoping that somebody listens to them and goes in and starts to buy to move the market up.

BECK: OK. If I can explain bonds, I would explain it this way. Tell me where Im wrong. That if I had a bunch of money -- lets say Im a wealthy guy and I have a lot of money and I could pay off my car loan or I could invest. Ill look, can I make more money on the stock market than I have to pay in my interest rates on that monthly car payment. If I can make more money in the stock market, then I just keep my interest rate going on my car and I don`t pay off my loan.

What were talking about people locking up money for 30 years and buying into a Treasury bond that is basically your investment here is getting you the equivalent of putting your money in a savings account. Thats crazy normally, isn`t it?

CORDASCO: Absolutely, Glenn. You have two fronts here. Youre talking a little about main street and what a lot of main street investors are doing today. They dont have enough money to pay off the debt. We are a debt-laden society. The balance sheet of mainstream America is wrecked. Thats why a stimulus package is there, to help you get through one or two or three more months. The bottom line is this, this is the big money, this is serious money, and this is the money thats finding a place to go because there`s no belief in the future right now of our system.

BECK: What does this tell you, Steve, of what`s coming down the road?

CORDASCO: Glenn what it says over the last three, four months youve been on this, youve been dead on with it. What this is saying is everything that youve been talking about, about how things could get ugly. This message is here. The market is telling us, money is flowing into bonds, its looking for a place to hide and it`s predicting the future.

So we, as investors have to look and say where do we want to position our money today? Oh by the way, in case you don`t know it, the last 10 years, bonds have outperformed the S&P 500 for many of you that are sitting with 401K hoping that your retirement is going to be OK.

By LT5000

January 26, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this

Mikey,

You never fail to prove me right.

Inserection is the adult video store where you clean the viewing booths. Not insurrection. Strike # 550 against Mikey.

Don’t get mad at me for proving the fallacy of your statements. If you would do your homework, you would not have to be corrected.

Again you have failed to provide any facts, short of a statement a guy made on some TV show that you listen to, that adds veracity to the statement. I’m still waiting.

I hope your next bit of evidence isn’t a homeless person off the street.

Since the S&P is up over 100% since 1997, I will assume you are both morons. “Money in the Bank” they say on Wall Street.

LT5000

By Michael H. Smith

January 26, 2008 7:10 PM | Link to this

You are a NUT, Mr. No Namie. Enjoy your own stupidity.

By LT5000

January 26, 2008 7:28 PM | Link to this

It was fun while it lasted Mikey, but in the end all you could offer as “fact” was something someone said on a TV show. I guess critical thinking has never been your strong suit.

While I offered facts facts and more facts.

In the end Mikey, that’s what it boils down to.

Next time I suggest you do a little research before posting. It will save you future embarrassment. Unfortunately, the harm to your reputation will never be repaired.

LT5000