Huckleberries Online

Wild Card — 3/6/09

Posted by DFO

March 6, 2009 5:36 p.m. • 57 comments

In the news this evening: President Obama plans to reverse Bush policy on stem-cell research here. Baby bottle makers are ditching the chemical BPA here. A-Roid could be facing hip surgery here. The Minnesota Supreme Court says Al Franken has no right to an election certificate here. Hearst makes an offer to some staffers to continue P-I online here. And the last Wild Card of the work week remains in play …

57 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

toadman on March 06 at 11:45 a.m.
“Wall Street Journal: Obama’s radicalism is killing the Dow”

It can’t happen fast enough.
hmoffsuite on March 06 at 11:54 a.m.
toad. Your contempt for Wall Street and the Dow is understood. But, what you don’t understand is that its effects will ultimately be felt by you and everyone else. What about the moms and pops that have their retirement in the market? Or teachers, or firemen or anyone else? Wall Street DOES effect main street and you as well. I wouldn’t be quite so cavalier, if I were you.
toadman on March 06 at 12:03 p.m.
It was the cavalier attitudes and false wealth created by the douchebags on Wall Street that got us into this mess in the first place…the wealth wasn’t real. The money was stolen. It’s gone, and I’m sorry to say that there’s really nothing mom and pop’s who were unfortunate enough to be talked into putting their savings into the false hope and global casino that is Wall Street can do about it now but pick up the pieces, and move on.

When Wall Street stop short selling, stops buying and selling worthless crappy loans, and starts trading on actual real product futures, then, maybe, things will be back to the way they should be..

But hey, that’s just me…
Sam on March 06 at 12:07 p.m.
I was just curious if the Spokesman was going to announce that more layoffs took place yesterday?
Sam on March 06 at 12:15 p.m.
A bit on the layoffs from former Editor in Chief Steve Smith:

http://www.stillanewspaperman.com/2009/03/05/sr-layoffs/
idawa on March 06 at 12:34 p.m.
HMO is right, people shouldn’t be placating themselves with thoughts that this isn’t real money we are loosing. We have, indeed, spent our futures. However, I’m not referring to the current conservative talking point about spending our kids futures with more government spending (while this is true, I just find it ironic given how they didn’t express any qualms with that while their erstwhile King GWB spent away the surplus, alas…). More apropos, over the past 30 years there was immense market pressure to move from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans - such that most American’s facing retirement no longer have pensions anymore. We were set free from our negotiated retirements to seek out better returns in the market place. The upside of this was that it dumped trillions into the market place unchained by strict strictures previously needed to guarantee returns, and thus, it was used for economic development. Unfortunately, that money is gone now. If you need to retire in the next five year on your investments saving in a IRA or 401K, good luck. It might come back, but it might not. So, to most, the dow is should be very troubling…I’m not saying it should drive policy, but you should at least care.
hmoffsuite on March 06 at 12:48 p.m.
Well said, idawa.
Phaedrus on March 06 at 12:59 p.m.
The author of the WSJ article was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers for President George H.W. Bush so it is not too surprising that he might have a different perspective than the nations current President.
Me on March 06 at 1:23 p.m.
I’m curious if any of you have and exposure to the new Cobra law that is part of the stimulus package? I’m curious to know how much we think this is going to end up costing? And the ramifications to companies? It’s funny how fast they are getting the information out with deadlines on what the former employers must do and FAST, but they will tell you later how you will get the money back. They say it will be a credit, but we don’t know when or how the credit will work??
Bent on March 06 at 2:05 p.m.
Me, here is a link to the searchable bill:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/us/politics/06spend.html?ref=politics
Me on March 06 at 2:20 p.m.
Thanks Bent - it was 25 billion. Just a pittance huh? For some companies, people who were let go for cause will actually be paying less for thier insurance than employees who still work for the company….

I know I know they are unemployed….
Bent on March 06 at 2:22 p.m.
Sorry Me, that was the wrong link…That was a link to a NYtimes story about how McCain, and others led an effort to shut down the passage of the Omnibus FY09 Budget bill over earmarks last night.

But the opposition didn’t tank it all together because that would have cut the Senate’s own staff budgets, which would have resulted in staff layoffs. Plus, many of the Senators have projects earmarked in the bill as well… Go figure.

