Why the Dems Want the Economy to Fail

I won't belabor the point about Wall Street face-planting after the US Congress fails to do anything about the 2008 banking and economic crisis. But take note of this:

Surprise! This is an election year. The Democrats are holding nothing back in order to win the presidency. They have no doubt seen the polls indicating that democrat Barack Obama's poll numbers have increased precipitously since the start of the crisis. Given that Obama's numbers have shot up in inverse proportion to the Dow Jones Industrial Average going down, why would the Democrats want to end the crisis?

The US stock market lost 777 points yesterday, translating to 1.1 TRILLION dollars of lost value. That's about 1.5 times the cost of the $700 billion bailout. If you think that doesn't affect you, have a look at your retirement portfolio; if you have a 401K, you lost a lot of money. Common sense would tell anyone with the slightest twinge of statesmanship that the crisis must be ended. But in an election year, all bets are off.

What other reason can be offered for Rep. Nancy Pelosi to go on a name-calling spree, including saying that against her Republican opponents were "unpatriotic," right before a critical vote on the measure? Common sense would say that action would cause the vote to fail. Ironically, she was in the midst of a speech congratulating the House of Reps on it's "bipartisan" efforts, when she went off-message and condemned Pres. George Bush and Republicans for causing the crisis in the first place (not true; they all caused it, as far back as 1999).

Barney Frank, head of the banking committee, did much the same, but he couldn't even corral all of his dem party members in the committee to vote for the measure; 12 democrats on the banking committee voted against the bill. Had they voted yes, the bill would have passed.

The longer this crisis lasts, the more stock value is lost, the harder it is for credit to be issued, and the greater the risk of an outright depression. The US monetary system is locked up, and all the democratic leadership in congress can do is call names. Positively incredible.

What will the dems do to win an election? I think it's time that all of them - both parties - are given their walking papers. Vote out all incumbents. It's the patriotic thing. Assuming we're all still capable of voting in the breadline.


ABC News: Stocks Have Miserable Day After House Vote:

"The day started with silence -- the iconic opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange failed to sound -- and things just got worse from there, ending in the single biggest one-day point loss in history.
Congress votes down economic relief package prompting investors to sell.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 777.68 to close at 10,365.45. The previous biggest point drop came on Sept. 17, 2001, the first day the market reopened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A jittery stock market spent all morning in negative territory as investors worried about the $700 billion bailout package before Congress today. By 1:40 p.m. it became clear that the House was not going to pass the bill, and stocks went into a freefall; the Dow fell 400 points in 10 minutes before eventually dropping 700 points below Friday's close.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also posted massive losses, down 9.1 percent and 8.8 percent respectively."

Cadbury: Melamine Found in Chinese-Made Chocolates - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

FOXNews.com - Cadbury: Melamine Found in Chinese-Made Chocolates - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News:

"HONG KONG — British candy maker Cadbury said Monday it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates after tests found they contained the industrial chemical melamine.

A Cadbury spokesman said it was too early to say how much of the chemical was in the chocolates.

'These are preliminary findings from tests. And it's too early to say where the source was or the extent of it,' the spokesman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

He declined to be named because of company policy.

Cadbury said in a statement it has recalled 11 chocolate products made at its factory in Beijing which are distributed in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia."

More food in China found with unsafe chemical levels - USATODAY.com

More food in China found with unsafe chemical levels - USATODAY.com:

"HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong supermarkets stripped shelves of a popular cookie brand made in China on Friday after Macau authorities found excessive amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in the product.

The removal of the chocolate-filled cookies came after Macau's Health Bureau found Thursday the amount of melamine in the Koala's March brand was 24 times the safe limit.

The grocery store Wellcome removed the brand made by Japan's Lotte China Foods Co. from shelves Friday, spokeswoman Annie Sin said. Another chain, PARKnSHOP, also pulled the company's cookies."

Chinese milk powder sickens 53,000 kids

ABC News: China's Product Safety Watchdog Steps Down:

"The head of China's food safety watchdog resigned Monday for failing to stop the widespread contamination of baby formula as the number of children sickened in the scandal soared to nearly 53,000, including four infants who died.

