I'm guessing you lose something like 40% of your income to taxation after federal and state income tax, sales tax, social security, medicare, property tax, gas tax, etc. which brings your actual net income to only $22,800. With your two kids, thats only $7600 a year per person, or $633 a month.

I wonder what your life would be like with an extra $15,200 a year? It would be as if you had a $25,333 raise, bringing your salary to well over $63,333. That is the life you could have, if it wasn't taken away from you every year.

>> ^peggedbea:
a single parent, 2 child home in fort worth, tx needs to make a minimum of $38,000 + change to make sure basic needs are met..... now how many single moms do you know that make at least 38k/year? im a single mom with 2 kids and a college degree and just barely started to crack the 38k mark last year. i barely hover it. that means i can afford all the basic necessity, but if an emergency comes along, were fucked. but somehow we manage.

Weird. One of the first things I did was call my mom and warn her about her 401k investments. Why exactly didn't your economic beliefs lead you to do the same with your sister? From what I understand, investing is a choice and you can liquidate your investments at any time...

Maybe "hope" isn't quite as reliable as science?

>> ^volumptuous:
How is it my sister's fault that she and her husband just lost their entire 401ks?

They way I figure it, the average tax-paying American owes ($65,000,000,000,000/150,000,000) = $43,333 on top of whatever private debt they already have; which for many many people, who own a house, is somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,0000. When you have a nation full of people in debt somewhere between $43,333-$193,333+, in what sense can the average American be said to have nothing to do with this mess?

>> ^rougy:
I don't want to rag on you, Campion, because you make some good points, but the "average American" had nothing to do with this mess.

>> ^imstellar28:
If I saw Jon Stewart being mugged in a dark alley by someone who just lost their job or home, I would probably keep walking by without saying a word.


Yeah, because it's all his fault....

Stewart has been very consistent.

So have you, stellar, but in a very very different way.

Dupe of http://www.videosift.com/video/Jon-Stewart-is-angry-at-Rick-Santelli-and-CNBC

>> ^campionidelmondo:
>> ^Lodurr:
This is one of the best pieces I've seen on the financial crisis. It's amazing how the financial institutions lied to the public every day on the way down.

I think you're confusing financial institutions with television.

I wasn't talking about the news anchors, but the top company execs they had on their programs saying everything was fine.

I don't remember saying that you're sister is responsible for losing her 401k. The consequences of the current financial crisis are obviously gonna affect people who haven't done anything wrong, I just assumed that was common knowledge.

Ok, enough "catchphrases", how about a statistic?

"The most recent Federal Reserve study showed that 43% of U.S. families spent more than they earned. On average, Americans spend $1.22 for each dollar they earn."

If you don't see how that's gonna come back to bite you in the ass then you're beyond saving, sorry. That statistic is probably a little dated, but I bet it has only gotten worse.

I don't doubt that there are smart americans on this site. I'm not saying that the average American is an idiot. I know quite alot of Americans personally, and very few of them are idiots. What I am saying is that in light of this crisis, people should examine the lifestyle they're living and the choices they're making. For 43% of Americans this is something that has to be done. However, I'm not making any excuses for the CEOs or politicians, I'm just saying that the Average Joe isn't neccessarily innocent either.

>> ^volumptuous:
Obviously if you think the American public is who's to blame for the ponzi schemes, 30-to-1 Hedge's and sub-prime CF, you know nothing about economics or Wall Street regulation.
How is it my sister's fault that she and her husband just lost their entire 401ks? Is it because of her bigscreen (10 yr old, 22") TV, or her fancy (2 bdrm falling apart) House? It must be because she's an idiot right? It's definitely not because of that "scary corporation" called GM who they've worked for the last 20+ years.
Your catch phrases of "big screen TVs" and "two cars" shows you have little grasp of what has happened and what's been happening. Then you toss on the go-to of how Americans are stupid. Nice one.
It seems the one who's getting all of his information from the teevee is you.
And I have yet to see anyone say John Stewart should run for president. This straw man is so transparent it makes my head spin.

And btw: I'm sure most of the sifter-yanks here are very smart people. The one's that I've personally met certainly are. So you're really talking to the wrong crew.

Obviously if you think the American public is who's to blame for the ponzi schemes, 30-to-1 Hedge's and sub-prime CF, you know nothing about economics or Wall Street regulation.

How is it my sister's fault that she and her husband just lost their entire 401ks? Is it because of her bigscreen (10 yr old, 22") TV, or her fancy (2 bdrm falling apart) House? It must be because she's an idiot right? It's definitely not because of that "scary corporation" called GM who they've worked for the last 20+ years.

Your catch phrases of "big screen TVs" and "two cars" shows you have little grasp of what has happened and what's been happening. Then you toss on the go-to of how Americans are stupid. Nice one.

It seems the one who's getting all of his information from the teevee is you.

And I have yet to see anyone say John Stewart should run for president. This straw man is so transparent it makes my head spin.


And btw: I'm sure most of the sifter-yanks here are very smart people. The one's that I've personally met certainly are. So you're really talking to the wrong crew.