Me here is the link you needed:

http://appropriations.senate.gov/News/2009_02_17_ARRA_CONFERENCE_REPORT.pdf?CFID=6805351&CFTOKEN=53031701
Kage_Mann on March 06 at 3:00 p.m.
I want to remind people to go get their blood pressure checked.
Super One or Rite Aid has blood pressure machines, so you can monitor it.Don’t assume that because, your not a senior you don’t have high blood pressure either. Your really at risk if your cholesterol is high also.My doc told me he’s seen people my age who have had strokes and heart attacks, so be vigilant.
A blood pressure reading of 120/80 would be perfect and anything over 140/100 is too high.
BethB on March 06 at 3:05 p.m.
I have spent the day worrying about everyone. On this blog and everywhere. Don’t know why the Dow caught my attention so viscerally today as opposed to any other day…. Or yesterday, actually, is when my fretting began…. But there it is. Hope everyone is doing all right. And is safe, or can at least figure out a way to be safe….
toadman on March 06 at 3:05 p.m.
That’s actually good advice Kage. I turn 39 this year, and I’ve been on two blood pressure meds, and one cholesterol med for over two years now. Of course, hypertension and high cholesterol (along with diabetes, cancer, colon cancer, etc.. etc.. etc..) run in my family… so I’m already high risk.

I can always tell when I let my prescription for blood pressure meds lapse, cuz I get headaches and my eyes feel like they’re gonna pop outta my head and go flying across the room.
toadman on March 06 at 3:07 p.m.
But Beth.. the Dow closed +32 points today, didn’t it? Think positive!
hmoffsuite on March 06 at 3:28 p.m.
The problem with the market going down, every week, isn’t necessarily the level it is at but the not knowing how far down it will go. If we knew this was about the end of the down cycle, we could plan accordingly and deal with it. It is the uncertainty and not knowing if it will ever stop.
Me on March 06 at 3:37 p.m.
Toad - don’t ignore that feeling!!! I had an optical vein occlusion because of my high blood pressure (that was how I discovered I HAD high blook pressure). Basically a vein popped inside my eye. It has completely healed - and I’m really lucky that it did or my vision would be impaired.
Kage_Mann on March 06 at 3:57 p.m.
Me, what blood pressure meds are you taking? I’m taking Lisinopril and water pills.
Me on March 06 at 4:09 p.m.
Kage - me too.
zelda on March 06 at 4:28 p.m.
The AP is reporting that after arresting a 21-yr-old Bremerton, WA, woman for passing counterfeit $20s to buy Girl Scout cookies, they found her car trunk to be full of GS cookies. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/402591_girlscouts07.html
I guess the good news is that they didn’t find a Girl Scout in the trunk.

What’s the angle on using fake bills to buy GS cookies?

1. Uncontrollable Thin Mint craving
2. Black market re-selling
3. Pressure from relatives in a down economy
4. Bad merit badge experience in childhood
5. Candy war with Camp Fire Girls
hmoffsuite on March 06 at 4:32 p.m.
Zelda. Desperate people do desperate things.
zelda on March 06 at 5:13 p.m.
A friend in Seattle explained to me that the scam was to buy a box with a fake $20 and get change (in real money). Not being a criminal type myself, I have to have it explained to me. Doh.
Stickman on March 06 at 7:52 p.m.
I liked Toad’s comments, as I usually do. If you have nothing so to speak, then why worry? The very poor will always be in dire straits. As for me, I have no stocks, no 401K, no health insurance, and we still still bitch. Go figure.
Arch_Druid on March 06 at 8:03 p.m.
For Hmoffsuite and others, there was a time when the DOW stood at 150 at its peak. “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” so informs us, on the day the Titanic sunk. At the time I started investing in my retirement accounts, the DOW was around 4,000. I expect it could go that low, making it more affordable for me to pass on small investments to my retirement fund. I am in it for the long haul. When possible, I’ll send in more investments.
Bent on March 06 at 10:31 p.m.
Man was this the old folks thread or what? Kage yes, everyone should be vigilant when it come to health, but come on, exercise is all most people need to stay healthy.

I smoked for 30 years and quit about 18 months ago. For my first 20 smoking years I could run up mountains, beating my non-smoking friends to the top every time — even with a quarter of an elk on my back, and a smoke hanging out of my mouth.

The last 10 smoking years weren’t nearly as fun.

In fact ,the last couple of years I smoked (2006 & half of 2007), I suffered major health issues. I knew it was time to quit when I had to stop my boss one time so I could catch my breath after walking briskly for few blocks toward a meeting.

The prescription drug Chantix (and my sheer desire to restore my health) helped me quit, but exercise has restored my health. I’m not anywhere near where I want to be, but I’ll be running again by my 45th birthday…I’ll be cut again, soon.
JIMMYMAC on March 06 at 11:18 p.m.
The stock market tanking is far from a good thing for anyone. The exchange is ON Wall Street, but the pain is felt far far from it. Stickman, I always envy the position you have toward material possessions-it is refreshing to say the least. With that said, look at the flip side of all of these companies doing miserably. There are sad consequences when people have less money to invest or back off of investing. Do fat cats on Wall Street make money hand over fist as well? Of course, but that is a very small part of an equation that touches all of us.
JIMMYMAC on March 06 at 11:19 p.m.
Mean to say do “fat cats make money when people invest?”
cantyoureadthesigns on March 07 at 12:08 a.m.
Another sign of the MAJOR recession we’re in:

2008: 97 mushers in the Iditarod.

2009: 67 mushers.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.