If you think that Obama should react to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression by appointing Jonathan Lipniki as head of his economic team, you might want to sit back and think about why you lost.

I have to update my scorecard again. Is experience a good thing or a bad thing this week ?

Or are we on a daily changing basis now ?

I'm sick of this shiat. I voted for change. REAL change, I expected a 7 11 clerk assigned to SecState, my 12th grade Science teacher asked to serve as SecDefense, Barry Manilow in the Treasury and that guy downtown in the orange hat made Speaker of the House.

chemical_angel: I'm sick of this shiat. I voted for change. REAL change, I expected a 7 11 clerk assigned to SecState, my 12th grade Science teacher asked to serve as SecDefense, Barry Manilow in the Treasury and that guy downtown in the orange hat made Speaker of the House.

Age-ist much?

He should appoint Nic Tideman to the economic advisory board.

_{Bonus: He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and has already served on the President's Council of Economic Advisors (granted, it was during the Nixon administration).}

If he picks fresh faces, he'll be called naive because he lacks experience and is surrounding himself with otehrs who lack experience.

If he picks seasoned pros who know how to do the job and have experience doing it, he's criticized for that, too.

No one is going to be happy with all the choices. I, so, far, haven't been *horrified* by any of them (although I'm not too keen on HRC, but oh well).

chemical_angel: I'm sick of this shiat. I voted for change. REAL change, I expected a 7 11 clerk assigned to SecState, my 12th grade Science teacher asked to serve as SecDefense, Barry Manilow in the Treasury and that guy downtown in the orange hat made Speaker of the House.

This.

DamnYankees: Age-ist much?

Can't help not being. GenX has always lived in the preferences of the Baby Boomers.

1) 25 years ago when our parents dragged us through the department stores...guess what was playing on the radio? Dione Warwick and Donna Summer. What music do you hear nowadays while shopping? Dione Warwick, Donna Summer, and Gloria Estefan.

2) The "bailouts" are going to do nothing to prevent the economic meltdown. They are simply to prolong the retirement accounts of the Boomers. GenX and GenY will be picking up the tab.

3) Social Security: This was a problem at its inception.

4) Consumerism was invented and implemented by the Boomers.

I could go on...but the fact remains...almost every bad decision that led us to this point was made by a Boomer. Normally such sweeping generalizations don't merit much. But in this respect it represents a selfish inclination on the part of the Boomers.
Am I guilty of ageism? Hell yes.
I would be much happier with a bunch of GenXers at the helm right now.

FDR - Notorious Boomer.

Bonkthat: You should check out this book (new window)I am reading right now. It's called Boomsday. Just started it, but it's pretty awesome. It's by the guy who wrote Thank You for Smoking.

jimmyhaha: FDR - Notorious Boomer.

Sure, a lot of failed policies were put in place before the Boomers. But it was the responsibility of the Boomers to reassess those policies, taking into consideration the population increase.

They. Did. Nothing.

the_pgoat: You should check out this book (new window)I am reading right now

Cool. From now on...just call me Cassandra...er...Cassidy?

the_pgoat: Bonkthat: You should check out this book (new window)I am reading right now. It's called Boomsday. Just started it, but it's pretty awesome. It's by the guy who wrote Thank You for Smoking.

Jesse Helms?

/heh

Wait a second... triple checks wikipedia...

This guy served under Reagan? Well, methinks the Fark Independents^TM will carry this guy around on their shoulders for a victory lap!

Well, he campaigned on CHANGE. Not that I want know-nothings in there, but this isn't change at all. Like I said during the campaign, Obama's just SSDD....no different than any other politician.

If you want real change then we have to get off this gone-stupid train of Democrats & Republicans running things.

But don't let me spoil the worship of Obama.

Bonkthat_Again: jimmyhaha: FDR - Notorious Boomer.

Sure, a lot of failed policies were put in place before the Boomers. But it was the responsibility of the Boomers to reassess those policies, taking into consideration the population increase.

They. Did. Nothing.

No, they did something. They build set themselves up for a sweet retirement in their McMansions, that we get to pay for! What more could you ask.

/Logan's Run was pretty insightful in retrospect.

