Chaim,
I had posted this as my Ask JTF for this week, but very important emergency current events have led me to change it. So, I am reposting my old Ask JTF question for this week in this thread, so that it can either be saved for next week verbatim, or you can answer it here on the forum.
Bonesfan
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Shalom Chaim,
The fact of the matter is that Americans have nobody but themselves to blame for Obongo's massive bailouts. John McCain was winning the election in early September of 2008 by a margin of about five points, but when five huge (robber-baron) financial players announced their collapse on the same day (AIG, Lehman Bros. Goldman-Sachs, WaMu, Chrysler), he immediately was perceived as "not caring" and not being willing to "do something" to save the economy. Public opinion polls showed the brainwashed, entitlement-minded people demanding massive intervention. Republicans got stuck with the label of not being willing to rescue the economy for the rest of the election campaign (even though Bush actually started with the bailouts right away), and that is the single most immediate reason Obama was elected.
By the way, Chaim, am I the only one who smells a gigantic economic conspiracy at this time? Unemployment is at its highest since 1939 and real demand for all products and services is at its lowest since then, but the stock market is rapidly rebounding (thanks to some 500 billionaire investors [many of whom are Saudi/Kuwaiti oil Nazis] pouring money into things, so that prices are artificially inflated), so all the "experts" are declaring that the recession is over--but at the same time are admitting that the job situation won't improve for four or five years. Actually, I doubt it will improve even then because companies have picked up quite a few dirty tricks over the past few years (besides outsourcing, for instance, reassigning huge numbers of workers to salaried positions so that they no longer have to pay overtime, so that they can force one worker to do the work of three for the same income). Naturally Obama, that supposed big supporter of the downtrodden "little guy", has absolutely nothing to say about all of that. Mmm-hmm.
Bonesfan