Apparently, the only "raison d'etre" for this thing is to increase stockholder equity. :(

mstaggerlee,

Yes, I agree --- this corruption of capitalism needs to be turned around. I have become aware of this trend since the sale of the once-profitable, "healthy" NW Airlines to guys from the hotel industry. They leveraged the buy-out and later got out with millions. We ended up with a broken company. (Northwest was purchased in a 1989 leveraged buyout by an investment group headed by Al Checchi.)

Guns as a pre-existing condition

You are giving the republicans another scare tactic to use on the ignorant. Obama is working to help people get insurance despite pre-existing conditions and here you are suggesting another thing that the insurance companies can use against their customers. People who commit suicide by other means still die as do people who are murdered by other means. What if I have a gas stove in the house? It could explode. I have a shower;I could slip and fall. Should I be charged more?

And it's none of the insurance company's damned business what you have in your house. Next they'll want to know what your next door neighbors have to determine if that is a risk. Get a damned clue Thom. Are you actually a republican in disguise? You are damned sure helping them by suggesting this.

mstaggerlee,

Re: "Somehow, we need to re-educate Wall Street."

Maybe we need to re-educate Washington.

Mark & Quark -

The problem, as I see it, is that Washington has come to believe that Wall Street MATTERS more than Main Street. As long as those at the top 2% of the economic pyramid are making money again, then we're "recovering". Whether or not the money being made represents any REAL value in the marketplace in apparently immaterial.

Somehow, we need to re-educate Wall Street. Shuffling debt may create short-term profit for the "dealers", but it adds nothing of lasting value to the economic landscape. The pillars that support the economy of a supposedly great nation CANNOT simply be a series of bubbles! There has to be something there to build upon.

ANOTHER LEVERAGED BUYOUT DECIMATES A FORMERLY PROFITABLE COMPANY

Another example of the buyout sickness (similar to Thom's examples of why newspapers are failing plus short video):

"Buyout Firms Profited as a Company’s Debt Soared

By JULIE CRESWELL

Private equity firms, former executives and Wall Street investment banks profited as the Simmons Bedding Company fell into bankruptcy, devastating its bondholders and employees."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/business/economy/05simmons.html?_r=1&r...

"Homeless" Barbie?

I heard about Mattel's latest entry in the alleged "socially concious" toy market a couple weeks ago, and had hoped a discussion thereof might develop here. I think this brings to light a far bigger question than Dubya's "Is our childrens learning?" query.

When one buys for their own child a toy that represents a homeless child, but this item is priced such that the parents of less-advantaged children can't even THINK of buying one, the question in my mind changes from "Is our childrens learning?", to "What is we teaching thems?"

How is it possible that the stock market can go up, while all other indicators suggest that things are rather worse? September’s unemployment numbers were worse than expected, including the loss of more than 50,000 manufacturing jobs. Many of these jobs will likely never come back. If wages are increasing at all, it is more likely for “valued” white collar employees rather than blue collar, since the latter are “replaceable.” There are fewer people who can afford to buy products, with less money. The stimulus package should have worked to slow unemployment, but the money is either being wasted or not used for its intended purpose. It would appear that the only value associated with (slowly) rising stock prices is “easy” credit being doled out by the bail-out and the Federal Reserve, mainly without accountability. When this line of credit runs out, what is there left of value to keep the stock market up?

Somebody has to be making money if we are in a so-called “recovery” mode, to account for any increase in the stock market. This “jobless” recovery would suggest “downsizing” on a massive scale; Wall Street apparently believes that if this downsizing makes companies more profitably, the human effect that it has be damned. This isn’t like the Great Depression, when American know-how still dominated and manufacturing capacity could be expected to rebound. Instead, manufacturing jobs are disappearing, probably for good. So who benefits from the phony money being generated on Wall Street? No doubt wealthy stock holders who hope to make a quick killing while the getting is good—having no interest in the welfare of the nation as a whole, or beyond their gated communities. How long will this situation be permitted to continue? Even Prince Prospero could not, in the end, escape the vengeance of the Masque of the Red Death.

It was also reported today that the failure of the education system in the state of Washington--particularly its failure to properly fund and provide access to higher education for its residents--has led to the inability for local employers to find employees to hire for high-wage occupations. "Fortunately," there are plenty of educated foreign-born workers ready to take their place.

THREE CHEERS FOR ALAN GRAYSON!!!

Here is an article from one of my favorite writers.

http://original.antiwar.com/roberts/2009/10/04/the-threat-to-your-libert...

Nothing ever changes! G has always stood for greed.

The National Parks: America’s Great Idea

I had the opportunity to watch Ken Burns’ twelve and one half hours documentary of our national parks. I wrote down many names of our national parks but that is not the essence of this report. As I watched his documentary, I kept notes – three pages or six sides. I will share with you my notes but I will not elaborate on them. You will have the choice of formulating your own ideas.

We see God more in nature than we see Him in people. God reveals Himself through nature. Sacredness means different things to different people. Americans are materialistic and money is their god. Wildness is a necessity. Man is redeemed by wilderness. Nature rejuvenates man.

We need to leave the national parks as they are. Salvation can be found in the natural world. Our beautiful areas are seen as money makers for unscrupulous persons and so these areas are desired by such men. If persons see a dollar in nature, a person, and/or wildlife, it will be exploited for the almighty dollar. It seems like nothing ever changes in our country. The battle over conservation will always be a problem. The enemies of wildness are everywhere.

Some wealthy persons in the early 1900s were concerned about nature’s beauty and they sought to preserve its beauty. The beauty of nature has spirituality to it. It is important to enjoy and to study the natural sciences.

There are Americans who have exploited our nation’s beauty for the benefit of a few interest groups. We need to work together as a nation or we will collapse and destroy ourselves. The U.S. Supreme Court will side with powerful wealthy persons and with our American corporations to destroy our beautiful nation. Oil companies and coal companies will be major predators in destroying our country. The national parks offer spirituality to human beings.

We did have some early and great Americans with a vision to make our nation’s beauty, a gift, for all people and not to only a gift for wealth people and for American corporations. There are people who see God in nature.

The killing of human beings and of wildlife is totally engrained in the American psyche. Wildlife is as important as scenery. It is important to preserve wildlife in its natural state! We have seen the slaughter of birds and the destruction of our beautiful parks and scenery. During the Depression the Civilian Conservation Corp has helped to improve our national parks. Public projects have also helped. Scenery and wildlife go together.

We have seen the extinction of the passenger pigeon and we cannot let our wildlife become extinct.

The struggle will always be whether or not we preserve our beautiful natural resources or whether we use our natural resources to benefit powerful interest groups. We need our national parks and these parks must be open and accessible for all the people.

We will need to keep in mind that wildlife must be preserved but animals are not pets.

The most dangerous species are human beings. Man seeks to destroy the beauty of nature. There will always be a fight between human beings who wish to preserve and save nature and those human beings who want to destroy and exploit nature. The struggle between preservation and use of nature will continue.

What was a positive experience in the early days of expanding the number of national parks was that people who were interested in more national parks did not have to confront powerful lobbyists. Today, the many lobbyists would win and they would destroy our beautiful nature and nation. The use of our beautiful nature would be for the benefit of a small group as opposed to the enjoyment for many people. We slaughter wildlife for the benefit of the few against the interests of the many.

We need to remember that these battles will always be part of the American psyche. We must work to restore the beauty of nature and our country on a daily basis. We will need to be on guard against hatred, corruption, and lies as well as destruction, murder, and privatization in the United States.