Weekly Comments: What did we learn in 80 years? #575

Nov. 1, 2009

COLUMBUS: It’s been 80 years since the stock market crash that started the Great Depression. It was caused by too many people spending money they didn’t have to buy things they couldn’t afford. Kinda like a couple of years ago. Back then it was overpriced stocks they were buying, and more recently it was houses.

Treasury Secretary Geithner is walking an economic tightrope. He’s got to balance bankers and Wall Street financiers against business, farmers and the general public. He wants business to hire more, banks to loan more, us to spend more, and China to hold a second mortgage on the whole country. But we’re knocking him off his high wire by saving money when we should be spending and demanding the government save more, too. We don’t want to add two trillion dollars to the deficit just to give health insurance to six million people.

Here’s some ironical news on global warming. Ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting and in the process has uncovered vast supplies of oil and gas. Democrats say, “We don’t want it, it’s tainted. Let the Arctic freeze over again.” But Republicans will say, “Sure, let it freeze. But can’t we drill and lay the pipelines first?”

In Afghanistan, Karzai’s opponent for President announced he is dropping out because he has no chance of winning the election. When the news reached Washington, John McCain muttered, “Wish I’d thought of that.”

In football the big excitement today was Brett Favre returning to Green Bay to play the Packers. He’s 40, and led the Minnesota Vikings to their second win this season over his old team. The old guy just keeps going and going.

Historic quotes from Will Rogers (on the Depression):

“Sure must be a great consolation to the poor people who lost their stock in the crash to know that it has fallen in the hands of Mr. Rockefeller, who will take care of it and see that it has a good home and never be allowed to wander around unprotected again.
There is one rule that works in every calamity. Be it pestilence, war or famine, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The poor even help arrange it. But it's just as (columnist) Arthur Brisbane and I have been constantly telling you, ‘Don't gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock, and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don't go up, don't buy it.” DT #1019, Oct 31, 1929

“Candidates have been telling you that if elected they would ‘pull you from this bog hole of financial misery.’ Now is a good chance to get even with ‘em, by electing ‘em, just to prove what a liar they are.” DT#1334, Nov. 2, 1930

Randall Reeder is Will Rogers Today
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