The real economy is falling apart, but the panglossian pundits won't EVEN say the recession word yet.
Yes, politicians lie, but that is supposed to be a cynical observation, not a performance objective.
Things were just fine last week, if we don't give the largest non-military grant in history to the banks tomorrow at the latest, no questions asked or terms discussed, we will immediately plunge into the Great Depression. But we've been jerked around about the Alternative Minimum Tax adjustment, Social Security, Campaign Reform, and Predatory Lending and Usury for the last eight years.
And politicians and pundits wonder why the public is angry? Most people are just busy, not completely stupid.
Let's make a deal. Stop lying so much and so often, stop taking money and soft bribes, and do your job. Then we might start to believe you again.
If our system is all about confidence then this government is in trouble and needs to be replaced with people who are not moral mutants. Hey, next month is November. How convenient.
As a former legislator and government official is said to have observed:
You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
U.S. Sept. ISM manufacturing index plunges to 43.5%
By Greg Robb
10:06 a.m. EDT Oct. 1, 2008
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The nation's manufacturers cut back production at a much faster pace than expected in September, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday. This is the lowest level since October 2001. The ISM index plunged to 43.5% in September from 49.9% in August.
This is the biggest drop in the index since 1984. The drop surprised economists. (The law of gravity surprises some economists on a nearly daily basis if it suits their hypothesis. - Jesse)
The consensus forecast of estimates collected by Marketwatch was for the index to slip only a bit to 49.6%. Readings below 50 indicate contraction. The ISM index has been holding near 50 since the summer. The previous low this year was 48.3 in February.
Economists said the ISM index was near recessionary levels. (We are in a recession and have been for some time. Government fiddling with statistics can only mask the reality of our troubles for the short term. And economists appear to be aspiring to displace lawyers from the top of the most despised profession list. - Jesse)
