The person that we Americans are forced to admit, under our breath, is actually the President of the United States of America, once again opened his ignorant mouth regarding a matter of such importance that even his myriad screw ups somehow pale in comparison to his latest complete mis-interpretation of reality.

President Bush pledged Monday to ensure “an outcome that will merit the sacrifice” of those who have died in Iraq, offering both sympathy and resolve as the U.S. death toll in the five-year war hit 4,000.

“One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, ‘Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve because they laid the foundation for peace for generations to come,’ ” Bush said at the State Department after a two-hour briefing on U.S. diplomatic strategy around the world. “I vow so long as I am president to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain.”

Let us, you and I, check the first basic words in the simpletons paragraph.  

Merit the Sacrifice.  

There are no words that I could possibly write here that would merit the stupidity of telling someone that their loved ones died, or were sacrificed in the name of the Republican Party of Greed’s “War for Oil.”

I thought that with all the discussion regarding the US economy recently, and after the Bear Stearns fire sale to J.P. Morgan, it might be a good time to look at what is going on in America, overall.

Now, remember!  Presnit Bush sez that we are in a bit of a rough patch, but that all the leading indicators show a robust economy!  Or somes such drivel.

Unemployment Claims Surge In Latest Week

New filings for unemployment claims rose more than expected last week, matching the highest level since 2005, according to a report released Thursday by the Labor Department.

According to the report, 378,000 people filed for unemployment for the first time in the week ended March 15, up 22,000 from a revised 356,000 reported in the previous week.

The 378,000 reading, which is subject to revision, matched the number reported for the week ended Jan. 26. New jobless claims last exceeded that number on Oct. 1, 2005 when they hit 385,000.

A consensus of economists polled by Briefing.com had expected to see initial jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 360,000.

The level of new jobless claims can be used as a recession indicator. “I think it confirms that we’re in a recession, or at least in a period of negative growth,” said Ethan Harris, chief U.S. economist for Lehman Brothers.

Have you ever noticed that since the Bush administration has come into office (Thanks again, SCOTUS!) that when a number is adjusted, it is always worse than when first reported?  Coincidence, I’m sure.

Just a short note to everyone regarding the buyout of Bear Stearns by the American government, er, J.P. Morgan.  

Yes, I know you heard that J.P. Morgan bought them for approximately $2.00 per share.  The stock for this company was trading one year ago today at $159.36 per share.

The stock was trading for $62.00 one week ago today.

The stock opened today at $3.20 per share. That is at an upside to the discounted price that J.P. Morgan paid.  J.P. Morgan was guaranteed the money to purchase Bear Stearns by the US Fed.  Guaranteed. The. Money. By the US Government.

Guess what?  The media has caught on!  Sure, a couple of years after those of us that have been paying attention already knew the answer, but HEY! at least they decided to report on it.  Only because it helps corporate interests, but they did finally report on it.  

Go figure.

What, you ask, did they finally uncover?  The reason your food is costing more money!  WHOA!  Be still, my bank account.

From a story, issued from MSNBC late Friday afternoon.

If you’re fuming about how high gasoline prices have gotten, why not relax with a nice meal?

Perhaps a few beers and a turkey sandwich? Maybe a chicken Caesar salad?

Well, it’s not just the price of gasoline that’s going up. That beer, turkey and chicken are also costing more too.

Let me see.  What do beer, turkey and chicken have in common?  

Hmmmmmm.  Nope, I can’t figure it out for myself. It must be too obvious or something…

As President Bush noted in his comments on the economy Friday, “Prices are up at the gas pump and in the supermarket.”

Welp, I wonder how that happened on Your Watch, oh enlightened Presnit?  

Lets see, shall we?

The negative hits just keep on a-rollin’!

From MSN Money:

Things at Bear Stearns (BSC, news, msgs) were worse than anyone thought — and that realization sent shockwaves through the market this morning.

The financial services giant said it has received financing from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — funneled through JPMorgan Chase (JPM, news, msgs) — to help boost liquidity. JPMorgan will be the conduit for Bear’s collateral and it won’t be held liable for any defaults, the New York Fed said this morning.

“Bear Stearns has been the subject of a multitude of market rumors regarding our liquidity. We have tried to confront and dispel these rumors and parse fact from fiction,” Chief Executive Officer Alan Schwartz said in a press release. “Nevertheless, amidst this market chatter, our liquidity position in the last 24 hours had significantly deteriorated. We took this important step to restore confidence in us in the marketplace, strengthen our liquidity and allow us to continue normal operations.”

Earlier this week, Schwartz told CNBC that things at Bear Stearns were OK. my emphasis

Shares of Bear plunged a whopping $23.73, or 41.6%, to $33.27 in morning trading.

The Dow Jones average was up 417 points today.  You know, because the US economy is doing so well, jobs are popping up everywhere and everything financial is coming up Roses!  

OOP’s.  My bad.  Here is the real reason.  

Here is the Headline and some input from CNNMoney:

Stocks surge with the Dow soaring 417 points as investors cheer reports that the central bank is pumping an additional $200 billion into the banking system.

Stocks rallied Tuesday as investors welcomed news that the Federal Reserve will lend up to $200 billion to banks and lenders as a means of loosening up tight credit markets.

According to early tallies, the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) jumped almost 417 points, its fourth-biggest one-day point gain ever and the biggest one-day point gain since July 2002. In percentage terms, the gain of 3.55% was the best since March 2003.

The blue-chip index had ended the previous session at a 17-month low.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 (SPX) index climbed 3.7% after ending the previous session at a 19-month low. It was the biggest one-day percentage gain since May 2002.

What does this mean to you, American citizen?  Well, it means that the Federal Reserve is going to have to print more money in order to bail out the companies that, not unlike a Las Vegas gambler, placed all their money on number 18 on the Roulette wheel and the wheel stopped on 24.  Close, but a loser.

The Fed will make up to $200 billion available to a group of 20 big investment firms for a term of 28 days, rather than overnight. The program is being coordinated with central banks worldwide.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/1…

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book that in 2008, its sixth year, the Iraq war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the “burn” rate of its earliest years.

YIKES!  I can see where that might have an effect on our economy beyond the already trillions-of-dollars deficit we currently are dealing with.

From AP:

The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show.

Actually, with the current amount of violence in Iraq beginning to climb once again, that statement might be incorrect in itself.  Anyway, back to the wars and the economy.

Beyond 2008, working with “best-case” and “realistic-moderate” scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

Interest on money borrowed to pay those costs could alone add $816 billion to that bottom line, they say.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has done its own projections and comes in lower, forecasting a cumulative cost by 2017 of $1.2 trillion to $1.7 trillion for the two wars, with Iraq generally accounting for three-quarters of the costs.

Well, here is another GREAT idea from the Bush Administration.  They are going to be sending out letters through the IRS to Americans to remind them of the tax rebates that will begin being mailed in May of this year.  

It will only cost $42 million of our tax dollars to send these little love letters!  Just a drop in the bucket in BushWorld.