>> ^campionidelmondo:
lpgas: I wasn't trying to rant on TDS or Jon Steward. He's very good at what he does. I wasn't saying that people who enjoy TDS are idiots. I've enjoyed it for many years and even though I can't really watch it on a daily basis or anything close to that, I still enjoy watching the occasional episode. The problem is that people start thinking things like "Oh that Jon Steward should run for President" that makes me want to slam my head into the wall. If you turn to Jon Steward for political leadership you must be really fucking lost.
volumptuous: No you don't solely own the crisis as americans, but you own a big fucking chunk of it. I have yet to see anybody own up to that responsibility though. It's all too easy to put all the blame on the big scary cooperations, "those fatcats in Washington". Instead, people in the US should look at the lifestyle they've been living. A lifestyle that's waaaaaay over their budgets. They've been living on money they don't have, continuously borrowing more and more. Hey, everybody should own a house, two cars, a big fucking screen TV right? Let's worry about the consequences tomorrow. Well, tomorrow's here and it ain't looking pretty.
Also, don't change what I've said and then put it in quotation marks, that's lame...

How American of you..

>> ^volumptuous:
I'm pretty fucking fed up with this blanket generalization of us Americans. We don't own the patent on stupid, and we don't own this fucking crisis on our own.
If you don't even understand the simple fact that AIG is a fucking global company with interests in every corner of this planet, Headquarters in London, Paris and Hong Kong, then you really need to stop lecturing us.
The last time I checked, the US isn't the only one who's fucked right now. Brown just stated that the UK Gov will now start printing money to bail out their own institutions. Germany's productivity is down over 20%. Brazil is down over 60%. And you're acting like it's us Yanks who are just too stupid to turn off our own televisions?
I DONT EVEN HAVE CABLE

And FYI: Us yanks do understand one thing that you obviously do not. People like Cramer, Santelli, Kudlow and many others on CNBC and elsewhere have vested interests in the stock market, and the revolving door that is K-Street/TV punditry/Politics is the nexus that continues to fuck us all over.
So stop your self-congratulatory nonsense. And if this is the last time I hear some delusional statement like "everyone in the US seem to think the TV is here to do their thinking for them" it's still too fucking late for me to not think you're an offensive, self-important fool.

I'm pretty fucking fed up with this blanket generalization of us Americans. We don't own the patent on stupid, and we don't own this fucking crisis on our own.

If you don't even understand the simple fact that AIG is a fucking global company with interests in every corner of this planet, Headquarters in London, Paris and Hong Kong, then you really need to stop lecturing us.

The last time I checked, the US isn't the only one who's fucked right now. Brown just stated that the UK Gov will now start printing money to bail out their own institutions. Germany's productivity is down over 20%. Brazil is down over 60%. And you're acting like it's us Yanks who are just too stupid to turn off our own televisions?

I DONT EVEN HAVE CABLE


And FYI: Us yanks do understand one thing that you obviously do not. People like Cramer, Santelli, Kudlow and many others on CNBC and elsewhere have vested interests in the stock market, and the revolving door that is K-Street/TV punditry/Politics is the nexus that continues to fuck us all over.

So stop your self-congratulatory nonsense. And if this is the last time I hear some delusional statement like "everyone in the US seem to think the TV is here to do their thinking for them" it's still too fucking late for me to not think you're an offensive, self-important fool.





>> ^campionidelmondo:
>> ^Lodurr:
This is one of the best pieces I've seen on the financial crisis. It's amazing how the financial institutions lied to the public every day on the way down.

I think you're confusing financial institutions with television. Ever stopped to think that NBCs own interests played into their reporting? Don't believe everything you see on TV, I think that got you into this crisis in the first place. It never seizes to amaze me how people in the US seem to think that the TV is here to do their thinking for them.
Oh and I'm fed up with the glorification of the Daily Show. Jon Steward is nothing more than a jester, he's only here to make jokes. He's not gonna change anything, yet people are so glad he's here and won't let people get away with anything. People should turn off their TVs and support a real voice of descent.

>> ^campionidelmondo: Oh and I'm fed up with the glorification of the Daily Show. Jon Steward is nothing more than a jester, he's only here to make jokes. He's not gonna change anything, yet people are so glad he's here and won't let people get away with anything. People should turn off their TVs and support a real voice of descent.


Then don't watch the show.

Jon Stewart is a comedian first. TDS is a comedy show. It's aired on Comedy Central. It's goal is to make people laugh. He and his crew do a great job at it. Even when he has someone serious on it he still tries to make jokes. If you look at him as being just a talk show host then you miss the point of the show.

As a side effect his show enlightens people because it shows a view of current events that the news media does not. He shows the truth of a subject matter (except for the "special reports") and then makes fun of it. Because of this formula his show has gained a lot of notoriety and credibility with many people.

>> ^Lodurr:
This is one of the best pieces I've seen on the financial crisis. It's amazing how the financial institutions lied to the public every day on the way down.


I think you're confusing financial institutions with television. Ever stopped to think that NBCs own interests played into their reporting? Don't believe everything you see on TV, I think that got you into this crisis in the first place. It never seizes to amaze me how people in the US seem to think that the TV is here to do their thinking for them.

Oh and I'm fed up with the glorification of the Daily Show. Jon Steward is nothing more than a jester, he's only here to make jokes. He's not gonna change anything, yet people are so glad he's here and won't let people get away with anything. People should turn off their TVs and support a real voice of descent.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Guilty as charged your worship.

>> ^rasch187:
I always knew you were a whore, just like the rest of us
doublepromote, this is amazing stuff.

No it's not Wall Street. It's the CME in Chicago. Big difference and whole different mindset. Rick reports on the Treasuries and Currencies market which means when the US is fucking up like taking on too much debt or the Fed printing too much money he's on the front line and usually the only one on CNBC with balls enough to call them out. The people he argues with are usually Wall Street assholes who want to keep the con game going under the guise of helping main street.

Found a YouTube embed. I assume that will fix the blocked issue.

In reply to this comment by Farhad2000:
*blocked