Someone should post a blank "Obama Announces New Cabinet Appointment" thread. It really wouldn't matter who it was, would it--we all know the script. The flamewar could carry on merrily regardless.

Mercutio74: Wait a second... triple checks wikipedia...

This guy served under Reagan? Well, methinks the Fark IndependentsTM will carry this guy around on their shoulders for a victory lap!

Will?

sirgrim: Will?

Won't they?

I was reading today in the New Yorker that Volcker is pretty critical of Bernanke.

Sounds like Obama is trying to get opinions and ideas from across the spectrum.

Do they know their shiat?

Yes = Good. STFU and let them GBTW.
No = They won't last long.

I guess conservatives won't be satisfied until Obama starts appointing people from the Nixon administration like Bush Jr. did, right?

Seriously guys, just STFU while the adults do the hard work.

OMG CHANGE I VOTED FOR CHANGE OBAMA CAMPAIGNED ON CHANGE AND WE GET THE SAME OLD PEOPLE NO CHANGE I SHOULD HAVE VOTED FOR PALIN

glassa: If you want real change then we have to get off this gone-stupid train of Democrats & Republicans running things. But don't let me spoil the worship of Obama.

Good, because I've just finished the canapes for the worship service at 7. You *are* going to be there, aren't you?!

*glares at glassa*

glassa: Well, he campaigned on CHANGE. Not that I want know-nothings in there, but this isn't change at all. Like I said during the campaign, Obama's just SSDD....no different than any other politician.

If you want real change then we have to get off this gone-stupid train of Democrats & Republicans running things.

But don't let me spoil the worship of Obama.

Alright... let's cover one basic thing. He campaigned on the change being for the people by the people. You know... like actually listening to the people and keeping open lines of communication between the people (who put him where he is) and his administration. Are you really going to suggest that since he is already actively working towards that goal that he is exactly the same as Bush? Really?

As for your third party endorsement... put up or shut up. There hasn't been a viable 3rd party candidate who could garner enough support to get them into office.

Now as for your "Obama worship" crap... do you realize how dumb you sound with that crap? Here you are touting 3rd parties while at the same time sucking up the propaganda from the Republican campaign... yeah... you're a real independent thinker. hahah seriously... drop that crap from your rhetoric and some people might actually take what you have to say seriously.

Wow...just wow, considering the job Volcker did (or was that didn't do) on Kofi Annan (and his son)...

Empty suit with no experience.

Bonkthat_Again: chemical_angel: I'm sick of this shiat. I voted for change. REAL change, I expected a 7 11 clerk assigned to SecState, my 12th grade Science teacher asked to serve as SecDefense, Barry Manilow in the Treasury and that guy downtown in the orange hat made Speaker of the House.

This.

DamnYankees: Age-ist much?

Can't help not being. GenX has always lived in the preferences of the Baby Boomers.

1) 25 years ago when our parents dragged us through the department stores...guess what was playing on the radio? Dione Warwick and Donna Summer. What music do you hear nowadays while shopping? Dione Warwick, Donna Summer, and Gloria Estefan.

2) The "bailouts" are going to do nothing to prevent the economic meltdown. They are simply to prolong the retirement accounts of the Boomers. GenX and GenY will be picking up the tab.

3) Social Security: This was a problem at its inception.

4) Consumerism was invented and implemented by the Boomers.

I could go on...but the fact remains...almost every bad decision that led us to this point was made by a Boomer. Normally such sweeping generalizations don't merit much. But in this respect it represents a selfish inclination on the part of the Boomers.
Am I guilty of ageism? Hell yes.
I would be much happier with a bunch of GenXers at the helm right now.

You are not guilty of agesim, unless "ageism" means being human. Every generation of young people in history has blamed the state of the world on their elders, as indeed we boomers blamed it on ours, and believe me - your kids are going to blame YOU. So enjoy your precious youth while you can - the clock is ticking.

Bonkthat_Again
They. Did. Nothing.

Look, I'm as sick of hearing about the 60's as the next person, but nothing? What did you type that comment on? ENIAC? They introduced the era of personal computing, built the web, gave you rock & roll, helped wipe out Jim Crow, made it so "homosexual" was just something some people were instead of a DSM mental illness, made cable television what it is today, and created the Simpsons, man. The Simpsons.

