Missing Link

"Mental Recession" Hits Washington Mutual



Posted: Friday, September 12, 2008

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I keep hearing the Republicans and the economists saying that the US "economic fundamentals" are sound.

George W Bush

At Mt. Rushmore in August 2002 - The fundamentals for economic growth are sound: inflation is down; interest rates are low; productivity is high; the consumer is spending money. We've got the foundation laid, now we've just got to build on it. (White House Web Site)

And in his most recent State of the Union address, "In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth. But in the short run, we can all see that growth is slowing," (http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2740109620080129)

John McCain

"The Fundamentals of our economy are strong." (Interview in August 20, 2008 on U-Tube.)

Republican Senator Phil Gramm from Texas (big surprise)

He said that Americans are in a "mental recession," he went on to say that "We have sort of become a nation of whiners"

Yesterday I heard that one of my two banks, Washington Mutual, is about to go under. It made me think and I was tempted to whine but I thought that maybe it's just a mental recession and WAMU will take a corporate dose of Cymbalta and be OK.

So the very people who are saying that the fundamentals are sound are the same people at Fannie, Freddie, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, etc, etc who thought that the mortgage industry was sound. They thought it was OK to lend billions and billions of dollars to people with poor credit and insufficient income to buy the houses.

So what are the fundamentals and how is their judgment right now as one bank after another teeters on the brink of insolvency? What are they basing their judgment on this time? Why should we trust either the Republicans or the economists who are saying that the economy fundamentals are sound?

I keep hearing that my accounts are secure at WAMU. They are government backed. Well how much money does our government have? At what point will the deficit become so large that my accounts are not able to be insured? There has to be a breaking point for the federal government.

Anyway, I am done whining and I am out the door to go camping. I intend to whine in the wilderness this weekend. That way I won't offend any Republicans, well, unless they happen to be there plundering the environment that is.

Just a simple curmudgeon observing life in the USA.  Cranky posts to his blog regularly at http://crankyblog.com.

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