U.S. economy plunges more than expected in first quarter

On the whole, excellent ideas, well presented. Yet I hesitate.

It is well known that anyone who leaves America for any reason doesn't love his country and therefore definitely is a Pinko.

That you suggest an island, Hawaii probably, is worse. Hawaii has given birth to a suspect President, should be punished for it, and ignoring the implications of going there doubtless would result in visits by Homeland Security deep into the dead of night.

There's that to chew on and irate anonymous phonecalls demanding to know why anyone went to visit a place where there were too many furriners speaking UnAmerican. If you didn't stay at the Sheraton Waikiki and weren't seen reading National Geographic in the lobby alarm bells would ring.

As to what Presidents do? As long as Obama doesn't take the same advice GeeDuya did on everything he attempted, we're probably pretty safe. I heard two Brits last week explaining how advice from Spike Milligan animated the last administration.

Milligan stated that he was unimpressed by merely climbing Mount Everest, straight up. No way. Too damned easy. It couldn't be that hard - an Australian did it.

No, if you wanted to demonstrate real toughness and determination there was only one method. Climb Everest from the inside!

That task is what George apparently left for Obama with our economic Everest of debt and ruin.

Now Texas wants to secede. It's been decided that paying taxes isn't patriotic. GOPers are calling themselves, the hometown Taliban.

You can get lost in this stuff.

Pls advise..

Avery: you are so noble how can I ask you to give up your soul but I shall and we shall share. as to taxes I think we should have to pay based on our salaries the same way Presidents, CEO's etc do. I am not adverse to render to Caesar what is Caesar's as long as Caesar has worked for his share and lived up to promises he has made to the people. But before we do anything, a nice two month trip to a Island with native buff men serving us drinks with umbrellas inside the glass should occurred. After all we don't want to over strain our brain right away.

desertcat,

You've won the day. It's your kind of noble altruism that should be an example for others to follow, or better yet, share with you.

It's not right or proper somehow to think of you suffering the karmic agony of all those US Pesos, all by your lonesome. You should delegate at least 50% of that burden and horrific shame to your brothers and sisters -- on Current.

Me first. I'm only doing this to help.

P.S. Have you figured out the tax angle yet?

Avery: who cares if its the root or not its the souls that I can save by their giving me their money. I will sacrifice my good being to save mankind.

desertcat!

Cute...

Close, but not cigar.

It ain't money, sonny, but the love of it, that is the root of all evil. Remember?

Now you just go on out there to your Eden and trim those roots. We've got a country here so entangled in money rapture that we're being strangled by it and we're still demanding more.

Money is the root to all evil. The bills are dirty and carry germs. we worship money. Cleanse your soul and get rid of those germ carrying bills. Send all your money here to me in Paradise, PA and I shall bear the weight of the germs and evil.

Ragan!

I'm surprised! We've given "all" our money to the banks? All of it? We're helpless as a result? I think you're on shaky ground.

Trillions in tax revenue weren't shunted directly into that nice unnecessary two-front we're-in-this-quagmire-forever, war? The wars we will spend trillions more to indulge in? They don't measure up?
The banks got the loot first, and those lavish no-bid military procurements that Ike warned us about, all have stopped bleeding the country dry?

Where do we find these 'facts'? I don't dispute that getting the Wall Street crowd out of our pockets and so regulated they can't so much as squeak is a big step forward out of this. It is overdue.

But WW2? We agree that FRD was reluctantly proactive - meaning big on public spending. Yet you say "all of the money went into building war machines and weapons as well as expanding all military facilities"?

What are you reading? You have compressed too many years - a decade - into one tiny picture.

Did Roosevelt first spend lots of money to bail out the economy? You bet he did.

For these efforts his patrician neighbors (with today's GOPers and Neo-Cons) pilloried from that day to this for even contemplating going to war with our dear friend Nazi Germany!

The GOP was adamantly dead set against a war which ultimately justified massive public expenditure in a dead economy. As you point out it revived the country. Talk about blame the cure!

Who paid for both peace and war splurges in record time? Truman and Ike, with a tax on my generation's businesses -- at 90%.

BTW. We managed.

How times have changed. Now, we rage furiously about raising taxes on the rich by a massive --- 3%. Meanwhile we fight two, and possibly more wars, as in Pakistan.