As for your list:

1. I hear a hell of a lot of Gen X music playing in stores. They're playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the kidswear section of JC Penny. Viva la revolution.

2. Don't know too many GenXers trying to buy houses, do you? Wise or not, they're propping up everybody's dumbass investments, and the people buying houses on minumum wage in the 90's weren't for the most part, people in their 50s.

3. Social Security was created by the grandparents of the boomers. My grandfather wasn't old enough to run for President when it was passed.

4. Consumerism, if you want to call it that, was "created" by the parents of the Boomers. They were the ones running Madison Avenue in the 50's and 60's when most of the modern world of advertising was created.

Look, man. I don't want to sit through that goddamned Peter, Paul and Mary Christmas album any more than you do, but you're making the Boomers sound correct when they talk about how retarded their kids are.

you know what they call people like the ones that Obama is getting together??????


Experienced.

Get over it, Subby. Or would you rather he pick a bunch of people with no experience and no idea how to get things done in DC??

Bonkthat_Again:
I would be much happier with a bunch of GenXers at the helm right now.

What would get done besides Legalizing pot and making Cheetos and XBOX 360 games tax deductible? Homeland Security would consist of putting up signs along the border and in the airports that reads "Stay Out If You're Not Cool and Can't Hang" Foreign policy would be an e-mail mass sent to all the Heads of State with "Yo! Chill! LOL" Written in the subject header and housing would be busy with the implementation sweeping "parents' basement" initiative.

Mercutio74: Wait a second... triple checks wikipedia...

This guy served under Reagan? Well, methinks the Fark IndependentsTM will carry this guy around on their shoulders for a victory lap!

Or vice versa. The Fed doesn't do what the White House says.

Ahhh barneyfifesbullet...

It's like humour, but the sour grapes just get in the way of it actually being funny. It's like watching a comedian start to cry in the middle of his act.

nicksteel: you know what they call people like the ones that Obama is getting together??????


Experienced.

Get over it, Subby. Or would you rather he pick a bunch of people with no experience and no idea how to get things done in DC??

So let me get this straight...

Obama isn't experienced enough...
But his cabinet members are TOO experienced?

I wish these naysayers would figure out just HOW MUCH experience is the RIGHT amount.

Maybe if Obama drove a baseball team into the ground, that would satisfy them.

Volker is a Carter appointee who introduced the idea of tracking the money supply to fight inflation. You may have heard me ranting in other threads about how Carter "whipped inflation". Actually it was more Volker.

But he's pretty old now.

Heaven forbid that Obama picks a staff with some experience. Seems a little wiser than a president who appoints Michael Brown as the head of FEMA.

I think appointing experienced people who know what they're doing instead of just appointing your best friends and biggest financial contributors, IS change...

Hideously Gigantic Smurf: Maybe if Obama drove a baseball team into the ground, that would satisfy them.

He was bad at many things, but he did not drive the Rangers "into the ground."

To sum up: Obama is a hypocrite because he hasn't done the things I said he would. Advantage: Noah Webster.

Mercutio74: Ahhh barneyfifesbullet...

It's like humour, but the sour grapes just get in the way of it actually being funny. It's like watching a comedian start to cry in the middle of his act.

And even that can be funnier than barneyfifesbullet, when Christopher Titus does it.

My criticism was directed at the economic situatuation. The Boomers have a lot of contributions (I have parents too) to society...but my point was they fall short on the financial planning side (beyond their existance). I'm sure GenXers will have plenty of fallocies as well.

But there's a time in everyone's life where they become "set in their ways." I deal with those people on a daily basis (end-users). I just don't feel comfortable with this generation of leaders making the decisions that will affect the generations to come. I believe the Boomers have lost the ability to adapt to change, which I perceive is the most exceptional ability of GenXers.

Change. It's everything Barack Obama does.

By definition.

Douglas Copeland, who coined the term "Generation X", defined it as people who were born in the 60s and 70s, just as the Boomers were born in the 40s and 50s. So congrats. You've got a GenX president. The oval office is going to have some wicked posters. Oh, and thanks for that wise financial planning we called "the tech bubble". Thanks for getting a $500,000 mortgage when you make $35,000 a year. Most of all, thanks for Candlebox, the voice that launched a thousand ships.