The shake-up came as investigators revealed that China's biggest producer of powdered milk, Sanlu Group Co., had received complaints as early as December 2007 linking its infant formula to illnesses in babies. Months later, tests revealed the milk was tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, which causes kidney stones and can lead to kidney failure."

More Than 12,000 Chinese Children Sick From Milk

FOXNews.com - More Than 12,000 Chinese Children Sick From Milk

"BEIJING — China's tally of the number of children sickened by tainted milk products has doubled to nearly 12,900 as the government confronts a scandal over widespread contamination of the milk supply.

More than 80 percent of the 12,892 children hospitalized in recent weeks were 2 years old or younger, the Health Ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site late Sunday. The statement said most consumed infant formula from one company, the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group Co., the dairy at the center of one of China's worst food safety scandals in years.

Over the weekend, the Chinese territory of Hong Kong reported the first known illness outside mainland China — a 3-year-old girl who developed kidney stones after drinking Chinese dairy products. She was discharged from the hospital, a Hong Kong government statement said.

In the two weeks since the government first acknowledged the contamination, it has issued recalls for dairy products from 22 companies after tests turned up traces of the industrial chemical melamine. The Health Ministry said that most of the hospitalized were sickened by powdered milk and formula."

China worries about long-term effects of bad milk

China worries about long-term effects of bad milk | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters:

"SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Chinese parents agonised on Tuesday about the long-term health effects that their children could suffer after consuming formula milk which the government has confirmed was contaminated with a toxic chemical."

Chinese Baby Formula Scandal Widens - NYTimes.com

Chinese Baby Formula Scandal Widens - NYTimes.com:

"BEIJING — China’s Ministry of Health on Monday announced that two babies have died in recent months and 1,253 others have been sickened by contaminated milk powder in a widening food safety scandal that has exposed persistent weaknesses in the country’s regulatory system.

More than 340 infants remain hospitalized, including 53 in serious condition. Inspection teams are visiting dairy farms and processing centers in the country’s four main milk-producing provinces to ensure that producers are not violating safety standards.

The Chinese authorities have confirmed that the tainted baby formula was laced with melamine, a chemical additive sometimes used to make plastics and fertilizer. Last year, after thousands of pets became ill in the United States, the same chemical was found in pet food and traced to a Chinese ingredient.

The tainted milk powder has been traced to the Sanlu Group, one of China’s biggest dairy producers, which operates as a joint venture with a New Zealand-based dairy conglomerate, Fonterra. China does not export milk powder to the United States."

Chinese-made uniforms withdrawn after skin irritations

Chinese-made uniforms withdrawn after skin irritations:

"An Australian power company has withdrawn more than 3,000 Chinese-made protective uniforms after staff complained of skin irritations.

Ergon Energy says there will be no more uniforms worn in the field from close of business today.

The Electrical Trades Union says more than 250 Ergon Energy workers had broken out in rashes and some had vomited after wearing the flame-retardant suits.

Ergon says as soon as staff reported skin irritations it advised them to seek medical advice.

The company says independent scientific tests are being conducted on the uniforms and it has advised its suppliers to do the same.

Chinese manufacturers have been hit with a series of product recalls in the past year, involving millions of toys, cell phones and food products."

FDA warns on Chinese-made infant formula - MarketWatch

FDA warns on Chinese-made infant formula - MarketWatch:

"The Food and Drug Administration warned early Friday that consumers should avoid infant formulas manufactured in China. The agency advised that some Chinese-made formulas have been suspected of containing the chemical melamine, which can cause the formulation of kidney stones in babies. Currently, no Chinese manufacturers are approved to sell baby formula in the U.S. However, the agency said that Chinese-made formula may be on shelves in the U.S. in specialty stores serving the Asian community."

China says 432 babies ill in milk powder scare | Reuters

China says 432 babies ill in milk powder scare | Reuters:

"SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese authorities said on Saturday that they believed 432 babies across the country had been sickened by contaminated milk powder.

The government has ordered Sanlu Group, a dairy producer partly owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Co-operative Group, to halt production after a preliminary investigation found its products were responsible, officials said.

'This is a severe food safety accident,' Gao Qiang, a senior official at the Ministry of Health, told a news conference.

Sanlu, based in the province of Hebei, admitted this week that its baby formula had been contaminated with melamine, a toxin linked to the deaths and illness of thousands of pets in the United States last year."