Truman and Ike would laugh their heads off seeing us running around like headless chickens.. Don't believe me, go ask your grandparents.

No kidding that worthless congress but start getting together an extension on everyones benifits asap.The goverment still hasnt figured out you grow the economie from the bottom up.Millions of jobs gone to free trade and out of control fuel prices and not to mention union contracts have killed what made this economie great.Heres another news flash for congress.What are we going to do with the millions of collage and highschool kids who will be graduating in month?Good luck kids thanks for all your hard work in school sorry theres no jobs available.

Just wait for the upcoming Dollar Crisis to hit.

Pareo Nullus

it will only get worse as banks are still cooking books like an organized crime ring to get more tarp funds and hide toxic assets.

LOL! This is "important"? What about catching a cold?

My simple comment. I manage a publically owned International business unit and all of our management forecasts for the next 12 months predict a decline in activity and revenue. The U.S. economy has not hit bottom yet! At least for our industry, which is a diversified business. We are still ordered to control costs, no hiring, and focus on accounts receivable. Bad signs for the economy!

I didn't have expectations, therefore I wasn't disappointed in that regard. So... yay?

Just the fact that the economy "plunges" at all is bad enough. It was expected, though. It's not going to rebound right away, either. I'm just going to keep knuckling down on my budget as best as I can.

All that the banks have done with the bailout money is earn over half a billion in interest; for themselves, not by lending it out to the consumer. Also they dish out more bonuses. Plain and simple, it is a self-facilitating scheme and the political engine needs a visibly sound economy to maintain. Everything is dandy on tv and be thankful most of "them" or "us" don't" realize how bad the gov't continues to let us down. Should be storming; if they knew or had the guts to realize. But who and how the hell to reconsolidate? Coveting thy neighbor is a mainstay in THIS world. Obama is a voice of reason; I hear and see him over all the rhetoric. He is a gentlemen trying to make lemonade with lemons.

What can we expect? All of the money is being given to the banks and groups who in turn are giving much of it out in bonuses and pay increases for the bankers et al. We are making the bank officials richer, while there are now millions of people and that is growing, who wonder where the next bed and shelter and food to feed the family will becoming from. I caint see the logic in this. Howard Zinn has it right. Back in the thirties, Roosevelt took the money to directly create jobs programs for the people. Sure it took the opening of WWII to really stimulate the economy, but WWII only produced debt. we do not have geniuses capable of learning that you can take the money and start any kind of business to get the economy going. Take for instance WWII, all of the money went into building war machines and weapons as well as expanding all military facilities. there was no incoming profits from WWII. The only thing created in WWII was a big outrageous debt and millions of young kids got killed. We have big green fields in Europe to show where the profit lies in war. It takes government to make war, what does it take to make peace?. Well we could begin by restarting the space program going full force as it was back during the early days of our early Rockets and moon mission and there are plenty of research programs that could be started requiring all manners of workers and employees, Its time to start looking for resources from the new frontier preparing for two way missioms to the m oon and Maars .and since there is no profit in war, only debt, then why not make a debt that has a chance to show a profit by building these space ventures. Instead of spending billions and trillions of dollars building war planes and ships which are just a bunch of human disposal machines and build spaceports and space ships and research labs. send the young to college to create engineers, scientists and professionals. And best of all, get hte g20 summit together again and include the entire world in expediting the round trip voyages in space. Get rid of the blind thinkers who have only limited brains and narrow minds and no foresight. Have a special earthbound businesss for those brainless and I refer to the arrogant and ignorant politicians who have helped to bring this nation to its knees.

time for a new operating system; one that is not based on the old way of backstabbing your neighbor to survive.

money is slavery. let it die. advanced intelligent life forms aren't supposed to care about status, control, or slavery. We were supposed to be protecting life, NOT TRYING TO CONTROL IT or KILL IT OFF. Our greed and selfishness has destroyed the balance here. Good luck to those who are fighting for life and thank you to those who don't care. You're contribution to the world has left it's mark. Now get on your yacht's and stay there.

Yes, I guess those Wall Street people and the Economists in DC are 'morons' Good thing we have you guys to keep this country on the right track. ; )

Only to fucking morons.

"U.S. economy plunges more than expected in first quarter "

ONLY to those not paying attention to various indicators.