I haven't seen anyone really criticizing this, but there's still knee-jerk reactions coming from some Obama supporters. Its not required for everyone to like all his appointments. I don't like his AG or Clinton for State, but I like Volcker. I think he'll give good advice, and he is actually experienced. But perhaps this is because my views have nuance and I don't make my political opinions based on solely which team is being represented.

Volcker was the best Fed chairman in history. He set the table for the 20 year bull market which began in 1982 by getting inflation under control, which was a politically unpopular thing to do.

He has been an Obama adviser all along. I was worried he would be named Treasury Secretary. He's too old. This is a perfect position for him. I feel better knowing his opinions will be heard at the highest levels of the administration.

Count that as support from someone who voted for McCain.

Bonkthat_Again: chemical_angel: I'm sick of this shiat. I voted for change. REAL change, I expected a 7 11 clerk assigned to SecState, my 12th grade Science teacher asked to serve as SecDefense, Barry Manilow in the Treasury and that guy downtown in the orange hat made Speaker of the House.

This.

DamnYankees: Age-ist much?

Can't help not being. GenX has always lived in the preferences of the Baby Boomers.

1) 25 years ago when our parents dragged us through the department stores...guess what was playing on the radio? Dione Warwick and Donna Summer. What music do you hear nowadays while shopping? Dione Warwick, Donna Summer, and Gloria Estefan.

2) The "bailouts" are going to do nothing to prevent the economic meltdown. They are simply to prolong the retirement accounts of the Boomers. GenX and GenY will be picking up the tab.

3) Social Security: This was a problem at its inception.

4) Consumerism was invented and implemented by the Boomers.

I could go on...but the fact remains...almost every bad decision that led us to this point was made by a Boomer. Normally such sweeping generalizations don't merit much. But in this respect it represents a selfish inclination on the part of the Boomers.
Am I guilty of ageism? Hell yes.
I would be much happier with a bunch of GenXers at the helm right now.

Don't worry, the next generation will blame you just as much and they will be just as correct.

barneyfifesbullet

A Atomic
C Consistent
I Independent
D Durable

What do SQL transactions have to do with anything?
/sorry, just had an SQL interview...

I like how most people are focused on whether these characters are outsiders to Washington or not, rather than what the appointments actually say about Mr. Obama. If anything a guy like Volcker is indicative of a massive shift in economic policy, although just about everything else Obama has done indicates to the contrary. It seems like there isn't any central ideology to Mr. Obama's policies, which is both refreshing and also worrisome. Volcker, if anyone recalls or did their homework, was the chief sponsor of the United States experiment with Monetarism, mostly under Reagan. I'm not looking to make any normative statements about that but if he hasn't changed his tune then this is very different from the Bush administration's policy of talking like neo-classicals but acting like Keynesians. Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing is dependent on A)whether you are a keynesian, neo-classical, or monetarist (or otherwise) in respect to fiscal and monetary policy. and B) whether the guy will have any real say.

With advanced scholars in any field of the social sciences it seems that one cannot be well established without having identified oneself with one school of thought or another. If only for experimental purposes I wish each new administration would go strictly with one or the other in each discipline (especially in economics). This fence sitting that so many politicians do doesn't help us get any real helpful empirical data. Although I'd have a hard time arguing that the monetarism experiments of the 1980s in the US and UK were anything more than failures.

Bonkthat_Again: My criticism was directed at the economic situatuation. The Boomers have a lot of contributions (I have parents too) to society...but my point was they fall short on the financial planning side (beyond their existance). I'm sure GenXers will have plenty of fallocies as well.

But there's a time in everyone's life where they become "set in their ways." I deal with those people on a daily basis (end-users). I just don't feel comfortable with this generation of leaders making the decisions that will affect the generations to come. I believe the Boomers have lost the ability to adapt to change, which I perceive is the most exceptional ability of GenXers.

Yeah, well, you just keep thinkin' that - for as long as you can.
Tick-tock, motherfarker! :D