OK. HERE'S a protest I can get behind. J6P is beginning to GET IT!

Pics of the event are here.

J6P?

Carrying signs means nothing... the voting ballot is where it counts. Vote all the old farts out,. get new blood... Harry Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, Feinstein, Boxer, (funny I can't think of republicans that need to go, and I'm sure there are alot of them).

GET RID OF THEM ALL!

J6P=Joe six-pack (Jane six-pack) or the proverbial 'man in the street'.

Getting rid of the incumbents on whose watch this nightmare was created is a GREAT idea, Nu2. But how're you going to do that with the vast majority of the populace still not able to string together the salient data points.

When I begin to see carpenters and office workers (I know some of the people pictured carrying the signs outside the Fed building) bringing accurate and pithy information to the public's attention, I begin to believe the ballot box may have some future value.

Until folks understand what was done, they won't act...

Well, seeing as how we can't seem to keep politics at bay I have an idea.

Post one concrete suggestion as to how we could have better government. Nothing glib like vote them all out...etc...but a thought out, structured suggestion.

I'll go first.

We need to have an honest Senate/House ethics committee. What we have now just does not work.

I would propose a panel of five judges. They could be retired district judges or higher. The leader of one party would select two judges that were nominated by the other party. The fifth judge would be selected by the first four.

Now we no longer have the fox watching the hen house.

Charges against a member of Congress could be brought forth by a certain percentage of members signing a petition.

I have not thought through all the details but this would be the framework.

Any other ideas?

Oxymoron?

I've given up hope. Our elected officials view the people of this country as votes, nothing more. Until the people that WE put in office start looking at us as human beings instead of objects, ain't nothing going to change.

The average person doesn't have a clue about this whole mess. Heck, I read your posts, FLB and am left scratching my head sometimes. This is a hard for some to wrap their minds around,(including me) so they don't try(but i'm trying). If some people holding up signs can "stir the pot" so to speak, more power to 'em.

FLB, politics and economics go hand-in-hand. It is a pity that most politicians do not understand economics. In an election year like this, the economy is front and center in the eyes of politicians. And it should be. Every so often, we undergo a crises of economy in this world. It is like earthquakes and volcanos. It builds up to a point, and then something causes it to blow. Even during the 1929 crash, the majority of the people did not suffer. Many people did have rough times, but it emphasized flaws in our system that were corrected.

Do not think I am taking this lightly. Many of my family are vulnerable to the current situation. My BIL who is a publisher, is spending $2500/mo on gas for his two personal vehicles and every aspect of the business involves a large amount of oil products. One BIL and nephew in the trucking field, and others in fields that depend on people with disposable income.

I will fully admit to not reading many of your postings. I think most of us feel that this is an area that we have little control over, and do not want to control. If I get sick, I go to a doctor. If I have money issues, I find an expert in that field. I am willing to pay an expert rather than deal with it myself. I may have an understanding of basic finance, but I spend too much time dealing with the Orwellian environmental regulations to want to get too buried in the nuances of different aspects of finance.

Interesting group and website.

Seadog,

I mean to cast NO aspersions on those who don't slog through the many posts I make on these forums. The only real bile I have is for those who thoughtlessly repeat media-implanted soundbites without doing any original research or thinking.

And, of course, I get a bit irritated by anybody who says "nobody could've seen this coming" when, of course, there were those of us shouting from the ramparts two or three years ago! (And others before that.)

The feckless regulators who spent the last 20 years disassembling the regulatory structure in the banking space, and then stood around with their hands in their pockets as the big financial players began creating money out of nothing, WORK FOR YOU! And as long as the majority of their employers don't know what they're doing or what they OUGHT to be doing, they'll be able to continue their lack of oversight with impunity.

I'm all for groups of people who 'get it' getting the word out. It's why this portion of the board exists.

Well dismanteling the "New Deal" would mean going back to what was there before and going through what our grand parents and parents did.

Dismantling Glass-Steagall has already happened. And as a result, we'll get a 'refresher course' on depressions. And it's gonna be a dilly!

My point exactly.

http://fedupusa.org/

And yes, barriers were erected between the different types of "banks" for good reason. And most all was "good" for about 50 years.

Then starting somewhere in the 80s, the barriers started to get torn down by BOTH parties who were and still are in the pocket of the very industry they are supposed to be regulating.

Only when or if the public at large starts voting "establishment" pols out will we ever have a hope. The big problem is who will we replace them with? Both parties have a strong machine that beats and tears down all opposition. What poor fool is going to go up against any one of them?

I am not holding my breath. The general population is clueless and seemingly happily so.

Most seem too lazy to be bothered with any attempt at understanding any of this and just keep following the lemming in front of them as we all get swept over the edge.

Good thing the second amendment was upheld. We may need to take over and re-direct our destiny again soon.