Enjoy the Holidays with some Economic Headlines

I've been enjoying the holidays: time off work and time with the family.  My usual blog posts tend to be a little too serious and I haven't wanted to ruin the mood for this happy time of year.  The end of the year is approaching so I thought I'd post a list of economic headlines I've been saving up.

The premise I had when I started this was that the economic news seemed to oscillate daily.  I thought I'd try and capture this with the top headline of the day (I missed a few days).  See if you think my premise was valid.

9/14/2010 Wall Street boosted by technology and retail shares (Reuters)
9/15/2010 Mortgage giant losses could reach $400 billion
9/15/2010 Resilient Wall Street edges higher (Reuters)
9/16/2010 Foreclosures Rise; Repossessions Set Record
9/16/2010 Wall Street opens lower after data (Reuters)
9/20/2010 Recession ended in June 2009: NBER
9/21/2010 Housing starts at 4-month high (Reuters)
9/24/2010 Wall St jumps on data enthusiasm
9/28/2010 Wall St flat as consumer confidence on tap (mixed report)
9/28/2010 Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Level Since February
10/4/2010 Housing shows stability, factory orders fall
10/4/2010 ...unsustainable fiscal situation... Ben Bernanke
10/6/2010 Wall St opens lower after weak ADP report
10/6/2010 Real estate downturn could last 8 years: IMF
10/8/2010 Economy loses 95K jobs due to government layoffs
10/14/2010 Applications for jobless benefits rise to 462K
10/14/2010 September home foreclosures top 100,000 for first time
10/20/2010 Economy grew sluggishly in recent weeks: Fed
10/20/2010 Wall Street bounces with dollar, earnings
10/21/2010 Shares edge up, whipsawed by dollar, earnings
10/25/2010 Wall St advances on dollar weakness, Fed bets
10/26/2010 Wall St set for weak open on earnings, strong dollar
10/27/2010 Wall St falls on lack of Fed stimulus clarity
10/29/2010 Economy grows at slightly faster pace in Q3
10/29/2010 Economy grew modestly in third-quarter
10/29/2010 GDP growth tepid in Q3, more Fed easing seen
11/4/2010 Wall St rallies as Fed stokes risk appetite
11/8/2010 Fed officials voice concerns about bond buying
11/16/2010 Bond Market Defies Fed
11/29/2010 Citing deficit, Obama freezing federal worker pay
12/4/2010 U.S. unemployment climbs to 9.8%, raising doubts about recovery
12/8/2010 US Treasuries hit by biggest sell-off in two years
12/9/2010 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fell 17,000 to 421,000 Last Week
12/21/2010 US teen birth rate at all-time low, economy cited
12/28/2010 111th Congress Created More National Debt Than First 100 Congresses Combined

Different versions of the truth

If you were very popular, the leader of the most powerful country in the world and wanted to influence lawmakers to do things your way, what would you do?

One approach is start with the low hanging fruit. First, start with the most vulnerable member of your opposition: the youngest and least experienced person you could find. Even better if they are from your home state. Impress them with a ride on the fanciest airplane in existence. Finally, you make the hard sell to support you. Even better if you do this publicly in front of the nation and their constituents.

Aaron Schock, a 27-year old freshman congressman from Peoria, Illinois is your man. A rally in front of Caterpillar workers and national media is your forum.

I have to admit, I really like this Aaron guy.

HomeLAND Equity Line of Credit

This is the typical path to financial ruin.

1. You open checking account.
   
2. You get tired of bouncing checks.
   
3. You get a credit card.
   
4. You max out your credit card(s).
   
5. All of your extra money goes to making debt payments.
   
6. You get a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit). It's a large quantity of "free" money to pay off your debt and get some extra stuff you've been wanting.
   
7. There's no turning back now.
   

So what is the U.S. Congress doing?

1. They pass bills to spend money.
   
2. They get tired of being restricted by the Federal budget.
   
3. They pass more spending bills anyways.
   
4. The Republicans block the bills based on silly ideologies.
   
5. They get a HELOC (HomeLAND Equity Line of Credit) in the form of an economic stimulus package. They now have "free" money to spend on their pet programs (give condoms to the poor, chase the global warming windmill, etc.).
   
6. There's no turning back (unless our U.S. Senators get wise).