Ya, but how much money do I have to make so I can get $800 or is it everyone that files an income tax?

 

it just sucks.. no offense.. but we need to hit rock bottom before we can pick ourselves up again. This country has gone to garbage over the last 7.5 years. the economy sucks.. the housing market sucks, and the US dollar is .02 away from the canadian dollar.

Anyone else see a trend here?

 

In defense of Alan Greenspan, he held the longest tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve(19 years) and served under both Republican and Democrat presidents. He made numerous attempts to retire beforehand but was not permitted on the basis of being highly competent at his job. Greenspan is responsible for the vast majority of economic prosperity in this country. The budget deficit has almost everything to do with the budgeting practices of the president and their administration, and nothing to do with the federal reserve. And in all fairness, exactly how many recessions are we talking here? As far as I can tell, since 1987 there has really only been ONE of any noteriety and that is around 2000-2002.
The main issue that I feel faces todays federal reserve chairman is the fact that the growth of the economy can no longer be managed through the money supply. This is the one thing that Greenspan got to leave behind. The economy is globally dependent and currencies are no longer easily isolated to a single country. Adjusting interest rates as a means of controlling the money supply is decreasing in effectiveness. And if any of you can figure out how to effectively control the rate of growth in this country with today's global economy, I personally promise you you will win a Nobel Prize for economics.

 

Actually the reason we do taxes now is because of WWII. Before WWII there was no income tax, filing every year. The reason they started taxing everything was because they needed money to fund the war. It was suppose to stop after the war was over, but once the government saw how much money they were getting and didn't have to give back they just continued to use it. So here we are now still dreding filing taxes every year when we really shouldn't even have to.

 

I'd agree with at least 80%...

However I think the recession from 2000-2002 has truly been going on from 2000-2008. - We FELT like we weren't in a recession from 2002-2008 because our homes were going up in value soo crazily, and we could buy soo much stuff at 0% interest. - The last few years have hit people hard because the things they bought were overpriced, they financed them to the death, and now can't afford to sell them. (Housing I'm specifically talking about.)

I only wish I had the foresight (and a willing wife) to sell our house in 2006 for nearly double what I paid, and rented from then till now - I'd be able to buy back twice the house today.

Of course I also wish I would have kept my AOL Time/Warner stock ($14000 in '99, $3000 in '00, and I don't want to think about today's value)over the entire 2000-2008 timeframe... - Damn hindsight.

 

Instead of a recession I think we need a Revolution. Reduce government, increase freedom.

 

Less government = more freedom

no matter what anyone says.. its the truth. we dont even have free speech anymore

 

Agreed if we talk two succesive quarters with falling GDP (is that the definition, I can't remember) but what we have had are many secular recessions. Even now it it may not be a recession of the entire economy, but maybe housing and durable goods.

This is the fault of the lawmakers allowing complex loans to be made to normal fiscally simple people. THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN WITH A FIXED 30 YEAR LOAN. But I believe that many people that are getting hurt are the people that wanted to 'buy and flip', and to some degree the 15 year variable types,not the 30 years types as much.

 

$14,000 [:@]

 

Well, "IF" I get that 800 bones, I will definitely put it all into paying off my bike!!

Unless I say "Well, I wasnt ever planning on getting this money, sooooo I might as well by some accessories for my bike!"